Wrecked My Motorcycle Today: CCW Still Intact

KBintheSLC · Mar 10, 2009

This morning I took a nasty spill on a patch of black ice and laid my bike down. I wasn't going very fast but it was a decent wreck and it hurt real good. I have been riding since I was 8 years old, so its not my first wreck... I guess you could say I know how to crash gracefully.

Plus, I always wear heavy clothing/helmet/gloves/boots so I was able to walk/ride away from it after a few minutes of calm-down time. I was being extremely careful as always, but today mother nature beat me.

Amazingly, my little Kel Tec P32 was not destroyed/cracked/scared as I landed on my right side leg/hip/elbow. It was IWB at about 4 o'clock as I struck the ground and rolled a few times. I have always worried about riding and CC'ing... "what if I wreck and my piece goes flying across the road?" ... well, today I found out that it didn't go flying. It stayed put in a cheap, Uncle Mikes size 10 IWB holster with no retention strap. My heavy clothing protected it from road rash. And, apparently Kel Tec's polymer frame can withstand a healthy wallop.

Has anyone else laid a bike down while carrying? How did you fare?

I feel very lucky today... my bike and my body only sustained minor cosmetic damage. My new P32 (about 2 weeks old) is unscathed. I can thank the gods tonight.

PS... I can't tell the wife about this... she'll kill me. :fire:

chilie · Mar 10, 2009

WOW! What a story. Glad you are ok and were able to walk/ride away from this craziness. As a general rule for myself i don't ride when black ice is possible. YMMV. lol..No story of my own, fortunatley, just glad you are ok and able to recount this for the rest of us.

propex · Mar 10, 2009

Glad you and your gun are fine

FiveFiveSixFan · Mar 10, 2009

Glad to hear you survived relatively unscathed. I've never dumped mine yet, and hopefully, never will because unlike you, I would totally not know how to fall/roll.

Good to hear that your Kel-Tec seems to have remained intact. I think I'd check it many times before firing it though.

Bet you're going to be plenty sore tomorrow!

KBintheSLC · Mar 10, 2009

Good to hear that your Kel-Tec seems to have remained intact. I think I'd check it many times before firing it though.

Not a bad idea... I am going to pull out my magnifying glass when I get home from work and check for micro-fractures in the frame.

B. Adams · Mar 10, 2009

I was in an accident on my bike last summer. I had my Kel-tec .380 in my back pocket in a cheap Nemesis holster. My knees got pretty scraped up, as did my wrists, my front pocket tore open and my work keys were gouged by the pavement, but the gun was fine.

I didn't even think about it until they went to cut my jeans off at the hospital. My girlfriend took it out to the car.

If I hadn't had my helmet on, I wouldn't have half of my face right now. The gun was perfectly fine, unlike my bike and my spleen.

GRIZ22 · Mar 10, 2009

Glad you're okay. Good thing you had the Kel Tec, a 1911 in that position may have injured you.

Lucky · Mar 10, 2009

You ride on icy roads??? And why no mention of the bike? Is she done for?

seale · Mar 10, 2009

PICS PICS (of the bike)!

I live in the SLC area and I have one question: WHAT ON EARTH WERE YOU DOING RIDING A MOTORCYCLE THIS MORNING? OMG! The morning low was in the teens and we had a major winter storm pound us all evening yesterday. I ride a bike too, I have a street legal dirt bike and even with my big tires there's no way in hades that I would have gone out this morning.

Sam1911 · Mar 10, 2009

Buddy of mine did that last year while carrying his .45 xD.

Gun was fine. Bike -- and his ribs -- were not. Didn't lose the gun.

-Sam

Dragk913 · Mar 10, 2009

You ride on icy roads??? And why no mention of the bike? Is she done for?

He may not have thought it would be icy. You can't see black ice.
And he said him and his bike had minor cosmetic damage but he was able to ride away.

Glad you're ok KB!
Luckily, I've only dropped my bike once (damn wet grass!)..but then again, I've only been riding for about a year.

kingpin008 · Mar 10, 2009

Lucky, if it was black ice, how was he supposed to know it was there?

And as for the bike:

my bike and my body only sustained minor cosmetic damage

KBintheSLC · Mar 10, 2009

You ride on icy roads??? And why no mention of the bike? Is she done for?

Here it is from the OP...

I feel very lucky today... my bike and my body only sustained minor cosmetic damage.

Yeah... icy roads are not the best place to ride. They were pretty clear, except for that spot. It was a place where heavy trucks had made deep "valleys" in the road and water had accumulated the day before. Temps dropped into the upper 20's last night and presto... I got "served".

My wife and I have had to share one car due to financial restraints. She needed the car today for an interview, so I rode the bike. That's why I can't tell her... she will likely feel really bad.

HB · Mar 10, 2009

Good thing you are OK..... I know of a guy who hit a deer in Iowa, on a bike.... He has a hell of a story. Crashes in anything are rarely fun.

Gamera · Mar 10, 2009

Glad you and your gun are okay!

Sixtigers · Mar 10, 2009

Glad you're OK, man. Hope there wasn't too much damage to your bike, as well!

One good thing about living in California: I get to ride year round. I'm at 3000 feet, so it's really, really cold when I get off work at 0100, but I can ride (when I don't wuss out). Not so much black ice hazard here, as blown sand.

Again--glad you're ok! Stay on the horse, friend.

Lucky · Mar 10, 2009

You must have hands of steel, I feel strong pain riding in anything near freezing temp.

I lowsided on a corner myself last summer, hit a patch of compact discs.

I do see a guy with an Ural bike riding on sunny, but snowy, days.

Geno · Mar 10, 2009

First, I'm glad you're okay!

Back in 1983, I was riding my brother's Yamaha 250 Enduro back from teaching TKD. Folks were waiving at me like crazy! I thought, "That's odd...I'm wearing a Bell helmet with a face shield...how do they know it's me?!"

Suddenly I smelled smoke! I look down and the whole durned bike was aflame under me, including engine, seat, rear tire!

Well, you know when I touched the rear brake at 55 mph, she went everywhere. It was like riding a steel sled on pavement! I got some bumps and some burns, but mostly got my ego hurt! Michigan State Police said either the wiring or the fuel line was defective.

Thank goodness for leather! You know, my brother encouraged me to jump on his Harley and "get back in the saddle". I rode it 1/2 mile, brought it back and parked it. I didn't ride again until last year when my daughter got into MX.

You need to send Kel Tec a letter. Anyhow, glad you're okay. Bikes and firearms can be replaced! Fellow THR members can't!

Doc2005

ssjones · Mar 10, 2009

Wow, glad you were OK. Damaging the gun would have added insult to injury. Wonder if insurance would have covered the gun in the event it was damaged?

leadcounsel · Mar 10, 2009

Glad you and your piece are safe....

However, I sold my motor-donor-cycle a few years ago because of too many close calls.

I would bet that riding a motorcycle is probably the most dangerous thing most Americans can do.

Taking the odds, I would bet that you are significantly more likely to be seriously injured in a motorcycle accident than ever need a firearm for self defense.

Just today I was talking to an Army surgeon and the last 5 amputees that came into the Army hospital on base, 3 of them were from motorcycles! :what:

bonza · Mar 10, 2009

About thirty or so years ago, a friend of mine in Australia was riding his Triumph Bonneville across country. One section of the two-lane highway had dirt banks either side, & a big Red Kangaroo (approx 200lbs) bounded off one bank & landed square on his front wheel.....that was the end of that road trip!

drgrenthum · Mar 10, 2009

i cant ride in anhting under 60 too cold with the windchill. I have been down twice but never carrying. Good to hear you are ok. Alot of people dont understand that people dont die in every motorcycle accident. In fact my worst of the two i only tore a ligament in my shoulder, that didnt not require surgery and i am fine too this day.

New question...what holster for road rash??

exiledrebel · Mar 11, 2009

Glad you and your bike came through w/ minimal damage. I laid my bike over last summer in a low-speed turn as a result of several one-in-a-thousand factors hitting at once. It angered me more than anything at the time. But once you hit 35 yrs old or so, even the little things take a while to heal, as I learned. But I got back on and rode it home. Sounds like you're doing the same.

KBintheSLC · Mar 11, 2009

Thanks for all of the words of support folks... and the insightful stories as well. I think it is safe to say that riding a bike is more likely to get me killed or maimed than most anything else. Unfortunately, I am just too in love with it to quit at this time.
Im just going to keep using the protective gear, continue riding cautiously, and pray for a little extra protection from above.

Oh yeah... as someone suggested, I really should write to Kel Tec about this. The more I think about it, I really came down on the P32 very hard. My hip beneath the gun was pretty badly bruised. I inspected the gun with a magnifying glass last night... no frame fractures of any kind. Not too bad for the cheapest gun in my collection.

dudester · Mar 11, 2009

Glad you are ok. I have been riding most of my life as well so I can relate.

Wrecked My Motorcycle Today: CCW Still Intact

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