Witnessed first m/c crash

[VaBob]

Was cruising up the mountain this fair evening, and was focusing on looking through the turn. When i almost crest the top of the curvy mountain road, and just as i start my lean, i see a black sportbike hit the guard rail on a 25mph ouside corner, and the rear wheel comes up and rider goes in the air. Then i remember im leaned over in a corner and return my focus to my own needs. I make the turn and bang a u-turn (ok, pedel a 3 point turn) and thow the flashers on and park before the turn so others will slow the hell down. By that time the young man has climbed back up the mountain and was dusting himself off. He was ok, and the bike drivable so they decided to limp it down the mountain.

Now im not exactly driving mrs daisy going back down the mountain after them, but when i catch up to them at the bottom they are already parked, helmets off, and looking at the damage. You would think they would have driven a little more cautiously but i guess not.

Anyways, just a reminder to take it easy and look through the turn.

[willtill]

GUILTY (at times). Sometimes hard to overcome but am always reminding myself to (not) to do it.

Good that the rider was not severely hurt.

There for the grace of god go some of the rest of us.

[willtill]

Last M/C crash I witnessed, was a young 'yute in front of my house late at night... roaring up and down the street constantly on a crotch rocket; until we heard a crack/thud out front.

His helmet came off his head (chinstrap not fastened) and he ended up smacking his melon on the asphalt. Died right there. Hosed the blood down the gutter later in the morning when day came.

Very sad.

[Broken Hand]

Last crash I saw was 9 years ago when I sold my Vstrom 650. New owner made it 15 feet up my driveway when he dumped it.
With cashiers check in hand, I helped him up and on his merry way. He only did about $400 in body damage.

[TripleDuck]

Effective cornering is a learned skill with as many as 14 different actions as coached by many race schools. If you don't learn, if you don't practice those actions, if you don't hone those skills, you are destined to go down. Spend the time and money to learn how to corner and ride correctly and safely. https://vimeo.com/87924582

[Jimmytee]

Around 2-3 years ago, I watched a friend / fellow CVMA member, practically run head on into a truck coming the other way. We had been with a group earlier and had split off to ride some twisty roads. I was in front when we came up behind a slow moving car. He lost patience and next thing I know he goes past me and around the car so I followed him. He was on a Street Glide, I on my F6B. We came to a stretch of sharp turns, one after the other. I was hollering at him watching him take those turns because I could see poor lines and at one point he had his inside foot down like a he was riding a dirt bike in a berm. My spidy sense was a tingling and I kept thinking no dude , don't do that. He came around the last hairpin turn too hot , panic braked , the bike stood up in the corner and right into the front corner and down the side of an oncoming brand new GMC pickup. He was very fortunate. totaled his bike , broke his foot etc.. but he is alive and walking today. Just a split second timing difference and he would probably not be alive.

On a recent ride in the Smokies, I watched a guy in front of me blow corner after corner. I later had a private conversation with him. I told him about my friend and advised that there is no shame in backing off and riding within your abilities.

I practice technique frequently and have been riding many years doing so. The throttle is my world , I control mine, you need to control yours.

[druggr]

I guess I've seen a couple of accidents. The last one was riding in the Smokies. A group of 5 Harleys were in front of me. 3 went into a a curve, and the 4th one hit ditch instead. In my mind, since the first 3 made the curve without issue, I assumed the 4th rider was less experienced. The aid car took him away with a broke leg.

Another was a group ride that I was on. All Wings and some trikes. One of the trikes didn't make a curve and ended up on its side in the bushes. He too could have been less experienced, however, a few miles back I was gonna tell the leader that he was going to fast.

[Heatnbeat]

The first one I saw was pretty funny. We were in Ocean City NJ, walking in town at night and it was raining just enough to slick the street. There was a guy on a Triumph sitting at a light waiting to make a right turn. He was blipping the throttle trying to look cool for all the pedestrians . Light turns he comes out all hot and lays it down in the intersection in front of God and everybody. Got a standing ovation for his exhibition😄

[druggr]

Now that I think about it, I remember a 3rd. It was during the Meet-n-Great at Wing Ding 36 in Madison, WS (2014). A guy pulls into the parking lot on a GL1800 with a sidecar. He somehow looses control in the parking lot and hits like 5 Wings. His side car comes to rest sitting on at least 2 of them. The other 3 got the domino affect.

[VStarRider]

The only accident I have witnessed was my own.

August 2012...2008 Vstar 1100, not the best handling bike. A old guy in front of me was going slow, braking, then accelerating. He veered to the right, got on the shoulder, no signal. Figuring he was pulling into the business on the right, I started to accelerate around him. All of a sudden, he is turning left right in front of me. Being a novice rider and a little too cocky, I jammed on the rear brake. Not sure how much I applied the front. The rear locked immediately and started skidding. I was putting in light steering inputs, not knowing how to do an evasive maneuver at this time, and on a bike that required a lot of skill to pull off that move anyway.

The Vstar started going over low side, tire screaming...I corrected, and the bike immediately flopped over on to its high side, throwing me off and into the path of the driver. I am on my forearms and knees on the asphalt. The driver saw me and stopped, I skidded past the front of his van and into the gravel and grass.

Injuries included a lot of road rash on my arms and legs, and a foot contusion that still swells and causes pain to this day, at times.

I was lucky. DAMN lucky. I could have been run over and who knows what else.

Air crash investigators say that its rarely a major failure that leads to catastrophe, rather a series of small failures that lead up to disaster.

1. I was late for work. I had stopped to talk to a fellow rider for far too long while walking the dog that morning.
2. I was riding faster than I normally do ... 65+ mph on two lane roads I normally ride ~60 mph on...as a result of being late.
3. I didn't take the time to put on my armor jacket, which I had begun to wear more and more often.
4. I wore my sneakers, not boots.
5. I took unusual risks that day, not typical of my normal riding style. Included in these risks was accelerating around the driver, not totally knowing what he was up to.
6. I had done zero practicing / training on that bike.

Not having the right gear resulted in my injuries. If I had the correct gear on, it is likely my injuries would have been minor, possibly non-existent.

I survived, and got back on a bike two years later, after swearing I would never ride again.

It was an experience I learned from. I know where full gear, read and watch videos, reflect on my riding practices, practice evasive maneuvers at low and high speed and ride with caution 99% of the time.

I have signed up for Advanced Rider course, but they can never get enough people in the local class to conduct the training session.

I have logged 25,000 miles since that accident with a few incidents (one person pulled out in front of me, but stopped half out into the lane; a deer ran in front of me and I briefly locked up the front and rear tires on the F6B).