# Almost killed myself and 2 passengers. Selling the brute



## mystical_ice (Nov 19, 2009)

This evening i went riding with a close girl friend (18) and her younger brother (8). The brother sat in front of me (i was the driver), and she sat behind me. We went with two other bikes of people.

The whole evening we're doing easy trail rides, just having fun, listening to music. Then as we're getting ready to pack up and head out, i'm facing the back left end of my friend's F250 (try to picture it...) I start moving (in 2WD), and turn the handlebars to the right. I realize now, that the kid had his knees up, and his right knee hit the throttle. It took all of about 1 second for the bike to jump 10 feet forward, hit the back left quarter panel, and _climbed up the side of the truck_. This all happened before i could even find the kill switch. Not only that, but if you see the picture, the bike climbed up the BACK LEFT side of the truck, and i guess the wheels were still spinning, because it moved from the back left of the truck around to the back side. 

Picture explains the outcome.

About a dozen people from all around came running (this was close to the off-road park office), and several said they'd never seen anything like this happen before.

Thank God the bike didn't flip over. I owe it to that back rack, which saved me, and more importantly, my two younger passengers, severe injuries or worse. Thankfully, we all got up and walked away without a scratch or bruise.

The bike has a badly dented left bumper, and the plastic piece that covers the bumper is ripped up. Other than that it started right back up (of course i didn't ride it, i loaded it on the truck, cleaned it off, and took it home). One thing i notice, is that the front left wheel (which is the one that climbed up the truck) is leaning inward just a little. Everyone else said it looks fine, but i can tell that the top part is a little closer to the body of the bike than the left, you know? Like the camber is off. It still turns just fine, and it's not loose (tried shaking it), so what do you think it could be? The brake lines, A-Arms, etc. look to be just fine.

The truck's back left quarter panel is destroyed. You can't see in the picture, but the bottom part, right behind the wheel, is shoved back a good 8-10". The back bumper is bent down, the tow hitch electronics are hanging loose, the back left light is shattered. If anyone has any idea about how much i'm looking at in damages, please let me know. I'm estimating $4000, but I have no idea. The owner (a friend of mine) is going to take it to get a few quotes this weekend.

I'm just thankful that at the end of the day we walked away. If that bike had tipped back on us, i don't even want to think what would have happened.


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## sprintertech (Nov 22, 2009)

wow....things happen fast!luckily no one was hurt!


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## 88rxn/a (Mar 2, 2009)

holy cow....and i thought going into my hole on accident was bad...
glad everyone is OK!


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## brutus750i (Nov 17, 2009)

sorry to here about your accident.but i wouldnt ride three up,big responability


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## Polaris425 (Dec 16, 2004)

Glad everyone is ok. 

I wouldnt sell it, just, ride alone from now on.


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## mystical_ice (Nov 19, 2009)

yeah i blame myself, not the quad. i'm selling only because i don't think i can ever sit on it again and not think of this. the kid's sister asked me to take him, and so they both rode with me. the whole night i went extremely slow, didn't go through steep cliffs or hills or anything. i think the most 'dangerous' thing i did, was tell them both to hold on, and then give just enough gas to lift the front tires off the ground for a second (maybe 2 or 3") - and they loved that, but that's it. of course this would happen to us. of course. should never have had someone between me and the controls

any ideas as far as the front left wheel leaning a bit in? what could that be?


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## zacksbf (Sep 11, 2009)

I have seen some bad stuff happen when guys were loading and unloading that resulted in something like this. I hate that yal got banged up but at least everyone is okay now.
I wish I had some pictures but one of my friends was drinking and decided to load his polaris that night instead of the next morning and drove it all the way into the extended cab of his F150. It crunched up the cab real bad and the bulkhead of his bed. He ended up on his hood. That was scary for us to see and I couldn't imagine being the one on the bike.


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## gpinjason (Nov 10, 2009)

mystical_ice said:


> any ideas as far as the front left wheel leaning a bit in? what could that be?



Glad everyone is ok! as for the wheel leaning, check the tie rods... or the wheel itself may be bent...


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## MASSMUDDER (Dec 18, 2009)

haha that so funny , the brute tried running the truck over . luckily you guys were ok . one time my landlord had a party and everyone was riding his arctic cat 400 so i look outside and the grandmother was driving it with a nephew on the front it was in low gear thinking it shouldnt go to fast ,before you know it they try to take off and it jumps hard because the low end torque smashing directly into the deck the kid goes over the handlebars and so does the grandmother i was like omg it was so funny but scary all at the same time .3 years in a row trying to have fun people end up getting hurt riding the so called cute little honda 50. now no quads or anything motorized at any party with unexperienced riders (family members).


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## IBBruin (Feb 10, 2009)

Since everyone us ok, think of that as a learning experience. I think we have all done things we regretted when riding our wheelers. I'm not going to sit here and preach about what you did wrong, you know what it was. What I'm saying is learn from this mistake, respect the power between your legs and you will be a better rider for it. Face your fears and get back on that horse. It doesn't control you, you control it.

As far as the wheel leaning, inspect the frame real close where the upper a arms bolt to the frame. You'll probably seethe frame bent in slightly.


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## Masher (Jan 16, 2009)

When the go button is accidentally mashed bad things can happen fast on these bikes. Glad yall are ok.


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## Brute650i (Dec 17, 2008)

Sorry to hear that but glad yall are ok.


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## DaBrute (Aug 16, 2009)

IBBruin said:


> Since everyone us ok, think of that as a learning experience. I think we have all done things we regretted when riding our wheelers. I'm not going to sit here and preach about what you did wrong, you know what it was. What I'm saying is learn from this mistake, respect the power between your legs and you will be a better rider for it. Face your fears and get back on that horse. It doesn't control you, you control it.
> 
> As far as the wheel leaning, inspect the frame real close where the upper a arms bolt to the frame. You'll probably seethe frame bent in slightly.


Mystical ....1st: Glad everyone is ok.:bigok: 2cd: don't sell that brute! 

*Man IBBruin you and i think alike! Totally what i was going to say!
My buddy had a crash back in August and hasn't been on is horse since, he say's his shoulder is still too sore (poor b**tard). I know there is more to it than his shoulder, as he probably soiled himself in the crash and like mystical dosen't want to get back on. He totally destroyed the front right rim and bent the a-arm and mounts real bad, we took a rock and banged the rim enough that it would hold some air and headed home. I'll give em kudos though he rode 13km's with a (mostly flat) wobbling tire and a buggered shoulder.


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## Yesterday (Jan 2, 2009)

hate to read about the situation, but honestly i stopped reading after this part...



> Almost killed myself and *2 passengers*


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## lg07brute (Jul 20, 2009)

I'm gonna get on the don't sell it band wagon. Stuff like that happens, just a fact of life. You have to learn from the stupidness and not let it stop you from having fun. I wrecked my scrambler last spring, ended up in a ditch at 50mph. Totalled the wheeler, broke my collarbone, and I still don't remember about 9 hours of that day. The one "road cruise" I'd ever worn my helmet. Thank God I did. Lesson learned and now its almost always on my head. Was pretty timid when I finally got back on but happy I did.


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## ThaMule (Jan 26, 2010)

how much you want for the brute?


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## Guarino113 (Oct 3, 2009)

yeah dont sell it. some guy hit me on my bike at the drag strip. layed his bike down and knocked me off and sliding. i just fixed it and i was racing the next weekend. you think about it but you cant worry.


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## 70Chevelle (Nov 11, 2009)

Important thing is everyone is ok. About 4 years ago I came up over a hill going 55 (on my Prairie 300)slammed into the back of my buddy(who was at a dead stop in the middle of the road). He was fine, but I flipped, landed on my head, and my quad rolled on top of me. I thought as I hit the ground my neck was broke for sure. Luckily I was just sore and limpin for a while...But then I go out and by a Brute Force 750 that does 75mph!

I still think about what happened every time I ride...it just makes me that much safer when I ride.

Keep the Brute for a while at least...if you dump it right away you might regret it down the road. You can try adjusting the throttle stop so it will only go like 1/3 or 1/2 throttle...should make it a little less lethal!


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## tacoma_2002 (Jul 16, 2009)

Glad everything turned out the way they did. At the end of the day you can replace everything _except _someones life. I'm as guilty as anyone here doubling up, but if you absolutely HAVE to ride with a passenger...put um on the back not around the ATV's controls.


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## rhelms (Sep 18, 2009)

In my opinion everyone eventually has something happen, it's just a matter of time, and when it does you just have to learn from it. I was at my friends house one night after a ride and his 3 year old daughter wanted to go for a ride so I put her in front of me and took off down the road, in low gear doing about 5 mph. She didnt like that a bit and told me to go faster and when I wouldn't she hit the throttle for me. Scared the HELL out of both of us, luckily the only thing that happened was I learned a lesson. NOTHING BETWEEN THE DRIVER AND THE CONTROLS. You live you learn.


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## mystical_ice (Nov 19, 2009)

yeah this was 100% my fault, but it will never happen again


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## tacoma_2002 (Jul 16, 2009)

Just take it as a "lesson learned". Respect is the number one thing any person should have for any ATV...especially a BB like a brute. I myself sometimes find it hard to "respect" mine, but I usually get reminded pretty quickly .


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## Unclebill (Sep 4, 2009)

What does not kill you make you stronger and wiser


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## brandon1566 (Jan 17, 2010)

The wheel is probably leaning because the frame is bent, My friend has a brute with 32's on it, he hit a hole real hard and it cambered his wheel in. on the top part of the frame where the upper A arm meets its a thin tab deal that holds the A Arm, thats what bent on his. He pulled it and welded a brace on his and its been fine wheel straightend up.


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