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Cliff Sliding Anyone?

Posted January 12, 2012 By Chief

It was new years day fresh new year, you know how you feel the new year, everything is a fresh start, new year to start all over again.  WELL.....   Lets just say I had another fresh start just a day after new years! HAHA!!  

I was just leaving waterford, ca.  about 340 miles north east of Long Beach visiting some family friends just to get away for a few days. I had just left my friends house and had a first pit stop riding east on hwy 132 towards Yosemite in a small old mining town called Coulterville. *Settled in 1850*

After leaving that town,  I began my ride down the amazing HWY 49 heading south towards fresno. The roads were pretty amazing I was riding solo with not many people around so I really was taking it allot EASIER as I normally would be riding in twisting canyons... :)  I knew to really take it easy on my LH turns as I had a new pipe that was a little lower then normal stock pipes. So I started  getting into some of the turns on the 49 man it was awesome! Some really amazing roads, scenery, I was getting stoked on everything...  Then coming around a left hand turn it felt like I just hit a patch of ice.The bike slid out from under me and I was on my back sliding towards the edge of this cliff, and I was off the cliff sliding down the side of this mountain on my back gravel, rocks trees, bushes all round, I wasn't stopping, I remember sticking out my hands to stop myself but there was nothing to hold on too, I was just hoping to stop... I didn't know if it was a drop off cliff or what! I was just sticking out everything I have to try and stop myself from sliding off this mountain.  There was a tree on the left and I stuck my left foot out to hopefully stop my momentum.  Luck was on my side and I stopped sliding down even further.  At that point I looked up to see if my bike was behind me on the mountain sliding somehwere or stuck in a treee, and all I see is my back tire hanging off the edge above me.  PRAYING that is stays there!  I braced my right foot on the tree and was able to spin around so my front was facing the mountain and I could hopefully climb back up to the top. I was about 30 Feet down below my bike. I was really amped and my adrenalin was pumping so hard I was in a bit of a panic wanting to get back up the mountain as fast as I could. So in a panic in hopes that my bike wasn't going to come down on me, I starting sliding trying to climb back up.  I started to freak out more then just stopped.  Looked up at the bike. I could tell it wasn't going to come down at this point, so I started slowly trying to take one step at a time. Grabbing lil branches, anything I could that looked like it would help be get back to the top.  Rocks sliding  behind my I look back and there were just tons of rocks below me.  I looked back up the mounting and just kept stepping one by one and every step just getting happier that I was alive, I was ok and that my bike didn't go down the mountain with me.  SO, as I get my hand on the road I see a woman walking up to me in panic an really scared to see me.  She said " Did you really just climb from down there? Are you ok?!" I said, "Yea! And umm.... I think so!." I imediately looked myself over, didn't see any thing really horrible other then the huge hole in my pants leg.  Good for me I had my kick ass reliable triumph riding pants on with another layer underneath as it was really cold when I left. Bottom line I didn't have a scratch on me. My skin never touched the road. :) Good gear really comes in handy! :)   SO... I go see my bike hanging off the edge and I say to her, I have to get a photo of this.  My tank bag, and tail bag were both hanging off the bike. My laptop was in there, the one I am typing on now... my camera equipment, everything... And all were FINE no problems.  The bags were all scraped up but nothing inside was harmed.  THANKS NELSON RIGG!  :)  So my hands are shaking as I'm still a bit freeked from sliding off a cliff and I hold my phone out to take 2 shots.  After, I put the phone in my pocket and head towards the bike knowing there is no way in hell I am going to be able to pull that bike off the edge. So I attepmt to pull it and didn't even move.  At that point "Heather" who now is my friend on facebook and her husband "John" came over to help and another motorcycle rider stopped to help me pull my bike off the edge. John is also a photogapher and painter and had his camera to take some shots. I said sure man. Go for it. So I was doing my best CONNET impression. But still pretty freeked out but happy I was alive and my bike wasn't stuck in a tree or 30 feet down a cliff.  So I walked over to the bike and I said.  "The moment of truth, we picked the bike back up. all the main pegs shifters were not all snapped off! The shifter peg was snapped off but the arm was bent and scraped but still ok to shift. I then turned on the key and started her up and.... "IT'S ALIVE!!!!" I shouted.  John and Heather and the motorcyle guy looked like. This guy is nuts. I thanked them all, gave john my card and he gave me his as he wanted to send me the photos. So after sitting there on the side of the road a bit I really looked at my bike, and noticed that the handlebars were scraped in about 1" on the left side.  I had angled my bars down not that long ago to have the more cafe downward feel and well, had I not done that, my bike would have been down the mountain. The bars dug into the ashpalt and dirt and stopped the bike from going over.  AND the bars were barely bent!?@  THANKS FLANDERS HANDLEBARS. That's why you buy good bars! Any other bars would have bent on impact and my bike would have been off the cliff for sure!  My grip kept sliding off from all the dirt and gravel in my bars working its way out. So every turn (Which I kept to about 5 mph the next 30 mins. HAHAHA) the grip kept popping off. HAHAAH.  I eventually got up the confidence for normal speed as I still had a good 320 miles to get home back to long beach!  To back up a few, since I am friends with John and Heather, the couple that helped me, I can tell you their story on how they found me as she wrote it on my page. They said. "We came around this corner and saw a motorcycle laying next to the edge of the cliff with a little puff of dust still lingering, we pulled over to see if someone was ok or not.  As Heather walked to the spot where the bike was, Heath was clawing his way back up on the road!".  They later told me that spot on the road was called "The Little Dragon" and he said its the 49 Fwy.   4+9=13. He said must have been your lucky 13 jacket. HAHAHA.  Wow... Pretty good. And after getting myself to a place that had cell phone service I called British Customs to tell them about the exhaust and he felt horrible and said he was just glad I was ok, and that he would take care of anything that needed to be fixed adjusted whatever I needed.  I said I just wanted to warn him for anyone else that had that exhaust that they need to get that shit back and use a highter system.  He said he was on it.  He took care of everyone that had that pipe and put my new hi-mount pipe on within days.  

So after I rode the 300+ miles back to Long Beach, I went straight to british american motorcycles and they took are of a set of used grips and fixed my shifter peg within minutes. We had a beer, I took a little breather and headed home. 

Bottom line....  Great gear can save your life. Flanders make top notch strong good handle bars. My Nelson Rigg bags took the beating and not my $5,000 worth of equimpent. My awesome Triumph Riding pants saved my legs from looking like beef jerkey and thank you to British Customs for standing by and backing up their work. 

Happy to be alive, and happy that my girl June is A OK, and my new slogan for 2012 "SAVE IT FOR THE TRACK"   My first track day is FEB 27th. Very excited.  

Xo,Chief,Chip.