Took the FJR offroading today......

On the way home today..........

A truck with enclosed trailer (2 vehicles in front of me and same left lane) ran over a 4'x4' piece of foam insulation board. Kicking it up into the air about 6 feet and at about my 2 o'clock, like a boomerang it zeroed back in on me! My son (on his bike) was already in the right lane which left me with the only option of taking the FJR into a shallow vee shaped median to avoid a direct hit to the right side of me and the bike. The foam board still managed to hit my front wheel as I was heading off into the grass at 70MPH! Fortunately the grass tracking skills from my old "roadracing days" kicked in as I negotiated a drainage grate then pair of side by side sign posts, and eventually jumping back onto the asphalt when a turn lane presented itself as a safe reentry spot. All in all it was about 100 yds of excitement. The best part was that there was no damage to me or the bike from the insulation board or the offroading, etc. After all was said and done, my son & I had a good laugh about it, but not too sure about the poor girl in her car behind me as she was panicking from the look on her face when I pulled up to the stop light and looked the bike over and back at her. She probably thought she was gonna witness me getting killed or something. lol

Nice save Dad, bad stuff happens fast.

Wow, just Wow.

Good grief, something else to look out for while on the road.

Bugnatr said:

Nice save Dad, bad stuff happens fast.

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Too true.

It pays big dividends to have some dirt riding experience under your belt when needed.

Glad it worked out for you.

Dave

I had an off road experience a couple of years back. I was able to slow and eventually get back on the road. No damage, or so I thought. I found a bend in the rim by the bead later. I believe my dirt skills did come in handy. No panic, just ride it out.

Dang doode! Time for a new seat?

Great news that it's just a fun story; nothing worse.

Don't kid yourself: even soft things like Styrofoam will hurt if you hit them at 55 mph.

Glad you are ok!

I can see it now. Its like the snow -ice flying off the roof of a truck. Its flips spins and no telling where its going. Good save and are still here to laugh about it. Off roading a FJR at 70 is not on my list.

I don't think I'd even remember what happened after something like that, much less try to describe it via an online post! Congrats on your quick wits, cat-like reflexes, and ability to laugh about it just a few hours later

Glad you saw your way through that. Some people would panic and lose control.

John d said:

Glad you saw your way through that. Some people would panic and lose control.

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Unfortunately I've run "off track" a few times back in my roadracing days when I would make an error or get a little help from another riders mistake, etc. So I was pretty comfortable with the grass median option. lol

It's funny what you think of in the moment. I saw the foam board in the air and saw the R-Max logo on it and thought "oh, I've used that stuff before...."

This is NOT how to handle a bike offroad!

An example of an "offroad" excursion during my good ol' days of roadracing .....

Wow! Im glad everything worked out okay and you can joke about it. Great situational awareness!

Motorcycle Mayor said:

Wow! Im glad everything worked out okay and you can joke about it. Great situational awareness!

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Ditto that !