SuzukiSavage.com /cgi-bin/YaBB.pl General Category >> Rubber Side Down! >> Worst disaster on any bike /cgi-bin/YaBB.pl?num=1090986676 Message started by savagethumper on 07/27/04 at 20:51:16

Title: Worst disaster on any bike Post by savagethumper on 07/27/04 at 20:51:16 I know a lot of you guys have many years of experience on bikes, and I was wondering what the worst thing that ever happened was, while riding a bike.  Mine pretty lame;  I had a Suz 250 that had a bad front brake, and when the thermometer hit over 100 degrees down here in Tx, it would screw up and cause the front brake to lock up tight.  I didn't realize this when I hit a small patch of gravel at about 40 mph.  The next thing I knew, I was on my back, and the bike was across the intersection.  I was so embarassed that I jumped up and grabbed the bike by the exhaust pipe(yea.. I wasn't thinking clearly) and proceeded to burn the hell out of my arm; doing even more injury to myself than the actual accident.  Took about 2 months for my arm to heal enough to not gross people out.

Title: Re: Worst disaster on any bike Post by bigdan on 07/27/04 at 21:08:20 i've been riding 30+ years without a lay down 'till 3 weeks ago. still don't remember what happened, except i ended up in a 6' deep, 10' wide ditch with about 12-15" of nasty stagnant, smelly, vile water in it. i was on my '97 Valkyrie. it's in a shop now, had to argue with the insurance to get it looked at instead of automatically totaling it. i came out with very bruised & sore ribs, a busted blood vessle in my left eye, a busted vessle in my brain, (yes i WAS wearing a brain bucket, thank God!), & cuts on my left wrist wear my watch was torn off (metal band too!).

Title: Re: Worst disaster on any bike Post by Jon on 07/28/04 at 00:42:04 The three most memorable... 1) There used to be a popular dirt riding area around here in old coal field.  The place was loaded with single-track trails and hill climbs.  I was riding a 125 happily following a trail through the woods when, without any indication or warning, the trail stopped.  I mean it ceased to exist and I found myself free falling with the front wheel pointing down.  It was a looong drop so I had plenty of time to think I would die.  Fortunately, at the base of the cutback was enough earth to form a radius which allowed me to roll out with suspension totally compressed instead of splashing myself again a canyon floor.  I got off the bike and sat trembling for a while as I gazed up at the cliff I had just ridden off.   2) Getting t-boned by a half drunk mental midget who drove through a stop sign.  I saw him coming at me and clamped the binders.  The 65 Mustang's right-front headlight impacted the bike's tank four inches in front of my left knee.  As I went over the bars I bent them into a U shape.  I deflected off the car's windshield and ended up on the concrete in the intersection.  My then new CB350 was bent just behind the steering head and was totaled. 3) Getting rear-ended on the freeway.  Traffic was heavy and road speed fluctuated between 40 to 50mph.  The car that hit me was an 02 Mustang which had the new style bumper with plastic shell over foam core.  As the car hit the bike and launched it forward, the bike's rear tire caught the bumper shell and rolled it up under the seat of the bike.  This process ripped all but one end of the bumper completely off the car.  When we stopped the bike was embedded in the front of the car, totally upright and rigid.  It took three of guys to pry the bike loose.  $400 worth of damaged plastic on the CB750 and I rode it home.  The car's bumper was laying in the street, it's radiator was punctured and leaking, and had to be towed away.

Title: Re: Worst disaster on any bike Post by Greg_650 on 07/30/04 at 03:05:15 Mine was in 1975 riding a Honda 360 on a trip from Norfolk, VA to SC.  It was a comedy of errors actually, since I was also a comedy on a bike too....oh yes, I thought that I was so cool in those days. I was riding with a Coke in the old glass bottle tucked between my legs at around 55 on a brand new Honda on US 52 in VA.  As I raised the bottle to take a drink, I jammed it into my face shield (DOH!) which I had forgotten was there.  That caused me to drop the bottle which bounced off of the tank causing a dent.  That also caused me to be covered in wind blown Coca Cola which caused me to become rather "peod" and I quickly decided to pull off the road. Since none of this was very calculated, I pulled off as soon as possible without slowing much into the gravel on the side of the road where I quickly lost control.  After this I don't remember much of the next few seconds, because I slid across an intersecting road, collided with a stop sign and dismounted the bike quickly.  This was followed with the bike flipping 3 times and myself laying in a ditch (according to a following driver). When all was said and done, with the bike being loaded up, I noticed a pain in my thigh, a hole in my jeans, and a small amount of blood....and off to the hospital I went.  Generally, I was in pretty good physical shape in those days and I sustained mostly bruises with one exception.... At the hospital I watched the doctor extract a thumb size piece of Coke bottle from the top of my thigh.   :-[

Title: Re: Worst disaster on any bike Post by Savage_Rob on 07/30/04 at 06:50:50 Luckily mine was not too bad.  At the time I rode a '76 KZ750 with a nice wide highway bar and hard bags with chrome rails around them.  It was a morning commute to work at about 40 MPH and had just started raining so the road was still slick with the oil film that had not yet been washed off.  To this day, I don't know why the fellow in front of me slammed on his breaks but slam he did.  I hit mine also but obviously not properly because after only a second or two, the back of the bike seemed to shoot out to the right.  It immediately went down.  By then, I was probably moving at about 25 MPH but was now doing it on my side with the bike spinning out in front of me.  I remember clearly going through a mental checklist... Head tapped the pavement (thank you helmet), nothing feels broken, rain suit seems to be sliding fairly well on the road..... I just HOPE the car behind doesn't hit me.  He managed to swerve around and stopped to see if I was okay.  The rain suit had worn through at my left elbow and knee and left scuffed and wet denim underneath both with a silver dollar sized hole in the side of the left elbow of my jean jacket.  My only actual injury was a minor raspberry on my arm.  The haighway bar and hard bags protected my leg and the bike.  The bike had a few scuffs and the shifter was barely bent (the piece of pipe I kept as a wrench extender corrected that).  I was able to pick it up and ride to work.  I'll say this:  I did not need any coffee when I arrived.  I now always wear protective gear and insist on a highway bar.

Title: Re: Worst disaster on any bike Post by Susan on 07/30/04 at 07:45:12 Thanks to all for sharing their stories.  They are instructive, particularly to new riders such as me. Savage_Rob, What's a highway bar?  Is that the same as an engine guard?  Susan

Title: Re: Worst disaster on any bike Post by Birdmove on 08/01/04 at 09:41:27  If we start telling dirt riding stories-I'll be here all night.I have a few street stories: 1.I was riding my 1982 Suzuki SP500 dual sport one a beautiful sunnt day near Puyallup,Wa. I was getting on a freeway,where the two on-ramp lanes narrowed down to one lane.I was looking at Mt.Rainier of to the right.The car ahead of me was moving over,which was normal because of the two into one lane converging.I looked ahead and saw a large cardboard box directly in my path.I treid to swerve,but still hit it towards the corner(I remeber thinking"I hope it empty").The box,I soon learned,contained one of those double stainless steel kitchen sinks.It flew up when I hit it and nailed me on my right foot.I was able to hold the bike up, and pulled over hoping I hadn't bent my front wheel(as usual,I wasn't thinking about the pain in my foot).Anyway,it turned out okay.No damage to the bike or permanant damage to the foot.But I no longer can make the statement that I've"hit eveything but the kitchen sink".    One time about twenty years ago,I was riding my 1980 Suzuki GS450S to work in the early morning.There were woods on both sides of the road,and the speed was about 40-45 mph.I see a large dog appear on my left,and a little ahead of me, coming righr at me.I speed up a little,but he corrects his path to nail me.He is heading straigh at me!This dog ends up smashing right into my bike!He hit the engine cooling fins on the right side.He then yelped and ran back off into the woods.I stopped to check the damage.He left blood and dog hair on the engine fins;bent the shift lever(and also hurt my left foot some where he hit me),and cracked the left side plastic side cover.Of course the peolpe at work wouldn't believe me until I showed them the dog hair and blood.

Title: Re: Worst disaster on any bike Post by james may on 07/21/10 at 13:08:08 Only time I've crashed trying to negotiate a u turn at way too fast and hit a patch of loose sand and dropped completely sideways. No damage to myself but jacket and jeans took a beAting also small tank dent and bent peg.

Title: Re: Worst disaster on any bike Post by JohnBoy on 07/21/10 at 19:50:34 http://lh4.ggpht.com/_TCSH6bqjHEM/Sj7wZBp9CWI/AAAAAAAAAOY/XdHr0KOQjic/motorcycle03.jpg This is what happens when you make a left turn into an on coming truck without looking first. It didn't help that I have limited vision in my right eye. This "was" a 700 pound 2001 Kawasaki Voyager. It was absolutely perfect, and I killed it in less than a second. They found the trunk about 200 hundred feet away. I woke up ten days later with no memory of the accident and wondering why I had a new face and a broken neck. I'm told that the driver of the truck was so shook up that he couldn't get out of his truck for an hour. This was in 2007 and I am still healing. Look before you leap!!!

Title: Re: Worst disaster on any bike Post by Skid Mark on 07/22/10 at 13:19:46 Back when I was 14, I rear ended a car on my Kawasaki 90 doing about 30 mph. I was about to pass him and a pedestrian crossed the road in front of the car, the car hit the brakes, I hit the car. It didn't help that it happened in front of the police station. Thankfully I only had a few scrapes and bruises and the bike only has some bent forks. Never tailgated again!!!

Title: Re: Worst disaster on any bike Post by Serowbot on 07/22/10 at 14:10:26 Johnboy,... I can barely tell that's a motorcycle anymore!... Here's a pic of my best... :-?...  the guy ran a stop sign and hit me... http://p1.bikepics.com/pics/2008%5C09%5C23%5Cbikepics-1427612-full.jpg

Title: Re: Worst disaster on any bike Post by CeliaMarie on 07/22/10 at 14:51:35 Well, besides dropping the bike in my blue stone driveway a week (or was it 4 days?) after bringing it home (I've had it 3 weeks now..) I just now, took it out for a ride after work, and a mile in, got stung by something on the side of my neck. Talk about MAJOR DISTRACTION. I had to come back home, pull the stinger out, and ice it up. Ouch. I think I'll work out instead.

Title: Re: Worst disaster on any bike Post by Digger on 07/23/10 at 22:01:52 Lots of stories after over 350,000 miles of riding. One involved being detained in a sh*tbag South Korean jail for several hours, far, far from the nearest other round-eye (nobody there spokee the English), after a taxi creamed me while I was riding my '81 GL1100.  SWMBO and I walked away from that one, but the cabbie was in the hospital for over a month! Another time, I got into an altercation with the driver of a pickup truck.  I dismounted, ready to fight.  I was dismayed to see that the driver was a mountain of a man.  He pounded me into oblivion.  After he was finished with me, he pushed my bike over for good measure.  I ended up with a broken cheekbone. Another time, I t-boned a German Shepard going 40 mph.  I jumped him and got airborne.  The mutt log-rolled a few times and got back up to resume the chase!  I got the hell out of Dodge! I could go on for quite some time like this.

Title: Re: Worst disaster on any bike Post by drums1 on 07/24/10 at 09:37:22 I had a clutch replaced and the place that did the work boogered it all up. The oil filter was in backwards, and the oil pump drive gear was in backwards. Either way--no oil to top of engine. I rode it 70 miles that way before it froze up. After 2 1/2 month nightmare, they replaced the top of motor, but it's never been the same since. Moral--go to the dealer (reputable one) and not the shop down the street.

Title: Re: Worst disaster on any bike Post by justin_o_guy2 on 07/24/10 at 11:48:59 The number of people who have had their bikes screwed up by "mechanics" are greater than the number who have screwed it up themselves, I do believe. Dealers included.

Title: Re: Worst disaster on any bike Post by Phelonius on 07/24/10 at 11:51:48 I can't remember the crash but waking up 3 and 1/2 days later in an I.C.U. with tubes running in and of all orifices and even some places that don't normally have orifices is certainly memorable, so is the morphine. Sasquatch Jim

Title: Re: Worst disaster on any bike Post by Wolfman on 07/25/10 at 00:02:52 One and ONLY time i ever wore shorts on a bike i cooked the inside on my thigh on the muffler(dirt bike). Had a cow get out and just hopped on and run her in, got off and stuck my thigh to the exhaust. Cherry red leg for awhile. Clotheslined off the bike at high speed. Again with cattle. Running them in the lot and dog on a cable run runs across in front of me as im trying to cut off a potential escapee. 1 second on the bike, next second flat on my back wondering what happened. New bike, about 3 weeks ago or so. 80lb boxer decides he wants to run down the middle of the highway, wont get out of the road. Slowdown, follow, check traffic, swing out into other lane and roll on the throttle to pass this idiot ahd he decides to do a 45 degree lefthand turn right into my rear brake pedal. Dog spins 3 times, hits the ground running and i havent seen him since...lol Used to see him all the time. D@MN mutt bent my brake pedal! Not a disaster but sure scrwewed the weekend up. Left for a ride today, get halfway through it comeing home and rear tire goes flat. Had to call for the truck. About the only place id be running slow(twisties) and straight stretch of HWY right in the middle of a lil town. Tires up one second, goes flat the next....fun fun. Got a 3 inch long strip of cords showed up somewhere during the ride, wasnt there to start. 4460 miles on an oem tire. So here i sit with a down bike, beautiful rideing weather on a weekend and have'nt got to ride all week. Now got to find a tire and get it on, so probably another two to three days of downtime. THATS a disaster...lol

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