Topic: "Those Who Have Fallen, And Those Who Will Fall"

[MD]

Learned to ride when I was 8 on a Honda Mini 50.  I have no idea how many times that I dumped that bike. First serious fall came when I was in my early teens.  Grampa and I went road riding.  I was on a Rupp going into a hard 90 hit the brakes and landed in a pasture after going through an electric fence.  No bones broken but had grass stains on my skin that was after it had gone through two shirts.  In my late 20's I dumped my cb550f accelerating while turning right onto a 4 lane highway.  The carbs had been recently synced and the power felt great until too much lean, too much throttle, the rear end let loose and down I went.  Bent the back brake peddle and scratched up the fairing.  Tore up the elbow of the jacket and liner I was wearing. 
    Now in my 50s, I have purchased a riding jacket with pad as well as riding pants.  My full face helmet from when I purchased the 550 has been replaced with a locking full face so that it easier to ride with glasses.

-MD

[strynboen]

uh elektric fence..make me renember( 12 years old).i .once  crashed... have my( now vife)sittint at the tank .on my rex 2 gear(german moped)..ve got in the elektric fence..and got a lot of heigh voltage..before got freed aut(..a bit like the big escape.).just not cutting vire..but the elektric variant..ve dont have the cutting/stikking type in denmark..

[vfourfreak]

uh elektric fence..make me renember( 12 years old).i .once  crashed... have my( now vife)sittint at the tank .on my rex 2 gear(german moped)..ve got in the elektric fence..and got a lot of heigh voltage..before got freed aut(..a bit like the big escape.).just not cutting vire..but the elektric variant..ve dont have the cutting/stikking type in denmark..

I'm sure you get reminded of that little excursion every now and again. 

Kev

[DickL]

I pulled out with my ex wife on the back. Immediately hit a puddle of diesel oil from road construction. Bike slid out.. I landed on my feet. Wife bounced down the road on her butt. I ran to bike hit the kill switch. Ran to her second. She was POED That I want to bike first. Didn't talk to me for a week.

[rb550four]

     I think it's allot like Cal said, guys who ride in a reckless fashion are bound to wreck.
When I was 17 to 20 years old....a while back, I would always ride like there was a checkered flag at the other end of the ride, always. I was a decent rider , could do what I wanted to do with the bike ,but sometimes I outrode myself. We all have limitations and will understand what exceeding them is all about, if we're lucky and get a chance to try it again. I rode reckless back then. the idea of being a cripple or worse was the farthest reality in my mind, quite possibly because I just didn't give a $hit about anything. I always wore full leathers , helmet and gloves without fail, I'm still in leather and an armored jacket today without fail.
   That being said    !st wreck: hit buy a car in a 5 way intersection. Managed to stay on the hood until he stopped. I wasn't injured.
                             2nd wreck : Ran up a German Shepard's nose at night on a first fire. Shifter went through the top of my foot and out the bottom,  Twisted up my knee and lost a large patch of skin. Crutches and a cane for a while. No known broken bones.
                              3rd Car in my lane, went for a snowbank,bounced back out on the road in a butt slide , caught up with the bike and we both stopped together. Time for new leathers again, very sore.
                              #4 Slid the bike across gravel at a T intersection ended up under a stopped Jeep. no injuries
                               #5 caught in freak snowstorm. let the cars behind me pass, they all wrecked over the next hill. dumped it slid under the last car. no injuries, but the trooper on scene thought I needed a check up from the neck up.
              We can only press our luck for so long before we become statistics. I don't ride like that now.

[Don R]

 Rode through a quarter mile long one lane tunnel backwards, didn't die. Fell over a couple times, lost a little skin once. That's about it.
 My brother had a bad one in Japan in the early 60's, most guys wouldn't have survived but he did.

[grcamna2]

Rode through a quarter mile long one lane tunnel backwards, didn't die. Fell over a couple times, lost a little skin once. That's about it.
 My brother had a bad one in Japan in the early 60's, most guys wouldn't have survived but he did.

Where you sitting on a motorcycle seat backwards?  after drinking many good beverages ?

[evanphi]

First and only crash at speed was during my motorcycle training course. Target fixation + too much speed + panic brake = WHOOPSIE! Front end washed out and I ended up tumbling over and landing on my left shoulder and hitting the side of my head on the ground. This was on my first day. I got over confident. Learned from my mistake and passed the course, though!

This accident taught me a lesson that I always have running through my head now. Don't ride like a dick. Don't show off. Know your limits and ride within them when on the street. If you want to play and find your limits, go to a closed course and do a track day. Since that day (5 years ago), I haven't had any close calls or at-speed accidents (knock on wood). Dropped it a few times and had to improvise some repairs, though (as seen in my build thread).

As far as gear goes, I always wear a full-face helmet, armoured gloves and boots (I need proper moto boots, though... currently wearing Doc Martens), and since I bought them I rarely have had a single ride WITHOUT my kevlar pant liners. They are full-length double layer kevlar liner under any pair of pants. No hard armour, but the best slide protection. 95% of the time I am also wearing an armoured jacket, unless putting around on my lunch hour (under 50KM/H) on the really hot days in the small town where I sometimes work.


All this being said... sometimes #$%* just happens.

[rickmoore24]

^^^^^ THAT'S SO RANDOM!

[grcamna2]

^^^^^ THAT'S SO RANDOM!

An auto driver lost a wheel ?!  Crazy

[ewanhughes]

Been down once, back in 1980.  I couldn't have been going any slower, wet manhole cover..... wallop!!  Skint knee and dented pride.  I'm sure I actually bounced straight back up and onto the bike and away before anyone saw me. lol 
The offending manhole's still there (see attached picture) so I always give that corner a wide berth now.

My advice to all riders would be; know your limitations as a rider and don't ever exceed them, and always wear gloves and full face helmet.

[rickmoore24]

^^^^^ THAT'S SO RANDOM!

An auto driver lost a wheel ?!  Crazy

Well, not so much that the wheel came off but that the oncoming car swerved just enough to ricochet the loose wheel directly back into the rider. Hollywood could'nt reproduce that sequence without CGI. LOL

[grcamna2]

^^^^^ THAT'S SO RANDOM!

An auto driver lost a wheel ?!  Crazy

Well, not so much that the wheel came off but that the oncoming car swerved just enough to ricochet the loose wheel directly back into the rider. Hollywood could'nt reproduce that sequence without CGI. LOL

I'm glad the MC rider made it. 

[evanphi]

^^^^^ THAT'S SO RANDOM!

An auto driver lost a wheel ?!  Crazy

Well, not so much that the wheel came off but that the oncoming car swerved just enough to ricochet the loose wheel directly back into the rider. Hollywood could'nt reproduce that sequence without CGI. LOL

I'm glad the MC rider made it. 

A few inches higher and it could have been a lot worse!

[grcamna2]

^^^^^ THAT'S SO RANDOM!

An auto driver lost a wheel ?!  Crazy

Well, not so much that the wheel came off but that the oncoming car swerved just enough to ricochet the loose wheel directly back into the rider. Hollywood could'nt reproduce that sequence without CGI. LOL

I'm glad the MC rider made it. 

A few inches higher and it could have been a lot worse!

That rider knows how to fall and recover well,I wonder if he races ?

[JWExperience]

No falls for me yet, knock on wood. Could be my riding style and luck but when learned to drive my father trained me like I was one of his drivers. He spent over twenty years at UPS. I'm constantly scanning house line to house line, always looking at other drivers to see where they're looking and if they see me at intersections and I never ride the same speed as traffic. I try to give plenty of space wether it's other cars or a dog running out of a front yard.
I do agree, it's prob a matter of time, there's only so much that can be done to prevent an accident.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[JWilde]

A recent survey by the DOT in my state revealed that speed is the number factor in all motorcycle accidents/deaths. Accounting for the rider's behavior far outweighs bike/vehicle encounters. Second condition causing bike accidents/deaths, turns.

It is as Sean said, rider's are for the most responsible for their own problems. Sure, some get whacked by vehicles (innocently) but the largest % are purely down to rider conduct. Me, I've never hit the pavement. Lucky? I rather think that its down to preparation and judgement. I've had ample close calls, but yet to encounter a situation I couldn't ride through and stay on the bike. And I always wear full gear (helmet, jacket, gloves, pants and shoes).

very sensible response, and well put