Totaled!!!

My Pickup Truck, My Valkyrie, and My Trailer a Complete Loss

I had left Houston, Texas Thursday morning, June 21, 2001 for a vacation trip to Colorado Springs, Colorado. I was going to visit my property near Canon City and camp out, then my brother and I were going to spend a week riding our motorcycles throughout all of northern and central Colorado.

I had the bike securely strapped down to the trailer, and I was making good time towards Colorado. I was heading northbound on US 287 north of Ft. Worth, heading for Decatur. At 2:30 PM it began to rain heavily and I was forced to slow down because of hydroplaning. I was driving in the inside lane. At 3 PM, I watched with horror as a car in the inside southbound lane began to spin. It came across the grassy median, spinning, and was coming right towards me. I swerved towards the right lane but could not avoid the car. The pictures below show what happened.

There is one good thing that happened here. Except for one deep bruise on my right arm, several bruises and scrapes, and generally being sore all over my upper body, I came through unscathed. The people that saw it happen and stopped to help me were amazed that I was able to walk away from it.

This is a picture of where the fellow crossed the median and entered my lane of traffic.

This is the aftermath of the wreck. I spun and slid for about a hundred yards, while my motorcycle and trailer were thrown to the side of the road at the point of impact.

I know I spun around completely once before hitting the ditch and sliding backwards for another 50 yards or so.

My truck was completely totaled, although the right side looked OK. The left front wheel was ripped off by the impact. The rear axle and frame were bent when his car continued to spin around. The dash was pushed in and completely came apart. Of course, the air bags deployed.

Another shot of what used to be a beautiful, absolutely mint conditon Ford Lariat. I had clothes on hangars hanging on the left side of the truck. The impact caused the U shaped heads of the hangars to unfold to where they were almost straight... I had clothes all over the place.

The impact completely destroyed the 6' x 10' utility trailer I was using to carry my Valkyrie. Besides the frame being bent as you can see, the axle was bent in two places, and both tires (brand new) were blown out... ripped apart, actually.

I'll never worry about a trailer coming loose from the ball hitch again. As you can see, the trailer hitch was simply ripped from the trailer and remained attached to the ball.

My motocycle suffered grevious damage when it was thrown from the trailer. The impact broked three 5000 lb. nylon webbing straps that were holding the bike to the trailer. The tie down hooks were OK as were the latches but the webbing broke.

My poor bike suffered so much damage that everyone who looked at it thinks it is a total loss. Amongst the damage: Left saddle bag destroyed, mounts bent, right saddle bag destroyed, mounts bent, front fender bent, rear fenders bent, exhaust pipes and headers crushed on left side, bent on the right side. Air horns are crushed. Bakers are smashed. More description in the next picture.

The headlight pod is smashed. I could not even find the tachometer housing. The speedometer is smashed, and the odometer is hanging by its cable... totally unreadable. The crash bars are bent. The left valve cover is split, and it is possible that the head is split as well. The front forks are bent. The rear swing arm is bent. Frame looks bent but it is hard to tell. Handlebars are bent and the tank is bashed in several places. Clutch and braked assemblies snapped off... its just hanging on the bar in the pic. All in all, its bye bye motorcycle.

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Page Last Modified on January 23, 2003

This is a picture of where the fellow crossed the median and entered my lane of traffic.
This is the aftermath of the wreck. I spun and slid for about a hundred yards, while my motorcycle and trailer were thrown to the side of the road at the point of impact.
I know I spun around completely once before hitting the ditch and sliding backwards for another 50 yards or so.
My truck was completely totaled, although the right side looked OK. The left front wheel was ripped off by the impact. The rear axle and frame were bent when his car continued to spin around. The dash was pushed in and completely came apart. Of course, the air bags deployed.
Another shot of what used to be a beautiful, absolutely mint conditon Ford Lariat. I had clothes on hangars hanging on the left side of the truck. The impact caused the U shaped heads of the hangars to unfold to where they were almost straight... I had clothes all over the place.
The impact completely destroyed the 6' x 10' utility trailer I was using to carry my Valkyrie. Besides the frame being bent as you can see, the axle was bent in two places, and both tires (brand new) were blown out... ripped apart, actually.
I'll never worry about a trailer coming loose from the ball hitch again. As you can see, the trailer hitch was simply ripped from the trailer and remained attached to the ball.
My motocycle suffered grevious damage when it was thrown from the trailer. The impact broked three 5000 lb. nylon webbing straps that were holding the bike to the trailer. The tie down hooks were OK as were the latches but the webbing broke.
My poor bike suffered so much damage that everyone who looked at it thinks it is a total loss. Amongst the damage: Left saddle bag destroyed, mounts bent, right saddle bag destroyed, mounts bent, front fender bent, rear fenders bent, exhaust pipes and headers crushed on left side, bent on the right side. Air horns are crushed. Bakers are smashed. More description in the next picture.
The headlight pod is smashed. I could not even find the tachometer housing. The speedometer is smashed, and the odometer is hanging by its cable... totally unreadable. The crash bars are bent. The left valve cover is split, and it is possible that the head is split as well. The front forks are bent. The rear swing arm is bent. Frame looks bent but it is hard to tell. Handlebars are bent and the tank is bashed in several places. Clutch and braked assemblies snapped off... its just hanging on the bar in the pic. All in all, its bye bye motorcycle.