People who have gone down on their bikes

[busabutter]

Just curious, want to know what the primary reason is for people going down on bikes. Agressive riding, not knowing the limits, pushing the limits, sand, gravel, water, other jerkoffs on the road. Wwhat.

What are some reasons that have caused you to go down. I have layed my bike down but that was when I first got a sportbike and it was a learning experience.

If people see the reasons maybe others will try and avoid those reasons.

 

[chrisjp]

garden hose that was pressurized.... slow roll to stop was only doing 5mph front tire hit it and just kicked it out from under me. for my major accident......fell asleep... self explanitory

 

[Charlesbusa]

1993 Yamaha Seca II  Crash 1 was single vehicle(me).  I was teaching someone to ride and they were too afraid of the front brake.  So I jumped on to demonstrate.  It had rained 45mins ago and while the pavement was dry, it wasn't dry underneath leaves.  I braked hard with the front, front tire hit a leaf with wet pavement underneath, handle bars crossed and down I went.  Bent handlebar/scratched exhaust right side/scratched bar end and a little rash on my hip, back of shoulder and knee(this was pre gear, I wouldn't have had any injuries if I had gear on).

2003 GSXR1000  Crash 2 wasn't my fault.  An SUV violently changed lanes into me, the SUV was trying to change multiple lanes in one swerve.  I didn't even have time to react, I was sliding on my back on the freeway.  Bike totalled and contusion below my ribs but above my hip on my left side(my gear did its job very well).

2002 Busa  Incident 1 should've been a crash, but I managed to save it.  Sort of.  I sideswipped a mountain but kept it up on its wheels.  The road was being repaved a mile back with wet tar.  I thought my tires were clean, they weren't.  When I aggressively rode into a corner, I just slid sideways across the road.  Scratches to the left side fairing.  No injuries.

2007 GSXR750   Incident 2 should've been a crash, but I managed to save it/lucked out.  At a trackday, end of the session, very hot day, street sport tires, lots of heat into the tires.  At the apex, the front tucked.  The bike bounced off the rear brake lever as I weighted the outside pegs and tried to steer the handlebars straight.  The bike recovered and I only sustained a bent rear brake lever.  No injuries.

2002 Busa    Tip over 1.  Rode through rain.  Told the girlfriend to sit on the bike and walk forward as I spray the chain(didn't own a rear stand).  She hit a bump and fell over before I could help.  Bent exhaust bracket right side, scratched right side exhaust, fairing, fender, bar end, and mirror.  No injuries.

2002 Busa       Tip over 2.  Just finished a twisty section and stopped to wait for everyone else.  After a minute BA BUSA shows up and I lean the bike over on the kickstand.  But I never put the kickstand down...  No damage, I was on a steep incline and managed to put my body between the bike and road, BA BUSA was kind enough to pick my bike up.  No injuries.

2002 Busa     Tip over 3.  Loading up the bike for the Vegas Run.  Wanted to straighten the bike out, so I grapped the tie down strap as I released the ratchet.  Strap flew right out of my hand and the Busa was laying sideways on a rail trailer.  Dented fuel tank, scrathed left side(added to the scratches from the mountain

) and scratched the left side of the nose cowling.  No injuries.

 

[Bosshound]

1989 Yamaha Seca 400. In a dedicated turn when a Small Dog Decided to run out and Stop Right in Front of me. Highsided the Bike and Flipped over the Bars. Broke Collar Bone and Killed the Dog. Thank God I was Wearing my Full Gear Because my Helmet was Cracked in the Middle !!!!

 

[thrasherfox]

I guess I will follow Charles lead in formatting


1983 - 1983 Suzuki GS-750-E.

Dropped girl friend off at high school, pulled out of parking lot showing off and accelerated real quick, looked over left should to change lanes, looked back ahead and noticed a school bus pulled out of the drive way at the other end of the parking lot. It was turning left in front of me and it was a 3 lane road, had entire street blocked, tried to brake, tried to go behind bus. failed in all attempts.

Smacked rear of bus doing about 75mph, tore bumper off bus and sent it down the street 40 feet.

Bike mainly had cosmetic damage to everyones disbelief. front fairing was shattered, side casing ripped off. but frame wasnt bent, forks were not bent, hit the bus just right

Was wearing western boots, jeans, nylon jacket, simpson bandit helmet.

Helmet did its job
Western boots got shredded
Nylon jacket was shredded
pants were shredded where applicable

1 week hospital, broken ribs, internal bleeding

Bottom line, showing off, not paying attention to my surroundings, thinking I was all that when I had about 2 months riding experience



1986 - 1983 Suzuki GS-750-E (Same back after repairs). Coming down a mountain road by myself, thought I knew the road but didnt, came into a turn that snapped back into a hair pin. Was too hot for turn. was laid down so low that the bike just feel a few inches and started to slide.

Wearing full gear. Bike laid down on my right leg and slid on it (i.e. leg was pinned between bike and asphalt as it was sliding) I was wearing high top good quality motorcycle boots, actually motorcross boots similar to the ones I wear now. because of the ggood quality boots and the fact they were hightops that covered my calf, nothing happend to my leg, three buckles were ground off the boot, but leg was in good shape.

Had leather jacket
helmet
gloves
leather pants.

No injuries to myself, bike sustained minimal damage


2004 - 2003 Suzuki Hayabusa. Was on a group ride on a twistie road. a motorcycle had went down (we didnt know the person) Emergency medical vehicles kept passing us, everytime one would come up, we would pull over, slow to about 5mph and once the vehicles passed we would take off. the road was busy and cars behind and in front.

We were passed about 3 differant times and each time the riders in front of me would do the same thing, slow to 5mph, one the EMTs passed they would pull away again.

Since the road was so busy and it was narrow and there were idiots everywhere I was constantly looking ahead, looking at the EMT's passing to make sure no issues with them, looking in my rear view to make sure I wouldnt get rear ended.

The forth time EMT's were coming at us, the riders in front of me pulled over, I slowed, looked around and checked things out, looked in my rear view to make sure I wasnt going to get rear ended, looked in front of me and the Busa in front of me had come to a full stop.

I slammed into the busa's left exhaust pipe with the right side of my fairing, punching a hole in my fairing and scratching his pipe with my fairing bolt.

No other damage or injuries.


Totally my fault.

1) I "ASSUMED" what the rider in front of me was going to do and I assumed incorrectly

2) I apparently was following to close for the road conditions.

3) While it is important to check your review to make sure you dont get rear ended, I was probably focusing more on what was bhind me than I should have

4) I did not use proper braking technique. I pretty much used ONLY my back brake. at that time I was not used to constantly covering my front brake as I do now, so at that time I did not have enough time to grab the front brake and squeeze.

If I had used both brakes front and rear, I probably would have avoided hitting him.

Now I pretty my have my front brake covered all the time. I usually ride with 1 finger and thumb on throttle and 3 fingers on brake lever. ESPECIALLY if I am group riding or on a twistie road


2006 (I think) - 2003 Suzuki Hayabusa -

Went on group ride. woke up in the morning not feeling on top of my game. normally I wont ride whhen I feel like that, however I had traveled a few hundred miles for this right and just wrote the feeling off. At the begining of the road noticed my rear tire was showing severe wear. This caused lack of confidence in the motorcycle and this was added to my already feeling out of it and not up to riding.

Went on ride anyway, came into a long sweeper, nothing intense. however there were trees and caused shadowing on the curve. so just before the curve the road was lit up by the sun, then the trees caused my eyes to have to adjust for the shadowing.

this combined with a wide shoulder which about 5 feet of it was loose gravel and sand, my feling of dread, lack of confidence in the tires, by the time I realized what was going on I was off the road on to the loose gravel and sand. I instinctley knew if I tried to lean it over to get back on the road the bike would have slid out from under me.

I kept the bike up right and straight. Went off the road, into a burm, into the air and landed in a ditch. Kept the bike up the entire time except for when the bike came to a stop at which time the bike and I just fell over.

The guy behind me said the bike launched into the air and he could believe I held on.

Minor scratches to bike, bruised right leg.

I attributes the minor damages to myself and the bike to first and foremost my guardian angles who I am sure were working over time that day and just rolled their eyes at me while this was occurring.

Cause of accident: lack of confidence in my abilities that day, lack of confidence in the machine I was riding. Riding when I wasn't feeling up to it (didn't listen to my gut instinct).

So.. those were my major ones, little mishaps here and there otherwise.

hope some of this helps someone.

but if you actually read everything I wrote, you will probably get a better understanding as to why I am always preaching about gear. And warning people to listen to their instincts and to not ride beyond their abilities because I have truly been there and done that, fortunately I have made some stupid mistakes and lived to learn from them. others are not so fortunate sometimes.

 

[JuiceSC]

Worst=high speed wobble sent me over the bars. Some roadrash, but nothing major.

Target fixation, ran off track at a track day, almost saved it but ended up dropping it in the grass. Minor damage to bike.

And the usual crap that they teach you in MSF, railroad tracks, locked front wheel(in dirt), dirt on back tire. I guess I had to experience these for myself.

 

[Saxoplay]

1985 Ninja900...making a right turn onto another street....oil in the road...only going 5 maybe 10mph.....scratch up the right side of my bike.

 

[VaBusa]

Inexperienced rider on my shiny new 2001 883 Harley...I simply didn't know enough about the bike to stop...needed to stop but didn't, ran in to a ditch and flew over the handlebars...bike wasn't messed up too badly, but my ego was. After that, I parked the Harley 'til I could get in an MSF class, took that and never looked back...

 

[CHUBBY60]

1st A 52 year old woman with a leaners permit blew a stop sign. Flew over the windshield on my 2002 FHLTCI. At 280 lbs I wish I had a picture. Broken Shoulder

2nd Accident Sand on a sharp left turn. Road Rash

3rd Community GATE came down hit me in the head. My foot was pulled under the bike and broke my ankel. Road home from Bushkill PA to Long Island and never put my foot down!

 

[WWJD]

"2 riders: those been down, those going to go down" is not true. You don't HAVE to crash if you ride VERY paranoid and safe. That said, stuff happens

My ONLY accident on a big bike: 7-10mph in my parking lot, truck speeding around blind corner, I grabbed lots of front and readied leg for quick bracing - tire grabbed a rock up out of the pavement, crushed it into sand which front tire slid on. I was stunned. because I ALWAYS watch my surfaces for debri. My fault, I guess, I was pointing the bike around so it had to be my fault. I was sooo stunned this happened at all, I went back and meticulously examined the scene. found the crushed rock and the hole it poped out of. 2 + 2 = I never had a chance even with riding skills and experience

Just wrecked twice at the track Saturday. BOTH mechanical failures. This was on my Polini Race pocket bikes doing 25 - 38 mph. First chain came off rolling free before jamming the rear tire and high siding me. That hurt. Next, hammering down a strait, back tire falls off because the SWINGARM FRAME HOLDING THE BACK AXEL FELL OFF! I want to assume it was hidden damage from the first wreck.

I was wearing FULL GEAR head to toe or I might have been in the hospital

 

[Wag]

Guy ran a red light from the left side. I nearly avoided the accident by accelerating but the bike was a CB400 and I had my girlfriend's kid on the back with me. Just not enough power for that poor overloaded bike.

As it happened, the guy clipped my rear tire and sent me down on my left knee. The bike fell on my leg and I was sliding across the intersection with my leg trapped. That was well before I even HEARD of gear so it was Levis and a leather jacket. At the time, I had always been in the habit of riding with no helmet but as an example to the kid with me, we were both wearing helmets that night.

Slid all the way across a four lane intersection and my head stopped me at the curb. Hard. Without a helmet, this would be an obit. My knee was loaded up with asphalt which a satanic nurse scrubbed out with a steel wool pad a couple days later.

The kid on the back was 15 or so and he came off the back standing up, crossed the same intersection in about three gigantic steps and then fell to his hands and knees. He broke a toe in that initial step and some minor scrapes on his hands.

The guy that hit us took off. Yup. Hit and Run. I'm a mild believer in karma and have happy thoughts of him getting some STD that makes his little teenie weenine rot off. There are worse criminals than hit and run drivers but not many.

--Wag--

 

[Gunnybusa]

Low sided my 02 on a cold day with cold tires , broke my rib.

 

[SANDFLEA85]

lost all fluid from my rear master cyclinder and wasnt aware,found out coming up quick on a sharp left handed turn,almost made it but got too close to the shoulder where i found some gravel and this threw me/bike off the road into a ditch.bike stopped when it hit road sign,i flrew off and landed back on the road,cracked helmet.scuffed leather jacket at the left shoulder and arm,little bit of rash on my a$$ at the belt line.cracked front fender,replaced stator cover and scuffer left fairing

 

[LCB]

Trying to be brave and load my bike onto the trailer, it stalled halfway up the ramp... feet weren't even close to the ground and in super-slow motion the bike went over on the right side - I was fine but the bike is still wearing the scars from that one... Got a new "bike friendly" ramp too.

Lesson learned : if someone else is there to help out - don't do it all by yourself.

 

[ToyKraz]

1995 - Katana 750 - First bike I had ever owned or ridden.

Had the bike for 4 months. Was still afraid of it. Speeding to get home on a Friday night to leave for Vegas for the weekend. Freshly slurry sealed road, hit the rear brake, locked up and due to my inexperiance, highsided. Bike flipped and slid 100+ feet. Bent bars, dented tank, destroyed fairing. I dislocated and broke my shouder as was apparent by the way it was sticking out of my back. Cracked my hip. Was in a cast from my waste up for 8 weeks.

Crashes SUCK. Everyone please be careful out there.

 

[Fate]

June of last year, wrecked my new 06 Busa. Had feeling not to ride all day and rode anyway. Took road I had not been on in a long time. Rode was under construction at beginning so went slow. Got past construction and came up on corner that was blind. Made first corner then ran acrost gravel washed out from rain the day before. Hit loose gravel in next corner and hit more back brake to try to take some speed off before sharp corner. Stayed off front brake to avoid slide. The road had just been graded in front of loose gravel and had dropped into corner, the grading seemed to pull bike back up. I messed up and hit brakes and highsided. I don't think I could have recovered either way after going back and looking at road. I was able to get some speed off atleast. I flew off bike and hit a sign upside down and fell down on a broken sign that was left from last wreck there (emt had told me lots of motorcyle deaths in this same spot). The broken sign pierced my helmet. I broke my toe and ankle, but no other injuries but a head ache and a bruise on head. had first gear mesh jacket, jeans and hjc helmet on. I was wearing sneakers instead of boots and probaly would have walked away with no injuries if I had been wearing riding boots. The car I was following lost control in same spot which alerted me to the gravel and I slowed down luckily. the bike that was behind me went down too. He had less damage to bike but had road rash pretty bad. He had full gear on but jacket slid up on him and got road rash on sides and back. I ran over to check on him and my bike before cops showed up and made me sit down. Did not even know my foot was injured until emt took my shoe up and it swelled up.

 

[jessup]

Dr350s... To fast of a speed for corner entry plus I was riding it like it was an R1. Entered the turn way to fast and the front washed causing me and the bike to slide around 40 to 60 ft until stopped by a curb. Slight road rash on bike and human body.

Katana... Same as above but faster with more damage.


I can attribute most if not all of my crashes to over confidence and pushing myself beyond what is reasonable. I have since toned it down a skidge.

 

[IG.]

A tank slapper at 100+ on a wet track after going over a mild bump. Walked away. Bike fixed.

How this could've been avoided?

1. Hang off more to minimize steering input for the bike to stay in turn.
2. Staying relaxed and not tense up.
3. 80w oil in steering damper.

 

[Postal]

Taking meds..... honest! Dropped it in the driveway while experiencing a dizzy spell.

P.

 

[BlueHaya]

not looking in the direction I was going...followed by target fixation= Curb 1 Busa 0