Been Down Lately... Two Kinds of Riders?

[Dimples]

 Is it true?

The "two kinds of riders" adage?

Curious to know how many here have been down. And how many times. The circumstances, etc.

Are we riders in denial?

[acogoff]

     Once all the way down and within a razors edge of being twice for the same reason. Oil on the road and a quick shower had just passed by.

[fotoguzzi]

once aged 17, second at 57.. busted 2 ribs..that was 4 years ago.

[EvanM]

Been down once, low speed, due to a tar snake pulling out of the asphalt mid turn.

[Kent in Upstate NY]

Doesn't take much. Not sure what caused mine, but a false neutral and a front brake grab left me with more damage than my bike. Broken tibia and fibula. Still full of titanium.

[Kent in Upstate NY]

There is another binary; those who have dropped their bikes and those who lie about it.

[beetle]

Hit a cow. Scarred for life. Me, not the cow.

[davevv]

Only twice.  The last time in 1972.  No real damage either time.

[Stephen]

My uncle believed this.
I was down once, with the aid of a full size pick up blowing a red light, yes she said "I didn't even see him" 

[Stormtruck2]

Last down in 1978.  Did a Superman imitation for 300 feet post hitting a Chrysler Newport Custom at 65 mph in the left front tire.  That left a mark.

[Gliderjohn]

Just call me slow ( all the below were between walking speed and five mile an hour):

My first at 10 years old on a Honda Trail 90. Washed the front end out.
Second at 17 years old on a Honda 175 dirt bike. Not wearing boots and pinned my foot between the gearshift lever, lower engine case and a tree trunk. Crack several foot bones and a nasty cut to the heel.
Third, on a Suzuki 400 with passenger. Got into deep sand. It all happened so slow I had time to tell my passenger that we are going over and to get her leg away from the exhaust. No injuries.
Fourh, T-3 when a cell phone talking Catholic School teacher pulled out in front of me. Hit the passenger door. Fifth and sixth during the first month of Norge ownership. Washed the front tire out on silt in a parking lot and went over trying to cross the road grader dirt berm that was left across my driveway enterance.
My errors have been easy lessons so far. Hope it stays that way.
GliderJohn

[Jim Rich]

This thread is making me sore just reading it.  Took a slide in my 20s, took a soil sample in my 40s, did the superman thing in my 50s.  Isn't that enough?  I hope so. 

[Arizona Wayne]

Too many to remember, but all at relatively slow speeds. Never broke a bone in any of them.  Chipped a bone, yes, but not broken.  Some my fault, some not.  Have avoided a lot of impacts with my riding skills, but as I age, not so much.

[Yeahoo Whoyah]

Warm spring day 2006 on southbound California Highway 49 in Mariposa County riding my Yamaha FJR 1300.  I was in a turn and didn't see the black sand on the asphalt, low side onto the pavement in a wink of an eye, rolling and tumbling thinking this can't be good.  Bike slid along on its left side and went onto the gravel and mud right shoulder where it promptly flipped over coming to rest on its right side. Bike was a mess, all the tipperware scrapped up; later to be totaled by my insurance company. Since I was wearing leathers I faired much better.  Within minutes two cruiser riders stopped to help.  After assessing the situation they realized the black sand could have gotten them too.  Both were wearing Levi's and tee-shirts. The look on their face indicated to me they were re-thinking there riding attire. My gear held up well, wore a hole in the toe of my boot and the left side of my leathers were scuffed up.  The only road rash I had was on my right wrist where there was an opening between my glove and jacket sleeve.  I was able to ride the bike home, it's look transformed into a Mad Max looking affaire.  By evening I could hardly move, my 56-year old body didn't appreciate the day's events.  Next day wife insisted on a trip to the doctor to check for damage. The Doc used a big long needle to drain fluid from my knee which brought the swelling down.
  I'd had another get-off when I was a 16-year old riding my Honda 305 - 40-years earlier. 
At this rate I'm due for another when I'm 96. 

[krglorioso]

August 1965, Reading PA night flat track.  Two riders tangled in front of me.  One's H-D KR hit the cement crash wall and caromed back into me.  In November, 1965 I was released from St. Joseph's hospital.  A year later, I resumed racing when I was cleared to race by the surgeon.

May, 1968, Vista Speedway, Lanham, MD, day time flat track.  Another rider went down in front of me.  I had to "lay down" my Triumph 500 at speed to avoid hitting him.  Put me into the crash wall.  August, 1968 I was released from Prince George's General Hospital and due to gravity of injuries I did not resume racing.  I miss it to this day..but in spite of 10 fracture sites in my Left leg I am walking without any bothers. 

Ralph

[flip]

1983 or early 1984- I was hanging off and dragging the pegs on a Suzuki 550 Katana and hit an icy spot in a shady curve. I then hit the pavement

[oldbike54]

August 1965, Reading PA night flat track.  Two riders tangled in front of me.  One's H-D KR hit the cement crash wall and caromed back into me.  In November, 1965 I was released from St. Joseph's hospital.  A year later, I resumed racing when I was cleared to race by the surgeon.

May, 1968, Vista Speedway, Lanham, MD, day time flat track.  Another rider went down in front of me.  I had to "lay down" my Triumph 500 at speed to avoid hitting him.  Put me into the crash wall.  August, 1968 I was released from Prince George's General Hospital and due to gravity of injuries I did not resume racing.  I miss it to this day..but in spite of 10 fracture sites in my Left leg I am walking without any bothers. 

Ralph

 Ralph , I found a brief article about your crash on the net a while back , the author spoke highly of you 

 My one real crash was on MX track in Broken Arrow OK in 1971 . It almost broke my arrow , along with a few other things  I chickened out at the old mile track in Sedalia , my mind would not work at 110 MPH trying to back a BSA powered framer into turn 1 .

  Dusty

[Muzz]

I guess not many in the 50 years I have been riding.
One where the bolt holding the clutch lever broke while cranking it up the Takaka hill on the old Matchy. Was in top, couldn't get it out with no clutch, jumped when the footpegs grounded
Second when the old Matchy seized after being run too hard for too long. Missed the grab for the clutch and went for a (high speed) slide.
Third when I went to sleep  on the old Matchy.  Bike flipped and I stopped on the edge of the drop,  the bike didn't. Still have the picture of it in my memory banks slamming in to a pine tree at the 8 foot mark.  Scrambled up a fire break and continued on my trip.
The last was when my darling and I hit a very very long oil slick on a hill while on the Breva. She now has lost her nerve and now after some 45 years has given up sitting on the back.

[oldbike54]

 Muzz , how does one fall asleep on a Matchcless 

  Dusty

[Yukonica]

Assuming this thread refers to road bikes only. If we go to off-road get offs the list would get very, very long.
Age 7; head-on into a laundry stand while doing laps in the backyard on my brother's 50 Cub. Banned from riding for two years.
Age 19; low-side in a corner due to being cocky and having crap technique; washed the front end.
"the big one" Age 27; low-side at 180km by running out of room on a sweeper when a dog on the road forced a change in my line.
Age 33: a self-induced high-side at 100km that taught me I wasn't nearly as good as I thought I was and that I was not immortal.
Been pretty sensible ever since.

[Doppelgaenger]

I've been down twice while moving, both when I was a very new rider.

First time, I was out by myself after only riding for a few weeks. I took a blind turn and target fixed on the dirt driveway across the street from me. I ended up in the driveway and decided to lay it down in the dirt instead of going into the ditch I was fast approaching. I bent one of the handlebars a bit and my left hand thumbnail had a small white crease in it. I think the laying it down was the right decision because the ditch probably would have broken something. Funny how you have time to think about these things as you face certain doom...

Second time I was on hwy 1 in the big sur area a few months later, I came around a blind turn and found myself on the wrong side of the road for an opposite tight turn. I washed wide with no choice and went off into the dirt on the other side after I saw a car coming the other way. I lowsided the minute I hit the dirt. luckily I was uninjured, but I tore the radiator cap off the bike along with part of the radiator. A friend on a virago crashed on that same ride and broke her thumb.

At a standstill I've dropped my old SV650 and the Breva 1100 on my left foot. The SV broke it I think, I'm not sure because I never went to the doctor. The breva just gave me a few days of pain.

Honorable mention: I had a vulture take off and swoop right into my path while I was doing 60. I ducked but I still took him out with the top of my helmet. It dazed me pretty bad and almost knocked me out. That would have been a bad crash if I had been knocked unconscious. I wish it was on camera....

[Muzz]

Muzz , how does one fall asleep on a Matchcless 

  Dusty

Basically by being young and stoopid.

Do a 16 hour double shift 7-3, 3-11 on a Thursday then leap on Oily Esmel and ride 300 miles. Proceed to do long day catch-ups with parents and then ride the 300 miles back on the Sunday.  The day was fine, Thundering Jemima was singing at 65-70mph, and I can sort of remember turning a corner leading in to a longish straight with a large drop off at the end if one did not take the right hander at the end.  A family was having afternoon tea at the side of the road and evidently thought. "he had better slow down if he is going to take the corner'.  Didn't even try! veered off the road before I got to the bend, bike reared up and flipped me off, and carried on over a rather large drop.  I had a fair bit of gear on and slid along the gravel at the edge of the road, and stopped unhurt at the edge of the rather large drop. I did therefore witness "The Flight of Oily Esmel" as it sailed through the air, landing on it's back wheel and leaping like a startled gazelle straight in to a pine tree and then dropping in a heap at its base.

The family came over to see if I was all right (great); bike didn't look too good from a distance but we scrambled down the slope, picked it up and surveyed the damage.  The headlight was 2" deep and 5 feet wide, the four tank bolts had stripped and the tank had deep dents in it where it had smacked in to the stanchions, the battery had whistled off about 50 mts down the hill,  the front mudguard had a dent which was jamming the tire caused by the forks folding right back so that the mudguard had actually smacked in to the frame by the motor.  Did a sight along them and they still looked pretty straight, levered the guard off the tire, put the battery back in and with a few prods she roared in to life.   the family pushed and I scrambled and we managed with smoking clutch to get it back on the road.  They set me down and gave me a couple of cups of coffee and I carried on along my merry way.   She did look a bit the worse for wear but it ran great.

Funnily, although I did not mention anything to her, my girlfriend (who is now my wife) asked as soon as I rang when I got back "what happened to you at 2 o'clock this afternoon". Thought back and it would have been then that my ride turned to custard.  Later on, after we were married, she asked to be shown where it happened.  In my mind I thought the drop about 15 feet. I was actually horrified when I saw how far it really was; more like 30-40. How the Matchy survived the impact I will never know.

[Testarossa]

Over the years in New York my bikes were knocked over in parking lots countless times, so that I finally gave up on bar-end mirrors. At both NARs here in Colorado the T centerstand sank in the soil resulting in a slow damage-free capsize onto grass. New York also produced a couple of damage-free low-speed get-offs induced by cabs running red lights, exit-ramp oil slicks etc. I won't count injury-free dirt-bike adventures and race-track excursions.

The memorable bounces:

1974: High-sided off a Ducati 750SS near Henryville, Quebec when I came around a sweeper and encountered an unmarked gravel-filled ditch across the road. Broke a collarbone, and the Ducati needed a peg mount welded back on.

2008: Low sided the T when a 90-year-old driver turned her Cadillac left into my commute-home trajectory. Witnesses told the LEO what had happened and she was cited, I rode home with a bent fork and lower triple clamp.

2010: T-boned another left-turning car at 15 mph,  also on the commute home. Same result, but no witnesses and I was cited. Go figure.

2013: Knocked down at 20mph by a tiny woman in a big SUV, turning right from the left lane into me, in Durango coming home from the Ouray NAR. Bent fork tube, smashed fairing, big bruises. Witnesses, she was cited. Rode 200 miles home with Lannis riding escort.

So: Four reportable damage incidents over five decades, not regularly spaced in time, and only one treatable injury. I do wish the T had bigger, tougher fork tubes.

I've been hurt a lot worse skiing than motorcycling.

[guzziknight]

Once on the road at very low speed: 3-5 mph. Brand new rear tire, tried to make a left from a stop, too much torque, spun the rear wheel like it was on ice. Down I went. Thankfully, full gear, so no damage to me, but had to replace my helmet.

Now, during motorcycle training for the police, I dropped my bike probably 100+ times over a 2 year period, all at slow speeds, all no damage to me or the bike. Frustrating to say the least, but it made me a much better rider!

[tris]

Not yet (late developer passing my test only 10 years ago)

Unless pulling the bike off the side stand and finding that there was no ground under my right foot counts 

[ponti_33609]

At 12 years - popped a wheelie on my CT70 and lost control.  Landed on my a$$.
At 16 years - had a rear tire blow on a Kaw400 Triple going about 60 on the highway.  Slid onto grass in the median.  Not sure how I didn't touch down on that one.

[JBU]

about 3 years ago on the 1100Sport.  After pushing it to the the limits ( at least my limits)  on a small windy road, then up 181, I  low slided taking a turn into the Blue Ridge Parkway at low speed.  Hit a patch of sand/gravel by the side of the road. Didn't see the fine gravel at all it was the same color as the road.  Totally caught me by surprise, one minute I'm on the bike the next I'm on the ground watching the sport slide out from under me across the road.  Broke the rear brake pedal, scratched the fairing and bent the plug.  I was ale to ride back, a little shaken but unhurt.

[blackcat]

My first crash was at the age of 14, I believe it was around November of 68, riding my brother's Honda 350 Scrambler in a light snow when I hit an icy patch. I wasn't going that fast, the bike was fine and of course I kept going. I must have crashed about five or six more times after that from all of the typical scenario's from left hand turners, diesel fuel,rain,deer and the cab that almost took off my leg. My jeans had some yellow paint where the bumper caught the wind blown edge.

The diesel fuel crash in a heavy rain happened as I came out of a tunnel, tapped the brakes and the bike went down in a blink. As I was sliding down the road I just kept my eye on the CX as it slid through a red light still running without being hit by an oncoming vehicle. Fortunately, I wasn't going that fast and I was wearing my Stich so when the forward motion stopped I jumped up and ran to the bike before anything else happened. Five minutes later and with the help of a pedestrian I was headed down the road without a foot peg as it being the only damage.

Last crash was about five years ago: deer.

[spikemcfinn]

Few weeks ago I dropped my V7 - my fault -  too close to the car in front and looking at a bike rider sitting on the side of the road. No injuries to me except that the ribs hurt ( only when I breath or move ) and superficial scratches to my baby . Should have forked out the extra 2000 for the ABS version !! Or kept my eyes front.
What doesn�t kill you ....

[Bill Hagan]

Some great stories in this thread.  Muzz, I got scared reading yours!    Krglorioso's racing wrecks had me thinking about needing a drink before 8 a.m.  Tho our pandemonic hellion houseguests (Kathi would say, "our sweet little grandbabies"  ) have me wanting to stay in a state of intoxication.  Some of Cam Lay's meds might even be better.   

Anyway ...

Once on the road at very low speed: 3-5 mph. Brand new rear tire, tried to make a left from a stop, too much torque, spun the rear wheel like it was on ice. Down I went. Thankfully, full gear, so no damage to me, but had to replace my helmet.

****

I was behind him. Happened just like that.  Near astonishing. Sure has made me careful on new tires since.

As for me, hmmmmmm.

1965 - At up-sloped stop waiting to enter the main road.  Rear-ended by car and launched so hard that I was a cannonballed over the roadway onto a grassy median.  Bike not good; I -- being 17 or so -- was only "startled."  Ah youth.

1966 - On long straight (US 431 south of Owensboro, Ky.) and passed by land yacht driven by elderly gent (probably younger than I am now!  ) with two blue hair girlfriends.  This was "back in the day" when cars had chromed steel bumpers that wrapped around the body proper.  The driver obviously saw me, as he went around.  But not far enough.  The rear bumper of the Buick (or whatever) behemoth captured my left-side "crash bar" and FLASH! BANG! I was sliding down the road musing on the oddity of it all.  Again, youth.  At my (wise) parents' insistence -- we had aircraft seatbelts installed in our Studebaker in 1953!  ) -- I was wearing what passed for ATGATT, so I was OK.  Bike was scarred but lived, too.

1967 - On a gravel road in the middle of BFE, Ohio County, Ky. (tho that's redundant  ) when I see a grassy hill that needed to be climbed.  Got a long running start (needed that; on a Yamaha Trail 80) and actually cleared the top "with air."  As I enjoyed the view, realized I was -- yup -- atop an earthen dam for a smallish lake.  For a moment -- yes, youth again -- thought all would be well.  Not.  Cleared the path at top without enough slowing to avoid swimming with my bike.  Sigh.

[Real life intervenes for 33 years; start riding again in 2000.]

Several embarrassing standstill "drops" not recounted here.

2003 - On EV.  Alab. SR 281 near Cheahah SP.  Following a seriously slow red pickup. Decide to pass on a sweeping curve (striped for passing, btw).  Tap horn and go around.  Said pickup driver thinks (if capable of that) "Why, dang, right smack there on my left is where I want to run my coon hounds."    Yup.  Turns left as I am passing.  Signal?  Surely you jest.     I "laid her down," as in grabbing all the brakes the EV had while in a gentle lean.  Can still hear the smack of my helmet on the pavement.  Youth being a memory now, bent my thumb back 180, breaking same.  Rode EV 30 miles to a friend's house.  As he was a scotch, not bourbon aficionado, I had to make do.  I did. 

2013 - Riding to South'n Spine Raid https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8r0tbjmSls&feature=youtu.be, on that grand piece of pavement, Va. SR 42.  As I rolled out of a near 90-degree turn at bottom, hit unseen sand and KAWUMP.  Griso slid for a bit; I, less.  Still am surprised how such a slow-speed low-sider could cause that much damage to Griso ... and me.  How folks wear anything but a full-faced helmet is "interesting."

[On a related side note, Progressive has since reviewed my accident, reversed their original "at fault" determination," refunded my excess premium for 2014, reduced my premium for 2015, and admitted error in their in-house view of "large accident forgiveness."  Mighty impressive, IMO.]

That's it so far ... and forever, I trust.  Would say "hope," but that is not, as we know, a method.

Bill