First Time Crash

[seagravesg]

Male, mid 60's, recently retired, been motorcycle riding 25+ years without mishap. Always try to ride defensively and responsibly and very much "on the watch". Like all of us I would hear "if you are going to ride and you haven't had a wreck, you will!" Never gave that much concern. But, had my first a few days ago.
Riding scenic middle TN road I have enjoyed many times before. Topped a hill in a curve about 9:00a (headed to breakfast with riding buddy), there's a pickup truck stopped waiting to turn left. I am not speeding, maybe 35-40mph, not reckless.....but instantly knowing I cannot stop in the distance between me and the truck I grab lots of brake and go down on the payment and off in to the dirt ditch.
Upside---broken thumb, some road rash and a pitiful looking 2016 F6B laying in the ditch as I rode off in an ambulance. Preliminary (tow truck operator) opinion bike might not be totaled since I didn't collide with truck, tree, fence post....something that would bend forks, frame, etc.??

Very, very lucky; could have been much worse! I consider this a "honest accident". That's what bothers me.

How many of you guys have been involved in crashes? How many kept riding (after mending and bike repairs)? What do you think the odds are never to be involved in a MC crash if enjoying many years, say 20+ on 2 wheels?

Excuse the one handed typing.

[Frye]

I've been riding around 49 years. Motorcycles are my primary mode of transportation. Life is just too short to drive a cage when it can be avoided. I'm 61 now and started riding around age 12.

I had knee surgery 25 years ago due to hill climbing/trail riding injuries which happened when I was a teen. About 10 years ago I broke my lower right leg on my Valkyrie. I was looking for my cornering limits and I guess I found them on that particular corner on that particular day. I was cornering hard with my right boot and footpeg on the road when both tires washed out in some crushed acorns the shade and my sunglasses hid from me. Right foot wound up wedged under the pipes, (I think I tried to stand the bike up with my foot but not sure) I felt the leg break, the bike was sliding and my leg was trapped. Then I got out of the acorns, bike stood up and all was good except for the leg. Couldn't stop because I couldn't hold the bike up with my right leg so I could put the kickstand down. I grabbed my pant leg and got my foot back on the peg, then tottered along pretty slow till I was sure I wasn't going to puke or pass out. Then rode the 25 miles home and got the wife to put down the stand, get me into the car and take me to the hospital. Wound up with a steel plate and 7 screws in the leg. First place I rode when I was off the crutches was the corner I broke it on to make sure I didn't have any phobias, I didn't.

A couple of years later, there had still never been a day the leg didn't hurt and I started to see the heads of some of the screws pushing up under the skin because they were coming out of the bone....

Another surgery to remove the plate and 6 of the screws (still got one) didn't turn out so well. Had my son shine a flashlight down the cast to see what was going on because the pain was horrible. Leg had opened up, bone was visible and it was starting to stink. Infected!! Then it was emergency surgery and a wound vac for a couple of months. When I could walk and ride again I headed for the same corner. All was still good, dragging my right boot in corners does sometimes make me flinch though.

The way I see it, if you ride long enough riding will always be fatal. Therefore the goal is the be lucky enough, and to ride well enough that you die of something else first.

As far as the odds of being in another accident, I couldn't even guess.

[CheesyRider]

I've been in one motorcycle accident. In 2000 I was on my way to work when I was rear-ended on the freeway. The guy hit me with enough force that my motorcycle was stuck upright in his grill (they had to use a winch to remove my motorcycle). Somehow I ended up flat on my back on the side of the road. I'm not sure why I didn't end up on his hood or windshield. I was a little dazed even with my helmet. Had I not been wearing a helmet, at best, I'd have ended up in a coma. I still have scars on my shins from where they hit the handlebars. I had minor neck pain for nearly a year too. I though my riding days were done, but about a year later I was riding again.

I did have an accident while on vacation in Montana earlier this summer. A car pulled out in front of me. Luckily I was driving a van and not my motorcycle. My van was totaled and the other car actually flipped. Thankfully, no one in my family was hurt. And, somehow, the other driver only suffered minor cuts from crawling out of his car through broken glass. As I was looking at my totaled van with it's "start seeing motorcycles" bumper sticker, I thought maybe I need to get a "start seeing full size vans with headlights on" bumper sticker for my next vehicle!

I think getting in an accident gets most people thinking about whether or not the risk is worth it. Just do what feels right. If you stop riding you can always start again someday.

[Ixol Phaane]

Been riding for the better part of 40 years. Have been down several times, though never seriously injured on a street bike. Did break a leg riding on a beach on a Honda ATC (3 wheel) once upon a time....OH may have been a factor in that incident.

Have had 3 minor brushes with cages on the street resulting in 1 bike totaled, 1 broken and 1 scraped, and each with an amount of road rash... 1 road debris incident, 1 close encounter with a stationary object and 1 overcorrection whilst avoiding teen hooligans on a dark street. (Hey you kids, shouldn't you be at home on a school night!?)
By my count I may have only 2 lives left, but I won't waste energy on worries and I don't want to let fear darken my life. Life is for living so I'm gonna keep riding.

As an EMT I've seen some things over the years... multiple rider fatalities from single cager incidents... new ignorant rider fatalities (Hey, Bubba, watch this!)... seasoned rider fatalities (Hey, Bubba, watch this!)
All we can do is practice safe riding, stay alert, stay sober and stay defensive. Some things we can never control or avoid... but many others we can.

Life is full of risks. Ride long enough and everybody goes down. Why do we go down? So we can learn how to pick ourselves up.

Looking forward to seeing everyone in Cortez and/or Cherokee next month.
Ride safe!

[wjduke]

I'm recovering right now from a rear end hit 2 weeks ago. I was on Rt195 that goes from Providence out towards the Cape. At a very well known area in New Bedford, the highway narrows from 3 lanes to 2. I saw traffic slowing ahead, so backed off slightly. The kid ( 26 ) behind me never did, hitting me, in his words to the State Police, at 75 mph. I'm still battered and bruised, but all in all, lucky to be alive. Actually this morning, I'm going to RI Hospital for a follow up on the trauma part. Next month I go back to see if a fracture on T9 spine bone is healing on it's own.

This was my second time getting hit in 4 years. The previous one left me with a dislocated ankle. On that one, I was immobilized, but not much pain. I couldn't wait to get another bike and ride again. With this one, I'm mobile but suffering. I have a big decision to make later on, but in my case, I'm seriously leaning towards giving it up. I feel that luck isn't on my side with motorcycles. I love it. I don't have much else going on in my life. Twice in 4 years, neither one my fault, is screaming at telling me enough is enough.

I've talked to guys who have been riding for 50 years with no incidents, and have talked to guys who have had multiple and still riding. Time will tell. Have to see how I come out of this physically. Don't know if this helps you or not, but it's my story.

[jmdaniel]

Totaled a brand new 1981 Yamaha 750 Seca back in 1980, at the grand old age of 19, after a night of carousing at a college party I attended. I had fully intended to stay overnight, and had given the keys to a friend for safekeeping before the spirits flowed, but somehow the keys made it back in my hands, and I woke up in a hospital, with a broken collarbone and a pretty bad concussion. The latter would have been much worse, (and I would not be typing this), if it had not been for the Bell Star full face that gave its life that early morning, shielding my evidently brainless noggin from the rock pile that I landed in, 75 feet from the bike. Who knew Yamaha was designing ejector seats in the Seca? Or maybe it was the effect of hitting a telephone box at approximately 85mph; the pace that the broken speedo needle showed when I got the bike back a few days later. As an aside, and to show how things have changed, my mom asked the state trooper if he intended to give me a ticket, or tickets, for the accident, and he told her that he thought the loss of what appeared to be a pretty nice bike would probably be lesson enough.

Obviously, I rode again, but it was not until 1989, after I moved from Minnesota to Texas, back to Minnesota, to West Germany with the US Army, and earned a college degree. My next bike was a graduation present to myself; a brand new '86 Honda 700 Shadow that had been crated its whole life, (back when motorcycle manufacturers made whatever quantity of bikes they wanted to, never mind the actual sell through). Before I bought the bike, I made a promise to myself that as long as I was on a bike, not a drop of alcohol would cross my lips. 29 years later, that promise remains unbroken. I tempted fate once, and that was enough.

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[3Chief]

I've been riding 25+ years. I've been down 4 time on my street bike and a few more issues on the quad. Only one required an ER visit to scrub gravel out of my knee. I subscribe to the belief that there are two kinds of riders, those who have gone down and those who will go down. To many variables and clueless asshats to guarantee you'll never put the bike down. The last one was particularly dumb, due to an A/C cold and an ill timed sneeze I needed to pull off the road. GF was on the back, I slowed and pulled off. I saw the speedo hit about 1 mph when the front tire shot out from under us and down we went. Slid all of 3 feet but enough to roll my ankle and tenderize the GF's hand where she tried to catch herself. It always amazes me how hard we can push the limits and yet it's doing something so trivial that bites us.

I've never considered giving up riding but I also understand that I haven't been thru a major accident on a bike either. If that day comes I'll reevaluate then and make the best decision with the facts at the time. You decide when your ready to ride again, maybe you take a break for a bit till you get the itch again. You'll know what's best for you, just don't let others make the decision for you and don't be afraid to change your mind or go slow.

[tenxxx]

Been riding 50 years. Had my first real reck 2 years ago. Went off the road in a turn. Went over the handlebars, my toes hit something on the front and flipped me over at about 20 mph. Everything went to slo-mo while I was flipping. Landed on my shoulder, rolled onto my back and ended up sliding on my butt. There was no wait time for the pain. An ambulance ride, which was torchere, they ride so stiff.
A new M..St.d windshield, straighten a few things out and was riding again in 4 weeks, painfully.
Have to say all my mishaps on motorcycles were my fault.
65 years old now and not as good a rider as I once was. But WILL NOT give up riding because of fear.
I will know when the time is right to trade er in on a motor-home.

[VStarRider]

Interesting stories.

I have had one accident, which was mostly my fault. I think I have told the story on here in the past; I was on a VStar 1100 and was following an old guy (83 y/o) in a Caravan who had left town with a 35 mph speed limit and was now a 55 mph two-laner. Driver never sped up past in-town speed and I was getting annoyed. I was overconfident at this point in my riding career, and unjustifiably so. I rode his rear bumper and was waiting for an opportunity to pass.

The driver slowed down even more and started to veer on to the narrow shoulder to the right. I interpreted that as an imminent turn into a driveway on the right, so I rolled on the throttle to go around him on the left. Next thing I saw was his van turning left in front of me. I did not know how to swerve or countersteer at that time. I also had fallen in love with the rear brake only, due to convenience. I locked up the rear, started to go over low side, steered the other way and was hurled off the bike high side and skidded on my knees and forearms towards the front of the van.

Luckily, the old man saw this and stopped and I skidded in front of him and landed in the gravel on the left side of the road. No permanent damage on my body, just some painful road rash from wearing inappropriate gear; stretched tendons in my right foot when it got caught under the bike that took years to get back to 80%. Bike was totaled. Driver was issued a ticket for failure to use a turn signal to turn left. I learned later on that the driver was a former tractor trailer operator and was making an unnecessary wide turn left out of habit.

Traffic court found him not guilty, insurance mediator found him guilty.

I gave up riding for the next two years.

Seeing people ride around lit the flame again. I promised myself if I got back into it, I would train and practice and be an ATGATT rider. I bought another VStar in 2014 and slowly got back into riding. I watched videos, practiced, and wore my gear. In 2015, I had a 6000 mile riding season and I knew it was time for a longer distance bike. Enter the F6B in October of that year.

I am confident if that road scenario were to occur again today, I would not have an accident. Why? I am a much more cautious rider and I feel I can handle a bike much better in regards to making it go where I want it and need it to go these days. I probably would be several car lengths behind that driver, allowed him to make his turn without a signal and off I would go, merely shaking my head at questionable driving tactics of the guy in the van.

I have to admit I go through a stretch of fear a few times per riding season where I feel vulnerable on a bike, that an accident is inevitable. I worry this affects my confidence and my ability to focus and manage a close-call event should I encounter one. I continue to work on battling this.