Crash stories / how to avoid them
#21
04-18-2011, 07:15 PM
I had a close encounter with my supermoto about 10ish months ago.
I was with my friend (both on DRZ400sm), riding between my house and his. I knew this road, I drove it several times a week in the truck to work. I wasn't all that familiar with it on the bike. Apparently it was more narrow than I thought, I went too far to the outside. The tires went over the curb and my swingarm tapped the guard tail and I guess that's what pushed me back onto the pavement (I can't remember in full detail, it was so long ago and not that big of a deal). All that happened was a small scuff on the swingarm, and a bent bolt for the swingarm slider.
The moral? Don't be a squid like I was....
I was with my friend (both on DRZ400sm), riding between my house and his. I knew this road, I drove it several times a week in the truck to work. I wasn't all that familiar with it on the bike. Apparently it was more narrow than I thought, I went too far to the outside. The tires went over the curb and my swingarm tapped the guard tail and I guess that's what pushed me back onto the pavement (I can't remember in full detail, it was so long ago and not that big of a deal). All that happened was a small scuff on the swingarm, and a bent bolt for the swingarm slider.
The moral? Don't be a squid like I was....
#22
04-27-2011, 01:27 PM
I had my first accident over a month ago.
Was riding with a couple buddies to go buy some oil at the local motorcycle dealership. We were at an intersection that was fairly busy.
My buddy was ahead of me, I was in the middle, and my other buddy behind me. We were sitting at a left turn arrow and after it turned green we took off normally. After my buddy in front of me gunned it just a little bit, i tried to keep up with him.... bad idea
.
The turn for the motorcycle shop was right ahead of us, and there were two entrances. The first one for cars, the second for bikes. I figured my buddy was going to go into the second one so I took off a bit to maybe 40-45 mph. I had to get into the right lane since we turned into the left from the light. I look to my right to check for cars and just in that split second I didn't realize my buddy had already slowed down to turn into the first entrance.
At this point, I tried to slow down way too quick, grabbed way too much front brake, and locked the front wheel. The rest is history. I was in the middle of a lane change so I was in the gravely part of the road (The roads here are covered in gravel since the rain hasn't washed anything away yet.) Suffice to say, I ate ****. The bike dumped on me and all I remember was thinking "oh ****" and seeing sky/road/sky/road. I could also remember hearing the sound of my bike scraping along the road. what an awful sound. It all happened so quick I didn't have time to react at all. To this day, I still don't remember the first part of the crash.
As soon as i stopped rolling my first reaction was "get up, you're fine." So I did, but at this point there were 100 people running around yelling and screaming call 911. I kinda just sat there, in the middle of a crowded street, not believing what just happened. One lady who saw it happen was a nurse or nurse assistant or something came over. I thought that I might actually be alright. I was in shock, but not really sure how bad it was. My wrist has hurting a bit and i thought i may have sprained/broke it, and i could tell i had a pretty bad cut on my knee. The nurse lady that came over rolled up my pants and I saw my knee....with a hole in it about the size of a half dollar down to the bone. I couldnt even look at it and just thought to myself about how stupid I was and how my poor bike just got ****ed up and how ****ty the entire situation got in so quick a time. One minute im riding, the next minute im laying on the asphalt surrounded by the fire department and paramedics.
Anyway. Damage ended up being a cracked wrist, road rash on my back, moderate scrape on my other hand, and 3 stitches in my knee. I was unable to walk for over a week and a half and couldnt even get up to use the bathroom because the pain was so bad. Today, im walking fine and pretty much ok.
The bike had over $3000 in damage. It slid a good amount and it needs all fairing replaced except the right side. The fairings alone are $2000 worth. Only thing mechanical is my rear set sheared off and the water pump broke. I will hopefully be getting it back next week or the week after. I miss my poor baby and am very pissed at myself for what happened.
Looking back on it now, I initially was in denial by trying to blame my accident on the gravel, but I knew damn well that it wasn't the gravel that caused my accident, it was my lack of experience and over-confidence. I unfortunately became another statistic of a douche bag on a crotch rocket who's trying to be cool and almost kills himself.
I got lucky. I could have came out much worse. I'm walking and talking today and am healthy enough to get back on my bike after only a month. My biggest mistake was not respecting the power and danger of these bikes. I can not stress enough to other new riders how easy it is to think you are a good rider when in fact there is so much more for you to learn. Don't end up like me. It's not fun. Just about everybody goes down on a bike, and the vast majority of those happen within the first 6 months of riding.
The accident is going to make me a much different rider. I didn't show enough respect and I got a kick in the *** for it.
Respect. The. Bike.
So there's my story. Learn from it. Ride safe. And wear your gear.
Was riding with a couple buddies to go buy some oil at the local motorcycle dealership. We were at an intersection that was fairly busy.
My buddy was ahead of me, I was in the middle, and my other buddy behind me. We were sitting at a left turn arrow and after it turned green we took off normally. After my buddy in front of me gunned it just a little bit, i tried to keep up with him.... bad idea
.The turn for the motorcycle shop was right ahead of us, and there were two entrances. The first one for cars, the second for bikes. I figured my buddy was going to go into the second one so I took off a bit to maybe 40-45 mph. I had to get into the right lane since we turned into the left from the light. I look to my right to check for cars and just in that split second I didn't realize my buddy had already slowed down to turn into the first entrance.
At this point, I tried to slow down way too quick, grabbed way too much front brake, and locked the front wheel. The rest is history. I was in the middle of a lane change so I was in the gravely part of the road (The roads here are covered in gravel since the rain hasn't washed anything away yet.) Suffice to say, I ate ****. The bike dumped on me and all I remember was thinking "oh ****" and seeing sky/road/sky/road. I could also remember hearing the sound of my bike scraping along the road. what an awful sound. It all happened so quick I didn't have time to react at all. To this day, I still don't remember the first part of the crash.
As soon as i stopped rolling my first reaction was "get up, you're fine." So I did, but at this point there were 100 people running around yelling and screaming call 911. I kinda just sat there, in the middle of a crowded street, not believing what just happened. One lady who saw it happen was a nurse or nurse assistant or something came over. I thought that I might actually be alright. I was in shock, but not really sure how bad it was. My wrist has hurting a bit and i thought i may have sprained/broke it, and i could tell i had a pretty bad cut on my knee. The nurse lady that came over rolled up my pants and I saw my knee....with a hole in it about the size of a half dollar down to the bone. I couldnt even look at it and just thought to myself about how stupid I was and how my poor bike just got ****ed up and how ****ty the entire situation got in so quick a time. One minute im riding, the next minute im laying on the asphalt surrounded by the fire department and paramedics.
Anyway. Damage ended up being a cracked wrist, road rash on my back, moderate scrape on my other hand, and 3 stitches in my knee. I was unable to walk for over a week and a half and couldnt even get up to use the bathroom because the pain was so bad. Today, im walking fine and pretty much ok.
The bike had over $3000 in damage. It slid a good amount and it needs all fairing replaced except the right side. The fairings alone are $2000 worth. Only thing mechanical is my rear set sheared off and the water pump broke. I will hopefully be getting it back next week or the week after. I miss my poor baby and am very pissed at myself for what happened.
Looking back on it now, I initially was in denial by trying to blame my accident on the gravel, but I knew damn well that it wasn't the gravel that caused my accident, it was my lack of experience and over-confidence. I unfortunately became another statistic of a douche bag on a crotch rocket who's trying to be cool and almost kills himself.
I got lucky. I could have came out much worse. I'm walking and talking today and am healthy enough to get back on my bike after only a month. My biggest mistake was not respecting the power and danger of these bikes. I can not stress enough to other new riders how easy it is to think you are a good rider when in fact there is so much more for you to learn. Don't end up like me. It's not fun. Just about everybody goes down on a bike, and the vast majority of those happen within the first 6 months of riding.
The accident is going to make me a much different rider. I didn't show enough respect and I got a kick in the *** for it.
Respect. The. Bike.
So there's my story. Learn from it. Ride safe. And wear your gear.
#23
04-28-2011, 09:22 AM
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Stockton, CA
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I had my first accident over a month ago.
Was riding with a couple buddies to go buy some oil at the local motorcycle dealership. We were at an intersection that was fairly busy.
My buddy was ahead of me, I was in the middle, and my other buddy behind me. We were sitting at a left turn arrow and after it turned green we took off normally. After my buddy in front of me gunned it just a little bit, i tried to keep up with him.... bad idea.
The turn for the motorcycle shop was right ahead of us, and there were two entrances. The first one for cars, the second for bikes. I figured my buddy was going to go into the second one so I took off a bit to maybe 40-45 mph. I had to get into the right lane since we turned into the left from the light. I look to my right to check for cars and just in that split second I didn't realize my buddy had already slowed down to turn into the first entrance.
At this point, I tried to slow down way too quick, grabbed way too much front brake, and locked the front wheel. The rest is history. I was in the middle of a lane change so I was in the gravely part of the road (The roads here are covered in gravel since the rain hasn't washed anything away yet.) Suffice to say, I ate ****. The bike dumped on me and all I remember was thinking "oh ****" and seeing sky/road/sky/road. I could also remember hearing the sound of my bike scraping along the road. what an awful sound. It all happened so quick I didn't have time to react at all. To this day, I still don't remember the first part of the crash.
As soon as i stopped rolling my first reaction was "get up, you're fine." So I did, but at this point there were 100 people running around yelling and screaming call 911. I kinda just sat there, in the middle of a crowded street, not believing what just happened. One lady who saw it happen was a nurse or nurse assistant or something came over. I thought that I might actually be alright. I was in shock, but not really sure how bad it was. My wrist has hurting a bit and i thought i may have sprained/broke it, and i could tell i had a pretty bad cut on my knee. The nurse lady that came over rolled up my pants and I saw my knee....with a hole in it about the size of a half dollar down to the bone. I couldnt even look at it and just thought to myself about how stupid I was and how my poor bike just got ****ed up and how ****ty the entire situation got in so quick a time. One minute im riding, the next minute im laying on the asphalt surrounded by the fire department and paramedics.
Anyway. Damage ended up being a cracked wrist, road rash on my back, moderate scrape on my other hand, and 3 stitches in my knee. I was unable to walk for over a week and a half and couldnt even get up to use the bathroom because the pain was so bad. Today, im walking fine and pretty much ok.
The bike had over $3000 in damage. It slid a good amount and it needs all fairing replaced except the right side. The fairings alone are $2000 worth. Only thing mechanical is my rear set sheared off and the water pump broke. I will hopefully be getting it back next week or the week after. I miss my poor baby and am very pissed at myself for what happened.
Looking back on it now, I initially was in denial by trying to blame my accident on the gravel, but I knew damn well that it wasn't the gravel that caused my accident, it was my lack of experience and over-confidence. I unfortunately became another statistic of a douche bag on a crotch rocket who's trying to be cool and almost kills himself.
I got lucky. I could have came out much worse. I'm walking and talking today and am healthy enough to get back on my bike after only a month. My biggest mistake was not respecting the power and danger of these bikes. I can not stress enough to other new riders how easy it is to think you are a good rider when in fact there is so much more for you to learn. Don't end up like me. It's not fun. Just about everybody goes down on a bike, and the vast majority of those happen within the first 6 months of riding.
The accident is going to make me a much different rider. I didn't show enough respect and I got a kick in the *** for it.
Respect. The. Bike.
So there's my story. Learn from it. Ride safe. And wear your gear.
Was riding with a couple buddies to go buy some oil at the local motorcycle dealership. We were at an intersection that was fairly busy.
My buddy was ahead of me, I was in the middle, and my other buddy behind me. We were sitting at a left turn arrow and after it turned green we took off normally. After my buddy in front of me gunned it just a little bit, i tried to keep up with him.... bad idea
.The turn for the motorcycle shop was right ahead of us, and there were two entrances. The first one for cars, the second for bikes. I figured my buddy was going to go into the second one so I took off a bit to maybe 40-45 mph. I had to get into the right lane since we turned into the left from the light. I look to my right to check for cars and just in that split second I didn't realize my buddy had already slowed down to turn into the first entrance.
At this point, I tried to slow down way too quick, grabbed way too much front brake, and locked the front wheel. The rest is history. I was in the middle of a lane change so I was in the gravely part of the road (The roads here are covered in gravel since the rain hasn't washed anything away yet.) Suffice to say, I ate ****. The bike dumped on me and all I remember was thinking "oh ****" and seeing sky/road/sky/road. I could also remember hearing the sound of my bike scraping along the road. what an awful sound. It all happened so quick I didn't have time to react at all. To this day, I still don't remember the first part of the crash.
As soon as i stopped rolling my first reaction was "get up, you're fine." So I did, but at this point there were 100 people running around yelling and screaming call 911. I kinda just sat there, in the middle of a crowded street, not believing what just happened. One lady who saw it happen was a nurse or nurse assistant or something came over. I thought that I might actually be alright. I was in shock, but not really sure how bad it was. My wrist has hurting a bit and i thought i may have sprained/broke it, and i could tell i had a pretty bad cut on my knee. The nurse lady that came over rolled up my pants and I saw my knee....with a hole in it about the size of a half dollar down to the bone. I couldnt even look at it and just thought to myself about how stupid I was and how my poor bike just got ****ed up and how ****ty the entire situation got in so quick a time. One minute im riding, the next minute im laying on the asphalt surrounded by the fire department and paramedics.
Anyway. Damage ended up being a cracked wrist, road rash on my back, moderate scrape on my other hand, and 3 stitches in my knee. I was unable to walk for over a week and a half and couldnt even get up to use the bathroom because the pain was so bad. Today, im walking fine and pretty much ok.
The bike had over $3000 in damage. It slid a good amount and it needs all fairing replaced except the right side. The fairings alone are $2000 worth. Only thing mechanical is my rear set sheared off and the water pump broke. I will hopefully be getting it back next week or the week after. I miss my poor baby and am very pissed at myself for what happened.
Looking back on it now, I initially was in denial by trying to blame my accident on the gravel, but I knew damn well that it wasn't the gravel that caused my accident, it was my lack of experience and over-confidence. I unfortunately became another statistic of a douche bag on a crotch rocket who's trying to be cool and almost kills himself.
I got lucky. I could have came out much worse. I'm walking and talking today and am healthy enough to get back on my bike after only a month. My biggest mistake was not respecting the power and danger of these bikes. I can not stress enough to other new riders how easy it is to think you are a good rider when in fact there is so much more for you to learn. Don't end up like me. It's not fun. Just about everybody goes down on a bike, and the vast majority of those happen within the first 6 months of riding.
The accident is going to make me a much different rider. I didn't show enough respect and I got a kick in the *** for it.
Respect. The. Bike.
So there's my story. Learn from it. Ride safe. And wear your gear.
Damn bro that sucks. As for your fairing issue, if you go OEM, then it will be $2000, but if ur willing to do aftermarket, you can get some really cool designs for $600. Thats what I did, n it looks sick now.
#24
04-28-2011, 10:26 AM
Yeah, I'm not going to quote his story, but beefnewdohbow check out Honda CBR Fairings - CBR 600RR/1000RR Fairings - CBRFairings.com because from what I hear there is nothing but good about them. I go OEM only when I can't find the part anywhere else. If you parted out a new bike for oem prices, you would have $50,000
#25
04-28-2011, 04:20 PM
Haha, yeah the OEM prices are a bit ridiculous.
The bike is in the shop, however, and I think the insurance company requires oem parts. not only are the parts expensive, but I'm pretty sure the shop marks up the prices a bit to make a few extra bucks.
Since insurance is gonna cover it, i'm not gonna mess with it. If they want to pay $2000 for plastics that's fine with me as long as my bike is fixed.
Had they totalled the bike out, I would have definitely gone the aftermarket route.
The bike is in the shop, however, and I think the insurance company requires oem parts. not only are the parts expensive, but I'm pretty sure the shop marks up the prices a bit to make a few extra bucks.
Since insurance is gonna cover it, i'm not gonna mess with it. If they want to pay $2000 for plastics that's fine with me as long as my bike is fixed.
Had they totalled the bike out, I would have definitely gone the aftermarket route.
#26
05-03-2011, 01:33 PM
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I had my first small crash about 4 months ago. It was stupid really, more pissed me off than anything because I scratched an engine cover and broke a vibration dampener (bar end). So here's the scenario:
It was about 9:30 am, leaving my house to head to class. The street I live on dead-ends into another with a stop sign. When you get to the stop sign, looking right the road is straight and you can see about 150 yards down the street before it turns. Looking left, the street curves to the left around housing and goes downhill, so you can only see about 20-30 yards down the street. Speed limit out there is 25, but most people don't obey that. I stop at the sign, put a foot down, look both ways. It is clear both ways. I'm making a left hand turn. As soon as I start to pull out, a speeding truck (not too fast, about 30-35) is coming from the left. I haven't even moved 5 feet so I give the bike a little (and I mean a tiny bit) more gas to get to the other lane before the truck reaches me. Next thing I know, the rear tire breaks loose and I lowside going about 5 mph. WTF right? I pick my bike up, swearing up a storm (BTW, the truck didn't even stop to see if I was alright... against the law in Nevada... Should have gotten his plates and reported it, but oh well). Find that my bar end vibration dampener is snapped off (broke the insert) and scratched the engine cover a bit and a little on the fairing. Next thing I noticed was it chewed up my left ankle a little bit and ruined the shoes I was wearing. Went back to the stop sign because I thought maybe there was some sand there that I missed (I make it a point to keep an eye out for sand at all stops and corners that I come to). No sand, no oil, nothing. ????
Figured it out about a week later. The white stripe they put on the road at stop signs is what screwed me. I don't know about other areas, but in Reno, they no longer paint those lines on. It's more like a thick decal that they put down then melt it to the road with a propane torch. Well, they are VERY slippery. When I looked at it about a week after the crash, I could see where my back tire broke loose on the stripe. As soon as my back tire was back on the asphalt, my tire was already spinning and I was leaning to turn. Whoops, down I go. Moral of the story? Beware ALL slippery surfaces on the road. Side moral of the story? Wear over the ankle shoes!!! My ankle took like a month to heal and it wasn't even bad, just about a quarter size of road rash right on the ankle bone...
It was about 9:30 am, leaving my house to head to class. The street I live on dead-ends into another with a stop sign. When you get to the stop sign, looking right the road is straight and you can see about 150 yards down the street before it turns. Looking left, the street curves to the left around housing and goes downhill, so you can only see about 20-30 yards down the street. Speed limit out there is 25, but most people don't obey that. I stop at the sign, put a foot down, look both ways. It is clear both ways. I'm making a left hand turn. As soon as I start to pull out, a speeding truck (not too fast, about 30-35) is coming from the left. I haven't even moved 5 feet so I give the bike a little (and I mean a tiny bit) more gas to get to the other lane before the truck reaches me. Next thing I know, the rear tire breaks loose and I lowside going about 5 mph. WTF right? I pick my bike up, swearing up a storm (BTW, the truck didn't even stop to see if I was alright... against the law in Nevada... Should have gotten his plates and reported it, but oh well). Find that my bar end vibration dampener is snapped off (broke the insert) and scratched the engine cover a bit and a little on the fairing. Next thing I noticed was it chewed up my left ankle a little bit and ruined the shoes I was wearing. Went back to the stop sign because I thought maybe there was some sand there that I missed (I make it a point to keep an eye out for sand at all stops and corners that I come to). No sand, no oil, nothing. ????
Figured it out about a week later. The white stripe they put on the road at stop signs is what screwed me. I don't know about other areas, but in Reno, they no longer paint those lines on. It's more like a thick decal that they put down then melt it to the road with a propane torch. Well, they are VERY slippery. When I looked at it about a week after the crash, I could see where my back tire broke loose on the stripe. As soon as my back tire was back on the asphalt, my tire was already spinning and I was leaning to turn. Whoops, down I go. Moral of the story? Beware ALL slippery surfaces on the road. Side moral of the story? Wear over the ankle shoes!!! My ankle took like a month to heal and it wasn't even bad, just about a quarter size of road rash right on the ankle bone...
#27
05-03-2011, 03:13 PM
Senior Member
Figured it out about a week later. The white stripe they put on the road at stop signs is what screwed me. I don't know about other areas, but in Reno, they no longer paint those lines on. It's more like a thick decal that they put down then melt it to the road with a propane torch. Well, they are VERY slippery.
#28
05-03-2011, 04:01 PM
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#29
05-05-2011, 08:17 AM
Senior Member
The white stripe they put on the road at stop signs is what screwed me. I don't know about other areas, but in Reno, they no longer paint those lines on. It's more like a thick decal that they put down then melt it to the road with a propane torch. Well, they are VERY slippery. ...
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