After thinking about this, I must admit that the guy showed genuine remorse and relief that I was not hurt and told the deputy the truth when he could have easily lied in an attempt to minimize his culpability. Even when I was in his face cussing and raising hell, he continued to apologize. I think that I may have pissed off the deputy with my rage and not accepting that the guy was trying to accept responsibility.

I agree that the engine guard was instrumental in minimizing the damage to the bike and my leg...it took the impact and pushed me back away from the other vehicle...engine guards may not look all that sexy, but they do work...

I took off the bent engine guard and rode the same road again today...The frame looks fine, the cross piece that the upper part of the bar mounts to is bent in the middle and the bike is tracking true. I will go over it when I put another engine guard on and make sure that there is no hidden damage but I am not going to nit-pick looking for stuff that don't mean nothing as long as it tracks true and rides smooth.



I got lucky this time...

 

PM sent...

 

Man, I think you hit the nail on the head in that post.

Likely you were--understandably--too full of adrenalin to be reasonable and the cop recognized that and got you to the side for your own good until you cooled down.

I was going to ask how he ticketed the Jeep driver if he didn't see the collision, then read that the driver admitted what happened.

Sounds like the driver simply made an honest, though stupid and near-deadly, mistake and was trying to do right afterward.

Glad you're OK and your bike's damage wasn't too great.

 

The driver passed the deputy who was in the left lane before hitting me. I heard the deputy tell the driver this and mention he was going too fast when he told him he was going to ticket him. What the deputy didn't see was the impact which happened a hundred feet or so further down. It is illegal but very common for cars to pull out into the center turn lane well before they are supposed to...I have even seen LEOs doing this at this very spot. I have also seen DPS troopers sitting in the center lane running radar and sitting in the parking lot across the street pulling folks in for doing this...

 

You are very, very lucky you were able to keep it upright. Good for you.

 

Actually it was pretty steady when I was hit and afterwards. I was really surprised that it felt like a little bounce but it was a pretty solid hit and made a big noise. I do not recall that it even wobbled. I moved back over into the left lane then back into the center turn lane and looked around for pieces of my ride on the road and blood on my pants leg...other than the engine guard, there was no other damage to the bike and all I had was a small dollar bill sized bruise on my leg just below my knee. My shoulder also took a hit and is a little sore. It just wasn't my time, I guess.

 

Your lucky.
I know two people that lost a leg this year.
Tons of idiots on the road.
Good driving to keep it up.