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[Ramirez9126]

I have been fairly well at looking through turns, except when there is gravel on the road.  I have a tendency to look at the road to have a path with the least amount of gravel.
   I was riding 2-up from Tehachapi to Bakersfield on a really windy back road.  There hasnt been snow in a few weeks and the roads seemed to be clear of gravel.  I came around a blind corner and was busy looking at the gravel instead of through the turn.  I road on the gravel while still leaning in the turn and the bike lowsided and we flew off.  She was still holding on to me until I went off the road and she let go and went another 10 feet. I was about 10 feet from the bike, got up and ran to her to see if she was ok.  She was good so I picked up the bike and put it in neutral and just coasted down the road until a shoulder came up. 
   She had a dime sized road rash on her knee, which she only had jeans on so I was surprised.  A few days later bruises appeared on her knees and left arm. We both had helmets and gloves.  She had a firstgear jacket which held up great.  My fieldsheer mesh jacket rid up on my left arm giving me road rash and the road tore through my dickies and sweats. My ankle was also swollen for a few days and has scrapes, but I only had shoes on which I am surprised they stayed on. 
    The left side of the bike was scratched, with a bent clutch lever and shift lever.  The clutch lever was bent so bad I wasnt able to use it, so I tried to bend it back and it snapped.  The metal that the left mirror attaches to was bent inwards, and I got a nice hole in the faring from when the blinker popped off andwent through the fairing.  My friend brought us home in the trailer because I didnt want to do clutchless shifting while riding 2-up.
    I will definitely be getting knee pads and boots and probably and new jacket for me.  I will post up pics when I get a chance.  We were only going about 20 mph when this happened and I am really glad that she was not hurt. 

[SCkid23]

A.T.G.A.T.T.  Glad you're ok in the long run.  Might want to get the ankle looked at if it gets worse. 

[Slvr720]

Glad you both are OK.   Echoing SCkid, keep an eye on that ankle... see the doc if it doesn't improve.
Target fixation is a bastard 

[Ramirez9126]

thanks, the swelling already went down, the crash was sunday, im just happy im the one that took the beating and not my girl

[sksrverret]

How long have you been riding before you decided to ride 2up also what would you consider your experience level to be.  I ask only for informational knowledge that I can pass on to other riders thinking of riding 2up.

[Ramirez9126]

haha i started riding 2-up after a week of experience, I have 2 months riding experience, and probably have put more miles riding 2-up than by myself. So I havent been riding very long or have that much experience which is why i crashed in the first place, not enough experience to look through the turn

[Tulok]

I'm sorry to tell you this but you should NOT have been riding 2 up. 2 months experience, even 1 year may not be long enough for some people! I'm glad you guys were not hurt too badly, but this time you got lucky.

[epThorn]

betcha thought those dickies and sweats would protect you some more, eh?
 
gravel's a batch. I'm scared of it plenty. Got a gravel road steeply inclined and curved I have to go up to get to my driveway... always worried about just this sort of episode. Luckily most of the gravel is shoveled away by snowplows...

[House_of_Dexter]

I'm sorry to tell you this but you should NOT have been riding 2 up. 2 months experience, even 1 year may not be long enough for some people! I'm glad you guys were not hurt too badly, but this time you got lucky.

+1...It's one thing to put your own life in danger...but it's another to put your passenger in danger because of your in experience.

[mzr37sp]

As long as the passenger knows that you are inexperienced, then I say it's ride at your own risk. If they are an adult with a reasonable ability to function within society, then they should be able to imagine the associated risks. If they don't, well then I would question whether or not they qualify as being able to reasonably function within society.

[mzr37sp]

.... all I'm saying is, why rag on the driver and not the passenger.

[House_of_Dexter]

.... all I'm saying is, why rag on the driver and not the passenger.

Because the passenger has no idea of the drivers competency...The only one who can make that judgment is the driver.  The passenger assumes since the driver is driving, they must know what they are doing.