H-Town FJR
Active member
At the beginning of September, my 79 year old father-in-law and I embarked on a trip that we were planning on for a few years. I would leave from Houston, TX and meet him where he lives in Waco, TX. From there, we would begin our trek towards the black hills of SD so I could see Mt. Rushmore. I loved the journey (although riding in Kansas plain sucks) but loved South Dakota. After spending a night in Deadwood, we headed west toward Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. We rode the wonderful roads through the Bighorn National Forest to get to Cody, WY for the night.
Next we continued our journey west to Yellowstone to enjoy the sights. I loved it! Saw beautiful scenery, Buffalo, Black Bears, Elk, Pronghorns and many other animals. After riding for the majority of the day, we decided that checking out Old Faithful would be our last stop before heading to Jackson to stay the night.
Before leaving the parking lot, we reviewed our map. For some reason, a road called "West Thumb" stuck out in my mind as the way to go. We had also programmed the GPS to take us to the hotel...we get on our bikes and head out. Several minutes into the ride, I see West Thumb. I motion to my father in law to let him know we should head that way. He shook his head "No" and kept pointing in the direction we were already going in. Ironically, the GPS wanted to go the same direction that he wanted to go. I motioned over to a cutout to talk about where we needed to go and we pulled over.
While we were pulled over, I thought we decided to continue to go the way the GPS wanted us to go. My father in law takes off in front of me. I start to accelerate hard but look down. When I look up, my FIL was performing a UTurn in the middle of the street. It was too late...I slammed on my back break to swing the rear around and forced the front of the bike down to avoid a T-bone accident with him. I hit him low between the t tires and I high sided him.'
I was up immediately after impact but my FIL could not get up. He was like '"who the F hit me?"...I said it was "me". The ambulance came and took us both to Jackson. Not having been in a street bike wreck before, I had have to admit it was chaotic. I had a few broken ribs...my FIL had a mildly fractured hip and spent 4 days in the hospital. The poor guy in the room next to him was there because he was torn up by a Grizzly Bear in Yellowstone. We had to fly back to Texas!
Long story short...I was on my 2005 FJR. My FIL was on his 2007 FJR. We had just completed about 2400 miles in 6 days. Both bikes were TOTALLED. COMPLETE LOSSES.
The accident happened on 9/11 (at least I won't forget the date)! My insurance company was more than fair (Progressive) and they provided excellent customer service.
The two of us plan on finishing what we started, I need to get a new bike...not sure what I want yet...but I am getting something.
Anyway...its not often that 2 FJRs are involved in the same accident. We are both recovering well and should be riding again soon.
Ride Safe!
Rich
Next we continued our journey west to Yellowstone to enjoy the sights. I loved it! Saw beautiful scenery, Buffalo, Black Bears, Elk, Pronghorns and many other animals. After riding for the majority of the day, we decided that checking out Old Faithful would be our last stop before heading to Jackson to stay the night.
Before leaving the parking lot, we reviewed our map. For some reason, a road called "West Thumb" stuck out in my mind as the way to go. We had also programmed the GPS to take us to the hotel...we get on our bikes and head out. Several minutes into the ride, I see West Thumb. I motion to my father in law to let him know we should head that way. He shook his head "No" and kept pointing in the direction we were already going in. Ironically, the GPS wanted to go the same direction that he wanted to go. I motioned over to a cutout to talk about where we needed to go and we pulled over.
While we were pulled over, I thought we decided to continue to go the way the GPS wanted us to go. My father in law takes off in front of me. I start to accelerate hard but look down. When I look up, my FIL was performing a UTurn in the middle of the street. It was too late...I slammed on my back break to swing the rear around and forced the front of the bike down to avoid a T-bone accident with him. I hit him low between the t tires and I high sided him.'
I was up immediately after impact but my FIL could not get up. He was like '"who the F hit me?"...I said it was "me". The ambulance came and took us both to Jackson. Not having been in a street bike wreck before, I had have to admit it was chaotic. I had a few broken ribs...my FIL had a mildly fractured hip and spent 4 days in the hospital. The poor guy in the room next to him was there because he was torn up by a Grizzly Bear in Yellowstone. We had to fly back to Texas!
Long story short...I was on my 2005 FJR. My FIL was on his 2007 FJR. We had just completed about 2400 miles in 6 days. Both bikes were TOTALLED. COMPLETE LOSSES.
The accident happened on 9/11 (at least I won't forget the date)! My insurance company was more than fair (Progressive) and they provided excellent customer service.
The two of us plan on finishing what we started, I need to get a new bike...not sure what I want yet...but I am getting something.
Anyway...its not often that 2 FJRs are involved in the same accident. We are both recovering well and should be riding again soon.
Ride Safe!
Rich
