[Madmax]

Not sure if I shared this here, my memory isn’t what it used to be, but I’ll tell it anyway..

A little over a month ago my brother-in-law brought his Kawasaki Prairie 300 over to ride up in the mountains behind my house, I’m right at the foot of the Cherokee National Forest.

A good friend of mine has several hundred acres that I ride on whenever I get the chance, only about 5 miles or so from my house!

Well he and I are over there riding and everything is going great, about 2 hours into the ride we come down this trail that has a really rough and steep downhill, huge roots, rocks, and water erosion…tends to be a nasty one! This same place just about got me the first time I came down it…I was honestly looking for mine to roll when I finally nailed the gas and just hung on…I’m familiar with the place..

Well, when we get to that point I stopped and warned him to be careful, this is the place we talked about…watch what I do.

I start down this thing and when I get to the really bad parts with the drop-offs at the roots I plant both feel on the left side of the bike, let the right front go out in the air until the left is out of a place to go…then hit the gas…pretty rough stuff but it works.

When I get to the bottom and out of the way, glad to have made it again, I turn to see how he’s doing. About the time my head was looking back up the trail I hear a wreck happening quickly, I see the Kaw rolling over on him and now it’s headed straight for me…quickly!

I hit the gas and by the time his machine hit mine it really didn’t do any damage.

He’s laying up there, pretty much screaming, moaning, yelling at me to help!

I get up to him and he’s shattered his right collar bone, broken 3 ribs in his back, and broke one of his ankles…as well as the obligatory cuts and scrapes..

At this point we were down in a hole with steep grades in and out…not good. I had to just about carry him up the hill we were going to ride up, he said just let me sit here and see if you can get my bike up here.

I tried…no…the Kaw was not going to start…

I start undoing the winches on both machines and the cables still would not reach each other..now he starts with more yelling, the collarbone is coming through the skin with a pretty good amount of blood..he says leave the Kaw and get me outta here!

I wedge him between me and my cooler and try my best to take it easy…really can’t be done as this part out of there just looks like a wide and rocky river bed.
Got him home, about 6 miles or so. Already called my Wife so she called his and she was waiting to take him to the ER…they didn’t really do much and sent him home.

At this point I have to get his bike out of there before rednecks find it and it leaves. One of my neighbor’s was working a field, I asked him if he’d help rescue the Kaw…YEP!

He’s got a Honda Pioneer, we load it with one of my long chains and his as well. We get up there and nobody’s been there, good deal. We hook the chain and he is pulling me up this steep climb…yep…chain slips and I go flying backwards, go it stopped about half way down before I get in trouble. He hooks the chain to me again and we get it out. Shortened the chain to about 10 or 12 feet and he pulls me all the way home.

That evening I put the battery of his bike on charge cause we killed it in the woods and now try to see why it wouldn’t start. Didn’t take long…all it did was knock the sparkplug wire off!

He said it doesn’t matter if it starts anymore…he says he ain’t riding with me anymore…or riding period…!

I told him that if had had done what I did he would have probably made it ok…I said you looked like some crazy guy on an electric scooter at Walmart flying over the top of that hill…all ya left out was “Yee Haw”!

He still hurts when he laughs..! :smile2:

 

[JimP]

Glad he wasn't hurt too bad, these machines can get deadly real quick.

There have been a lot of times when I have taken someone out on a new trail to them and when I get to the rough parts I have them just park it until I can either get down it and hike back up or get into a location where I can spot them as they drive down it or at times I have even ridden the other machine through the bad section if the other person doesn't feel safe doing it. I have even hit spots where the other person refuses to take his machine through and just turns around and goes back. Being safe always pays off.

I remember my first crash on a 1989 Big Bear. We were out in around 2' of snow going up a hill when I lost traction and started backing down. I don't know if I hit the brake or a rock with a rear tire but I remember the bike coming up and over me. I felt the ground hit my back and remember thinking that I need to push it up and off of me since my feet were still on the foot pegs. I pushed up and the machine rolled over me but I forgot to let go. The next thing that I remember was being like a sky diver up in the air spread eagle and thinking that this is going to hurt when I land. Luckily with the snow I came out alright just embarrassed. My friend that was behind me at the bottom of the hill said that I looked like a rag doll when I finally let go of the hand grips. But that was back when I was fairly young and limber, now I am a lot older and take things a lot easier.

 

[TRW]

These machines are a lot of fun, and very handy, but they can be dangerous. When it comes to pushing the machine to the edge, it is time to think very hard. A 300 is about a 500 lb machine, a 700 if far heavier and if that lands on you or roles over you, you may not survive. Glad everyone is OK, thanks for sharing!

 

[Jssrvlz]

That looks like a pretty freaky spot. He didn't quite understand the fact that he needed to have you show him the correct lines. Ive got people I know that will hit the wrong lines every time if you let them.

Ive helped to roll a Kodiak 700 off my friend after he was trapped between the ATV and a big rock. He just messed up his ribs but no breaks. LUCKY. It is scary, Im sure it being such a serious injury, it was pretty wild

I live near Royal Blue and Caryville, you guys aren't tooooo aweful far from me!!!

 

[Madmax]

Yeah you're pretty close, come on up and I'll give ya tips on getting down that spot! :grin2:

I'd like to get down and check those out around you, heard there's some good riding!

 

[CodyKodiak]

Holy Schnikes! What a story! I'm so happy you guys are okay and able to laugh about it. What an adventure... Sending quick healing vibes to your bud.

 

[Hercanstein]

Wow! That sounds like a harrowing adventure! Thanks for sharing. These machines can be very dangerous.

I always tell people that come riding with me that have less experience that if they ever feel uncomfortable with a spot on the trail that might be too difficult for them to just stop and wait. If after instruction on how to overcome the obstacle they are still uncomfortable with it I will take the quad over/through the obstacle for them and let them get back to having fun. I have been very thankful for the times that riders stop and don't attempt to ride over/through an area that they are uncomfortable with, it helps me to understand their riding level better and pick routes that match their abilities.

Happy Trails!

: )B

 

[Primethious]

That root section looks alot easier to go down than up as long as you could throttle over it.
I plan on taking my Dad out on some easy trails around my place in a week or two with him riding my old 250SX three wheeler. It'll be a first gear deal as he has about 2 minutes experience.


We forget others don't do so well so we have to take care of them if we want riding buddies for the future.
There was a guy I used to shoot the **** with online that went canyon carving with someone who had significantly better riding skills, and he didn't survive the ride. Went head first into a tree and was killed instantly. He only had only been riding for a year.
Even with the broken bones your buddy's lucky.

 

[Madmax]

Yeah, going down is pretty challenging, going up is treacherous when you get to the roots that are really washed out...4wheelers want to rare up every time. It's gotten even worse since those pics were taken due to heavy erosion, I just avoid it anymore since I'm most always out there by myself and there are some great ways around that spot.

Every time I get to that place now, I think about what happened to my brother-in-law and try to imagine myself in that circumstance being by myself...that'll make me happily take another route!

 

[Colorado Kodiak 700]

I almost went over backwards one time going over a rock section and I was thinking at the time that I wasn't gong to be able to get out of the way. It was going to land right on me. I'd seen where people going over a tough section will move their body to one side of the atv and rest one knee on the seat. This gives them an easier opportunity to jump off if needed. I should have done that and will try a safer approach in the future.