Respectful Reminder to us all

Hi guys,
The silly season is now well upon us. Many people will be putting bikes back on the road after a long lay off. This is not a problem but we need to remember that skills need time to become sharp again.
I don't want this to be morbid but I would like to see how may of us either have an accident or know a friend who has a spill. Maybe we can learn from it?
My good buddy has dropped his bike, he is ok.
Nelly

i have done the "stop and flop", i have low sided, I have (low speed) high-sided, I have seen in person buddys crash and of course in the media i have seen crashes fatal and not. Lucky for me, my father wanted me to learn the nessesary skills before hoping onto public roads and got me an old used 1973 Honda CL350. May not have been the best bike to teach a twelve year old kid on but we did with what we had. Obviously the stop and flop was my first "down" the bike was too heavy for me to hold up and it went down with me barely making it out from under it (learned: put feet down first). My low side was me locking up the rear brake on wet grass and sliding about fifty feet(learned: easy on the rear brake). My high side was similar to my low-side but the tire caught in some sticky mud and tossed me off (learned: easy on the rear brake, and look where you are going. (I would have been ok if not for the mud)) lucky for me this was all on grass/mud/dirt and i learned to ride within my limits so I have been more than cautious on the street. I have been in a few hairy situations on the street but my training and instinct (so far) has kept me upright. I knew when i got on a street bike after years of no riding that I would have to re-learn the basics and learn some new street techniques. This mindset has let me re-introduce myself safely to motorcycling.

I haven't gone down yet. (I say yet because I'm 33 and I hope that I have at least another 40 years in the saddle ahead of me. As a daily rider it's bound to happen at some point.)

The best way to keep your skills up is to ride all year. Even if the weather only lets you out a couple days a week do it. Bundle up and hit it!

Does dropping the bike count, like a stop and flop our similar to your dumb bell incident in your garage?

VEGASRIDER said:

Does dropping the bike count, like a stop and flop our similar to your dumb bell incident in your garage?

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DUMB BELL = Dumb a55 lol (I am chuffed it still brings a smile to your face). I am more interested in actuall falls or drops. i have just realised that the problem with this poll is you can only vote once.
I have looked after 5 riders in ER since the beginning of April 08.

are we talking this year? or just ever?


I have had a stop and then when i put my foot down it slipped on gravel and i fell over on the old bike, but that is the worst i have been down and i hope it is the worst I'll ever get...

It may have been on a moped but it was bad enough to count.

In my teens I flew up in a yard at about 20 MPH and applied a heavy front brake
on wet grass. Yes indeed... one second I was on two wheels the next I wasn't.

To further add shame, my cousin was watching out the peephole of his door and he could see me coming up fast - he said he blinked and I disappeared. He then opened the door and it looked like a Redneck Slip N Slide event.

Dang! That was a dumb move.

Between the street and the desert I have been down more than a few times in 44 years and knock on wood never broken anything but the bike so far. The last time was 2 years ago and I rode the bike home after a 40mph crash. Three months and $2,700 later it was better than new. Haven't managed to crash the FZ6 yet.

reiobard said:

are we talking this year? or just ever?


I have had a stop and then when i put my foot down it slipped on gravel and i fell over on the old bike, but that is the worst i have been down and i hope it is the worst I'll ever get...

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This season mate, It keeps it in more perspective as its the real and now.

Nelly

This was a story on our local news regarding motorycles today. I wanted to show you the video, but all I could pull up was the text. The clip was a laughing joke. With safety being the topic, they only interviewed riders wearing minimal gear, and they only showed videos of riders on their bikes zooming by wearing minimal gear as well. They interviewed a guy from the local HD dealership, stating that he had over 20 years of riding experience. They showed him riding off on his bike wearing only a helmet. No gloves, jacket, etc. I ended up writing an e-mail to that reporter telling to be more selective on who they interview and what to video in the future. I also said that when it comes to safety, Harley riders are usually set a poor example when it comes to wearing full safety gear. Am I right, or is that just a perception.

Las Vegas Now | Drivers Turn to Motorcycles to Combat Gas Prices

I dumped on a long icy road in early March. I got the bike out way too soon. It was a 5mph spill that knocked a small piece of my front fairing and right side pod off. I fixed that and was on my way.

I dumped on Monday too. 35 - 40 mph low side in turn 11 of NHIS in the pouring rain. I was at a Tony's Track Day. I was having a lot of fun passing other riders, but couldn't take this turn quite as fast as the super motard that I was following. I love my frame sliders. I had just installed them on Wednesday and they saved me big time. The left side fairing and pod were smacked up a little, as well as my rear cover. Scraped the end of the clutch lever and the passenger handle a bit too. No damage to the tank, engine cover, etc. Well worth the $25 for sliders! I'd strongly recommend them to everyone! No damage to me (I was dressed properly). I took the bike through tech, got a clean bill of health, and was back out there 20 minutes later. A bit slower though...

I have been on a safety crew for motorcycle road racing for 9+ years and have cornerworked thousands of roadraces at various tracks on the east coast, both professional (AMA) and club racers (WERA & CCS).

With that being said, I see crashes everytime I go to the track. Some of them the racers are able to get up and walk away. Some, not so lucky. Just 2 weeks ago we had a younger guy dump his R6 on a high speed straight and had to call in the chopper for him. Luckily it was just for a couple broken bones and not something more serious like head trauma.

What will be embedded in mind forever are 2 deaths we experienced at Summit Point during the 2005 season. I didn't know either racer on a personal level, but when you're involved with an incident of that nature, it can have a serious impact.

Being on 2 wheels is dangerous, whether you're on the street or in a controlled environment like a track.

Stay safe everyone, and please always wear your gear!

I have not gone down, THANK GOD!!! but roadryder08 (my brother in-law) has gone down a few times, as well as my dad....years and years ago.

Last fall I was riding in philly in university city, in traffic behind a car (probably a little too close) and they slammed on their brakes because a pedestrian decided to walk (not at a cross walk) across the street 5 feet in front of this car. That is ok except both of my wheels were on the cross walk paint and they both locked up instantly, pitching my bike over. It was only at 5-10 mph my knee and my bike hit the ground, only thing truly damaged was my ego, scratched some of the faring and bent the bolt for my frame slider.

I was still new to riding and not knowing what to look out for while city riding, paint is very slick.

About 6,000 miles into my career I was young and dumb and thought I knew what I was doing, target fixated at the edge of the road (US 129), grabbed some front brake, lowsided and got injured...thankfully is was a left hander....came to find out I sucked at riding. LOOK THROUGH your turns people!

One spill in the grass last year at the track but that's to be expected.

I would kinda say I haven't seen anyone go down this year. (forum friends excluded) I have read about 4 or 5 crashes in the paper on a road I ride. two were fatal. I have only seen three riders go down in front of me on the street (since I've been riding) and luckily mainly only there pride was hurt.

Apologies to the OP....Didn't realize the poll was only for spills this year. Growing up on dual sports, I crashed virtually everytime I went out in one form or fashion as there is always a hill too steep or a jump too close to the fence. Always walked/bled away from those with nothing more that scratches and bruises. My only bad ones happened on the street....Car turned in front of me at a light and according to eyewitneses, I "almost" cleared his back bumper before my buddy peg caught his bumper....Artificial knee cap and little feeling from the knee down (no limp though) for the remainder of my life was the payoff. Second one was following and old geezer with a truckload of kids in the back making faces at three of us on bikes. We returned the circus stunt and the oldest kid in the back reached down into the truck bed, retrieved and tossed a full cinder block at my front tire....It broke before I got to it but I still hit a large enough chunk to toss me. Bit the asphault at 55mph on that one and wound up with surgery, steel plate and pins in my collarbone. Old man never saw a thing and kept on driving. All those years ago........ Be careful out there guys, it's not you I'm worried about as it seems some days they just all want a shiny hood ornament.

VEGASRIDER said:

I also said that when it comes to safety, Harley riders are usually set a poor example when it comes to wearing full safety gear. Am I right, or is that just a perception.

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When it comes to the use of an ungodly amount of gear I would agree but then again they generally aren't flying down the road at 90mph with the front wheel in the air or trying to imitate Rossi in a turn. It's clearly a different culture and it isn't just Harley owners. I think you'll find that many of the cruiser crowd wear or use far less gear than their counterparts with a sport bike. In many cases this is a fashion statement too as they each have their own respective gear as represented by what is available in the bike stores for either side of the spectrum. Going into a store and looking for a jacket with armor or a full face helmet with a cruiser in mind and the choices are very limited. If you went to a store that sold to the sport bike crowd the opposite would hold true. In either case there will never be a replacement for gear but it is painfully clear some value that gear more than others and around hear even the use of a helmet is an afterthought.

Neil, you may have treated 8 or so riders in April of 2008 but think of the thousands you didn't treat and the happy miles they may have ridden. There are riders who ride safe and riders who ride smart but it would appear there aren't a huge number that ride both safe and smart.......

I ended up in the road a couple of weeks ago. Not my fault though, my mate rode into the side of me while I was stopped at a junction.

Never crashed although I've had a few near misses but that's winter riding for you. For every slip and slide there's a new experience to parcel away in your brain that comes screaming to the surface in times of need to say DON'T DO THAT AGAIN!!!!

PS - if I lose it on the way home it's your fault Neil for making me think about crashing! :thumbup: