Bad news from the weekend ride

After over 40 years of riding with the same mates, last weekend they went for the usual Sunday ride but I normally am with them but this weekend they forgot to tell me they were going, any way my mate Kevin who we rode with for many of years, he got out of the bike secne for a while (wife, kids, Morage etc) but a bout 2 years ago he got back into riding, he got a early Honda sports bike with over 130,000 ks on it, it handled pretty good, they were riding the Condendale range road he hit a cat eye in the middle of the road that was lose, it spat him off slid along the road hit a sign post on the side of the road and ended down a ditch, he was busted up badly but alive, took them 2 hours to get him out of the dich and had to get the air ambulance to to fly him out.
He is in the Nabour hospital a hours drive from home with a badly broken leg, in many places, a badly broken arm and they are going to fly him down to Brisbane hospital for surgery that is needed, but he is alive and in high spirits and lucky he has over 12 months of sick leave up his sleeve, I think this will be the end of his riding days if I know his wife, so I wish him a quick recovery.

Ashley

ash i hope this is the end and a start of a real good luck streak for you and your buds.

My luck has changed in the last week or so for the better but hope the bad luck hasn't rubbed onto my mates as I was riding with my mate that had the accident 2 weeks ago when I was still having a run of bad luck.

Ashley

I hate cats.

Our US members may not know what a "cat's eye" really is. Before I emigrated (1968) and was riding regularly in the UK, I had a few "wobblies" after hitting them but never got pitched off. With all the miles I did while working at N-V, much of them on country back-roads, I'm surprised it was only "a few".

frankdamp said:

Our US members may not know what a "cat's eye" really is. Before I emigrated (1968) and was riding regularly in the UK, I had a few "wobblies" after hitting them but never got pitched off. With all the miles I did while working at N-V, much of them on country back-roads, I'm surprised it was only "a few".

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Are the the bumps placed on the roads to let you know you are crossing the lanes?

swooshdave said:

Are the the bumps placed on the roads to let you know you are crossing the lanes?

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Cat's eyes = Retroreflective road studs.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat's_eye_%28road%29

http://www.catseye.co.uk/

http://www.drivingtesttips.biz/motorway-studs.html

So similar.

We typically have the recessed reflectors and the Blotts dots. I can hit the dots with a bike and it's not too bad. Anything bigger would be a handful.

The cats eyes that are put on the middle of the road that reflect, on our roads they sit up about 30mm or so and have angled sides, they heat up the tar with a blow torch to melt the tar then are stuck on the melting tar so when it cools down it should be stuck to the road but after some time some do become loose I alway try to avoid hitting them but sometimes you can't miss them and on this road where it happen is in the mountains with some very tight corners, it's a very popular road for bike riders.
Ashley

Hope your friend is doing ok. Over here, it's tar snakes that will put you on your ass in a heartbeat. Reflective "bots dots" are rather rare.

The top part with the "eyes" in is made of rubber, well, flexible anyway, and "should" depress flat when ridden over. That is the Idea.
In the days of 6v, single candle powered Lucas/Miller Lighting and low powered bikes, they marked the line of the road well. Cheaply anyway.
I have always made efforts to avoid, even in a straight line. Smooth, hard wearing rubber with a shiny metal surround while banked over? Nein Danke!

Hope your friend recovers well.

swooshdave said:

So similar.

We typically have the recessed reflectors and the Blotts dots. I can hit the dots with a bike and it's not too bad. Anything bigger would be a handful.

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Do you guys still have the 8" W x 3" H yellow Botts dots? I have hit them with a toe-drag or a peg drag, and nearly broke a toe more than once in my mis-spent youth.

Update to my mate, he's been transferred to Brisbane major hospital, had major surgery to his leg, steel pins inserted, leg back in the right position, all he needs to do is recover, he is in great spirits so his recovery should be much better and quicker with his positive adatitude, for a old bugger it will take time but hopefully all will be good.

Ashley

Good to hear.

nickguzzi:

I think the "depressibility" of the cat's eye was designed for the load of at least a double-decker bus! They're particularly nasty in cold weather when the "flexible" part becomes much less so.

Seems biker safety isnt considered. How unusual.

It used to be more considered in the days before the Austin/Morris Mini appeared on the market, as there were a lot more motorcycle commuters on the roads. When I was commuting, motorcyclists used to "trickle" through lines of stationary vehicles at traffic lights. When the light went green, the first dozen vehicles through were bikes.

I don't think the road constructiion indistry had durable reflective paint for road markings in the pre-WW2 era and the cat's eyes were the best they could dream up. In my early working life, very dense fog was frequent in winter so some type of reflective marker was vital.

Well my mate Kevin is out of hospital and back home, now all he has to do is recover, leg all pinned and plated up and left shatter elbow all plated up, he is not even allowed to put any weight on his leg for the next 2 weeks, they don't even put plaster on these days, a pressure bandage on his leg with a surport piece on the back of his leg, he be off the road for a few weeks but won't know until the surgeon see him again in 3 weeks then the recovery work starts.
I went and visted him yesterday and he is in high spirits but glad to be home his wife has taken 3 weeks off work till he gets out of the wheel chair, so far all good she hasn't said he can't ride again, but it will be some time before he does if he does.

Ashley