Thanks for all of the words of support and condolences. The accident occured probably no more than two miles from his home. He had just taken his sister for a ride on the new CUSE8, dropped her off and was heading home when the accident occured. We had a large group of our local HOG chapter take food and items to the home yesterday. Afterwards, several of us went to the crash site.
Several things aren't making sense to me. The driver of the pick up said the bike came around a curve in his lane. The truck was coming out of a slight curve, the bike was in a straight away. The point of impact, which is very obvious, is almost on the shoulder of the bike's side. This is an old country road, no center line, poorly maintained, etc. The police reported the bike left a skid mark about 20 feet. Skid mark? With anti-lock brakes? Oh yeah, the skid mark is on the truck's side of the road, well before the point of impact. There are no skid marks from the truck. The driver of the truck never hit his brakes, not even after impact.
My friend was not thrown from the bike. The grill of the truck stopped him. His neck was broken as was every bone in his body from his shoulders down.
This happened in a rural area. The sheriffs office has a long reputation for less than stellar work. Their attitude at the crash site was that if a biker was involved, it must be his fault.
Knowing for certain what happened won't bring Johnny back, and it very well may have been his fault. But with the local yahoo's on the case, we will never know.
I rode today. It was the first time that I had questionable thoughts about riding. Those thoughts did disappear after a few twisties. That's the way Johnny would want it. Johnny is getting an escort Wednesday from the HOG Chapter. That will make him smile up above.
Be safe out there and take care of one another.
Rusty
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Topic: Fatality (Read 6763 times)