Near Dump

[Raven1]

Had my first close call today. On my day off I decided to have a little fun with an early morning ride. No big deal until I tried to make a left hand turn WAY to fast. The turn was a 90 degree left hander onto a country road. I wanted to see how much "lean" I could get out of the bike. Not enough. I quickly ran out of road. My front tire ended up in the soft shoulder while I felt my rear wheel start to shoot out from under me. Only by the grace of God did I right the bike, after throwing my left foot down to keep me up. I ended up riding on wet grass, mud and gravel. Cursing myself the rest of the way home (doing 5mph under the speed limit) I realized just how easy it is to have an accident. I was riding beyond my experience and not paying attention to detail. If I had looked beyond the turn, I would have realized I need to slow down due to the "narrow" road I was turning onto. Stay safe and ride within your means.

 

[FJRONAMISSION]

No broken bones and no large repair bill........ just some clean tightie-whities...... priceless

cheap lesson and well worth every penny

 

[Raven1]

No broken bones and no large repair bill........ just some clean tightie-whities...... priceless cheap lesson and well worth every penny

Thanks. Not so sure about the clean tightie-whities....it did scare the $#!* out of me :blush: .

 

[keithaba]

be careful out there... I can be the first one to tell you, repair on the FJR isn't cheap....

 

[NoCage]

Glad you came out without injury to you or the bike... the FJR can get you into trouble fast. Don't know if your tires weren't warmed up, but they need to be before any hard leaning. I've, uhm... "tested" this.

 

[ELP_JC]

First of all, don't feel bad because 'reading' curves well on a consistent basis is one of the most difficult skills to master. But most importantly, if you weren't dragging all kinds of hard parts, which by the sound of your story you weren't, that means the bike wasn't the problem; it was YOU. I recommend you take the Superbike School camp; it's well worth it buddy. And it's the most street oriented 'track' school IMO. You'd come out of it surpassing the FJR's limits, and with a lot more experience reading curves. Is it expensive? Yes, but it costs less than a low-side repair, and it'd make you a safer and better rider. The FJR has modest cornering clearance, but with the preload in 'hard', and the front dialed up correctly, it's more than enough for the street. My challenge is to enter a curve with the lean angle I want, which is a little bit left for reserve, but I'm still learning. Some times I nail it, but many don't. That's the beauty and the challenge of riding; you never stop learning. That's what keep many of us challenged and motivated.

Good luck, and glad nothing happened. My closest call came when I turned my attention (for a second) to an awesome cabin deep in Gila. The road was straight, but the road dropped off several feet at the end of the asphalt, and when I turned back my attention to the road, I was millimeters from falling over. Live and learn. Take care.

JC

 

[Wolfhound]

JC, Are you in Alpine ? Perfect weather yesterday - no rain & temps excellent ! Beer Wallow for dinner ?

 

[Raven1]

First of all, don't feel bad because 'reading' curves well on a consistent basis is one of the most difficult skills to master. But most importantly, if you weren't dragging all kinds of hard parts, which by the sound of your story you weren't, that means the bike wasn't the problem; it was YOU. I recommend you take the Superbike School camp; it's well worth it buddy. And it's the most street oriented 'track' school IMO. You'd come out of it surpassing the FJR's limits, and with a lot more experience reading curves. Is it expensive? Yes, but it costs less than a low-side repair, and it'd make you a safer and better rider. The FJR has modest cornering clearance, but with the preload in 'hard', and the front dialed up correctly, it's more than enough for the street. My challenge is to enter a curve with the lean angle I want, which is a little bit left for reserve, but I'm still learning. Some times I nail it, but many don't. That's the beauty and the challenge of riding; you never stop learning. That's what keep many of us challenged and motivated. Good luck, and glad nothing happened. My closest call came when I turned my attention (for a second) to an awesome cabin deep in Gila. The road was straight, but the road dropped off several feet at the end of the asphalt, and when I turned back my attention to the road, I was millimeters from falling over. Live and learn. Take care.

JC

Thanks for the info. I am currently signed up for a Sportbike class next week (military required) and I will be taking the MSF advanced rider class next month. Looks like I will also be looking for a Superbike School camp. Extra knowledge can't hurt. :read: :headbonk:

 

[weekend rider]

Raven : things can happen is a fraction of a second on a bike or anything relating to personal safety.

Glad to see you taking those classes which will help make you a better rider

Let us know how you did and what your impression is of all classes taken :fans: :drinks:

 

[Fergi]

Had my first close call today. On my day off I decided to have a little fun with an early morning ride. No big deal until I tried to make a left hand turn WAY to fast. The turn was a 90 degree left hander onto a country road. I wanted to see how much "lean" I could get out of the bike. Not enough. I quickly ran out of road. My front tire ended up in the soft shoulder while I felt my rear wheel start to shoot out from under me. Only by the grace of God did I right the bike, after throwing my left foot down to keep me up. I ended up riding on wet grass, mud and gravel. Cursing myself the rest of the way home (doing 5mph under the speed limit) I realized just how easy it is to have an accident. I was riding beyond my experience and not paying attention to detail. If I had looked beyond the turn, I would have realized I need to slow down due to the "narrow" road I was turning onto. Stay safe and ride within your means.

Glad to hear you survived you off road experience. Isn’t it a wonderful thing when you first realize that you’ve survived a potential crash with nothing more than a bad case of the shakes?

Just curious, were you familiar with the road or did it just look like a manageable situation?

I agree with J.C. regarding the Keith Code Superbike School. I took it in ’84 at Willow Springs and it was money well spent. I will probably never (purposefully that is) be someone who pushes the FJR to its limits, but I learned things in that class that I might never have learned on my own. The course was a blast and worth the money in fun alone.