Tell me about your motorcycle wreck...

I'll show me mine if you show me yours!!!

All of my friends went to bed last night around 11:00 p.m. and of course it was my night off and even on my nights off I am rarely in bed before 4:00 a.m.

It turns out it was a night I should have just hung it up and went to bed.

So wearing all the protective gear that an idiot might wear I went for a ride. Which included shorts a t-shirt croc sandals and a pair of safety glasses because I'm not that crazy!

So I live in an area that is pretty rural... So traffic is certainly no concern that time of night. But anyhow there is this road that is about one mile long that no one lives on.

On the left hand side there is an Orange Grove and on the right hand side there is pasture land or land where they have grown vegetables in the past. So silly me I thought it would be a great idea to get the bike up to 70 for the first time.

At the end of this one mile there is a 90° right hand turn.... ( Anyone who's operated a motorcycle and probably some others can guess what happened next...)

It turns out things happen a lot quicker at 70 mph than at slower speeds.... I could swear that 90° right hand turn was not that close...

So I ended up out running my headlight and my brakes.

There was no way I was going to make that turn.... So all I could do was lock it up and hope to not hit the barbed wire fence which was about 80 ft past the blacktop.

I locked up both wheels for probably the last 15 ft of roadway. Fortunately I did not dump the bike until I was in the grass.

I bet my shifter all the way back on itself and I ripped off a turn signal and I jack the handlebars a little bit so that if the front wheel is pointing straight the bars were not.

I'm sure I had to have been going at least 50 when I laid it down. It happened so fast I may have had maybe a half a second to react...

But I came to a complete stop.... And I thought well that wasn't that bad, and picked myself up and inspected the damage on myself and my bike. Aside from a little bit of grass rash on my left elbow and some fairly superficial cuts on my left shin the only real damage I have is a very sore foot and I think I may have broke a bone. I can still wiggle my toes and there is some swelling but not much bruising but I think I may have broke a bone on the other side of the toes... One of the long bones.

I have already learned from my many years of mountain biking that if you get in a crash the worst thing you can do is let your adrenaline pump and get right back up and get on the bike again.... That's a great way to crash twice.

So I called my girlfriend and told her what happened and to bring the minivan... This minivan is the handicap model with the ramp in the back and I can actually fit the motorcycle in it and shut the door... With about 1 inch to spare.

About 5 ft to the other side of me was a telephone pole and about 8 ft in front of me was a barbed wire fence. Now I'm glad I did not pay several hundred dollars more to get the anti-lock brake model.

If my brakes would not have locked up, I'm sure I would have went through that fence and that would not have been pretty.

So all things considered I'm a very fortunate man.

I figured I could probably fix the bike myself as I'm fairly mechanically inclined but I swallowed my pride and took it down to the dealership today to let them fix it right.

I may fabricate bicycles and be one hell of a bicycle mechanic but I know when I have exceeded my pay grade. Anytime you have a motorcycle crash you need a real mechanic to look at it and make sure it's actually safe to ride again

That you did not bend the fork or the frame or anything like that.

Having gone down in the grass I'm sure things turned out better for me and the bike than if it would have been on blacktop.

A combination of things contributed to this crash.... First and foremost my own stupidity... Secondly the damn halogen headlight. If I would have had a good LED headlight I would have seen it quicker and probably been able to slow down.

But I cannot blame the mechanical aspects because I was the one that decided to do what I did.

I just feel very fortunate that it was in the grass and I missed the telephone pole and the fence.

If I would have had a real boot on my foot instead of a crock sandal I probably would have walked away with just the superficial cuts.

Even though I was not able to ride away I was able to walk ( or more accurately, limp ) away and I hear that's always a good thing.

@SiNNiK

Have you had any crashes?

But aside from my wounded pride and my foot and the bike it was actually pretty fun!

When that bike came to a complete stop and I realized I was relatively unscathed.... I don't think I've ever felt quite as alive. Now let me go knock on some wood and thank the Lord!

 

Dude, glad you're OK. And the bike too. All my crashes have been of the mtb variety. Have broken 3 helmets. But only a couple close calls on the motorcycle.

 

Do any other bikers here think this may be accurate?

If it is not the other driver's fault and you have a motorcycle wreck I would say probably 95% of the time its your own fault.

 

Of course I was not wearing a helmet. I have a motocross style helmet and a full face helmet but both of them feel very restricted.

I think I'm going to get a half shell helmet because even though it doesn't protect your face what's the best helmet?

Well no doubt... The one you will actually wear.

No doubt about it, I'm a dumbass.

But at least I know it! And like GI Joe used to say...." Knowing is half the battle " !

But on a serious note I did learn that I need to learn some things....

Things could have turned out much differently.


The first thing they charged me with it the dealership was the crash evaluation fee which is 1 hour of mechanics labor which came to about $140 after taxes and fees.

If I can get away with only paying $400 I think I have done as good as I could expect

 

But a couple of good things came out of today.

On my way to the dealership in punta Gorda, I saw about a 3 ft tall Indian chief on the side of the road that someone was throwing away.

So I did a u-turn and found a block on the other side of the road that I could park on and limp across the grass lot and the highway to retrieve the Indian.

It turns out this Indian is made out of ceramic. He is missing one arm so I am tentatively naming him "wounded chief".
..

How appropriate I should find a wounded chief on my way to take my wounded self and my wounded motorcycle to the dealership.

And here's the real kicker.... Just across 41 and down about a mile is a Golden corral.

I went there like a real big boy and got my money's worth! We don't have a Golden corral in town here so when I find one that's kind of a big deal!

But they're pretty smart at that Golden corral.... You pay before you even sit down at the table. I guess they've had enough dine and dashers to be educated?

But hell it was less than $12 and you can sit there and eat all you want. I was there for about an hour and 15 minutes!

 

I almost died on street bikes three times. Less my very poor choice to ride the freeways of Los Angeles on two wheels, none of them were my fault. And luckily I never went down or got hit.

One one occasion my fuel line plugged and my bike stalled in heavy traffic at an 8 or maybe even a 10 lane interchange. There were I think three freeways coming together. I was left moving right. Things were tight but moving fast. When I stalled, I looked in my mirror and saw the face of a woman who was moving right and left, with her mouth wide open as she cranked the wheel to avoid hitting me. She darted across perhaps 5 lanes of traffic while spinning out. She ended up off the side on a grassy area and no one hit anyone! I couldn't believe it! I was sooooooo lucky that I didn't get hit, ejected from my bike, and run over by about 10 cars or trucks before anyone could stop.

The next time there was diesel fuel on the freeway. And it was as bad as black ice. Without warning my front and rear tires started trying to wash out. I was stomping my feet down on the freeway at around 60 mph to keep from going down. I remember about three consecutive washouts before I cleared the spill. The entire bike would get squirrely and try to slide out from under me.

On another occasion I was on a freeway and coming around a curve to the right as my exit was approaching. It was dark and raining. Suddenly I saw car stalled in my lane with the lights out. Because it was a curve I was right on top of it before I saw it. I laid the biked down hard to the left. I came so close I saw my front tire pass under the bumper of the other car as I shot out across the other lanes. I then began to fish tail wildly and almost lost control. Luckily the traffic was moderate and I had room to maneuver until I could regain control. But I came within less than half a second of hitting that car while it was at a dead stop and I was doing about 60 mph.

After that I sold my street bike.

I crashed my dirt bike more times than I can count. We did a lot of high desert and hill climbing. Before the weekend was over I had usually pushed too hard and got hurt. But that was okay. At that point I just got drunk while 4 or 5 women in bikinis took care of me. LOL!

The worst time was when I took a jump and lost control. I went down on the gravel while the bike hit and flipped. A foot peg came down on my ribs and my leg was wedged against the exhaust pipe and burning while the engine screamed at full throttle.

It hurt.

 

Ouch..... We don't ride these things because we're scared of risk right?

I feel so very fortunate.... This could have turned out so much different.

My choice on what type of motorcycle I initially purchased was largely dependent on what I could fit in the back of my van and the fact that I wanted a bike that could go anywhere so I chose a dual sport. There's lots of dirt roads around here and even many of the paved roads have potholes that should have their own ZIP code.

I'm glad you're okay even that we have decided that we're diametrically opposed against one another.

When it comes to riding bikes anyone can find common ground.

I would not wish a bad motorcycle incident on anyone.

I should take this as an opportunity to really analyze the series of mistakes that I had to make in order to make this possible.

First and foremost I went riding when I knew I should not have.... Major mistake number one.

Then I outran my headlight. Then I outran my brakes abilities to stop me.

And then I was not wearing any protective gear to speak of unless you count my safety glasses.

If I would have actually had a boot on my foot I bet I would not have done anything but got these little cuts. But I dumped my bike to the left and it was way too fast for me to actually lift my legs so of course my leg was under the bike.

Well I can cross that one off my bucket list and I surely hope that I don't repeat that.

Has anyone heard the old biker superstition of the gremlin Bell? I had not gotten mine yet.

But I do still have my 79cc 4-stroke motorized bicycle.... So until my bike gets fixed it's on the plan b! Back to the moped with training wheels!

I am so terribly lucky considering what happened that all that happened to me is what did.

The real motorcycle in the back is the one I had the fight with last night and it's the one that's currently in the shop

 

Amongst my inner circle of friends... My nickname is "dumbass"
.....

I did not earn this name for no reason and last night if anything I simply solidified the reason.

I should probably go back to keeping venomous snakes as a hobby.... Even though it's not technically legal it's probably safer than riding motorcycles.

I have a good amount of hours handling venomous snakes and I've never been bit but now I feel like I shouldn't even say that because I need to go find some wood to knock on again...


At least I suffer from no delusions.... I know I do dumb things. Well.... So be it.... I have fun doing it!!!

Perhaps I shall take my freshly repaired motorcycle and go ride out in the wilderness and see if I can find my next pet rattlesnake?

Just kidding.... Sort of.

Evidently my girlfriend does not cotton to the idea of sleeping under the roof with cottonmouth water moccasin.

It's not for everyone to love the unloved

 

I dont have any motorcycle wrecks. I dumped a dirt bike (XR500) several times while learning to ride, but it was always at take-off, me just not having any experience what to do once the clutch was engaged and letting the bike drive out from under me and tip over with the rear wheel spinning. Fortunately the bike was already 25 years old and had too many dings already for new ones to be noticeable.

I did almost get crushed between my own van and a drunk in a pickup one time. It was around 1am in downtown Olympia and I was downloading a flowmeter that was in a manhole in the (edit)right turn lane. Traffic there is crazy in the daytime is why I was doing it at night. I had the lane coned off a good 150 feet up the road from me with all the various flashy lights going on my van, but none of it mattered cuz the guy literally passed out at the wheel. So im standing at the rear of the van with the doors open, the open manhole right next to me and the laptop sitting in the back of van. Im looking at the progress bar for the data downloading and I hear *thwack* *thwack *thwack* behind me getting closer very fast. I already knew what it was, but I still had to look for some stupid reason. It was of course someone driving over my cones heading right for me. I would've had time to jump out of the way if I hadn't bothered to turn around and look at what I already knew was happening, but I did, so instead all I had time to do was dodge a little. The truck hit the van just slightly off center enough that there was room for me to squeeze up against the rear drivers side door that was open and just get brushed by the drivers side fender of the truck as it smashed into the back of the van where I had been standing at prolly 30mph. I didnt get hit by anything, but the van and all my equipment suddenly lurching forward caused my to lose balance and I almost fell into the open manhole. But I didn't. No one was injured, the guy went to jail, and I got a new work van. The computer even survived somehow.

Does that count?

 

Well I would say sure it counts.

You had a by God genuine near death experience.


I called the cops on a guy the other night at work on the 3rd of July.

He pulls in and he almost hits our gas pumps. Then he pulls out onto a two-lane one way highway..... For reasons known only to him he does a u-turn and ends up on the sidewalk facing the opposite way of traffic.

And this is on the 45 mile an hour curve mind you...

Then he pulls around and comes back to the store and I get his license number and I'm thinking about calling the cops.

Then another customer tells me that he almost hit them head on on the highway before this....

So that was the clincher for me and I called and gave them his tag number

 

It seems that like 99% of motorcycle crashes either happen on curves or in intersections.

 

I reckon in both cases its more complicated for a motorcycle to weave out of danger than on straight road.

 

My motorcycle safety course instructors drill this into us....

If you have to emergency brake during a curve you want to straighten up the bike before doing it.

But they didn't tell me anything about if the curve was right there on you and you're going 70 and you don't have a chance to straighten it up.

Of course they didn't tell me because they figured no dumbass will do something like that.....

Well.... Here I am Sally here I am!!!

There was no way on God's green earth I was going to make that curve.... Possibly some expert motorcycle rider would have been able to but I'll bet you an expert motorcycle rider would have never put their self in that position to begin with.

 

If you hit your brakes going around the curve there's a very very good chance that you're going down.

 

To go into a curb you are supposed to search scan and evaluate..

Search.... For your best line of approach.

Scan.... For driveways or other hazards

And evaluate how to get out of there.

They say You're supposed to slow down before entering the curve.

 

Nine people in my basic Rider safety course and we all got our motorcycle endorsements that day.

I wonder if I share the distinction of being the first one to go down?

 

If I ever start riding on the road, I'll have full road armor. Like if you ever see a stormtrooper from star wars on a desert camo '79 XR500 going down the highway, I may have finally got my endorsement. Til then its just backroads/dirtroads (...if I ever even get the thing running again).

 

Another important point is don't touch the front brake at all when leaves or cut grass is in the road, and if you are on grass and hit the front brake the bike will slam down on it's side faster than you can blink.

Just saying.

 

One thing that really tweeked me was how at slow speeds, you turn right to go right. But at high speeds, you steel slightly left to go right. Of course the difference is in the leaning. But it is still counter intuitive.

Even funnier, I had been doing it for decades when first learned about it. I knew it instinctively. But I had never recognized that I was doing it. When a buddy told me I instantly thought "Holy crap that's right!!!"

I started riding dirt bikes long before I started riding on the street. So I learned to ride where you almost never use your front brake - except on jumps sometimes. For that reason I was always hesitant to use the front brake on the street unless I had too.

 

Scariest thing I ever did: I once took a Honda 750K up to about 100 mph on a side street. It was the dumbest thing I ever did on a bike. I was so lucky no one pulled out of a driveway or made a turn in front of me. Even a small animal like a cat running across the street could have been it.

It is one of those things where I look back I wonder what the hell I was thinking. But I was 16.... prefrontal cortex.

 

Never use the front brake? It provides 70% of your stopping power, you should use it, just be careful.

 

Yep, and it will toss you on your ass whereas the rear brake never will.

I was always wary of road conditions. One bit on oil on the road and the front brake can put you down faster than you can say OH CRAP!.

When you need it you need it. But if I didn't need it I didn't use it. I preferred to anticipate traffic and use my rear brake and gearing.

And you almost never want to use your front brake on the dirt...except maybe on a straight unimpeded line, which almost never happens where I rode. Your tires would almost always slide if you used the brakes. Okay on the rear but not the front!

 

Go practice in a parking lot. You should be comfortable with your bike.

 

Well me too..... But remember this was a back road.

 

You are describing the classic scenario of counter steering.

And you are correct it seems very counterintuitive but you have to turn your bars the opposite direction of where you go as you lean the bike and lean into it.

Being 41 years old before I ever got my first motorcycle I think I had a little bit of experience because I rode a mountain bike all my life.

About 8 years ago I got a good book from an author about off-road mountain bicycling and he was also very experienced at Motocross.

And what he said made a lot of sense..

He said this..... Anything you can do on a mountain bike you can do on a dirt bike but you just can't do it as fast or as far.

But I know you can damn sure slide your ass when you lock up the brakes further!