Crashers Question

[richw]

New question for those who have been down not for noobs

Briefly state general cause

Your f*ck up Like too hot in a turn etc.
Road conditions big sand or water or mud or pothole etc.
Obstruction on the road like farm equipment repair vehicles
Other vehicle their fault like turn in front of you

I have only been down once going hot into an on-ramp and then some dinosaur poop made it slick.

[eboos]

Both of my crashes have been on the track. Both were caused by choosing a wrong line and target fixation. I exited the track at turn 6 the first time, and turn 11 the second.

[RyanNicholson]

an ex gf slammed on her brakes while i was following her
i retaliated by eventually breaking up with her
she came back by saying she was prego
i then proved that it wasn't mine, and she was in fact cheating on me

ryan 2 - ex 1



slighty off topic, but still amusing....anyway wasn't totally my fault but i was probably a little too close and not paying enough attention. If you want to talk track crashes, they were pretty much all my fault...usually being over aggressive on the gas on shag tires.

[GixerJockey]

First crash back in '93 due to sheer stupidity. GSX-R1100. Wheelied it over backwards on the Berlin Tpke, showing off... Ouch! Broke everything...

Second... '96. Low speed get off on a dirt road with sportbike, trying to get up our driveway out on Block Island. Long, uphill, dirt driveway that was very water eroded.

Third... '98. Came off an exit ramp WAY too hot. Target fixed on the outside guardrail and proceeded to hit it.

clean since then... Knock on wood...

[1/2pint]

my first crash i was rear ended on the bike by a girl that just got her LIC and was on her cell in her dads car.

second one was going down the road old lady backed out of driveway and did not look. I swirved into on comming traffic ( no cars ) but hit some sand and rear end slid out.

[loridin64]

first was caused by a large deer, bastards runnin' around somewhere with an R6 headlight in his side. Completely shattered every plastic on the bike, and i didnt even go down.

the second one i became a typical statistic up in Laconia for BW. Flipped over backwards, two staties 3 cars behind me. they took care of it.

[Jim]

here's my first crash from Labor Day 2007

[Tricky Mike]

Hit some black ice on the West Side Highway in NYC = Lowside
Hit some Oil somewhere in Western MA = Lowside
Lowside in 6
Lowside in 3

All my fault. A little too much speed in all cases. Poor line selection in the last two... arguable poor line in number 3 too. The NYC crash was the only one I didn't feel like I could have avoided, except for not having gone riding.

[OreoGaborio]

I have only been down once going hot into an on-ramp and then some dinosaur poop made it slick.

Similar story for me, but instead of dinosaur poop it was a real dead dinosaur... well.. dead Possum.

Fall of 2004, at night, on my way to the titty bar for a b-day party, on a highway off-ramp at night (cloverleaf). As I came around the bend there was a big dead possum there right in front of me.

Well, I couldn't tighten up my line as I was already on the right side of the road, so I stood the bike upright & tried to go around the outside of it... Didn't work. I hit it dead on, then froze up... Death gripped the bars & grabbed the binders as I looked right at the curb instead of throwing the bike back over on its side & back into the turn.

I jumped the curb & went down in the deep sand & gravel (it was a construction zone, they were tearing up the whole exit area, thus speed was not a factor... I was goin all of 40-45mph. The sign for the exit said "Exit 45mph". I remember that vividly because I saw it & all of the construction barrels & thought "Yeah I better listen to that")

So although the Possum had a big part to do with my crash, I think inexperience had just as much to do with it & is what made the Possum a factor. At the time I only had about 5-6k miles of riding under my belt & as an unexperienced rider I chose the right lane, where I gave myself the worst view of the turn. Then after hitting the Possum I didn't have the skill or knowledge to throw the bike back into the turn so I just went straight & off the road.

Anyway, I learned from it & haven't hit another Possum since

That was my one & only street crash.
I've had 1 more crash at a track day.
The rest (3) were while racing.


PS, I still made it to the titty bar But with a pretty ugly bike A guy on a Harley stopped & helped me pick the bike up (I'm sure he just thought I was a fucking idiot & couldn't ride as he didn't see the dead Possum 50-100 yards away). Once I got it started I made my way (VERY SLOWLY) to the titty bar. (Mac's Two for those that are wondering )

[RandyO]

Your f*ck up

the only correct answer

Road conditions big sand or water or mud or pothole etc.
.

your fuck up again for not paying attention

Obstruction on the road like farm equipment repair vehicles

what are brakes for, sounds like your riding beyond your abilities, your fuck up again

Other vehicle their fault like turn in front of you

even if it's not your legal fault, doesn't make it unavoidable, your fuck up again

I have only been down once going hot into an on-ramp and then some dinosaur poop made it slick.

now your trying to blame your fuck up on some extinct dinosaur



every time I've been down, it's cause I was doing something stupid, in Roanoke, VA, I lowsided cause I was too hot in a corner for the weight I had packed, in Barrington, NH it was cause I was too agressive in a greasey intersection on a cold rainy day

[OreoGaborio]

Randy, don't be a control freak... What if a plane came up from behind you while you were riding on the highway & crash landed on your head... Still your fault?

Yes, there are a million ways to reduce the risk of a crash, like paying attention, riding with respect to the conditions etc, but there ARE some things that are simply out of your control that you can't avoid.

But yes, I do agree that way too many people point their finger somewhere other than at themselves. No doubt about that. And if you do that then you increase the likely hood that you won't learn anything from it... & that's the worst kinda crash, one that you don't learn from.

[Doc]

1st crash... Stupid, Highsided giving the Duc too much gas coming outta the driveway (DO NOT ARMOR ALL YOUR TIRES) STUPID

2nd Crash, being stupid, trying to pass where I shouldn't have. On coming car, Braked too hard and lost the front, tumbled down the middle of the road 280 feet. Didn't hit anything, my bike hit the car that would have hit me and kinda gave me some room. STUPID

Had a HUGE get off riding dirt that kinda stopped me from riding dirt for awhile... Going too fast through an unknown cornfield in the late Fall, Hit a rut, flipped and knocked the find outta me. Nothing broken but scared the hell outta me because I couldn't breath for a min.

I have had numerous close calls and seen too many stupid fatals. The track is MUCH safer to be pushing it like I used to on the street.

[ff36buell]

guy jacked a left in front of me claiming he didn't see me, i proceeded to superman sans bike past the back of his yuppymobile

[RandyO]

Randy, don't be a control freak... What if a plane came up from behind you while you were riding on the highway & crash landed on your head... Still your fault?

Yes, there are a million ways to reduce the risk of a crash, like paying attention, riding with respect to the conditions etc, but there ARE some things that are simply out of your control that you can't avoid.

But yes, I do agree that way too many people point their finger somewhere other than at themselves. No doubt about that. And if you do that then you increase the likely hood that you won't learn anything from it... & that's the worst kinda crash, one that you don't learn from.

I agree, there are some that are unavoidable, very few and very far in between though

last fall someone I know hat a deer dive thru the drivers door, total damage, drivers door wipes out, back seat soaked in blood from the decapitated deer head, a split second different timing, everyhting would have been avoidable

[mzdagrl]

All of mine were <1mph getoffs. Don't know if they count, but for newbs, seeing that these are the most common:

1st - parking lot tipover #1, pulled into a spot, didn't look to see what I was putting my sidestand down on,s tarted to get of. Stand rolled off the piece of gravel I had balanced it on and fell on my leg.

2 - parking lot tipover #2, just got the new bike, tried backing it uphill, foot fell into a dip in the pavement (ironically, other side of the aforementioned parking lot), wasn't used to the heavier weight of the bike, or the higher seat height and dropped it (found out I could pick it up alone that night, too)

3 - Following Rob, who almost missed a turn, we both jammed on the brakes. he fell over in gravel, I jammed harder ont he brakes to stop and check on him, and promptly slipped in my own pile of gravel. Foot went out, bike went down.


Did have a close call this past summer, trucking along at a good clip, hit a tar snake that was pretty warm (temps were high 80s, low 90s) and my rear tire slid out. Kept the throttle steady and recovered, but almost shit myself.

[OreoGaborio]

1st crash... Stupid SQUID, Highsided giving the Duc too much gas coming outta the driveway (DO NOT ARMOR ALL YOUR TIRES) STUPID SQUID

2nd Crash, being stupid SQUID, trying to pass where I shouldn't have. On coming car, Braked too hard and lost the front, tumbled down the middle of the road 280 feet. Didn't hit anything, my SQUID bike hit the car that would have hit SQUID me and kinda gave SQUID me some room. STUPID SQUID

Had a HUGE get off riding dirt that kinda stopped me from riding dirt for awhile... Going too fast through an unknown cornfield in the late Fall, Hit a rut, flipped and knocked the SQUID outta me. Nothing broken but scared the SQUID outta me because I couldn't breath for a min.

I have had numerous SQUIDLY close calls and seen too many stupid SQUID fatals. The track is MUCH safer to be pushing it like I used to on the street.

Fixed

[TheIglu]

1st: Second ride on new bike, went out in February the morning after a snowstorm. Brake rotors had a little warp to them, pulsated a little while doing 15mph on ice/snow, front end tucked. Full gear (same as I wear now), drove it home.

2nd: Got back from Deal's Gap in '03. Put the nut on the end of my swingarm bolt for the first time since I owned the bike (ZRX). Jeans/boots/leather jacket, was feeling a little under the weather, leaned it over around a 90 degree corner, gave it some gas exiting, she didn't wobble like she used to do (when the swingarm would wobble like hell since it wasn't bolted to the bike) so I gave it more. 15 feet of black smiley face, then me looking down at the bike from about 12 feet in the air (it's amazing how high a 550lb bike can toss a 125lb person). Bike slid 60 feet into a ditch on it's side, I landed and tumbled ass over head about 30 feet. Sprained ankle(first time ever), couple cuts/scrapes/skin left on the inside of my leather. Guy in a Chevelle stopped to help me pick it up, I hobbled to a farmhouse to call my dad. They wiped the blood off with water and rags for a good half hour. Couple directions, clutch lever, rear shock and passenger footpeg and she's good as used. My dumb/poor judgement/just plain stupid for 3 different things that day.

Crashed twice on the track, almost crashed a third time. Two just going too fast, one making a poor decision to pass when a 2nd place woulda been much sweeter.

[bigred875]

i looped a wheelie - my fault
t3 lowside - my fault...going too fast for my abilities
hit a patch of sand - my fault, should have seen the sand...probably would have if i was going slower

do stupid knockers count? lol if so last year was a rough one for the z...i knocked it off my stand....fell over panic braking in a parking lot screwing around.....

[rjh200]

3 crashes, all my fault in one way or another. Enough Said.

[Evil_Weasel]

1st crash, 1st bike. 16 years old showing off to friends after leaving internship at county court house. clipped pothole while accelerating. poor EX250 went into a crazy tank slapper. i didn't even know what a tank slapper was let alone what to do about it. turns out apply brakes is the wrong answer. tucked front 40 mphish right in front of the court house. picked bike up and sheepishly rode home with my left side blinkers in my pockets. dumb ass

2nd crash, 1st bike. now 17 cut off by car in the local twisties. got on brakes, stood bike up, stared at curb. hit curb flew into grass field. lost my trusty pumas in the flipping. this is when i decided to start wearing proper gear and actually take an active role in my education as a rider...on my back in a field, staring up at the stars in my sox.
could have easily been avoided had i not fixated on the curb. i had enough room to get off the brakes and start the turn again after the car cleared but i didn't i just stared at the curb till i hit it still hard on the brakes. dumb ass

that was my last street crash...almost 10 years ago now...knock on wood.

track...

lowside exiting 6. too much throttle with too much lean on crappy tires. i knew better. dumb ass

high side on damp but drying track in trun 10. brand new tires, slippery spot, not quite right carburation and a determined moron behind the controls all added up to a broken elbow and a destroyed arai.not too mention that familier knocked stuipid sensation again. dumb ass

[hammadown]

Put my front wheel over a garden hose on my friends driveway. The hose rolled and washed out my front end. More of a "drop than a crash Id say. The other was on the track. T3, I think my foot peg caught some pavement, rear came out and a nice low side followed.

[a13x]

Crash 1 - Draggin' peg around a bend and unweighed rear tyre causing lowside

Crash 2 - Drunk driver decided I looked like a bowling pin and send me flying.

[OreoGaborio]

Crash 2 - Drunk driver decided I looked like a bowling pin.

You need to work on your tan. Good thing you're in Cali now.

[Jaynnus]

Randy, don't be a control freak... What if a plane came up from behind you while you were riding on the highway & crash landed on your head... Still your fault?

I don't think fault would matter much there.

[SSearchVT]

Too many falls to count in dirt.

Street bike - 1st fall - My fault, muddy driveway, too much gas, low side.
2nd one wasn't a fall so much as scared the crap out of me - my fault - tried to pass a car coming into a corner, couldn't scrub the speed off enough to make the corner and ended up with an off road excursion. Luckily there wasn't a ditch, rocks, etc. I got the bike to stop - no harm, no drop.