Respectful Reminder to us all

[peppaster]

Not yet this year, and not yet with my fresh FZ6.

Before moving to CA I lived in Italy and had a pretty bad accident with my Kawa er-5: A cager cut my way from a side road while I was cruising at 30mph.
It was not my fault, but somehow I feel guilty: I was talking to my passenger (girlfriend), turning my head about 60 degrees left, and the car arrived from the right.... without chatting I could probably avoid the crash.

Then we bought microphones and speakers for the helmets....

So my advice: NEVER talk to the passenger, not even while you're riding at low speed.

 

[surfinfazer]

Well, it's not me, and it's not really a motorcycle crash, but.... A buddy of mine wrecked his scooter pretty hard in Hawaii this winter. He was riding in the bike lane (where scooters are required to ride there) and a big SUV turned right into his path. He didn't have time to stop, and hit it at full speed. He completely destroyed the scooter, and as you can probably figure, he wasn't wearing any gear, so he was very badly hurt. Luckily all his injuries were the kind you can heal from, except for his face. Apparently putting your head through a car window at 25 mph is enough to give you disfiguring scars. Poor guy... but every time I see him or talk to him I get a little extra motivation to wear ATGATT.

 

[dumma]

I had a major tumble in 1995 I was riding when two bikes in front of me collided head-on. One of the oncoming bikes started sliding and came right at me, real fast. Though I braked hard, I ended up going over the bike, which launched me in the air and I did a somersault 4 times. Luckily not much damage to the bike and not even a scratch on me! Couldn't believe that I walked away without a bruise.

Looking at the way I got tossed, one of the jokers on the road freaked out and was screaming his head-off that I was dead...luckily someone asked him to shut-up!

 

[bluenova]

Does standing still and being hit from behind at 60 mph count?

 

[Nelly]

Does standing still and being hit from behind at 60 mph count?

In the worst possible way seriously though you had no way to prepare yourself. Imagine the force that went through your neck as you extended.

Nelly

 

[bluenova]

In the worst possible way seriously though you had no way to prepare yourself. Imagine the force that went through your neck as you extended.

Nelly

This was on my old SV, amazingly I got out with only whip lash, but the bike, her car and the car in front of me were all written off. I was in the air while they were all smashing together. When she hit me I landed on her windscreen and was then thrown forwards over my bike and 2 cars in front luckily missing all the action. Now I always filter when I can to the front of the queue, and if there is not enough room (or if I'm first in the queue) I sit there watching my mirrors till I'm sure I'm safe.

 

[Concept]

First time I ever rode a bike I was 16 ( late learner ), I took off too fast and didnt make the first turn lol. I didnt get up too much speed so no biggy but the guy who owned the bike wasnt too happy, which I can understand. That was the only time I have dropped a road bike.

I have had numerous spills on my old road trail (whilst offroad) which I had a few years back but never anything really serious. Usually trying to exceed my capabilities going up the side of a hill or something.

I am really carefull on the road now getting back into the swing of things riding again and I always wear long pants, boots, padded jacket, gloves and of course a helmet.