Former Gov Riley crashes on haul road

[Norwood]

http://blog.al.com/live/2011/06/bob_riley_motorcycle_accident.html

[cpannarbor]

What in the world was he doing riding a Harley on a wet Dalton Hwy alone in Alaska returning from the Arctic Circle? Maybe we could suggest a different model more suited to his "Adventure."

[Norwood]

What in the world was he doing riding a Harley on a wet Dalton Hwy alone in Alaska returning from the arctic circle? Maybe we could suggest a different model more suited to his "Adventure."

Yes and in regard to putting it down.... Bet that Harley laid itself down without waiting for rider input...

[cpannarbor]

That is exactly what I told Jill when I heard the story this morning. Who "lays down" their bike to prevent falling??

[Remy]

I posted on another forum that this was biker talk for "I meant to do that".

[Vance]

Got to love those news writers! What I heard on last night's news was "he laid it down to avoid losing control"

all I could say was.....HUH????????

[R90srider]

The Govoner's "lay down" sounds like a high side get off to me. I've been there and done that on a Harley. If one depresses the rear brake with to much force, the rear end will try to pass the front end, and if you let off the brake, the machine will turn into a slingshot sending the rider over the handel bars. I was forunate; only 5 broken ribs and a punchured lung.

[Ric]

It's easy to understand....you want to hit the skids and let it slide out (lay-her-down) or would you rather hold it up and go off the edge ?

This a where he went down...plus or minus a mile or so...

[Norwood]

On the unpaved Haul Road, rock is dumped and the trucks pack it in...however the loose edges may have a pile of rock from 3 to 18 inches high....called a Berm...therefore in many sections there is a one lane road or narrow roadway.

Berm is the loose gravel or rock that is moved to the edge by machines or trucks and forms a ridge...that you have to cross over to get out of the way of oncoming trucks.

Likewise the gravel can be loose in the middle of the road if the road grader has just leveled it and the packer OR trucks have not packed it down...now add to the mix.. the chemicals or rain and you got yourself a slick road and having to deal with the Berms from the last load of rocks.

If you meet a truck and move over...you almost always cross over a Berm, then you have to keep your speed up to "stay on top" of gravel and not get buried down into it.. low speed equals an uncontrollable situation.

Now the trick...at least for me... was to move from the loose gravel over the Berm and back into the main road, where you hope it is packed. To me, I found the proper angle and speed and gear that was in my comfort level to cross the Berm.

Many drops or crashes are due to crossing these Berms... I found them to blend in very well with the road and easy to drift over to the edge and find yourself in the loose rocks and on top a Berm...

In the photo, looking at the right two arrows you can see that the edge looks higher, therefore loose as a goose.

My plan was to look for oncoming trucks....I would slow, gear down and move over the berm, put on my flashers and stop to wait on the truck, if the edge was packed I would move at slow speed... 90 percent of the trucks would acknowledge my moving over and would indeed slow down, put on flashers and ease by..... I would then cross the berm and proceed until the next truck...after all... I was playing and they where working.

As for the governor, if I had to guess ...I would say a berm was involved...and as a friend said...the Harley laid down without waiting on rider input..

[Norwood]

Looking close at the picture again....is that a piece of wire stretched across the road? Was Uncle Milton in the area?