Motorcycle Crash

[user 2024]

On my way home after a good day of riding and I get behind (50 yards) this guy on a Honda 750 Aero. He is riding on the right side between the normal right tire track and the sideline. There is only about 6 inches of pavement from the line to the dirt. He is making me nervous and I am trying to figure out why he is riding there. :huh:

We are doing 57 MPH when we enter a left hand curve. He drifts enough to the right that his front tire goes off the pavement and the bike slams down on the left side. The bike slides on the pavement for awhile then goes off the road, takes out a small road sign and drops off a 8 foot bank into the mud. The guy is tumbling, a shoe (high top tennis shoe) flies up and lands in the road and a cell phone is sliding down the centerline. He stops in the grass just short of where the bike went off the drop off.

I am thinking as I stop to call 911 first thing and then check him. Before I get off he is getting up and looking around. I try to get him to sit in the shade, but typical biker he has to check the bike first. He goes down in the ditch and stands her up. She is tore up bad (all left side), but tires and forks look straight. He starts it up and I think he looking for a way to ride her out. I tell him I wouldn't ride a good bike out of there, let alone that one after I just wrecked. He turns it off and comes out of the ditch.

By now one of my friends I rode with that day has come along too. We are talking to him and checking out his injuries. He was wearing blue jeans, short sleeve t-shirt, high top sneakers, leather gloves, and HJC helmet. His injuries: Road rash: most of left forearm, several small places where jeans are torn, on his back at right shoulder blade and lower left back. That is it. Lucky guy if you don't count the crash.

He had no idea what happened and after I explained it to him, I asked him why he was riding that far over to the right? He has been riding for 3 weeks and he wanted to give himself plenty of room from the cars going the other way. Also he was on the way to get a mesh armored riding jacket like my friend and I were wearing.

 

[afterburn]

At least he had the right idea about getting protection. Hopefully next time he has learned how to ride and actually bought the protection before he gets on.

 

[JimLor]

Ya know, I came close to doing the same thing yesterday. I was putzing down a road I'd been on a hundred times and, yes Virginia, I wasn't totally focused on what I was doing. Right lane - actually I usually ride the left side of any lane - and entered a fairly sweeping left had curve. I had move more to the right beginning the turn and when I came out I was probably a couple of inches from the dropoff/shoulder. What's nice when you have some experience and have studied the art/science of riding is that you (ME) can dope slap yourself and figure out what you (ME) did wrong. I'm 99% sure I executed a "lazy" turnin vice my usual quick turnin. I was behind from the start to the finish of the turn. Funny what runs through your mind as the turn continues and you get closer and closer to disaster - in my case, BY ALL THAT IS HOLY, LEAN BABY LEAN!

 

[Mike-H]

Good to hear he was ok .....by the way love your take on France :good:

 

[twowheelnut]

BY ALL THAT IS HOLY, LEAN BABY LEAN!

Combine that prayer with a quick goose of the throttle to push you outta the corner... Worked for me a few times.

 

[PapaUtah]

Hope it wasn't this guy...

A 50-year-old Oregon man remained in serious condition in the intensive care unit at Kootenai County Hospital in Coeur d'Alene Saturday, a day after crashing his Harley-Davidson™ motorcycle while going about 100 mph(must have been banging on the rev limiter the whole time!), the Idaho State Police said.

Lawrence Lovelady(displaying a complete and utter lack of intelligence) of Oregon City, Ore., was not wearing a helmet(not shocking but anyone want to bet he used a Harley-Davidson™ or The Motor Company™ bandana as a substitute???)Friday night when he lost control of his Harley-Davidson™ motorcycle on Interstate 90(“lost control” on that darn twisty interstate! There ought to be an investigation!)and rolled his bike four times, according to the Oregon State Police.

Lovelady was eastbound near Cataldo, Idaho, and traveling with 12 to 15 other motorcyclists (ahh! Don’t you just love those “group” rides!) at the time of the crash, around 7 p.m. Friday. Police said Lovelady and his Harley-Davidson™ motorcycle traveled about 437 feet(in tractor pull contests that is a full pull!) down the roadway before coming to a stop.

Lovelady was unsure if the resale value of his Harley-Davidson™ motorcycle had been affected by the incident.

 

[FJRMGM]

I'll bet in the Harley crash they had just left a road house and drinking was involved.

 

[Woodstock]

..and rolled his bike four times, according to the Oregon State Police.

What a bizarre thing to note. Like the guys following were counting? Or is accident reconstruction much better than I thought?

 

[Mike-H]

Another case of the gene pool sorting itself out????

 

[LiquidSilver]

I'm 99% sure I executed a "lazy" turnin vice my usual quick turnin. I was behind from the start to the finish of the turn. Funny what runs through your mind as the turn continues and you get closer and closer to disaster - in my case, BY ALL THAT IS HOLY, LEAN BABY LEAN!

In the interests of your safety, it sounds as if you were watching the edge getting "closer and closer." This can be deadly. I've seen with my own eyes people crashing and narrowly avoiding death because their eyes were pulling them offline. I'm glad you were okay, but put your eyeballs where you want to go... especially if you get into a scary situation. If you're really spooked - force your head to face where you want to go... along with your eyeballs. That will pull you into a correct body attitude to make the turn. These bikes will turn better than 99% of their riders would believe... so use those eyes and head.

I'm not saying I'm perfect, and I know I'm capable of doing something stupid at any time, but looking at *that centerline, or *that mailbox, or *that rock formation, or *that car can kill you.

One day, my wife, kids and I were tooling along the interstate in the truck, and came up behind a typical mature couple on a GoldWing. We were following at a comfy distance of course, but as the Wing came up on the left side of a semi in a right-hand, gradual, interstate bend... I watched the rider LOOK at the edge of the pagement, as his bike kept moving that way. Signs of a struggle ensued, with the bike making uneasy movements, like two people were fighting over the bars. As the bike got closer to the edge of the pavement, toward the median, I noticed the 'cheese-cutter' guardrail system. I was trying to mentally prepare for dealing with severed limbs. When the Wing hit the off-camber gravel, rocks were flying everywhere. I had reduced my speed wayyy back, and the semi that was being overtaken was slowed with me. My wife was hysterical, she was crying and screaming at the same time. (I still tear up remembering what that sounded like) Neither of us can understand what kept that bike upright, as it slung rocks, off-camber and fighting the edge of the pavement, just feet from the merciless median cables... but the bike stayed upright. Two half-dollar sized rocks left standing on my hood, I don't know how I escaped a broken windshield as well.

At the end of the drama, the rider pulled off to the right, in front of the now almost-stopped traffic of the interstate, gesturing wildly to his little-o-lady passenger, as if the bike had developed a mind of its own... but it wasn't the bike's fault. Dang bike performed better than Duhammel's Formula Extreme bike that day. At fault were the *rider's eyes*... plain and simple. The curve was modest. His bike would have made that gentle curve in triple digits, but the rider couldn't tell because his eyes were in the wrong place.

(I wonder if he still rides?)

Hope this helps.

 

[JimLor]

LiquidSilver - thanks, you're right! As it was unfolding I was pleased that I didn't hit the brakes or snap the throttle shut, but I did keep an eye on that edge - EVEN THOUGH I KNOW BETTER! I always try and do an after action on any event that classifies as, well, an "event," to see what I did right and what I did wrong. Even though this one didn't cause any physical structures to either tightly close or explosively open, I still ran through it in my mind and even rode it again the next day. Like I said, don't know why I didn't consider where my eyeballs were, but I do appreciate your right on comment. I find I still have to remind myself to look ahead and where I want to go rather then always directly ahead of Maxine. Thanks again. Jim

 

[NoCage]

Target fixation almost did me in once. Going through a downhill, decreasing radius, very tight turn, I focused, for a split second, on the armco rail. This was right after I noticed loose stuff in the apex. I corrected that and leaned hard after getting past the debris... the front wheel stayed on the pavement, but the back wheel drifted into the soft soil next to the rail. The back end did the left right thing for a little before I got back on pavement. When I stopped to collect myself, there was at least 3 inches of the moist soil all the way around the back rim. I also bruised the crap out of my ankle somehow... thank God for armored boots.

 

[sparky3008]

I'm 99% sure I executed a "lazy" turnin vice my usual quick turnin. I was behind from the start to the finish of the turn. Funny what runs through your mind as the turn continues and you get closer and closer to disaster - in my case, BY ALL THAT IS HOLY, LEAN BABY LEAN!

In the interests of your safety, it sounds as if you were watching the edge getting "closer and closer." This can be deadly. I've seen with my own eyes people crashing and narrowly avoiding death because their eyes were pulling them offline. I'm glad you were okay, but put your eyeballs where you want to go... especially if you get into a scary situation. If you're really spooked - force your head to face where you want to go... along with your eyeballs. That will pull you into a correct body attitude to make the turn. These bikes will turn better than 99% of their riders would believe... so use those eyes and head.

I'm not saying I'm perfect, and I know I'm capable of doing something stupid at any time, but looking at *that centerline, or *that mailbox, or *that rock formation, or *that car can kill you.

One day, my wife, kids and I were tooling along the interstate in the truck, and came up behind a typical mature couple on a GoldWing. We were following at a comfy distance of course, but as the Wing came up on the left side of a semi in a right-hand, gradual, interstate bend... I watched the rider LOOK at the edge of the pagement, as his bike kept moving that way. Signs of a struggle ensued, with the bike making uneasy movements, like two people were fighting over the bars. As the bike got closer to the edge of the pavement, toward the median, I noticed the 'cheese-cutter' guardrail system. I was trying to mentally prepare for dealing with severed limbs. When the Wing hit the off-camber gravel, rocks were flying everywhere. I had reduced my speed wayyy back, and the semi that was being overtaken was slowed with me. My wife was hysterical, she was crying and screaming at the same time. Neither of us can understand what kept that bike upright, as it slung rocks, off-camber and fighting the edge of the pavement, just feet from the merciless median cables... but the bike stayed upright. Two half-dollar sized rocks left standing on my hood, I don't know how I escaped a broken windshield as well. At the end of the drama, the rider pulled off to the right, gesturing wildly to his little-o-lady passenger, as if the bike had developed a mind of its own... but it wasn't the bike's fault. Dang bike performed better than Duhammel's Formula Extreme bike that day. At fault were the *rider's eyes*... plain and simple. The curve was modest. His bike would have made that gentle curve in triple digits, but the rider couldn't tell because his eyes were in the wrong place. (I wonder if he still rides?)

Hope this helps.

I was speaking with someone this morning of this very thing.

My dirt bike accident was just this type of thing. My head was not committed to making the turn, I never looked where I wanted or should have wanted to go and all my head kept telling me was, no way, pull out, stop. Of course if I had just committed myself to the turn, focused in the direction I wanted to go, stayed off the brakes and just went for it more than likely I would have made it fine.

I also commented that when I was younger I never worried about getting hurt and I didn't get hurt. Now that I am older I think about it more and that will only get you hurt...

This game is as much mental as anything...

Be safe...

 

[LiquidSilver]

I hope my earlier post didn't sound preachy... it's the same sermon I play over and over in MY head.

Last track day, 10 days ago, I was completely frustrated all day... wondering WTF was wrong with me. At the end of the day, one of the track coach/volunteers told me I was staring at the deck all day... and he was right. There was some dirt on the track at the beginning of the day, so I spent the rest of the day looking at the track surface instead of up, through the corner. :huh: How could I be so stupid? It makes an absolutely HUGE difference in rider performance in any situation. Moreso off-road... where you need to look over obstacles ahead and not below... but most importantly on the street, where performance can mean your life. :dribble:

<------ DOH, see that dunderhead in the avatar to the left... that's turn 4 at Barber, and my head should be another 20 degrees to the left. QED. :lol:

Cheers.

 

[odot]

This is throwing me off. Why would anyone look/stare at something when riding a scoot other then where they think they are going next.....ok, ok, ok....a nice ***....pair of ****.....cute looking sheep...but, come on...take a glance and get back to the road, kids.

 

[Mike-H]

"Practice does make perfect",...or so they say

 

[wpbfjr]

i'm still a noob to riding, and it is sure great to read a constructive debriefing on a close call, and tips to avoid close calls...

thanks for passing it on...

(i still need my own track day and personal experience, not just reading about riding skills).

 

[odot]

Just remember, wpbfjr...if it doesn't have **** or some kind of wool to shave off....it ain't worth lookin' at for too long of a span of time.....

 

[LiquidSilver]

WAZZUPP Dana! :yahoo:

Hope all's well with ya.

Yep, track daze are great... and most orgs have a nice novice class where an FJR will keep up just fine, and you learn a ton! Don't worry about how fast you think you'll go... just enjoy riding a set of curves you'll get very familiar with, and no speed limits, or deer, (or alligators) or gravel. Boy is it fun to let the bike flex its muscles, too.

The novice I saw that had the most fun on his first track day was an older gent on a BMW GS1100. With that bike, he looked 10-feet tall compared to the other riders. He didn't have any adrenaline issues (like when guys are worried about being 'ricky racer' their first times out), so he just strutted that GS around the track with a VVBSEG on his face. I remember my first track day. I was scared to death, I don't remember why. Now it's just a hoot. There's no other place you can hold the R1's 'go' handle open for more than a blink of an eye, same principle with a big FJR. You might have the biggest bike at the track, but it's all good, and the people there become like family. Nobody belittles novices either, because EVERYBODY there used to be one.

Sportbiketracktime.com is a great org, and they actually 'group ride' you in the novice class to control the different speeds of the different riders from all walks of life. Then they give you, gratis, hours of classroom time with fundimentals you'd have to pay hundreds of dollars for, at a track school. (like I did) Great bunch of people.