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/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl General Category >> The Cafe >> Crashes /cgi-bin/YaBB.pl?num=1448907221 Message started by cheapnewb24 on 11/30/15 at 10:13:41 |
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Title: Crashes Post by cheapnewb24 on 11/30/15 at 10:13:41 There is an old saying, that there are two kinds of bikers, the ones who have been down and the ones who are going down. However, from time to time, one gathers that there are some who have never crashed, and aren't afraid to tell everyone about it. I think my MSF instructors were part of this group. I think one of them dropped his bike once but didn't crash it. The other seems very risk averse. Maybe I'm mistaken? Maybe I'm a stupid, risky klutz for crashing twice within two months and 1000+ miles of getting my license. Maybe the exceptions to the rule are talented or are very anal about technique. Maybe some of them don't ride much or only ride in ideal conditions. Perhaps they only tour the superslab and never actually ride anywhere they can actually crash. Maybe they don't use their bike like a car and commute to work like I do. Maybe I'm just average. Opinions? Experiences? Number and type of crashes, different bikes, different gear, conditions, miles, injuries, etc. Is it really possible to ride many miles in various conditions and not be some crazy $$$$$$$$$$$$$ gear wearing/swearing, technocratic/technophilic, Harley hating, crotch rocket riding safety/technique Nazi (you know the stereotype) without wrecking a million times and becoming a cripple? Can we just keep it simple? Does everything have to be so complicated these days? :( (One of my instructors has/had a Harley, so this is just a stereotype of some of those Internet trolls. And, yeah, I beat up on the Harley people too sometimes, but that doesn't say I wouldn't own one, at least a cheap old Sportster ;).) How many times have you crashed? Beginner vs now? Feel free to tell your story. |
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Title: Re: Crashes Post by cheapnewb24 on 11/30/15 at 10:52:11 How many times have you crashed your bike? Don't include simple drops (e.g. the bike tips over when parked), only moving crashes. You can mention drops in your thread or a separate poll, if I put one in. More importantly, how many miles have you ridden in what conditions? Ya can't crash if ya don't ride. |
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Title: Re: Crashes Post by Art Webb on 11/30/15 at 11:08:24 I never put notches on my forks to keep track, so I dunno how many crashes I've had I sure had more when I was new at it, especially when I had delusions of being a pro dirt bike racer Luckily dirt is forgiving so I'm still in one piece I've also had any number of lowsides and a few highsides Nowadays I ride a lot more conservatively (read: I'm afraid of falling over so I don't push it) I wear a helmet, usually FF or modular, a leather jacket and gloves, and jeans, though I am considering motorcycling jeans or even riding pants Be safe, have fun, don't over think it |
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Title: Re: Crashes Post by Dave on 11/30/15 at 11:26:03 As I mentioned in your other thread.....I did my learning, crashing and skill honing while spending years riding and racing dirt bikes. My latest competition experience in the dirt was on my Observed Trials motorcycle a few years ago. While practicing I could fall over 4-5 times in an evening......the only way to get better was to keep challenging myself and attempting to ride up and over things that pushed my limits. (Thankfully I never fell over while competing). Falling over in the dirt usually doesn't hurt or break anything, and it allows you to learn the balance and coordination basics in a short amount of time.....and you will need to become very proficient at using the front brake. Thankfully, no drops on the roads yet - but that could change any day as the road is full of challenges, obstacles and surprises. |
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Title: Re: Crashes Post by Paladin. on 11/30/15 at 12:06:28 http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/drop http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fall To drop or fall, to descend freely by the force of gravity. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/crash To crash: to hit something hard enough to cause serious damage or destruction. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/biker Biker: a person who rides a motorcycle - OR : a person who rides a bicycle I started on pedal bicycles at about 30 months of age. I did low-side before six years of age. Older, faster, low teenage, I have done a high-side, over the handlebars. I had a car stop across the sidewalk and I crashed hard enough to damage the car. The gentleman said something that I don't remember but I do remember limping away telling him "my dad is a cop, follow me home." He didn't. At age 16 I got to drive, at 18 I got my first motorcycle when no one could say no. As the MSF instructors, I have gently laid bikes less than 10 times in 50 years; my total "road rash" about a nickle size. I have never crash on the streets. Dirt is different -- dropping in the dirt is a part of the fun. I figure about a drop a week in the dirt. Once broke a collarbone. I ride for transportation. I mostly ride two-wheeler because I *HATE* being in a cage. I don't speed. I don't wear gear. I have done 15K+ miles on the scoot, 30K+ miles on the Savage -- low miles because worked and shop mostly within 4 miles. I am not particularly worried about crashing, given that my last possibly my fault crash was in '65, and nothing but minor bumps since. And mostly rear ended when at a stop with no place to go. And a bike can get away from a hazard, if you are looking. But while I enjoy riding, I do not ride for fun. I never ride just for riding. |
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Title: Re: Crashes Post by Serowbot on 11/30/15 at 15:15:46 I grew up dirt riding, so there's where I learned how to crash... ;D... Then, there's degree's of crashing... Drops... bike down, but you sorta' didn't Get-offs... you both go down, but you manage to run it off a little Crashes... you go down, things scrape, break, burn, and hurt... Then,.. there's the crashes that stay with you.. I've had quite a few,.. but, only 2 of the last one... 1,.. I totaled a Ninja at about 75mph in a corner 2,.. I got t-boned by a truck Try to avoid that last one... :-?... |
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Title: Re: Crashes Post by cheapnewb24 on 11/30/15 at 15:17:18 I was considering a "crash" either a collision, or, more commonly, losing control and dropping the bike while moving at speed (e.g. highside, lowside). A "drop" would be the bike tipping over when stopped or nearly stopped. |
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Title: Re: Crashes Post by cheapnewb24 on 11/30/15 at 15:26:40 3620372A32272A31450 wrote:
While I am curious about how many times people have done the first one, this poll only considers the last three of these, minor crashes where you get up with minor scrapes or totally unhurt, crashes that hurt, and crashes that are debilitating. Please elaborate on the term "Get-off." Is this where there is no injury or substantial damage (other than cosmetic) but both you and the bike are laying on the ground? Is there minor damage/injury involved? Is the idea that you just got off and get right back on without any hangups? |
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Title: Re: Crashes Post by Serowbot on 11/30/15 at 15:41:39 I call it a get-off, basically,... if I'm able to ride away... Bumps bruises, scrapes, and minor bike damage, but it still runs... Crashes involve towing, sometimes police reports, ambulances, etc... That's just how I judge it... My t-bone,.. in 08'... http://https://www.bikepics.com/pics/2008%5C09%5C23%5Cbikepics-1427608-full.jpg |
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Title: Re: Crashes Post by cheapnewb24 on 11/30/15 at 15:45:50 I guess that means that both of my crashes have been get-offs. |
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Title: Re: Crashes Post by cheapnewb24 on 11/30/15 at 18:50:37 Ouch! How did you get outta there? |
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Title: Re: Crashes Post by WD on 11/30/15 at 22:06:15 Think I miscounted... Broken shoulder in 2/2008. Steering head bearing locked up. Hit a log on the side of the road. Clutch lever through the chin, early 90s. Hard wire internal throttle cable seized. Raggedy old Panhead. Cracked shin bones, early 90s. 100mph into a muddy ditch on a beat to pieces Panhead. Dislocated left hip, 1993. Carburetor exploded on my 1938 Indian Chief on the way to Sturgis. Fixed the bike, cousin popped my hip back in, continued the ride. Dislocated shoulder, 1992. Flipped a 750cc 2 stroke triple over backwards. Popped the clutch with too much throttle... Broke both knees, 1991. Hit by car. Whiplash twice in 96/97. Hit by old people outside a Gulfport MS casino. Several fingers broken by road debris over the last 28 years. Shins cracked by road debris. A couple broken ribs. Broken elbow. Multiple cuts, bumps, bruises, dislocations. I tend to ride minimally geared and rather aggressively... |
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Title: Re: Crashes Post by dontwannapickle on 12/01/15 at 09:37:00 Wrecked my 650Special after 20k miles in 1981. Found a stopped car in my lane after coming over a hilltop. Too much front brake with a passenger, we slid for 3-4 miles (or hours, I can't recall), then quit riding till the kids were out of the house. Got a sportbike almost 30 years later and wear full leather (on my Savage, too). Dropped it (not the Savage) once at no mph while doing the figure-8 in the MSF course, but haven't wrecked it for almost 70K miles. Its just starting to get broke in good. 8-) |
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Title: Re: Crashes Post by old.indian on 12/01/15 at 10:17:09 There were a couple of times when I should have gone down, but the one time I did was scary enough. 1971 on my '69 CB750 going east in the middle of nowhere Kan-ass, rained a short time before and in the apex of an easy sweeper the front came out from under me.. Thank goodness for crash bars.... In seems that someone had driven across the highway and left wet (black) mud on the pavement.. Other than that, my aversion to pain and an intense survival instinct from a couple of tours as a marine grunt in (less than) beautiful southeast Asia has kept me from doing anything too foolish. |
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Title: Re: Crashes Post by dontwannapickle on 12/01/15 at 11:06:05 Oooorah, oldindian. |
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Title: Re: Crashes Post by Gus on 12/01/15 at 15:14:17 I've been down a few times but never over a few mph. Seems if you don't put your feet down when nearing 0 forward thrust; bikes tip over. Did I really just tell you guys this.[ch55357][ch56384] |
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Title: Re: Crashes Post by justin_o_guy2 on 12/01/15 at 16:07:50 I can tell you that after multiple times, not just the three bikes I totaled, or the two cars I hit on bicycles, the times when Am I gonna survive the next few minutes never made my life flash before my eyes. |
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Title: Re: Crashes Post by Art Webb on 12/02/15 at 08:55:35 Old Indian I had a CB750 4, first bike that ever actually scared me, and tis is one of those 'should've crashed 'instances I was riding this old clapped out Triumph 650 (i forget the model, it was pretty crappy by the time i took ownership of it) and met this Triumph enthusiast at the fillin station one day After some jawboning and hemming and hawing he got around to offering me his fairly pristine old CB, and money, for my ratty old trumpet :o Can you say HELL YEAH? on the way home a cager tried to change lanes into the opne I was in, and instinct took over On my Trumpet, to get any fast acceleration at that speed I had to drop a gear, whack the throttle open and dump the clutch Don't ever do that on a strong running CB 750 4 first and last time I ever did a wheelie on the street, and darn near crashed coming down (yup, i was still wet behind the ears) |
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Title: Re: Crashes Post by old.indian on 12/02/15 at 13:26:29 Scary Bike = Kawa H2 750 2 stroke triple . Pull the front as soon as you caught that narrow power band and cornered like it had a hinge in the frame.... Darn thing had me playing unicycle in the middle of a 270 degree off ramp. Buddy's bike first and only time I rode one. |
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Title: Re: Crashes Post by Gus on 12/02/15 at 13:47:39 5F5C541E595E5459515E300 wrote:
I've got a buddy had one of those triple two stroke 500. I wouldn't ride it. That thing was was just plain dangerous. That was back in the day when I had an flh. He always wanted to race my Harley. He would have kicked my @$$ with that little bike! |
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Title: Re: Crashes Post by justin_o_guy2 on 12/03/15 at 06:40:36 Powerbands that go from acceleration normally to I'm being pushed back so hard I don't know if I can stay on are scary. Suzuki GS1100, the only big bike I ever rode, and only for about fifteen minutes, purt near got me hurt. Those Kawasaki things were just dangerous. A Nice little bike I totaled was a Yamaha RD400, still had paper plates. My roommate was not pleased with me. |
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Title: Re: Crashes Post by Art Webb on 12/03/15 at 06:52:14 I've never had the misfortune to ride one of those H2s, for which I am grateful The GS 1100 didn't really scare me, by the time I rode one The GSXR 1000 didn't scare me, either, until I realized I had hit 160 and WASN'T scared 160 is dangerous 160 with a ho hum attitude is crazy A bike that smooth at that kind of speed is just unnatural |
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Title: Re: Crashes Post by gizzo on 12/03/15 at 11:20:32 I experienced that same thing this year on a KTM Superduke. Massive, stupid amounts of power and effortless acceleration to 160 and beyond. Thanks, but no thanks. It was kind of dull at legal speeds. Same with the Aprilllia rsv 1000 I owned for a short while. I can't say I was especially terrified by the couple of H2's I've ridden. Powerful, but not stupid compared with modern bikes. Closest I came to trowelling a friend's bike was swapping places on my gs750 and a mate's Norton commando. Belting up to a roundabout I grabbed a bunch of front "brake" (one British drum compared with 2 Japanese discs ) then some back brake when nothing happened. Unfortunately instead of the rear brake slowing me, I changed up a gear. By this time I was in the roundabout and surprised myself by going around it a lot faster than I thought I'd be capable of. Good times. Only crash I've had on the road was being hit by a stooge who cut across lanes of traffic to get to the roadside because he saw his friend there. Offroading, going down was an everyday ocurrence. |
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Title: Re: Crashes Post by BSTON on 12/03/15 at 13:02:18 I've been lucky enough to avoid collisions with anything solid. My only accident was in a fairly low speed corner that snuck up on me. It was on an interstate frontage road at night. There was a sign for a 15mph right hand turn and then I went through a slight bend in the road. I went around that bend and hit the gas, failing to realize that I hadn't made it to the 15mph curve yet. I ended up going pretty much straight off of the road because there was a guard rail further through the corner for an electrical pole. I had no injuries but the right hand clip-on snapped off and the bike slid into a wire fence. It was a Kawasaki ZZR1200 which is a pretty top heavy bike so I needed to call a friend to get some help picking the bike back up and getting it up the grass hill. As we were getting it back on the road another rider stopped and said that I could leave the bike at his house over night. He also commented that he personally knew of at least 4 other people that put their bike in the same ditch at different times so at least I wasn't the only one. :) Overall I'd say that I've been pretty lucky considering how stupid I was on my first bike. Luckily it was a Suzuki GS500 so high speeds weren't that high. The ZZR1200 was definitely a different beast that could reach ludicrous speeds at will. I only came close to the top speed once and that was enough...with that said, it was very comfortable doing 100mph all day. The speed never really scared me as much as the thought of getting arrested from just running the bike through a couple gears. |
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Title: Re: Crashes Post by Sonny on 12/05/15 at 12:42:38 I've never chipped a fingernail. Two 1mph tump overs in 11-12 years of riding. The first on my 650 Tempter from using front brake leaned a bit in a patch of gravel. Embarrassing... I dropped it right under the wing of a rented airplane I was about to fly. Not great for self-confidence. Second, recently, on my S40 doing a tight u-ey on a steep up grade in the dark. On that one I stupidly twisted the throttle picking it up and it shot forward 20ft or so and fell on its side. Bent brake lever, bent peg, busted mirror, busted tail light. I was thrown to the street and rolled by that maneuver. Not good for self-confidence. Years ago on my GS1100G I entered a turn too hot, crossed the double yellow and would have died in a high speed head-on, but several cars ran off the road to avoid me and I rode on without a scratch. I displayed target fixation on that and stood up on the pegs... I would have gone over the car and not into the windshield. Not good for self-confidence. I have avoided numerous cagers cutting me off or merging on me by combinations of braking and swerving, and succeeded because I was not speeding, was paying attention and was ready for it. Have avoided the same kinds of accidents while driving a car the same way. I firmly believe most bike and car accidents are avoidable by not carrying excess speed for the road condition, visibility and traffic situation, by paying attention ahead and behind, and by letting instinct in to do whatever extreme control input is required. I know the instinct is cultivated by practicing maneuvering at the edge of the control envelope. Yes, there are to-whom-it-may-concern fatal situations where nothing can be done. Whatever you are riding or driving. But they are very rare and unlucky. Except for those, MC accidents result from either bad rider behavior or from bad cager behavior that can't be gotten around because of also present bad rider behavior. Excess speed kills. Carelessness kills. Leaving it up to someone else not to kill you, kills. Occasionally, bad luck kills. Skill and attentiveness eliminate most of the risks. Not all, but most. It's down to how you ride. |
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Title: Re: Crashes Post by justin_o_guy2 on 12/05/15 at 13:43:32 BSTN said He also commented that he personally knew of at least 4 other people that put their bike in the same ditch at different times so at least I wasn't the only one. Smiley Well, that helps a little, kinda, maybe, about as much as being in front of the firing squad, with 49 others, strapped to a pole. Cold comfort, knowing that you aren't going alone. Dang, Sonny, I hope that was not a Cherokee 180, but more of a Cessna 150/172 kinda design. |
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Title: Re: Crashes Post by Gus on 12/05/15 at 14:04:28 I had a near miss once that would have had me tangled in the rear duals of a semi trailer once in Chicago. Had I not jumped the side median and took the off ramp; I don't believe I'd be here. An old FLH is much more nimble than one would think in a bind. |
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Title: Re: Crashes Post by Sonny on 12/05/15 at 15:04:45 Justin: it was a C172. BSTON: Yes. There are badly designed roads and poorly placed or confusing signs all over the place, that set up the same accident over and over and nobody does anything about it. There are missing signs that cause accidents and nobody does anything about it. Particularly bad scenes are circular tightening radius freeway exit ramps with no warning signs. And unmarked T-intersections. There are two of those in my neighborhood, and the yards in front of them collect cars on a regular basis. Texas roads are pretty good about posting a suggested speed for upcoming corners, which are always conservative but they give you some guideline. But then there will be a 25mph curve on a 55mph road and no sign. Dang. That GS1100 I had was a solid, enjoyable ride in the bottom 60% of the tach; in the top range it was a bad accident waiting to happen. Modern sport bikes are the same story. If you can't really use the throttle without breaking the law or breaking your neck, I don't think it's my idea of an ideal bike, ahem... :-X |
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Title: Re: Crashes Post by justin_o_guy2 on 12/05/15 at 15:12:52 If you can't really use the throttle without breaking the law or breaking your neck, I don't think it's my idea of an ideal bike, ahem... I have never been able to so succinctly state that. |
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Title: Re: Crashes Post by BSTON on 12/07/15 at 08:26:23 263A3B363A39550 wrote:
I feel a little differently on that. As long as you have some self control the additional power usually means easier cruising and less of a need to shift. I could keep the ZZR in 6th gear for pretty much anything over 30mph. It was also a good reminder for keeping myself in check when passing people. I knew that if I felt like I needed to downshift to pass someone then I was cutting it way too close. |
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Title: Re: Crashes Post by Sonny on 12/07/15 at 10:28:21 BSTON, your point is well taken. High performance has a safety advantage in the right hands. It's just a shame and a waste of life & limb that extremely powerful bikes are marketed heavily to young folks who by nature don't have that impulse control... and on a liter bike in A mode, extreme control is required. The tiniest twist of the wrist putting on the power through a turn is the difference between planting the bike and breaking it loose and low- or high siding. Not to mention speed control in general. I've tried these kinds of bikes. It's thrilling. But you are suddenly like, how'd I get to 100mph here, in second gear? And it feels fine, the bike likes to do it, and you get used to it, you get to craving that rush and... here comes trouble. :-[ |
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Title: Re: Crashes Post by Rodger on 12/21/15 at 18:50:34 1973: overcooked off-camber, reducing radius turn on CB350 twin Honda. Just a minor scrub to inside of right elbow. Fast forward to 2013: 3 days after buying 2002 Vulcan Nomad, crowded off road by pickup driver, shattered left knee. |
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