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.

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.

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.

 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.

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!!!

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...

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.

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.