Tighter Shock and a bad wreck!

[madmanmaigret]

Just a thought Zack but if you can not develop the skills necessary to operate the brakes without ABS what makes you think the same bike with ABS will make your skills any better?

I agree with this charlie. You need the skills to ride not abs

 

[steveindenmark]

I don`t know what mines at but after reading this I am leaving it where it is because it rides well solo or 2 up.

Back to my old saying.

"If its not broke, don`t try and fix it.

Steve

 

[4fun]

I don`t know what mines at but after reading this I am leaving it where it is because it rides well solo or 2 up.

Back to my old saying.

"If its not broke, don`t try and fix it.

Steve

If it's works good, your right. If changes are made, it best to see how it reacts under a controlled environment rather than in a panic situation.

 

[madmanmaigret]

If it's works good, your right. If changes are made, it best to see how it reacts under a controlled environment rather than in a panic situation.

^good advice here folks, key words: controlled environment. this is something I do not do enough. Any thing you do, test it out under controlled conditions before you get out on the open road. I do not want to be reading about one of us going down because we failed to do this.

 

[reiobard]

all very good points...

 

[clunk]

Do sportbike ABS systems apply blended front/rear brake (like on a Goldwing?) or do they just modulate each tire to avoid lockup?

 

[pedwards89]

Do sportbike ABS systems apply blended front/rear brake (like on a Goldwing?) or do they just modulate each tire to avoid lockup?

Don't know about other models, but mine are controlled indepently.

 

[dark_isz]

..........

 

[Zack]

Just a thought Zack but if you can not develop the skills necessary to operate the brakes without ABS what makes you think the same bike with ABS will make your skills any better?

I don't think I would be better driver but bike would have much better breaking performance, specially when slamming on brakes in panic.
Only my first car didn't have ABS and all subsequent ones did and when my kids were looking for cars I decided that they have to have ABS. ABS is not miracle but sure gives you an edge in scary situations by not locking up the wheels.

Zack

 

[VEGASRIDER]

I am sure the stoppie you did was a direct result of panic braking. If you do not practice emergency stopping the right way then you develop the "lets grab all the front brake we can" habit. I am very sorry to hear about the bike and i hope you get better real soon. Also remember, some things are unavoidable no matter how much you practice.

Well said!

 

[Hellgate]

Damn, I'm glad you are okay, more or less, ouch!

Yeah you need to hit both brakes. Yes you might stoppie but before you get to that point the rear brake will help you slow more quickly.

But from what it sounds like it happened very, very fast. It's good to find a empty parking lot and practice from time to time.

Get well soon and get back on that FZ!

 

[jfz6]

I doubt that your get off was caused by adjusting the preload of your rear shock, although it may have been related... the biggest issue is your riding. Do you practice emergency braking? At 280lbs you're probably best set at 7, but your spring still wouldn't be enough for your weight. My understanding is that going down the preload at your weight from 7 would actually lower the rear ride height. By going down to 5 you made your suspension even worse, how this effects the rear coming up i'm not 100% sure, cue Defy or Ped.

The biggest problem with the scenario was not being aware of the situation (hard to know, but always suspect snobs (or anyone for that matter) will be an asshat, and pull dumb sh*t like that.) Next was over doing the front brake, too quickly. How fast were you going before you applied the brake and how much space did you have between said event? If it all happened last second, then there's not much you can do besides look out for it in the future. However, in the time you looked away, you may have covered the necessary space you needed to come to a stop. Quick stops/Panic braking/Emergency stopping should be something you practice regularly. As for trying to do an endo or stoppie, that really comes down to the rider and how he handles the brakes. I'm at 175lbs and I'm comfortable bringing up the rear when i'm bored... a friend of mine is probably 250-280lbs and can stoppie his SV650 no problem. It really comes down to you working the brakes.

Anyway, I'm sorry to hear about your accident, but more importantly glad you're relatively OK. Heal up, practice some quick stops and swerving, grow cynical about other drivers being idiots and not trusting them, and get back on the road soon.

Oh there is no doubt in my mind that the brief time I looked away was what did me in.
Also, a lot of people told me the most important thing for me while learning to ride would be learning to stop. I tried a lot of parking lot exercises but as far as panic it is hard to recreate. It is just odd because I have had to make a stop like this before and although the back end slid a little for some reason I am not bothered by that- I guess from bicycling in Traffic in New Orleans where you have no other space to ride but in traffic.

I just thought it was odd because I had made the change from setting 3 to 5 a few days before and noticed how well it compensated for my large frame and....well.....large belly....and wondered if I was sagging a whole lot on three if changing to five could have possibly made a difference.

I still say she owns some blame for not having on her turn signal but all in all it boils down to my inexperience. I have become too comfortable too quickly and I need to realize that I have a long way to go. Now I just have to worry about if I am going to have a bike or not.

 

[jfz6]

I want to say that I read somewhere that the average rider when they have an accident has around 3,000 miles logged, but I can't recall where to confirm that. Not sure how long you have ridden or how many miles you have logged, but I do agree with the other members, perhaps your emergency braking was more an issue rather than the positioning of the shock.


Just wondering how much safety gear you were wearing for the amount of injuries you had sustained?


Heal fast and thanks for posting. Don't be a stranger just because you are bikeless for a while.

I have logged about 1800+ miles so add me to the statistic.

I broke a few rules of my own.:

1.) I was wearing slacks instead of jeans ( which did fine when I laid it down a few weeks ago but it was also wet.

2.) I wasn't wearing gloves but I got lucky just a few scrapes on my hand.

3.) I wasn't paying complete attention. No time to daydream on a bike!


4.) I wasn't wearing my riding shoes. Nothing special just some K-Swiss but where the arch in the foot is there are two grooves that fit the pegs PERFECTLY and my feet are always where they are supposed to be. I just push forward and I am applying pressure to my back brake.

I was wearing a helmet which has a big dent right in the back on the part that covers the brain stem and the visor is all scratched up. Thankfully Geico will reimburse me for a new helmet. I wonder how much- an Arai or Shoei would be nice to have.:thumbup:

I was wearing a Synthetic Moto GP jacket with shoulder and elbow armor cups plus a little thin pad in the back. Unfortunately, I landed on the left elbow armor right on my 12th rib (aka vertebral or floating rib) and caused some major bruising to my spleen and knocked loose some of the cartilage. But the jacket is all scraped up so I know it saved me big time.

I really hope that they will not say it is totaled. I just took about a 75% paycut by changing jobs so I can go back to school. I am going to need a bike that has a warranty and I had opted for the 4 year extended warranty on my FZ6. Maybe I will get one of those Ninja 250Rs as I am not sure what the value of my bike would be if it is totaled.

Thanks for the help and for the concern.

 

[FZ1inNH]

I hope this all works out so you can get the bike road worthy and get back in the saddle. Mistakes are to learn from. Sounds like you've done exactly that which will make you a better driver. Heal, get well and get that bike ready for the road again! Post pics cause you never know what people here might have to help you out.

 

[jfz6]

if the bike is totaled be sure to take some pictures and we can help you determine if it will be worth more to you parted out or if you should just let the insurance take it. (Typically insurance companies will let you keep the wreck for a couple hundred $'s)

Maybe you can have a rebuild project as you are rebuilding your body.

I had full coverage as it was financed so I will get whatever the current market value is in my region based on some formulas- that is what the Geico guy said. I payed $ 7663.00/ £ 3824.24 / € 4900.65. I am guessing that it is worth about $5800 if in mint condition. So I figure I would get maybe like $4000 to $4500. I have no idea how much really I am not sure how all that works.

I do know that it varies from state to state but in Alabama I can buy the bike back from the Insurance company with the money I get back from them but then they would subtract whatever they feel would be the amount they could get from salvage value.

I went down to the place it was hauled off to and put it on the center stand. Everything worked!!!! Every single piece of plastic was broken except the windshield, brake lights, blinkers, and electronic console.

From what I can tell I would need a new killswitch, move the front brake lever and it's components back ( it was twisted forward ), get a back brack petal and right peg, and if there is no parts of the engine, frame, rims, forks, etc. compromised I could go naked but personally I would only want a naked bike if I had more than one bike.

I just am waiting on Geico. Thanks for the reply.

 

[VEGASRIDER]

I have logged about 1800+ miles so add me to the statistic.

I broke a few rules of my own.:

1.) I was wearing slacks instead of jeans ( which did fine when I laid it down a few weeks ago but it was also wet.

2.) I wasn't wearing gloves but I got lucky just a few scrapes on my hand.

3.) I wasn't paying complete attention. No time to daydream on a bike!


4.) I wasn't wearing my riding shoes. Nothing special just some K-Swiss but where the arch in the foot is there are two grooves that fit the pegs PERFECTLY and my feet are always where they are supposed to be. I just push forward and I am applying pressure to my back brake.

I was wearing a helmet which has a big dent right in the back on the part that covers the brain stem and the visor is all scratched up. Thankfully Geico will reimburse me for a new helmet. I wonder how much- an Arai or Shoei would be nice to have.:thumbup:

I was wearing a Synthetic Moto GP jacket with shoulder and elbow armor cups plus a little thin pad in the back. Unfortunately, I landed on the left elbow armor right on my 12th rib (aka vertebral or floating rib) and caused some major bruising to my spleen and knocked loose some of the cartilage. But the jacket is all scraped up so I know it saved me big time.

Thanks for the safety gear update. Always nice to know how they perform. I can't believe you went riding without gloves. My hands feel naked without them. It can be 110 degrees in Vegas, I still wear them, plus my jacket.

 

[reiobard]

I am not sure where i read it but this thread is complately summed up by this quote:


"Experience is something that you get 5 minutes after you need it."

If the bike was insured you should be able to get a bike, also check into the 4 year warranty, a lot of the time you can transfer it of "Sell" the remainder back to the dealer and they will pro-rate the price.

 

[HavBlue]

"Experience is something that you get 5 minutes after you need it."

Sorry, experience is something you get each and every time you push that button that says "start" and the day you think it doesn't is the day I would highly recommend you not ride. After 44 years I am still experiencing and each ride is different so my education continues.

 

[wolfc70]

I don't think I would be better driver but bike would have much better breaking performance, specially when slamming on brakes in panic.
Only my first car didn't have ABS and all subsequent ones did and when my kids were looking for cars I decided that they have to have ABS. ABS is not miracle but sure gives you an edge in scary situations by not locking up the wheels.

Zack

ABS would not have prevented this accident. There was too much traction available, as he went over the handle bars. ABS prevents the tire from locking up, but you will still do a stoppie if the road and tire have grip. I think ABS is overrated on a motorcycle. On my friends Interceptor ABS I locked the rear tire in the wet to see how it worked. The modulating was pretty fast, but if I was not going perfectly straight, I would have most likely highsided. In certain situations ABS may save your skin, but sometimes it leads to a false confidence when riding.

 

[HavBlue]

In certain situations ABS may save your skin, but sometimes it leads to a false confidence when riding.

More often than not I would say this is correct and for ABS to be truly effective in the case of a motorcycle it is best that the rider know how to brake in the first place. The fundamental differences between cages and bikes in terms of braking are huge and I think this is where many new and sometimes veteran riders get into trouble as they try to associate one with the other. There is no doubt ABS works however, it is my understanding a veteran rider with advanced skills can beat that ABS system in terms relative to minimum stopping distance from speed under ideal surface conditions. The reasons for this have been attributed to the riders ability to maintain a level of braking that is beyond that of the ABS. The ABS is designed to limit or avoid wheel lock where the rider without ABS will push it to the point he may hear the tires actually beginning to skid but not to the point they do. I'm still not sold on ABS.