[md86]

Ride with the rear pegs down in rememberance , guys . I know not everyone knows that little ritual ...

[AHF]

It's a sad day when we loose ANY motorcycle rider.

RIP Jason

[OldandReallySlow]

R.I.P Jason, we didn't always agree on your riding style however, we always agreed on your riding. You will always be riding with me.

[HS2020]

My thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends. God Speed.

RIP

[Steve_Guelph]

Omg....R.I.P buddy. Much too young.

[nitros222]

According to the newspaper article.
He was 22.

[KatanaSoldier]

That is horrible.

[The CyberPoet]

RIP JASON.

Now, for the rest of the story:
Jason was on his way to my house at the time of his accident, to join Malloc and I for a "mechanic's day" -- we were doing a valve adjustment service on Malloc's bike and I was to do a carb sync on Jason's. Actually, the original plan had been to get his bike here on Friday, so it would be cold Saturday when we would be working on it, in which case Jason's bike would have gotten a valve adjustment as well... but plans for transporting his bike in advance didn't work out (partially my doing), and naturally now I am kicking myself somewhat for not getting involved in the karmic instance that might have offset his fate... Note that I said offset, not prevented...

I spoke to Jason last at 12:18PM on Saturday to verify he was still coming. Not knowing his situation (I didn't know his family or really know any of his close buds except in passing, so I didn't get any notification), I called his phone at 4PM and left voice mail asking if he was still planning on showing up or if I should put away the tools... Obviously he didn't answer. I figured I had simply been blown off for one of the more important things that crop up unexpectedly in a young man's life and didn't think about it twice, knowing that he was supposed to still show up at a BBQ/Party we had at my place today (Sunday). He didn't make the party either, I am sad to report.

Then I got the call after Malloc left the BBQ/party (Malloc ducked out early) notifying me of what happened. The first phone call wasn't so bad -- it was that Jason was in ICU -- and we agreed to run down there in a couple hours after the party wound down. The second phone call three minutes later really sucked, when the rest of the details emerged...

Jason had been medivac'd out and booked into Tampa General ICU yesterday (Saturday), bleeding extensively. His brain was surrounded by blood, and his lung collapsed. He had extensive abdomen damage and liver damage causing his blood to not coagulate. At the time, it was realized he probably had permanent brain damage.
Due to extreme brain hemoraging leading to an internal skull-cavity pressure level in excess of 75 psi, a decision was made today (Sunday) by the ICU doctors to disconnect him from life support. This decision was based on the fact that no one ever survives continued exposure to that pressure level, and I'm fairly sure they had brain-wave scans to back up their prognosis when the decision was rendered. I do not know any further details, and unless I contact the ER staff on duty or the FHP officers at the scene, it is doubious that I will, so please don't ask me for them. If I get them for my own morbid reasons, and they provide any insight, I will share them.

Jason is the first rider in many, many years to have departed this life whom I knew reasonably well and had ridden with recently -- I don't normally make friends with people who push it as hard and fast as he did, and for just this reason -- some level of tragedy is usually associated with such friendships, and I don't like enduring the consequences. He had been lambasted on KR for his poor attitudes, and his predilictions towards stunting and wild-arsed riding ("pushing it"), and had been lambasted in person by many of the local bikers for the same thing (many wouldn't ride with him -- a shame, because those who would pushed him harder and faster than he would have gone otherwise).

Rather than lambast him, I had done the best I could, and had arranged to give him progressively more riding training, but unfortunately time constraints and the fact that we lived quite far apart had only netted him a single training date so far... one in which we concentrated solely on his cornering, because that was where the majority of his previous accidents had been. At least I can say with surety that it wasn't a corner that got him...

Jason was riding on a new set of EDIT: Dunlop Qualifiers, having replaced his front tire earlier this week to match his rear (replaced a month ago), and had already rode it in, so poor tire traction should not have been a part of the reason. His oil cooler, however, might have been a contributing factor. His damaged frame hadn't held his old cooler well, and it had formed a leak at the right horizontal member that join the tubes; I had sold him a replacement cooler off a 750 I had sitting around this previous week, and he did mention that it was a poor fit because of the extra length. The fact that the rear EDIT: Dunlop Qualifiers shredded in the accident did bring one other former rider/neighbor of mine to make an observation -- what if his rear blew out on him while he was riding and that is what resulted in the rest of the events? A possibility not to be discounted at this point. Nor is the possibility that his frame literally gave out finally from previous damages.

Although Jason was sometimes hot-tempered here at KR (and earned himself a ban from KR as a result), in real-life, where the twinkle of an eye or the grin at the corners of a mouth can betray an emotional context better, he was a combination great guy, cool individual and wild man. He was the type of guy you'd like to have at a party and would never worry about him making an arse of himself. He was cool and collected most of the time while standing on two feet -- jovial and humorous, and infectiously spirited, not too talkative, not too quiet, just a good blend of social skills. Unfortunately, on two wheels, he was a wild man, pushing too hard, too fast, too often -- especially for someone who had only been riding for about a full year now. He really needed to have started out on a Ninja 250, and from this day forth, I will embed his memory in my recommendations for small bikes as first-bikes.

Many of us remember his self-reported first six accidents in his first six months, a poor omen of things to come to be sure, but he was persistent in trying to get better (and taking as much as he could from as many sources as he could manage), and had been accident free since before the new year rolled in. It is tragic that he has left this mortal coil, and I for one, will miss him. At the rally, I will raise a toast in his honor, a fallen young man on a Katana who couldn't be kept down. I hope you will either toast his memory with me, or at least humor me, when the time comes.

For MySpace members, his page is:
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm...endid=11756319

Deeply saddened today...
=-= The CyberPoet

[ne-oublie]

My prayers and thoughts for his family and friends,Wildkat said it best.

PS... This really should go without saying but out of respect for him and his family. I know Jason didnt always ride in a "safe" manner, and we've all talked to him many times here on KR...let's just remember to not be judgemental at a time like this and be respectful of his family & friends.

R.I.P Jason.

[crazymofo]

sad day indeed.

RIP jason



joe.

[Malloc]

RIP Jason , i will miss you .
i hope you didnt feel much pain my friend , you can ride with me anytime buddy as i ride with my rear pegs down most of the time.
your friend always Van

[Sufyan]

Sad day.

RIP Jason.

[Mojoe]

My condolences to Jason's friends and family. It is tragic indeed.

Anything that has to be said about Jason's riding style has already been said, so I will leave it at that.

However, I hope his death is not in vain. Hopefully it will serve as an example to those individuals who sometimes receive constructive critisim for their riding habits. We can all over estimate our abilities from time to time, and when a fellow rider points that out.....maybe you should actually listen. And with no disrespect for Jason, he serves as an example of what can happen if you don't.

And because I can not be at the service to pay my respects to him personally, I will say the words here.

"Jason, you crazy mofo. You lived your life on the edge with reckless abandon with no regard to your own life in the least. I will assume you did it with a "when it's your time to go, it's your time to go" attitude. You constantly pushed the envellope and loved every minute of it. And when your time was up, you went out loud and proud. That, Jason, I can respect. May you rest in peace".

[WildKat]

Very well written CP and thanks for all the updated information. We appreciate it very much.

And Mojoe makes a valid point. As sad a day as this is for his family & friends perhaps the counts of his riding style and the accident itself can help serve as a wakeup call for someone that may need it. Whether the accident was related to faulty equipment / tires, or just riding too fast for conditions, or a combination of several factors; everyone remember to pay attention and never twist the throttle with your ego.

[kelly]

My Pegs will be down

Wow...I used to live in Tampa, and I know that area where he was. I will keep my rear pegs down for him...
RIP Dude.