Been Down Lately... Two Kinds of Riders?

[Furbo]

First Year ortho docs use me as a study aide......

Just the major Street smackers:

1994 - '71 Laverda 750SF: Took a series of S curves too hot, went wide on #2 and got just off the road, ran into a stone wall. Broke collarbone, 4 ribs, and shoulder blade. Arcugnano, Italy

1995- '71 Laverda 750SF: Dude turned left in front on a blind curve. Twisted a knee, but not too bad. Perarolo, Italy

1996 - 71 Laverda 750SF: March 15th (my 32nd B Day): hit from behind by a big Merc doing 160kph on the autobahn. Broke R Wrist, collar bone, serious concusion. Needed surgery for the collar bone, lost 3 mo of memory. SWMBO said the Lav had to go....
Mannheim, Germany

2004 - 96 Sport 1100: side stand came down on the Autostrada at just over 160kph. Road turned left...I didnt, glanced off a guardrail at about 70 kph. Broke L hand, stitches in elbow, bulled virtually every muscle in my groin, mild concussion. Needed pins and surgery in the hand. Have had to modify a couple fiddle tunes as my L little finger has range of motion limits. Vipeteno, Italy

2013 - 05 Kawasaki Concours: Pulling into a layby in a tunnel to swap face shields in a rainstorm. There was a thin stip of concrete between the asphalt of the road and the layby. Was slicker than owl snot. Front wheel lost traction and we went down on the low side. Was pretty sure I'd busted the collar bone again - turned out not to be the case. Reutte, Austria.

Off road....not enough time......but no broken bones....so far.

[drw916]

1975: Hoda SL350.  Low speed crash when car pulls out from gas station.  No damage

1976:  Same bike.  Testing wheely ability of new  Powroll 435 kit.  Went over backwards with no damage to me or bike.

1977:  Yamaha RD 400.  Low speed low side when I hit oil in a corner. No damage

1980: Yamaha RD 400.  Low side while racing at SIR.  No damage

1981:  Honda CB750F.  Friend over cooked a corner and ran off the road.  I hit the front brake too hard and went down.  No damage to me.  Minor damage to the bike.

1985:  Honda CB1100F.  Saw a LEO while coming over Stevens Pass.  Hit the front brake too hard, went into a violent tank slap per and down I went.  Significant cosmetic damage to the bike, and tore up my big toe, requiring surgery.

2014:  MG Griso.  Hit a deer.  Totaled bike, broke my finger, killed the deer.

[Lash]

1972 - Put a '71 Yamaha Enduro 250 into a fence. Broke a few bones in my left hand, collar bone, left radius. That last one took a plate to hold together. RIP for the bike.

1998 - Making a U-turn on my 1970 Bonnie, boot lace got caught on the gearshift and I sort of just . . . fell over. No damage to the bike. Broke right wrist.

2000 - Low-sided my 2000 Victory V92SE. Six broken ribs, some road rash. Bike had some minor dings. (That's when I became an ATGATT guy). 

Pretty minor compared to some of you stallions!

[steven c]

Hit some on marked fresh chip seal pulling into a state park, glad I was wearing gloves on a hot day as I picked the stones out of the palm.
 Raining, spilled diesel coming up to a stop sign down the road from my house ,in the rain, just touched the front brake down, I went, I slid on my Dry Rider rain suit and the side of my helmet, gear save the day again.
Low sided my friends FJ1100 in the rotary at quabbin reservoir in Mass.Put a few holes in my heavy leather jacket at the elbow and wrist, put a bigger hole in my wallet replacing all the parts.
 And too many times on my XT250 in the woods.
 I  would have to say wearing gear always saved me from bad injures.
  When I works in the shop when I was young one of the old timers rode a Harley and had been riding his whole adult life and he told me in  had never gone down so I guess it is possible

[Shorty]

Life changing wreck in 1978. Triumph chopper with a Sebring battery eliminator kit. Lights dimmed when revs got low. Stupid. Mountain road, Jack Daniels. Pole. Been limping ever since, and some say drain bamage .

Many off road dirt bike mishaps, mostly getting air knocked out of me. No broken bones.

Many low speed bike dumps, usually involving gravel or rain and injudicious use of  intermittent front brakes. Nearly always in front of witnesses, ha ha . I must add that I'm probably the most boring person in the world to ride with. Seeing the sights roll by slowly is what I'm about. Sport riding? Meh.`

[mtiberio]

the first was 1973 the first day I had my first bike, I was racing the company tow truck in the huge parking lot of the gas station on the mass pike where I worked.
the most recent was my California 1400, digging the frame into the tarmac while navigating the twisties of the mountains of west virginia.

in between, 42+ years of riding, 18 years of road racing and more crashes than I could possibly remember.

stay away from motorcycling, it is a meat grinder. that is what I tell folks that ask me to teach them to ride...

[canuck750]

1st time this spring, less than 5mph, pulling up alongside my long time riding buddy at a stop sing in Yuma AZ. hit gravel as I braked and the front end just went sideways and down, bike skidded up beside a Chrysler min van full of Asian tourists, the look on their faces was worth the embarrassment of being caught under a revving KLR650, priceless. Only damage was my pride and the pain in buddy's chest as he laughed himself to pieces.

My younger son went down last week on a KLR650 at fair speed, he had his Carharts on, gloves, helmet, steel toed work boots but not an armour protected coat or pants, the road rash on his knee and both arms is very bad, its going to take a long time to heal. He is 26 and still invincible, I hope he sees it as having gotten off lucky and slows down!

[blackcat]

stay away from motorcycling, it is a meat grinder.

I was watching a couple yesterday (3pm) on a big dresser who were wobbling around as they were coming to a stop at a traffic light. 95 with high humidity, no helmets,no gloves,tank tops, shorts and sandals though his were leather. They looked wasted from the heat. Meat grinder was one of my thoughts.

[donn]

I've tangled with motor vehicles a couple times, minor enough damage to me and motorcycle that we could ride away.

The worst off was in the motorcycle safety course, which I took when I got back into it even though I already had the motorcycle endorsement on my license.  They had an exercise where you stop hard at the end of a turn, and I felt obligated for some reason to really stop hard.  The little 250cc motorcycle ended up on top of my foot as we slid to a stop, and tongue folded back on my light duty hiking boot so I had a scrape there along with the strains and bruises, and some scrapes on my knee.  I sent off for a nice pair of motorcycle boots and have been very good about wearing them - I don't do a lot of very exciting things with my feet, but I do depend on them a lot.

[jas67]

Fortunately mine have all been slow-speed with little to no injury persons or equipment (touch wood).

First time, when I was 22 years of age, my 2nd time on my brother's KTM 250 2-stroke MX bike.    I had been riding a Suzuki 125cc 4-stroke.   This was my first time on anything as powerful as the 250 2-stroke (probably 3X the HP as the little 125 4-stroker).     The first time I rode it, my brother egged me on, and said, I was being too wimpy; not giving enough throttle.    Well, the 2nd time, I gave it too much throttle.   The bike wheelied off into the woods, and I fell off the back.     Needless to say, I worked on being more smooth with the throttle after that.   The bike suffered a bent brake lever and some scratches.   My injuries were mostly to my pride, and maybe a minor scrape or a bruise.

Second time, winter of 2013, I'm slowly (barely walking speed) descending our paved, ice & snow free driveway on my V7R with the back brake on lightly to control the speed as I approached the busy road at the bottom.    Suddenly, the back end come around, and then as the bike gets sideways, I high-side  (down the hill).      Stunned as to what happened, I pick the bike up, only to discover a 2x2 flat piece of limestone that likely came from the unpaved portion of our driveway, and a whiteish 12' curved arc scraped into the driveway ending just above where the bike went over.    My guess as to what happened is that the rear tire went over the rock, and then stopped, sliding ON TOP OF THE ROCK the path as scraped into the driveway, and then came off of it, re-grabbing the pavement, causing the high side.    This is a big lesson that it doesn't take much to take down a motorcycle.    Fortunately, the only damage was a scraped bar end, and plastic spark plug cover.

Third time, I got into some soft sandy soil while trying to execute a U-turn on my F650GS, with my  wife's 13 year old 2nd cousin riding on the back.     The bike went down slowly, he jumped off before it went down, so, the bike didn't fall on him.   I got a few minor bruises, and the bike had some scrapes on newly-installed crash bars.

[JJC1957]

Left at 6 AM clear day temp was 50 degrees on my way to work as I do every day on my loved 1100 Yamaha VSTAR Custom. About a mile from my office just coming off some great roads I came to a four way stop. My turn to go and all is going well until I saw a silver Jeep coming out of a Condo project on my left so I dropped a gear and got on the brakes assuming she was going to go but then she stopped so I get back into the gas, shift into 5th and she goes at the last second. If I were to turn right I would have t-boned her but I went left hard and into a slide. Well I missed her and slid right by her on her left as she was going in the same direction now as I was. The bike did some amazing things as it slid down the road on one side then the other. The driver of the Jeep then makes a U-turn and takes off back into the parking she just left. While I was laying in the middle of the road a SUV pulls up and blocks the road off so no one would run me over. The woman driving the SUV was an EMT worker just getting off her shift, lucky for me. I have never knocked the wind out of myself so bad. Once I could somewhat breath again I said to the EMT lady I want to get up. Well I didn’t know yet but my left arm was behind me and over my right shoulder. Boy did that hurt when they put the shoulder back in place. I had on full riding gear which helped but lesson learned, even if a car stopes I don’t take my eyes off that car until I am safety by. Bike was totaled and they got her but because I didn’t hit her it wasn’t considered and accident. The police officer said next time hit the car. Once down since 1978

[normzone]

I've been down five times over seven motorcycles.

As for those that say they never have, it reminds me of scuba diving.

There are two kinds of divers - Those that pee in their wetsuits, and those that lie about it.

[Clancy]

Twice.
Both times by a car pulling out from a side street.
Both times into the drivers door.
Both times painfull.

[Chuck in Indiana]

Couldn't count the times on enduros. I've done ever kind of crash that's been invented off road. :)
Comma but
We're talking about street riding, right?



 At the Wisconsin rally a few years ago. I was leading our group because I had the slowest bike. Dorcia on the back. Not going fast, but faster than normal on the V700. Started into a turn, and it was just like I'd hit glare ice. Saw the left crash bar touch down as I was leaving, sparks flying, and WHOOMP a fire started. By this time, I'd gone into crash mode..it's not like I don't know how to crash after all those years of enduro riding.. fists doubled up, arms crossed across your chest (don't want extremities flying about..that's how stuff gets broken) legs tightly clamped together for obvious reasons, and started sliding along side the burning bike. Fortunately, we are ATGATT, and I was unhurt.
Unfortunately, Dorcia hadn't had the experience of crashing dozens of times and shattered her wrist by trying to put her hand down to stop the fall. :(
Why am I posting this? I've posted it before, but there are many here that haven't seen it. Guzzi used to use a crossover on the fuel lines going from one petcock to the other. There is an x in the middle with swaged on ends. If you check yours, it will probably fail with a not too vigorous tug. Vibration can cause it, too. That'll dump fuel right on your rear tire, causing the above picture.
Get rid of them. Do I have to say it again?

[Hymes Inc.]

Haven't been down on the street yet. Have come really close a few times but have always been pretty lucky/quick response when it comes to people pulling out in front of me, closest would have been Ottumwa, Ia at night heading home on a 440 kaw when a bronco pulled out in front of me and I bumped my shoulder on his driverside mirror heading for the median, kept it up, bronco didn't even stop to see if I was ok. Dad always taught me to ride scared and as soon as you lose respect for what you are riding it will bite you. I don't try my luck with curves either.

[Sasquatch Jim]

  After 50 years of riding,  owning more than 50 motorcycles, more than half of those used off road,  spent some of my youth in my twenties on TT tracks and riding enduros.  I have been down more times than I will even try to remember,  A few from contact with big vehicles,  cars and one very large truck.  All of my crashes with other vehicles have been the other drivers fault.
 Yes broken bones along the way, no I'm not going to count them all.
  Suffice to say when I was young I was an aggressive rider full of piss and vinegar and often simply rode beyond my abilities.
 As I got old and smarter my show off urges were under more control and the few crashes I have had in those days were other drivers.
 I was once hit from behind by another rider.  I knew he was a new rider when he sat up and said,"I didn't see you".

[krglorioso]

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

Around 1970, Chris Dreyer #77 lost an arm at the Sedalia Mile.

Ralph

[LowRyter]

I've fallen a few times.  Dented up my Bandit pretty good at Push Mtn Ark, but had my gear on and got some bruises and ruined the helmet. 

I slid the EV down in downhill gravel parking lot when another bike lurched in front of me.  Bent my big toe and got an XRay.  Nothing broken.

Worst was riding the Bandit and there was a bed of sand under the shade tree when I was turning into my drive.  Down I went.   My right hand karate chopped the pavement.   I couldn't shake hands for a couple of weeks.  And doc gave me a removable half cast I worse for a week or so. 

[Waltr]

   #1   I was riding my 2 day old 1977 Suzuki GS750 and I stopped by to show the bike to a person I worked with.  I clicked the kickstand down and  before I had a chance to get off the bike he came out.  We talked awhile and I left with the kickstand in the down position.  A short way down the road was a sharp left turn. Luckily I started to slow by then because during shifting the kickstand would rub making a noise.  I did not have enough time to come to a complete stop before the turn and in the back of my mind I heard my friend Tom say that if you are in a position of not being able to avoid hitting something maintain as much control as possible and hit it square.   I think he was talking about animals but in my case this meant a drainage ditch with dirt, mud and tall grass.  An angel in the form of a linebacker sized black man who picked up the bike and set it upright on the road like it was a toy. Bent handlebars and tank everything else OK but a little muddy.

   #2  Fast forward 1980 and a two day old Harley Tour Glide and someone backed out of a drive in front of me.  Locked up the front brakes and dicovered what a high side was when I released the front brake before coming to a stop.  Just some scratches on the crash bars at an angle  that was difficult to see and a little road rash.

    #3  Waiting to pull out of a parking lot in the middle of nowhere WV on rt. 50 when got hit from behind by a person backing up.  Three fractured ribs and  4 hours from home (2012).  Back riding 4 weeks later but was a hurting puppy for a few weeks.