Originally Posted by bobbyf6b
If I may be so blunt as to explain what happened to Dwight...without anyone chewing my butt for being frank about his accident...then here goes.
Before we started the ride that day, it was said that the big Blue Goldwing was going to go out front (that is Big Dawg), and I jumped at the chance and said I would ride second to the Big Dawg, as I interpreted that he would be riding faster, as he is a local rider, familiar with those roads. It was accepted that I would ride second. Then...Dwight spoke up to Phantom, and said he was a faster rider, so Phantom suggested that he ride with Big Dawg and me, following me. (that was a mistake to folloow Big Dawg and myself)
We got on the road, our little group of 3 bikes, and all the other bikes in a much larger group, following behind us by a mile or so. After about 15 or so miles, we 3 stopped at a corner mini-mart, parked our bikes, and aited for the larger group to catch up, so we would all know the right direction to take.
It was at this stop that Dwight talked with Big Dawg and myself about...how to corner beter, and the different riding styles between Big Dawg and myself. It appeared to Big Dawg and myself that Dwight was looking for "riding instructions". We both told Dwight to ride his OWN ride...do not attempt to keep up with Big Dawg and me, and to ride within his own limits. (that was the jest of the conversation) We both commented to one another, that if Dwight is asking us for "riding instructions, of how to take the bike through tight curves and either scrape the pegs, or avoid scraping the pegs, then he should NOT be following the two of us".
When we left from that corner mini-mart, our group of 3 had picked up another rider...one from the larger group, that was not happy being stuck in the middle of a bunch of unknown riders, with unknwn skills. This 4th rider concluded that it might be better to ride at the back of the lead pack, with riders assumed to be more skillful.
On this next secment of riding, Hwy 28 in NC, our group of 4 bikes came across some slower...much smaller...bikes, and we politely passed them, one at a time. Big Dawg got around them, and the car in front of them. Then I got around them, and the car in front of them. That is when we lost Dwight.
Rider # 4 in our group said that when Dwight went to pass the smaller bikes, he went too wide through a long sweeping curve, and at first low-sided the bike, over corrected, and then high-sided the bike, and he and the bike went off the road at a high speed, left side of the road. It weas a large sweeping RIGHT handed curve, and Dwight went off the LEFT side, bike went off the paved road, into soft dirt/grass, into a deep ditch, and toppled end over end, which is where Dwight flew off the bike, clipped a large tree with his body, and ended up twisted behind the tree, facing the opposite direction. Looking at the accident scene, Phantom and I determined that Dwight MUST have hit the tree, to inable his body to be on the other side of this large tree. He could not have gone THROUGH the tree.
The bike, was literally unside down, and facing backwards from whence it came. (yes, I know only Hornblower uses the word...whence, but I stole it from him) To recover the bike, a bunch of us had to roll the bike, like a dog rolling over on its' side, and roll the bike several times to get it up out of the ditch, and back up onto somewhat flat land.
The bike, a new F6B, was 100 % totaled out. Maybe the engine is salvageable, if someone wanted to buy the engine. I went thtrough all the saddlebags, pockets, and anything else that would hold personal belongings. Phantom had to assist in getting into the left front poscket, as the handlebars were bent so bad, they covered that pocket. We put 100% of his personal propertty into one large bag, which was put inside Phantoms' trailer, for safe keeping.
Munch and I performed triage' on Dwight, moved his body safely to a better rescue location, and awaited the EMT personnel to arrive.
THEY SAY IT HAPPENS IN THREES....
Dwight was immediately behind ME whern this accident happened.
Luther, riding the Suzuki Burgman 650 (Hornblower's brother) was in front of ME when his accident happened a couple hours later.
To finalize the set of 3...I was struck by lightning on my way home.
It was as if...someone up above said, "hey, I got those other two guys that were behind you, and in front of you, and then I had to search the surface of the Earth to see where you had run off to. Oh...there you are...ZAP"
Bottom line on Dwights' accident is that he was riding above his skill level, and riding too fast.
Luther was paying more attention to his bike dash guages, as his low fuel warning light was blinking at him, and he completely missed that we were entering a sharp curve, and he went off road into a barbed wire fence, without braking.
I...was arguing with myself about the Ohms law principle, and whether Volta was a better looking Italian than Phantom, and I lost the argument.
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