Not a post really specific to the TR650, but being that TR650 riders will often find themselves off the beaten track I thought I'd share some thoughts about a recent experience I had. I was on a group ride, out of the city, only about 150km from home, but not in an area that I was familiar with and I was following the bikes ahead, vaguely keeping track of our route on my GPS but mostly just enjoying the ride and the new roads.... ...and the next thing I knew I was in the middle of an emergency situation. There were a dozen or more bikes in the group and the rider 4th from last missed a corner and hit a tree at 100kph. Noone ahead of him knew what had happened, so it was just the 3 riders following him who stopped. This was a deserted country road, with no traffic. In fact in the following 2 hours only 1 passing vehicle came up that road (aside from police and ambulances). Fortunately for me I had mobile phone coverage, so I was able to call an ambulance and speak to an emergency paramedic on the phone. Being able to call the ambulance is good, but getting them to where they are required is another matter when you don't even know where you are yourself. My Garmin GPS has a screen called "where am I". It shows current GPS location coordinates as well as the road I was on, the nearest cross street and the locality. Knowing exactly where to get this information saved a lot of time because they were able to dispatch an ambulance within a few minutes of the accident occurring. Unfortunately, in this instance even having that information close at hand didn't improve the outcome because the rider passed away before the paramedics arrived and couldn't be resuscitated. So the point for my post is just to raise awareness of what can happen and get other riders to make a conscious effort to think.. if I came around a corner and found myself facing such a situation, do I have the tools to determine where I am, and can I use them. Lots of riders have GPS, but do you know how to get the coords off the GPS. Often in high stress situations people can forget simple stuff, which is why people like pilots and skydivers practice their emergency procedures often, so that they are second nature should an actual emergency arise, and they can make rational decisions and take the correct action when every second counts. So I'm not advocating everyone buy a GPS or anything, just that people think about the tools which you have at their disposal, be that a GPS or a smartphone or a paper map, or a SPOT or EPIRB and think about how they would be able to identify their location precisely enough for the emergency services to be able to locate you. It's definitely not something I had actually thought about before, however I had played around with my GPS enough to remember that the screen was there how to find the info.
Sorry for your loss. As always on motorcycles, you have to be situationally aware. You were as prepared as you could be and good on ya for that. One of the guys I ride with went arse over tea kettle on his bike (endo) in April and fractured his back in four places. Took the ambulance several hours to get NEAR the scene and my friend was stretchered out another 2 miles. He was lucky, as he is walking today. It was knowing how to extrapolate coordinates that saved him though. That got help near and they were guided in the rest of the way.
I've thought about this scenario a lot when being on rides in remote areas. I would personally never be out there without a GPS just for that reason, and hope my cell phone could get a signal. One of those Spot locators would be invaluable and some of my friends have them. They give an added sense of security and I appreciate it when riding with these guys. Some knowledge of 1st aid techniques would also be useful. I have 30 years experience as an EMT and I've used it several times when on rides. I guess such hazards are just a part of our activity and it needs to be taken into consideration when you decide to participate. You need to be as prepared as possible for these things. Sorry you had to go through that.
I started to ponder, I have put off doing some more technical stuff because I was afraid of what might happen if I crashed and was alone. This reminds me that when your number is up, it is up. Don't matter if you are alone or with a group etc. But, I do carry a tire/tube repair kit.
Sad read. Thanks for the info though it's something we as riders should think about and have a game plan for.
I ride with a SPOT everywhere I go off tarmac and some areas here in the Ozarks when you are on Tarmac. I've used the SPOT twice, once for a friend that was T boned by a deer and once for myself when I dislocated my shoulder. Invaluable an worth every penny I pay yearly. Here there are areas so remote that SPOT can't sort (exactly) where you are so having coordinates is a good thing assuming your phone works (which is also a challenge here).
I saw on the news, they rescue a hiker, because of his phone & google earth. I tried it in Idaho & mapped a location & it knew right where I was.
Thank you for the reminder. Crazy story and sorry for your loss. Was he wearing a helmet? I forget that at 60 mph people can die. I got t boned by a escalade going 60 mph on a kx500 when I was 18 and walked away with just a huge bruise on my thigh. I guess I am just getting to the age where things start break and you do not walk away as easy as 18. 32 now. Have had several close calls like that never broke any thing. Need things like this to remind me random things happen to be prepared, its not always a situation to walk away from.
Very sad read indeed! Not that it would have made any difference in your case, but I have taken the splash and got myself one of these: http://www.inreachdelorme.com It's a great unit and always knows WHERE you are (using both GLONASS and GPS), but more importantly - it can ALWAYS communicate with the outside world, regardless of where you are! It uses the Irridium satellite network, which has true and complete global coverage. Heck, we used Irridium phones high on the Antarctic plateau, about 2500 miles away from the nearest cell-tower! It can be pre-set to provide regular position reports (as in every minute to every 30 minutes) to anyone that might be interested in your whereabouts and they can track your position on ay Internet connected device. In an emergency, you can initiate 2-way communication with the rescue authorities and it will automatically append your GPS position with all outgoing SMS's. Great piece of mind, both for me and the wife!
Quite the chilling read! Thanks for posting this and some good stuff surfaced as a result. I never heard of the inreachdelorme, very interesting!
A couple features with the Delorme inreach is that you can set it up so family members can send you a message in the case an emergency occurs at home and they need to contact you. Another is the inreach can be "paired" with smart phones so texting messages is much easier and quicker.
