Almost lost it yesterday

[ELP_JC]

I was in a similar situation once, but only crossed the yellow line a hair on a right hander. Unfortunately, both of us would have taken an ambulance ride (or worse, in your case) with oncoming traffic.

At that point I knew I needed help to learn to read curves better, and a few months later I attended a 2-day camp at Superbike School. Best thing you can do if you're serious about riding. And yes, I consider it an investment rather than an expense. DO IT. I trusted my tires waaaay more after that, plus had the opportunity to lock brakes and lean at will on their special bikes; a must IMO, even when we have ABS. I now have more ability than my bike, which is what you want so you can turn at full lean if needed. The trick is to use those newfound skills only when needed, not as an excuse to ride faster. I like to ride close to the modest limits of the FJR on familiar roads, just like before, but I feel much safer now since I can now enter curves at exactly the speed I want, and still leave enough room for surprises.

My specific advice is to delay turning as much as possible to have the best visibility (late apex), especially on blind curves. And you should always avoid an obstacle on the inside, rather than the outside. Consider yourself lucky, but just don't do it again. That's also one reason I almost always ride during the week, and on nearly ideal conditons (daylight, no rain, no snow, etc.). It's a dangerous sport, and we need all the help we can get to stack the odds in our favor. Just like going to school to improve our careers, we need a school to improve our riding IMO. Take care.

JC

 

[James Burleigh]

...Superbike School. Best thing you can do if you're serious about riding. And yes, I consider it an investment rather than an expense. DO IT. I trusted my tires waaaay more after that, plus had the opportunity to lock brakes and lean at will on their special bikes; a must IMO, even when we have ABS. I now have more ability than my bike, which is what you want so you can turn at full lean if needed. The trick is to use those newfound skills only when needed, not as an excuse to ride faster. I like to ride close to the modest limits of the FJR on familiar roads, just like before, but I feel much safer now since I can now enter curves at exactly the speed I want, and still leave enough room for surprises.

Gunny! I am eager to take the Keith Code school, and am tired of hearing people say, "It doesn't apply to street riding because he teaches racing techniques." I say bullfeathers! I want to know what Keith Code knows. Fact is, I want to take ALL those classes (done the Reg Pridmore, plus a couple of ERCs from the MSF). In a couple of weeks I'm joining a few other forum members to do the StreetMasters school. So Keith Code will probably be next year.

And you hit the nail on the head IMHO when you say it's not about learning to ride faster, but about learning how to control the bike better and knowing its and your own limits, especially if you get into a panic situation and need in a split second to dig deep down into, not just the corner, but the deep dark limits of your fear and skill reservoirs.

Jb

 

[Toecutter]

The roads were completely dry. Other than the patch of gravel, the conditions were perfect.

My opinion is that conditions might only be perfect on the track. Anywhere else we must allow room for things like that.

Werd!

Somebody's discarded latte, leaked fluids, a kamikaze tree squirrel, pine cone, etc... All will end you quick. Just don't ride on borrowed traction and you won't be riding on borrowed time.

And stay right.

Werd fer sher! Them on-comers are a bitch....

Glad you got a second chance. Use it wisely.

 

[Bounce]

Sounds like a lot of good advice

1. get up to speed gradually (practice)

2. public roads aren't maintained like tracks, leave a larger margine for the unexpected

3. keep your speed in check (see 1 and 2)

4. avoid target fixation

 

[squeezer]

Almost took out an oncoming helmetless Harley rider yesterday who had drifted into my lane in a blind corner. For the record, his loud pipes didn't save his life. I did. We just shouldn't put ourselves into a position where our lives depend on the reactions of a cager.

All the advice here is good and it's good to repeat it every spring. I finally got my bike up and running Saturday and I was just plain awful. Gotta ease into it again, practice, trust neither the road nor myself.

 

[EODSarge]

I learned quite a lot from my two get-offs:

Beautiful spring day, riding my first bike (the Nighthawk 650) to class in college; almost didn't wear the jacket and gloves because it was such a warm day, but decided better safe than sorry. I'd been riding for maybe 6 months at this point. On my way back from class, riding a particularly curvy campus road, blitzing along at about 50, I was leaned over far enough in a curve to be scraping the footpegs close to the centerline. A car came around the curve towards me and I knew I was too close to the double yellow, so I leaned up a bit to take more of an outside line and get away from the centerline. As soon as I did, the bike slid out from under me and I hit the ground with my left hand and knee before rolling over on my back and sliding a loooong way. The bike slid into the guardrail and bounced back and I found it pushing me along. When everything stopped, I jumped up and snatched the bike out of the now deserted road. Damage: front fork tubes bent, road rash on my knee and palm of my hand where my brief contact with the pavement burned through the jeans and leather gloves I was wearing. I'm still not sure exactly why the bike slid out from me. Lessons learned: 1) When you've used up all the friction your tires can provide just on cornering, you can't ask much more of them; and 2) ATGATT. Had I decided to ride in a t-shirt, I'd have been hamburger. The jacket took the slide without a burn-through. I bought a pair of gloves with palm-studs after that.

Second was on GA60 past Suches on the GPz305 about a year after the first get-off. We had left TWO and I was following some other riders on larger bikes on a stretch of 60 that I hadn't been on before and I had fallen behind. I was pushing far too hard to try and catch up. I came around a right hand, poorly cambered turn and realized I was waaaay too fast. Instead of leaning further, I froze up, went across the center line and off into the outside ditch. The bike stopped and I continued over the handlebars, flew about 40 feet, and landed on the very top of my (Bieffe kevlar and fiberglass) helmet. Damage: Front forks twisted a little out of parallel but not bent; gas tank dented where my knee hit it; gouge in the faceshield from I have no idea what; two inch crack in the top of my helmet; and a concussion. Lessons learned: 1) Don't ride over your abilities, especially on an unfamiliar road... don't try and ride the other rider's ride; ride at YOUR pace, not theirs. 2) Trust the bike to lean. Better to low-side in that situation than hit the ditch, I think. 3) ATGATT again. I kept the Bieffe for a while to show to friends on cruisers with plastic beanies why I'll always ride with a helmet.

16 years later I try to never forget these lessons. Crashing sucks.

 

[Toecutter]

All the advice here is good and it's good to repeat it every spring ride.

Fixed for those of us who don't have an off-season.

WooHoo, swimming on Sunday! 89 degrees! :yahoo:

 

[Caba]

The roads were completely dry. Other than the patch of gravel, the conditions were perfect.

In that case, one possible course of action (since you had already ascertained there was no oncoming traffic) would have been to shove that right handgrip down to the tarmac as much as practical, weight the inside peg, and keep your eyes on the vanishing point of your right-hand-sweeper until you had crossed back over the centerline. Easier said than done, depending on your prevailing speed/conditions.

Scary business, this.

If you couldn't even stay on the outside (oncoming) lane and had to off-road it, then you were certainly well in excess of a reasonable speed, which you already admit and are were aware of (now).

Slow down a bit, please.

I have several times had the same "feeling" that Trigger describes, although a short trip a foot or so across the centerline is the worst I've gotten (thankfully! and without oncomming traffic). What WC describes above is what I need to be able to do. Now that I've got new rubber for the spring, time to do some targeted practicing on this skill! It should also help with the unexpected reducing radius curve.

 

[Motard98]

Tim,

What I have found from racing and general riding is that at the moment where the thought of not making a corner comes into your head is the time to commit to the corner. I've found that committing to the corner is a much better option than standing the bike up. I know how tough it can be but pushing the bike into the corner more than likely will get you to the other side safer than looking for an escape route.

Matt

 

[TriggerT]

I went back through the corner I almost lost it on a few days ago, and found part of why I had the problem I did, I had been going into the corner thinking it was a nice consistent bend. However, what I noticed that other day is that it is actually 3 different corners tied into one.

As you go into the corner from the direction I had problems with, it sets you up like it is a nice consistent sweeper, then in the middle of the curve it suddenly has close to a 90 degree bend in it. After that abrupt turn, it settles into a tight radius, somewhere between the previous two in severity.

In short it goes from--NICE, to Holy FOOK, to What Happened.

Not an excuse, but I know my speed going into the corner was set for the first, most gentle part of the turn, and I hadn't shaved off enough speed to make the second, more severe part of the turn by the time I reached it. Add in the gravel, and it was just an ugly corner.

 

[user 6393]

Glad your ok and thanks for posting Trigger. This is what makes this forum great.

+1, +1, +1.....especially for us newer riders looking for advice how not to have an episode like that happen (but know it's likely inevitable anyway).

Thanks for sharing. You had the preferable outcome, but moreso, the good forture to be able to reflect, learn and pass on your thoughts about it.

and I'm with Warchild ....please slow down a bit... . A good reminder for us all