Just a reminder.

[Gpmo]

To all you new riders. If you dont feel comfortable taking that corner or passing that car don't do it. Take it slow and stay within your limits. I know it's been said but is always good to be reminded.

My buddy was two bikes back today and took to passing a car and froze when he was halfway committed. He ended up going off the road. Hit the ditch. He was able to ride away from it with a injured pride and scraped up plastics.

Be careful out there guys.

 

[coreywiley]

Thanks for the reminder and sorry to hear about your friend but glad he's ok.

 

[tmf2004]

Buddy did that yesterday. Shot ahead of me so quickly on his 650/750 can't remember, in and out of traffic.. I took my time and eventually caught up.. I swear that bike is quicker. He doesn't clutch...

Traffic was rush hour and i knew my limits..

Great advice..

 

[chrisjp]

The season is starting... Lets all be arround to talk about it in fall

 

[Gpmo]

Got done at urgent care and they said he is fine just gonna be sore in the morning. I wish i could get over thinking it as my fault, i was in the lead and chose to pass.. way way way scarier seeing my friend go down than it was when i went down.

 

[booyah!]

I second the motion! Riding a Hayabusa is a privilege. With great power comes great responsibility (spidy). Please wear your helmet and gear it's easier and cheaper to ride with gear than it is to face injury, doctors bills, and recovery if your lucky. Let's have a good season!

 

[dadofthree]

Nice pic Chopper Exchange


Good post

 

[Irish]

you can't half commit to a corner at high speeds, its all or nothing or ur gonna go down every time.
***For the dumb riders (like myself): If your going to ride over your head, dress for the slide, not for the ride!***
Matter a fact, Everyone should just suit up. What is that .org acronym? ATGATT or something?

 

[IG.]

To all you new riders. If you dont feel comfortable taking that corner or passing that car don't do it. Take it slow and stay within your limits. I know it's been said but is always good to be reminded.

My buddy was two bikes back today and took to passing a car and froze when he was halfway committed. He ended up going off the road. Hit the ditch. He was able to ride away from it with a injured pride and scraped up plastics.

Be careful out there guys.

We could all learn from your buddy's mistake if you gave a bit more details. Why did he freeze? Something scared him?

Like Irish said, it's either DO or DON'T. Going half way ends up like trying to sit on two chairs.

It's a continuous process, and every rider faces this typical scenario hunderds of times on a single ride: a) want to proceed, assess the risk, cancel. Or, b) want to proceed, assess the risk, go.

And hopefully, this entire process repeated so many times should make the 'assess the risk' part tuned very well.

I absolutely agree on wearing your gear. Matter of fact, I am dressed the same way whether it's street or track. And walked (or rode away) from a getoff more than once with only a bruised ego (and a scared but alive deer, in one case LOL)

 

[sportcustoms71]

never hesitate either commit to it or back off and take it slow.

 

[Gpmo]

So a full write up.
Three of us. Myself in front, buddy on his sv then another buddy on his Kawi En
We are hitting up some nice and easy wide twisties as they are both fairly new riders. Keeping the speed down.
Subaru in front of us going slower than posted limit. No big deal i wait until we get to this 1/2 mil long passing area that i knew was coming up. As soon as we get there i checked for cars..nothing so i hit it and pass, sv650 right behind me passes. This is where things get shaky as i wasn't able to see it all happen. Apparently buddy on the kawi over accelerated but did it later than he should have. He waited to pass with less than 1000 feet of passing lane left. Accelerated up and apparently got to be nearly side by side with the sv650. I was past the passing zone at this point and only watching in my mirror. Two cars come up around the corner and guy on the kawi sees their lights and panics, over braked i guess then didn't know what to do as he was now side by side with the car he just passed. He ended up in the oncoming traffics shoulder and couldn't keep it in the shoulder and went off into the ditch. Bottom of the ditch is 5 1/2 foot below roadway. A barbed wire fence stopped his progression and he ended up 5 feet from bike.

He was bruised up and shaky, we checked injuries then checked the bike got it up on the road. It turned over and after a quick safety inspection i rode it back into town he rode the sv650 and my other friend rode the busa.

I keep going over it and been beating myself up for passing. Being in the lead makes me feel responsible. And i would trade places with him anyday, seeing your friends go down is one of the scariest things i've ever seen.

He got a check up and checked out ok. Bike is in shop today, i slept like total crap. He says he recognizes his mistake and he is ready to go ride asap. We are getting headset for bike to bike but until then have developed hand signals for passing and position changes to let him pass first at his comfort level and also to let him set the pace and positioning.

Hopefully it all works out. He has good support and doesn't feel to embarrassed. And i realized something i hadn't before, my Busa looks fantastic even with someone else riding it lol.

Oh and i got home after buying him dinner and went to have a beer and watch a movie....ps3 got yellow light of death and died on me.

 

[zukracer]

good advice for everyone. Know your limits, always wear your gear (all of it all the time) and remember to check your ego/balls/whatever at the curb before you head out for the ride. There's no shame in coming in last as long as you come in shiny side up with all your bits still attached

Its been said many times, but the road is not a track don't ride on it like it is one because one day your luck will run out.

 

[Acehole]

Dont beat yourself up over this. You cant ride his bike or make decisions for him.

My advice, is if you are going to lead a ride have a rider meeting at the start. discuss things like single file corners and staggered formation straights. Also when and where you will hold up for guys going a bit slower. And stressing the "Ride your Ride" idea. Its good to know the rules of the group before hand.

Sorry about your buddy, but it wasnt your fault.

 

[racerV]

From the sounds of it, the guy on the SV didn't get over to the right side of the lane like he should have. This is usually an unspoken rule but I will go ahead and say it. When you are riding with a group and making passes regardless of how many lanes there are, allways make your pass and get over to the right to allow the person behind you to have a place to go. Even if the guy on the Kaw over accellerated, he would have safely been able to get over had this been done.

 

[Gpmo]

I wasn't able to see if he was over to the right. I couldn't see him in my left mirror and I was over all the way. But that sounds like a reasonable possibility. This is the first time I've rode with new riders, it's different that's for sure. We have lots of chats about things I see them doing that could be bad. And like mentioned we generally set up ground rules and go over the route along with road conditions and potential issues.

All great comments keeping communication going is key IMHO. I'm hoping that getting some bike to bike coms will help with some things.

 

[IG.]

You are partially responsible for what happened. You should've had a pre-ride discussion on various situations with the other two riders, and especially on passing. Their natural reaction was to follow you, while the correct way was to pass one at a time while those ahead are waiting for all to pass and don't pull away. They also had less powerful bikes so it was even more challenging for them to complete the pass.

The right thing to do would be to pull over for a few minutes and wait till the car gets away. That would also be a good time to discuss how to pass.

You should admit partial responsibility to your buddy and help him pay/fix his bike.

On a rare occasion when I ride with someone on a less powerful bike, I always stress that I may get away for a minute but would always slow down and wait. And I do.

 

[racerV]

You are partially responsible for what happened. You should've had a pre-ride discussion on various situations with the other two riders, and especially on passing. Their natural reaction was to follow you, while the correct way was to pass one at a time while those ahead are waiting for all to pass and don't pull away. They also had less powerful bikes so it was even more challenging for them to complete the pass.

The right thing to do would be to pull over for a few minutes and wait till the car gets away. That would also be a good time to discuss how to pass.

You should admit partial responsibility to your buddy and help him pay/fix his bike.

On a rare occasion when I ride with someone on a less powerful bike, I always stress that I may get away for a minute but would always slow down and wait. And I do.

Are you serious? Common sense should have come to play at some point, OP has no control over that and most definately is not responsible for paying.

 

[IG.]

Common sense is applicable when a person has the time to think. When confronted with a split second decision, the reflexes take over - either natural or acquired through practice/conditioning. It's not hard to guess what a new rider would most likely do in a situation like that.

All I am saying that I would feel partially responsible for the outcome, and would try to compensate by giving a hand in fixing the bike and possibly offering some $$ to another rider. Paying is not a must, but that's my sentiment.

 

[sixpack577]

Are you serious? Common sense should have come to play at some point, OP has no control over that and most definately is not responsible for paying.

+1, No disrespect to the guy who went down, but he was riding beyond his capabilities. That's no one's fault but his own, a show of inexperience, and the reason everyone else's insurance is so high.

 

[Gpmo]

We actually did have a pre ride. It consisted of the route, road type, potential hazards, and passing. With a very firm ride at your pace don't push it and Min max distances between each other. And we were at the speed limit.