It was Saturday late night and I was riding to pick my girlfriend up from her countryside job. It was July 22nd, 2012. It all happened in a tiny town called Sertolovo, not far away from St.-Petersburg, Russia.?I must say, I’m a crazy fan of Icon gear. That’s why I was wearing an Icon Variant helmet, Icon Recon jeans, Icon kneepads, Icon Field Armor boots, and Icon Overlord short gloves. Even T-shirt and hoodie were of Icon brand. On the back seat I had the Icon Airframe ’Search and Destroy’ helmet attached for my girl to put on.?I was riding about 80 mph on my street-converted 2006 FZ6 on the main road approaching the crossing. Suddenly a Mazda 3, coming from the opposite direction, started to take a left turn, when there was only about 70 ft between us. The only thing I could do was press the horn button and lower my speed to about 75 mph. I realized what was going to happen and tried to relax to make a good flight. I do remember the sound, but I blacked out while I was in the air. I was thrown about 30 ft from the point of contact. For a couple of minutes I laid on the road gathering my strength to get up. Then I went on my knees and heard the voices calling the ambulance and saying not to touch me until it comes. 2 minutes after, I had enough power to get up and tell everyone I’m alive. I could hardly see anything; it was hard for me to stay on my feet. The ambulance arrived in 2 or 3 minutes – that’s pretty fast out here. The doctor said I had no broken bones, but refused to have me taken to the hospital because we had to wait for the police. I wouldn’t let anyone deal with my broken bike, the FZ6 was trashed. The front rim had a big piece missing, one fork was off, both triples were broken into pieces, the right brake disc flew off and was on the ground, the radiator had a giant hole in it and the gauges, the controls, handlebar and headlights were destroyed. Even the right frame slider with a part of the frame was blown away by the hit.?The next day, after taking the bike to the garage, I went to the doctor and took about 10 X-Rays. None of the bones were broken, although my entire body hurt as if they were. I had many bruises and a small cut on the nose – that’s all!?When the cops arrived (in about 2h – that’s Russia, you remember?), they could hardly believe that I survived after such a hit. I thank Icon for producing the gear that saved my life! I do not want to think what could happen if I chose cheaper gear. The helmet is trashed, but it worked! My skull is still intact with no cracks, same as all of my bones! I’m not going to quit motorcycling, and the only gear I will purchase will be Icon. Thank you so much!
KonstantineB
Saint-Peteresburg, Russia
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