I love a good crash story. It's gallows humor I suppose...just fun to tell about the times the moto gods decided you needed a lesson in humility.

First though, I have to admit I've never crashed a road bike. I crashed a motocrosser on the road, but it was just a lay down, nothing serious. My worst crash stories come from the dirt world.

While battling for third place in my first 125 expert race, I ran into a competitor that had told others he would put me into the ground before he'd let me pass. I was all over him throughout the race but couldn't get around him. I was young and still growing into the big bike while he was older and stronger than me. Anyone who races knows that if a rider is all over the tail of another, the lead bike is holding up the bike in the rear, I knew this and after two laps of ramming his rear tire in turns, I was tired of it. I couldn't keep my front wheel down in the turns, so, my young, dumb, brain decided I should pass him in the air.

We came to a jump before a turn and I literally thought, "I'll whip it and take his line in the air before the turn." Ahem...didn't really work. We collided broadside in mid-air and I wound up between his rear fender and tire. The knobbies made bloody meat of my right arm and ripped my pinkie nail off. I was lucky I didn't get worse. He got up and finished the race, I walked back to the pits in a blood soaked jersey.

I haven't crashed the road bike yet. I probably will though. We're all just a poor choice away from the short straw.

Tell me your stories. I'm sure it's much hairier to lay down on the pavement. The traction karma hasn't caught me yet.

 

F**K!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Yeah, it sucked. I've broken bones but that ripped off nail hurt worse. I puked when I pulled my glove off. Hard to look tough when you puke...haha.

 

Nothing for me, *knocks on wood*, aside from the 1 or 2 drops in the first week of owning her. Had a few pucker moments, 1 on dry land and I learned to keep off the throttle coming out of turns, and a few times in the rain going into parking lots, but you can't do a lot about those except her up.

I did almost get run over in a parking lot, but I turned it, laid it down and bailed. broke my front brake lever, that was a fun 10 mile trip home....and the bastard floored it out of there.

 

Im with Dork. Never been down on the street... But been down plenty of times in the trails and sand. Just a couple of weeks ago Me and a buddy were hitting up some tech trails when we found one that was super tight and steep runing pretty much straight down hill with a few slight turns around some trees, rocks, stumps and a couple of step downs made of rocks and roots. Well I went for it... Rear locked and playing the front so I wouldnt wash out made it around the first tree but as I came about the tree I hit a root patch. I was on the front brake too much so the front end washed out. I went down with the bike. Then the bike rolled over me and to the side, I kept rolling and bounced off... A tree, a big rock, a stump and finally slammed to a stop against a tree. Knocked the wind out of me and bruised my forearm. But other than that it was a great ride... Err crash. What ever. Ive also gone over the bars, bailed a forty to fifty footer in the dunes and killed it on a flat dirt road (Now thats embarrassing).

 

I almost had gravel take me out on Tuesday. Apparently its cool to leave a gravely mess in a sweeping curve without any signs of loose stones or anything. I guess Im lucky I saw it when I did and slowed up just enough. I ended up keeping the bike up with some help from my left foot for a brief moment, went straight into a VERY well placed driveway (had it been a curb there I would have been toast), through my apartments front lawn, and into the parking lot. Scariest thing that has ever happened to me in my 25 yrs of life thus far. I got very lucky that the drive was there, because I really dont think the outcome would have been good if I hit a curb at the 30ish mph I was doing at the time.

F*CK GRAVEL!!!!!!

 

It is possible to pop up on the curb like you can with a bicycle, just run the front tire into it. I dont know about at 30mph, but I have done it pushing my bike before.

 

Riding on the interstate 75mph. Turn to look to get into another lane and my visor exploded right off. A sudden gush of air and bugs into my eyes. I got freaked out and pulled into a gas station to take a breather. I proceeded to forget to put my kick stand down and droped her. :|

 

Never wrecked a dirt bike, but i trashed my niebors yamaha blaster when i was 10ish. His sister used to come over and ride 4-wheelers with my sister and they would always take are farm 4-wheeler (honda) since both of them could fit on it and they didn't want to ride with me. One day she failed to mention that the front brakes were not working. Took it over a hill through a giant thorn bush over a bank which is where i cleared the road on the side of the hill and hit 2 little trees. Bent both A arms back and twisted up the frame a bit. Soon after they sold my 4-wheeler since i was riding CRAZY. Damn parents.

On a side note i understand about the random gravel. There is a concrete plant by work where they seem to have a problem with which way the drum should be spinning when they leave the lot. There is always trails of concrete and gravel all over the streets by the plant. I know my slide out is coming eventually.

 

Where should I begin?

There was the one where I lowsided due to mud at teh edge of the road......... Naw. Too lame.

There is that other one where me and the wife blew and exit ramp (Me really. She was just holding on), jumped a 20' embankment, landed in basically a muddy swamp, and STILL kept it up! That's a good one!

How about that one where the front end gave up due to leaking fork seals? Totalled the damned bike in that one.

Getting stuck in the snow storm and sliding down the middle of the highway was kind of interesting too!

Then we get into the lowside at Deals Gap with my son on the back. He stayed on the road while I went over the edge with the bike! I STILL catch hell from the wife about that one!

Got rear ended once trying to be nice and show a newbe a decreasing radious corner. Ended up getting stuffed head first into a ditch which resulted in getting 3 vertebrea fused in my neck. Thanks bud! At least he paid for the damage on the bike and a new helmet!

Lowsided in T2 on the first lap of the day at CMP once. That was fun sliding the bike damn near to T3 and dumping the entire engine worth or oil on the track. Made me a REAL popular guy that day!

Latest of course was this past Saturday when my son slammed into me riding dirt. Currently have every ligament in my left knee torn to hell and back and have NO idea when I will be able to ride again!

Anyone want me to expand on any of those? Couple of them are pretty good ones!