I tossed my shiny scoot down the road.

[wrightme43]

Wrightme43: I don't understand how the mishap occurred. Lady waved you on? Was she on passenger side...I don't understand. She isn't driving yet is giving you signal to pass? Husband and she are not on same page but in same vehicle?

No two vehicles.

Front Truck with Husband and 4 wheeler.
Rear jeep with wife and a passanger.

I saw the jeep Driver (wife) wave me past. I never saw the passenger wave past. Franko was behind Defy and saw that.

So we had waves from both sides in the rear vehicle.

Now here is the thing.

They could of been the silliest way ever to tell someone not to pass. That could of been their intention. We will never know for sure. I believe she was saying pass.

As I pull along side the jeep right next to the driver her hand is still waving, I see the trucks left turn signal go on, and it begin to turn left. I jam on the brakes at that point.

Its a really really f.ed up way to have it happen.

 

[bd43]

Personally, I'm just glad no one was seriously hurt; not a good way to end the season.

I just want to mention and make comment about another point made prevously. From what I've experienced in driving a cager and what that has taught me to look out for while highway driving.

I was coming up to a slower moving vehicle, as in much slower than the posted speed limit on the highway. The passing lane was clear for miles so I signal out to pass. Just as I went by, the guy made a left turn into a driveway of sorts. Holy s**t, I thought because if I was 2 seconds slower we would have collided. What I've learned, a slow moving vehicle with no signal lights to indicate intention but a roadway approaching left or right, I have to assume he's turning and do not pass.

To the comment, if a person ahead signals you to pass via a signal light, do you trust them? How do you know that they aren't actually going to make a left turn? Again, look to see if there is actually a place they can make the left turn otherwise pass with haste and caution.

 

[wrightme43]

Personally, I'm just glad no one was seriously hurt; not a good way to end the season.

I just want to mention and make comment about another point made prevously. From what I've experienced in driving a cager and what that has taught me to look out for while highway driving.

I was coming up to a slower moving vehicle, as in much slower than the posted speed limit on the highway. The passing lane was clear for miles so I signal out to pass. Just as I went by, the guy made a left turn into a driveway of sorts. Holy s**t, I thought because if I was 2 seconds slower we would have collided. What I've learned, a slow moving vehicle with no signal lights to indicate intention but a roadway approaching left or right, I have to assume he's turning and do not pass.

To the comment, if a person ahead signals you to pass via a signal light, do you trust them? How do you know that they aren't actually going to make a left turn? Again, look to see if there is actually a place they can make the left turn otherwise pass with haste and caution.

I have read all of that and remember all of it. Its good to hear again. The major issue was a wave by that may of been a no pass wave.

See in that area most of the people are very used to motorcycles. Lots and Lots and Lots of motorcycles. The general behavior there when a bike approaches is to watch for a safe place for bikes to pass and then wave them by, or lots of time the people will pull over to the side and just let you go. Most of them are very very nice kind people.

Writing this I also know there are around .1% of the human population that are actual psychopaths. Some people get joy from harming others. That is a possibilty as well, however slim. It may of been on purpose. I meaning only to scare us, or meaning to harm us. I do not think the driver of the truck did one thing wrong. As soon as he saw us, he pulled back into his lane and stopped. His wife actually almost hit him. It was a ClusterFuddddggggeee!!!!


My wreck was me. I wrecked my bike. I did it right. But I wrecked it. I apexed in the wrong spot, and then had to turn it more. I did not see that turn went tighter and tighter.
Had there been oncoming traffic I would probley not be alive to speak with you all.

I could of grabed some rear brake and wrecked. I could of grabbed some front brake and wrecked. I could of run wide across the double yellow into oncoming lane (this is one thing that happened when I first started and I made big deal of never doing it again. I would ride into the ground first). I could of been hanging off before entering the turn.

I did what I read to do in that situation. I leaned it in further instead of using survival reactions.

How it could of been avoided.

PRACTICE FREAKING TRAILBRAKING AND GET GOOD AT IT!!!!!!!!!
Do not run a pace faster than you feel good about on the street. NO MATTER WHAT EGO SAYS!!!!!!!!!!!! I had said at least twice I did not feel comfortable at the pace, other people did not either. I wont ride with fast groups of more than three on the street again, and even then the spacing needs to be larger for ME!
IF YOU CANT SEE WHERE IT GOES..... ITS A DECREASING RADIUS even when it isnt. That simple. I put my bike in the wrong spot and it was not going thru that corner in my lane with my skill level.
I was worn out.
I was very very hungry and my legs and arms get trembley when I get that hungry. We were going for food because I was really really hungry.
I was very very thirsty.
It was more than one thing that put me in a position to crash.

I am fine. My bike is hurt. I could be dead!!
Thats MY COMPLETE AND TOTAL RESPONSIBILITY!!!
I could of stopped went my own way.




In the future for me and only for me. I will not ride with in a group with out a pretrip discussion of rules, skill levels, and speed. That simple.

I feel looking back and thinking almost nonstop about it our group should of been split up into smaller sections based on skill and comfort level.

Who does every single thing that lead up my crash come back to?

ME!!

I did it. I made a HUGE HUGE HUGE withdrawl from my Luck bag. I have worked alot on my Skill bag. Now I need to work on several more things.
I need track days, and I need riderskills training with instructors working with me. I learn well. I love to learn.

 

[hunterfz6]

I have a mix of feelings now. i rode with writeme and shaggy, and they were very good mates to ride with. It dont matter, mix a bunch of cars, and a bunch of bikes together, and sometimes it happens. I'm just glad everyone was ok.

 

[ant_mb]

Thanks for the evaluation Steve.

 

[craig007]

Glad that everyone is OK. Thanks for reviewing what happened. It's one thing to read about this stuff in books. It is quite another thing to hear about it from people you know (in a virtual sense) and respect (in a real sense). Hopefully I can learn from your experiences.

 

[DefyInertia]

I regret that I failed to notice there was a T intersection up ahead...with that information, I'd like to think I would have waited (we've all seen countless videos with a similar scenario).

About wrightme's earlier solo get-off, here are the pics I took.

 

[VEGASRIDER]

Steve,

Not sure how much time you had but you had mentioned that you saw the turn signal come on, which could only be bad news. Did you have a chance to use your horn? I know you cover your brakes to be on the safe side in certain areas such as some intersections as you may sense a possible bad scenario, just wondering if you do the samething with the horn. I know the wave probably indicated a false safety zone.

Try practicing your horn with emergency braking. You can bring in the clutch and press the horn at the sametime. I do it all the time. Can't tell you how many times my horn has saved my ass in traffic here in this town. You have no idea how crazy they drive here around the strip. They, as in all of the tourists who aren't paying attention by gawking at the sites, lost, or even buzzed or drunk. The overly aggressive cab and limo drivers who are trying to make another buck, time is money.. And all of the locals driving to or from work who work at the casinos who are always seem to be in a hurry.

But really appreciate all of the posts from you and the rest of the members, as I learn everyday from reading all of the scenarios that has happened.

 

[wrightme43]

Steve,

Not sure how much time you had but you had mentioned that you saw the turn signal come on, which could only be bad news. Did you have a chance to use your horn? I know you cover your brakes to be on the safe side in certain areas such as some intersections as you may sense a possible bad scenario, just wondering if you do the samething with the horn. I know the wave probably indicated a false safety zone.

Try practicing your horn with emergency braking. You can bring in the clutch and press the horn at the sametime. I do it all the time. Can't tell you how many times my horn has saved my ass in traffic here in this town. You have no idea how crazy they drive here around the strip. They, as in all of the tourists who aren't paying attention by gawking at the sites, lost, or even buzzed or drunk. The overly aggressive cab and limo drivers who are trying to make another buck, time is money.. And all of the locals driving to or from work who work at the casinos who are always seem to be in a hurry.

But really appreciate all of the posts from you and the rest of the members, as I learn everyday from reading all of the scenarios that has happened.

No man I did not. It had never occured to me to practice that. It will be done as well. Thank you.

 

[OneTrack]

Wow. I almost missed this thread. Glad to hear that everyone came out of this "fender bender" ok...it could have been so much worse. Kudos to the skill of the riders involved, notwithstanding the circumstances.

I guess the moral of this story is that the only thing you can be sure of when a cager makes a hand signal is that the window is open.

 

[pedwards89]

It's already been said on here, but glad you guys are all still upright.

 

[madmanmaigret]

As we all are, I'm glad everyone made it home safe. Thanks for sharing and teaching everyone a little about what to look out for especially on group rides! Get that bike back on the road!

 

[CHEMIKER]

It tweaked the hell out of the forks but we straigtened them out.

How do you straighten out tweaked forks? Never had that happen and am having trouble imagining it. Are they bent and you bend them back with brute force? Where do they bend at?

 

[DefyInertia]

the unspoken rule is to pass only when the guy in front of you has safely passed AND has left enough room for you to move in front of the car being overtaken.

Really? I wish I had fully appreciated all of the variables without first having to panic brake in order to avoid tradegy.

I actually prefer to pull over for a minute or two when I doubt passing safely is going to be an option anytime soon (I do this on my own or when with just one other rider); however, this is also complicated in a group ride setting especially when you're on mountain roads.

If I'm leading a group, I will wait for some form of acknowledgment from the operator of the vehicle being passed (whether it's a cage or another bike) before beginning the pass.

Sometime it's a wave, a turn indicator, or sometimes the vehicle pulls hard to the right. Once I receive this cue then I go by, along with a "follow me" hand gesture to the bikes behind me that it's clear to pass. Never on a blind hill or curve, etc.

As for the accident that's being discussed, I wasn't there, but the riders who were seem to have a clear understanding of what happened: The driver of the car didn't know that anyone was passing him when he made his turn.

So if it's a long straight and the person in front does not acknowledge your desire to pass, I'm guessing you make the pass with extreme caution? Do you still wave your friends along in this situation? The only alternatives would be fall into the slower vehicle's pace, to NOT pass, or to pull over for a few minutes, right?

You always make a follow me guesture? Ever have the third bike back go after making such a guesture before the second bike back decides to go? I guess this is where pre-ride discussions come into play.

In your last paragraph you're making the point that being sure the passee knows your passing is paramount, correct? Is this why Suzukis have passing buttons?

 

[DefyInertia]

How do you straighten out tweaked forks? Never had that happen and am having trouble imagining it. Are they bent and you bend them back with brute force? Where do they bend at?

After wrightme's solo lowside, his forks were twisted in the triples making the collective front end bent; each individual fork was still straight.

From our FZ6 on FZ6 mishap at the very end of the day, my forks are fine...my entire bike is pretty much fine. I lost a blinker, dented the tank with a clipon just a little bit, and ripped the cap off my rad.

 

[CHEMIKER]

After wrightme's solo lowside, his forks were twisted in the triples making the collective front end bent; each individual fork was still straight.

From our FZ6 on FZ6 mishap at the very end of the day, my forks are fine...my entire bike is pretty much fine. I lost a blinker, dented the tank with a clipon just a little bit, and ripped the cap off my rad.

Gotcha, thanks!

 

[cws6fan]

WOW!! Just found this thread, Sure am glad to here everyone is okay!!!

 

[Cali rider]

So if it's a long straight and the person in front does not acknowledge your desire to pass, I'm guessing you make the pass with extreme caution? Do you still wave your friends along in this situation? The only alternatives would be fall into the slower vehicle's pace, to NOT pass, or to pull over for a few minutes, right?

Yes, EXTREME caution. I very rarely (< 5%) cross a double-yellow to pass unless the target vehicle moves over to the right (or completely out of the lane). The wave I give to following bikes is strictly an indication that I can see no vehicles coming the other way within our passing environment. If the pass has been initiated and a vehicle is approaching (a subjective assessment with an eye on safety) I immediately point rapidly to the right with my left hand and pull in to the lane as far too the right as possible so that those behind me can see what I recognized. Remember, this is all subjective, there are no absolute rules on how to react, this doesn't cover every scenario.

You always make a follow me gesture? Ever have the third bike back go after making such a gesture before the second bike back decides to go? I guess this is where pre-ride discussions come into play.

We acknowledge that passes will be made safely and that each rider in line should only pass when THEY feel it's safe. My hand gesture simply idicates that I can see a safe distance ahead to marshal the pass maneuver for the group of riders I'm leading. Everyone knows that the pack will wait, and I make it very clear that I will NOT initiate a pass until I feel it is safe. That may be 5, 10, 20 minutes, whatever it takes. I have stopped riding with some particular groups in my area (BMW rider groups come to mind, no flames please!!) because of their disregard for safety.

In your last paragraph you're making the point that being sure the passee knows your passing is paramount, correct? Is this why Suzukis have passing buttons?

Yes, it is as important on a bike as it is driving a car. However, as Wrightme43 mentioned, some people have cruel intentions, and that will always be an unknown factor.

If anything I wrote appears wrong or misguided fell free to criticize my comments. I am always willing to learn, and this is one of the best discussions this particular forum has ever sustained.