How did you crash?

[dantama]

Perhaps others can learn from your mistake. So if you have ever crashed, tell us about it and lets discuss could've, should've, etc.

My first one was in 1990, I had been riding on the street for 7-8 years at that point.

I was traveling on a two lane each direction city surface street, 30mph speed limit, lights about every block or two.

I was going an estimated (per police report and witness accounts) 10 mph over. I had a green light and an oncoming car turned left into me.

I braked all the way into the car. Front tire hit the front fender just in front of the door, made a skid mark down the fender into the cent er of the passenger door (car was still at an angle at the beginning, hadn't turned all the way) and pushed the door in and bent the cars frame.

I broke out the passenger window with my right fore arm and then headed up over the car, over the stop lights and back down. Bike stayed near the car.

I broke many bones including my back and spent two weeks in the hospital.

Things I learned.
Just because the lights green for me doesn't mean I own it. From then on it meant, maybe I can go through it.

I was only 25 at the time and was perhaps a bit immature (perhaps still am) and I thought that if I follow the rules for the most part, I'll be OK. Now I think of riding as a chess game(played against a cheater). Everybody else is going to try to punt me off, and they will cheat to do it. My job is to defend against their moves, and catch them cheating.

Some of you may have been lucky enough to have that mind set to begin with. I had to learn it.

How did you crash?

[flightdoc]

My one and only crash occured this past May.

I was on my way home from work on the highway (RUSH HOUR) I was approaching a toll booth. When I got to about a quarter mile from the booth I attempted changing lanes to go to the exact change lane to my left. As I was switching lanes a pickup truck came into view from over my left shoulder at about 70mph. The posted speed is 35mph in the booth area. I swerved back to my original lane to try to avoid him. The line of traffic was at a complete stop in the lane I went back into. I was traveling at about 35-40mph. I tried to stop right up to the impact point. Last thing I remeber is the back end of a Subaru coming at me fast!! I was probably traveling at about 15mph when I hit. From the time I switched back to my original lane, to the impact was about 2-3 seconds. I was told I rolled on the ground about fifty feet and the bike slid about a 100 feet. I was unconsious for approximately 15 minutes and have just spotty memories the rest of the night. CAT scan revealed a subdural hemtoma ( bleeding around the brain) but luckily didn't require surgery.
Things I learned:
ALWAYS PLAN ON THE WORST THING HAPPENING.
KEEP YOUR DISTANCE FROM THE VEHICLE IN FRONT OF YOU , EVEN AT SLOW SPEEDS. IF I HAD DONE JUST THIS ONE THING I COULD HAVE SWERVED AROUND THE CAR I STRUCK OR BEEN ABLE TO COMPLETELY STOP IN TIME.
IN A BUSY SCENARIO LIKE MINE ..STAY IN YOUR LANE.
PRACTICE STOPPING AND SWERVING ON A REGULAR BASIS .

[rlfaubion]

My first major was similar to Dan's, except it was not in an intersection. I was on a country road doing 45MPH when a farmer just turned left in front of me. I was laid up for 3 months.

I've be down several times due to faulty equipment IE; being towed to start (hanging on to the door handle) and fell over under the car towing me. Another time my brake pedal fell off and I couldn't make a turn (no front brake) going down, and few other minors.

Last May I did a Flightdoc. My Nad was 30 days old when I rear-ended a car at 40MPH. Replaced my front end, radiator, and frame, but I was alright in about a week. I believe my windshield saved me.

Ditto the others here: Be alert, and always have an escape route in mind.



Be safe Brothers & Sisters

[dank]

I was riding my Concours on a beautiful day out in the country. No traffic, remote, two-lane road. Way ahead of me on a straight stretch was a car just moseying along, maybe 15 mph or so, hard to judge exactly, but very slowly, and veering back and forth in the lane a little bit. I assume it was someone just out for a drive on the first really nice spring day. The car continued in this fashion while I closed on it for half a mile or so. I was doing 55 and came up from behind, turned my signal on, and pulled out to pass. Just before I got to the car the driver veered left slightly, as before, but this time just kept coming and turned into a drive way. No brake light, no signal, no change of pace. I hit the brakes at first, expecting this was just a wider veer, and then tried to swerve back around the trunk of the car as it kept coming to the left. I hit the car about 2 feet shy of the rear bumper as the bike slid over on its side. I went face first into the side of the car. (Full face helmet) Totaled my Connie, really messed up the trunk of the car, but I did not get hurt. Those who saw it figured I was dead or badly hurt when I hit and could not believe it when I got up. (I ascribe it to good gear from FirstGear and a strong guardian angel, not necessarily in that order.) The driver was an elderly woman who said she was just driving along and decided to turn around and did not look to check traffic. Looking at the road afterward, I did lock up the rear brake at one point.

I now have an air horn (and a Nomad ). I sound the horn before I pass any car. I also will not pass if there is a driveway, lane or any place else a car could turn off, and I use a slow closing speed on any vehicle that is going well under the speed limit. If they are going slowly enough that they could turn without changing speed, then I use extreme caution. I do wish I had ABS brakes, though, because no matter how well I train myself, practice braking, work toward it being a “reflex” action, etc., this situation went from everything was great to no way out in the blink of an eye, and I am certain I will never be able to actually modulate the rear brake for maximum stopping in so little time while looking for a path out of trouble and trying to steer the bike.

[flightdoc]

No a real big deal on the rear.....it's the front lock up that can "get" you.

OK.... here it comes.


Aug. 25, 2007 rode to Palomar Mountain Observatory (elev. 5,000') in N. San Diego County.... 2 up on the Nomad.

Made good time through the twistys on the way up.... feeling very confident.... felt "one" with bike... like it would do whatever I wanted it to.


Coming back, we took a short-cut down S6 (Southgrade) ... a road I had never been on.....extremely twisty. Felt fine.... went into a tight left curve, hit gravel and went down.

I remember downshifting from 3rd to 2nd as I approached the turn
........ I know I was close to the left center-line as I entered the turn (a bad habit of mine) rather than in the right half of the lane.

I remember leaning and counter-steering..... but bike seemed to go straight towards the R. shoulder..... I leaned much harder (pulled it down) and it seemed like it wouldn't turn......

I don't know my entry speed.... but I would guess 30mph....
... it was posted 25 so I felt that was ok...

At the point that I really pulled it down, I was real close to the right shoulder and that's when I hit the sand/gravel....


I was already out of control.... no doubt that I panicked and hit the
rear brake.... and most likely at some point the front as well.


Don't know my speed when we actually went down..... had to be less than 15 mph.....


Series of errors:

I was running a MT-90-16 Maxxix front tire.... I had felt that a slightly smaller front tire would mke the bike more maneuverable in the twisties........

I had a cheap Duro 140-90-16 rear tire on as well....


My friend who ride a KTM 950 SM passed in an earlier turn.... he later told me he noticed than when I was leaning into turns....
it appeared my rear tire was flexing. (wasn't on the sidewall, but on the flat surface and tire bending)

I had not checked tire pressure prior to riding that day.


The owner at tire shop I had it towed to told me that my valve stem had broken off at the rim.... he had never seen that before....

He told me he didn't replace the valve stem when he mounted my tires as it was a metal stem and re-used it..... something he usually doesn't do.

It was a nasty feeling to be out of control..... I had been riding with a high degree of confidence up until then........


Now....... I feel like I'm on a horse that spooked and threw me off....

I don't know if I will ever regain that same level....... I'm fine on my Shadow Spirit 750..... but not the same on the Nomad anymore....

I've replaced the tires with Metzeler ME 880's.... they feel great... but the crash is still in my head......

We went riding a couple weeks ago and I saw a similar situation with a bike down....... I dropped my speed the rest of the ride... made me nervous as hell.


I've taken some ribbing for the accident. I wish I had a video of it so I could see exactly what did happen.

(Shut up BD)

Remember, it's not "if" you go down... it's "when".... and I hope you never experience it.

I'm open to any and all criticism and remarks.... hopefully myself and others can avoid a similar mishap.

There you have it. I bared my soul.






NOW THE TRUE STORY:::



I hit gravel in a tight mountain twisty and laid it down rather than go off the cliff!

It saved my life!!!!

;)



p.s. 4 broken ribs for me, small hemo thorax, road rash.
(was wearng a cool leather vest and skid lid.) hit head.

Sue: 8 broken ribs, small laceration on spleen, small pneumo thorax.
(leaher jacket, full face helmet) hit head.

Judi was behind us and went down as well..... major bruise left hip.... some road rash.

[flightdoc]

Nico. I think it was the thin air at the altitude you were riding at

[jussmatt]

Nico..I know you've taken a lot of ribbing about this...and though I haven't given you near the amount that some others have... (they know who they are)...I am guilty of it myself. The good news is you're here to take the ribbing!! This thread is one that I will read ALL the way thorugh since (knock on wood) I haven't been in a "crash" as of yet. Having been around horses all my life, I've always taken the same approach.... it's not if you get thrown, but when!! So...I'm trying to learn from mistakes made by myself and others and trying to prevent as much as possible. The only two times I've come close to laying it down, I was doing around 10mph and was able to get her stopped and lift her back up before even touching the engine guards. Both times, the adrenalin was running through me like crazy, so I can't imagine what it would be like at 25+mph...

All that being said, Thank you for sharing and I'm glad you and Sue are ok and still here with us in all your craziness!!

You're a good man Matt.... I take back all that sh*tt BD said about you! ;)

Nico. I think it was the thin air at the altitude you were riding at

Thanks FD, I knew there had to be an explanation!

And coming from the unofficial co-Safe Riding Guru.... it means a lot!!!

[flightdoc]

I like that word......un-official

[rlfaubion]

Aug. 25, 2007 rode to Palomar Mountain Observatory (elev. 5,000') in N. San Diego County.... 2 up on the Nomad.

Nico - First I say I'm glad you guys are better now, and I know how bad those broken ribs hurt. I wanted to tell you I've ridden that road you were on. My Father built the Oak Knoll Campground on Palomar Mountain. When I was visiting him there, I saw a crashed Harley in one of the turns. Rider and passenger were killed.

Here's a clip from Wikipedia on the net:
"South Grade Road, the stretch of San Diego County Route S6 going from State Route 76 to the summit, due to its challenging nature (over 20 hairpin turns over the distance of less than 7 mi (11 km)) and low traffic. Popularity and difficulty of the road is such that, on a typical warm-weather weekend, an average of two motorcycle crashes requiring medical attention occur in the area.

Take 'r' EZ Brutha

[rlfaubion]

Thanks for the kind words Valdez.... hope to see you in Mesquite
June 19!


Bring some fresh ground coffee??

[buckeye]

Three years ago on the Kawa 750, just got back from 1100 miles down to the Smokies. Wife and I headed to a cookout. Four blocks from home a young driver pulled out from side street on the right, half way into intersection and stopped. A car was coming toward me so I hit the binders and headed to the left side of my lane. I had the accident avoided until the young driver pulled forward another three feet (he thought he had it in reverse). I squeezed between the oncoming car and the stopped car--- almost. we scrapped the right foot peg against his grill and it whipped the bike around and we dropped on the right side just past his car. We were VERY luckey we didn't hit the other car headon. Ended up with a few lacerations, bruses, and a banged up knee, not to mention $1800. to the bike. Worst thing about the accident was--- my wife is now afraid to ride!!! Lessons learned: Lights, lights, and more lights, assume that everyone could pull out, I know that I won't panic in an accident situation, biggest danger may be close to home!