Prayers for my neighbor Ray.

[Steve 0080]

+1

[wjduke]

Very sad, but a great post.....some guys will ride tomorrow a little more careful. Makes me realize how lucky I was.

[Paul B Blues]

Very sad indeed, God rest his soul.

[firetech]

As others have said, very nice send off. Sorry for your loss.
You were blessed to have him as a friend and neighbor as he was to have you.
Thoughts and prayers for Ray, his daughter, family and you.

[Old Ryder]

It is just a story on the news until it happens to somebody you are connected to. Every time I turn the key on, I have the thought this may be it. I had a cousin-- 19 at the time-- get killed on a friends bike. Life is a gift--not a promise--handle with care.

Crazy things can happen when you are unprotected on a bike. They even come seeking you out from across the median. On the news yesterday......
http://www.wral.com/motorcyclist-kil...dian/14809707/

[stroguy]

Well the horror of the accident was made evident this morning. I went to the accident scene to educate myself what could of happened and what I could do better in this situation. First off there are no tire marks from locked brakes anywhere in Rays' path of travel. The only marks were two big gouges in the concrete street. These gouges run about 80' to where the police outline of the UPS van were painted. Impossible to say but most likely caused by the HD foot peg and handle bar. So Ray got the bike on the ground and then was separated in some instance when colliding with the truck. The first person to the scene saw Ray in a seated position but his back and head were wrapped in the RF tire well and one of his legs was also disfigured and not in the normal position. Evident the UPS van continued moving after Ray was underneath. Ray was still alive but unconscious for only a minute when he sighed and turned blue then faded to a pale white.

A young lady I talked with this AM had talked to the UPS driver and he said 'the bike would not stop, he just kept coming'. He saw Ray but still attempted to complete the turn in front of him. After contact he continued to travel a very short distance with Ray underneath.

So what do I take away from this?

1. Stay up! You have no chance when the bikes tires are separated from the street. Ray did not wear a helmet and broadsiding the van would not have been a nicer ending, but 70-80' additional braking can knock off a lot of speed. 2. Practice equal front and rear emergency braking. I would suspect Ray jumped the front brake too hard in a maneuver and the bike went down. 3. Everyone is going to turn in front of you, even the retards that see you. Be ready, plan your escape, plan your braking strategy before it is to late. 4. Invest in an ERC. I did and they showed me my deficiencies. These instructors are not there to make a dime off you. Everyone of them has the experience and history to make you a better rider.

Thanks to everyone's prayers and support. Let's be safer out there. Randy is going to enter a self implemented safety stand down for a few days.

[wjduke]

You simply can't let your guard down for even a split second, maybe only if you're out on open road alone.

[Love to ride]

PRAYERS SENT ! GOD BLESS EVERYONE AND RIDE SAFE

[Big Jay]

Thoughts and prayers for all involved.

[kcmike]

May Ray's family find peace, solace, and guidance, and may Ray find paradise with his brother, Jesus. Sad!