Friend took a spill and lived.

News of a motorcycle accident is not always good. A buddy of mine was on a solo trip to Bangor, Maine on Fathers' Day. He is a relatively new rider on a 400 Burgman. He had secured some pack on the back seat for the trip. Somehow it came loose and unsettled his ride. He says he was cruising at 50 mph when he felt the first sign of trouble. While he was trying to control the bike to stop properly, the rear wheel locked up and he went over the bars.
Fractured right collar bone and cracked a few ribs and passed out till the emergency crew got to him. He has some road rash on both knees and that's the extent of his injuries.
He had told himself he would ride till his first accident and this it for him. I told him I was grateful that he was alive and relatively well and talking about this accident because it could easily have been much worse.

The first accident is out of the way ... no need to stop riding now !  If the parachute fails and you live ... get back in the plane and try to get it right the next time !

Glad he is OK ... and will heal cotetoi.

Mike

Accidents really really suck! Glad he's going to be OK.

I've been in a couple myself and am glad I came out OK. One was my fault and I learned my lesson about drinking and riding. The other was a woman in a car who made a left turn in front of me. Luckily it was in town and we weren't going fast. Still it messed up the bike but I came out pretty good with only a few bumps and bruises.

There isn't really an "accident". I would call it a mishap caused by inattention or carelessness. It was totally avoidable. I wonder how the insurance company will see it.

What caused the rear wheel to lock?

and if the rear wheel locked up why did he 'go over the handlebars'? probably panic struck and operator error took over (he locked the brakes and lost control of the bike). Glad he is quitting riding bikes but sadly he will likely remain operating a vehicle and remain a danger to us all.

At a guess I'd say if the pack on the rear seat wasn't secure on one side, the loose strap or bungee caught in a rear wheel spoke and jammed the wheel as the other side of the pack held tight.

but when the rear wheel locks you dont go flying over the handlebars like you would if the FRONT wheel locked! - physics is a female dog.

**** happens as they say, and motorcycle crashes happen all the time. There's already been quite a few serious and fatal crashes here on North Yorkshire's roads in the last few months. Back in April there were 3 riders killed in separate incidents on one Sunday over in Cumbria where I used to live. There's always fatalities every year over on the Isle of Man when the TT is on, competitors crash in practice or during the races, and there's always TT fans killed riding their own bikes.

There was a fatal crash here in North Yorkshire only last weekend, the rider sustained a broken collar bone and other injuries, and his female passenger was killed.

My guess is that my friend does not really remember the exact sequence of events. He knows the pack on the rear seat was the culprit, and likely by coming loose. He is guessing that the rear wheel locked up. All that is certain is that he went flying over the bars, and came to when the EMS were stabilizing his neck on the stretcher. He is still going to attend our weekly gatherings, but he's not going to ride any more.
I respect his decision. He's not a total fool; he's a Veterinarian, albeit now retired.