Most Horrifying Incident on your motorcycle

[willowstreetguzziguy]

Back in 1985, my ride was a 1975 BMW R90S. I had just had it serviced at the dealer for new headset bearings. When I got it back, I noticed that they mistakenly turned the fork lock so that it locked straight ahead instead of full right lock.

In the meantime, before taking it back to be fixed, I rode it to work. All motorcycles backed in and parked on a cement slab facing toward the road. I parked mine on my Reynolds "Ride Off" center stand facing the road. At the end of the day, I started my R90S and rode off down the road that had a slight right bend. I would typically hit 50 mph on that stretch of road, and that day was no exception. About 1/2 mile down the road I came to a stop sign. I turned to go right and was horrified to find that my fork was still LOCKED straight ahead!

The fork lock on those bikes, in that era, allowed the steering to move side to side a very minimal amount, just enough for me to steer my BMW through the sweeping right turn!. How stupid could I be!!!

Thankful to be alive!        Anyone care to share yours?

[oldbike54]

 OH MY ! This is a GREAT topic , thanks for starting this sure to be long discussion 

  Dusty

[willowstreetguzziguy]

30 years later, it still sends chills down my spine thinking what could have happened!

[Kent in Upstate NY]

So far the only one I experienced was when I missed a shift and got a false neutral as I was entering a tight turn. I overreacted and ended up with a broken leg.

[canuck750]

I have a couple both involve brakes,

About 5 years ago the ABS light on my R1150RT would not go out so I rode off to the local BMW dealer. About two blocks from the dealer I lost all braking, Fred Flintstone panic foot dragging until I slowed down enough to pull over then pushed the last block to the shop. The ABS pump died and the brakes went kaput! They covered the new pump on warranty.

A couple years ago a local Guzzi shop was doing my post restoration mechanical check over so I could register the bike. When I picked it up and started to ride away I suddenly found I had no brakes heading out onto the street. The mechanic forgot to reconnect the brake linkages front AND rear after pulling the wheels and hubs to inspect the linings. I had some colourful language for that shop after I got my heart beat back down.

[Triple Jim]

I don't know whether it was going about 40 and staring in the mirror too long, and looking up too late to avoid rear ending a Toyota that was stopped at a green light to let an ambulance cross, or doing  a front flip on the bike when I pulled off a 50 mph road onto the gravel shoulder to slow down and stop, to find a large, wide ditch right in front of me.  Both happened when I was about 21, riding my H2.

[ohiorider]

Here's one I haven't told too many people:

It was Aug/Sep of 1988.  I was returning from my mother’s home in Charleston WV to where I lived just north of Pittsburgh, PA.  Being 45 at the time instead of nearly 73, I decided to take the ‘long way home.’ I headed south from Charleston on the WV Tpke to Beckley, then east on I 64 until I could pick up Skyline Drive north.  I think that runs into Front Royal VA.  Regardless, by the time I made it to the PA Tpke and headed west for home, it was well past midnight.

I exited the Tpke, and headed home on 2 lane roads.  No sooner had it begun to sprinkle, some damned redneck in a pickup truck with lots of lights began tailgating me, no more than a few feet off the rear of my fully loaded BMW K100RS.  I blinked my brake lights a few times, hoping he’d back off, but that caused him to pull even closer to me.

Finally, we came to a straight stretch, and I waved them around.  No sooner had he begun to pass, than he attempted to run me off the road.  I stood the bike on its nose …. He attempted to stop in front of me, but decided he’d do better if he parked on the opposite side of the road, so he whipped across the oncoming lane and parked on the shoulder. 

Two guys jumped out of the truck running for me.  I’m stopped, engine idling, pulse rate of god knows what, mind racing, thinking ‘what to do, what to do?’  These guys are out to hurt me.

Then, amazingly, like in a movie, almost like the sound of an elevator slowing, everything slowed down for me.  It seemed like the two individuals were running toward me in slow motion.  It seemed to give me time to think.

And what I thought was this.  If I sit here and do nothing, they are most likely going to knock me and the bike over, and then, who knows?

So, with my mind still functioning in slow mode, I put the bike in first gear, and aimed for the two of them running at me as I popped the clutch.  The Beemer launched, they jumped apart, and I went between the two of them.  I didn't know whether they'd move or not, but my thoughts were 'well, better I take one of you down than two of you take me down.'

And then the chase was back on.  I knew on the wet road I wasn’t going to be able to outrun them.  So I pulled quickly onto a side road.  Had to kill the engine to kill the lights.  That made me nervous.  But I kept my hand on the key, and watched their headlights fly past the turn.

I waited a moment, turned on the ignition and the lights, and took a really long way home, hoping like hell I wouldn’t run into them again.

I didn’t.

But that event stayed with me for a very long time.

[tazio]

so I'm 18 yrs old, on my 1966 Triumph, on the way to work.
I'm first in line at a red light, and the bike flames out.
I kick once. Nothing,
I kick again and I am launched forward and slammed to the ground (for being rear-ended by a van).
Laying on the ground in a fetal position, I brace to be run over by whatever just hit me.
Thankfully, nothing ever does.
Months later after that incident, the 2 or 3 additional stalls at lights induced sheer panic in me and I would turn around
and frantically wave to notify the driver behind me.

My happy ending is that it's been 35 years and I still have that same bike
 

[lucydad]

Had to think about this one.  Ok, home town of Durango, CO, riding my 1970 Honda Scrambler 175.  Crossing the narrow gauge railroad tracks between the 800 and 900 blocks of Main avenue, going just west of Main.  Back then this stretch was all dirt and gravel.  Street department had just filled in pot holes.  I was up on pegs as usual thru the holes...and the greased ball bearing gravel dumped me flat....onto the railroad tracks.  Hurt like hell.  No traffic.  But, I heard the train whistle coming, it was around 8 AM....and here came the steam engine...adreneline kicked in and I picked the bike up...not easy in the deep greasy gravel...and pushed off.  Realized train was at least 3 blocks south, but at 16 years old it was no fun.  Bike came thru ok and so did I.  Shook me up though.  To this day I hate riding in unknown depth gravel and I am very wary of railroad tracks.

This is the exact intersection, decades later, now paved:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUgR7NUca7s

[Joe A.]

17 years old and know everything. I am an expert motorcyclist as I have already survived amazing feats of bravery and stupidity. At a large intersection I attempt to beat a yellow light and turn left. I hit the exhilerator and leaned it into an impressive maneuver.

Lots of gravel and stone in the center of the intersection which initiate a low side. My CB350 slides into the Mobil station on the corner and I slide and end up up to my waist (feet first), under a bus stopped at the light.

some good road rash and lessons learned that day.

[savagehenry]

Too many, all too close on the "horrifying scale" to pick just one. Luckily, they come less as I get older. Not counting stuff I'd brought on myself, just angry boyfriends in pursuit and assholes ready to dispense their own brand of "scooter trash justice" makes up a small storybook. Motorcycles do tend to make one's life, um, uh, colorful...

[80CX100]

Back in the day, I had a 76? Yamaha Rd400 Red(the faster ones), chambers, K&N's, hot coils, low bars,,, it was very sweet while it lasted,,,
I had had problems with the engine cutting out intermittently, the dealer had been working for a few weeks trying to solve it,,, and that afternoon, I got the call from their mechanic, telling me, he had gotten a major shock from the coil lead? and had found the short, the bike was now fixed and ready.
I picked the bike up, and thought it would be a good idea to take it for a hard run, to test it out, to see if it was really was fixed,,, I headed out the old Richmond Rd,,, nice curvy country road, at that time,,, I was hard on the pipe 70-75 mph , just exiting a nice right sweeper, and had just gotten the bike vertical  when all of sudden, the engine seized solid, and the rear wheel locked up,,, in nano seconds, the rear wheel started to come around,,, I realized what had happened,, pulled in the clutch, and managed to bring everything under control, and off the road safely.

2nd, I was on my 78 Yamaha XS1100, full dresser, overtaking traffic on the 4 lane divided Queensway Hwy trying to get over to the Maitland exit off ramp,,, I distinctly remember passing a good looking smiling blonde in a black Buick Regal(caution, show off factor, it will kill you!),,, I was going a good clip as I got over into the exit lane, and started to gear down and brake,,, I must have been already slightly into the right turn, as I geared down into 3rd gear,,, the famous driveline snatch, broke the rear tire loose, and down we went,,, it was the most graceful, outcome possible,,, the bike slid along smoothly ahead of me, perfectly balanced on the edge of the touring fairing and the right Krauser bag,,, I slid along on my arse and back,,, jeans and leather hockey jacket held up well,,, nothing got tangled up,, and no cartwheels,,, I picked myself up and dusted off,, then picked the bike up,,, just a couple of scratches,,, the blonde in the Buick, did stop to see if I was all right,,,lol

3rd and the closest to death,,, I used to do these regular late night runs, down the main 2 lane hwy 16 south of Ottawa, on my 76 Kawasaki KZ900, I had a windjammer fairing on it, and it was horrible to ride at night,,, you could hardly see, because in the coal black night, the bright lights from the gauge cluster relected on the windshield, made it very difficult to see,,, I was doing my usual 75 mph, aimed my direction with the edge of the fairing lined up with the centre line,,, all of a sudden, I could see a long swervy white line appear in my lane ahead,,, I figured it was a roll of white toilet paper some kids had thrown on the road,, I didn't get too concerned and moved over a bit, and rode beside this long white snake of what I thought was toilet paper,,, as I neared the end of it,,, I realized it wasn't a roll of toilet paper,,, it was a fire hose that had fallen off the back of a truck,,, I only made that realization as I narrowly missed, the 4" solid brass end fitting, curving towards my front wheel at speed,,, definitely a pucker moment.

[TobyJug]

Thankfully it's been a long time since I had anything like a horrifying incident  ...

But a while ago I was taking my new (to me) 1978 (ish) Bonneville on the motorway for the first time (I used to live in England).  Bonnies have that certain thing about them that makes you want to see what they'll do so I thought I'd take her up to the ton.  At 80 it started wobbling.  I thought it was maybe the wheels out of balance so I carried on to see if it would stop.  I made it to 100 but the wobbling didn't stop so I pulled over to the hard shoulder as quick as I could.  The back tyre was completely flat and I later found a rip in the inner tube that was at least 9" long.

[Shorty]

Going over the original Sunshine Skyway Bridge in St Pete (With cheese grater road surface) as a novice rider on a Yamaha  DT 175 with knobbie tires was pretty intense. Rear wheel lock up at 60 mph on a curvy road  will get you going, too.

[Solojoe]

At night, riding behind a BMW HP2 Sport when his aftermarket exhaust went flying by my left ear, the tech that installed it thought "slip on" didn't need to be bolted on. Glad it missed. It sure sounded good without that can tho.

[Lannis]

I've fallen off the bike, had some extremely close calls, and been scared on the bike, but I don't think anything has ever happened that I would classify as "horrifying". 

Everything that's happened has been a result of risks that I knew I was taking when I accepted the job.    I know that every time a car or truck passes me going the other way on a two-lane road, that there's the possibility of their drag link breaking, or texting, or a recap flying off, but none of that would be "horrifying".   

If I thought "horrifying" things might happen as a result of riding, I wouldn't do it.    ohiorider's situation of being attacked by rednecks might fall into that category in his case, but in my case it would just have been very tedious in explaining to the police and judge later what happened to the two guys that were laying in the road ... so that's one way I make sure I don't get into "horrifying" situations.

Lannis

[Arizona Wayne]

2 come to mind..............b ack int he 60's when I was relatively new @ riding MCs, I'm on my Yamaha YDS2 250 2 stroke coming back from car race @ Riverside raceway and become impatient with a slower moving car up a hill in front of me, so I decide to take a chance and  pass it............1/2 way up the hill comes a car the other way on the 2 lane road.    This is a road with no shoulders in farm country.  I had 1 option, go around the car on it's  left side in the dirt and hope I make it. I did!   

Other time was when the wife and I are on a mtn. road 2up pulling a trailer on our Convert. on 2 laner @ 50 mph.  All of a sudden a full grown Elk is right next to us on our right side !!     WTF do I do?   I slow down a little and the elk suddenly cuts right in front of us and I hear it's hooves clip the guardrail as it bounds down the side of the mtn.      This incident really spooked me and I thought about quit riding for awhile.  Have had many other close calls/wrecks but these 2 are the most scary for me.

[Guzzistajohn]

I have been VERY lucky (knocking wood) I did have a old Bul trials bike stall going down a STEEP hill one time. I wasn't really as ready on the clutch as I should have been and flew OTB and tried to catch meself with my left arm dislocating the elbow, the pain was terrible and I had a mile and a half walk back to the house and about 90 degree temps. LONG walk that afternoon. I'll never forget the relief when the Dr. re-set that elbow.

[SeanF]

Riding out of Tashkent, Uzbekistan toward the Turkmenistan border, in the middle of morning rush hour traffic, 55-60MPH, fairly good paved road surface. As is my habit, I'm riding in the left wheel track, trying to keep a decent following distance, but the driving habits of Central Asia don't allow for rmuch.

An open manhole wooshes by on my right, in the center of the lane, just a few feet away.

Not really terrifying at the moment, but chilling in retrospect, and a good reminder to think about following distances and avoiding riding in the center of the lane.

[Arizona Wayne]

Riding out of Tashkent, Uzbekistan toward the Turkmenistan border, in the middle of morning rush hour traffic, 55-60MPH, fairly good paved road surface. As is my habit, I'm riding in the left wheel track, trying to keep a decent following distance, but the driving habits of Central Asia don't allow for rmuch.

An open manhole wooshes by on my right, in the center of the lane, just a few feet away.

Not really terrifying at the moment, but chilling in retrospect, and a good reminder to think about following distances and avoiding riding in the center of the lane.

That reminds me..........back in the 60's I'm riding home @ night on  my 250 Yamaha(terrible headlight) about 55 mph and all of a sudden I almost fly over the handlebars!!      A sinkhole about a foot wide had developed in the middle of the pavement of my everyday road ride and I didn't see it.     Luckily stayed on the bike and made it home.

[ohiorider]

If I thought "horrifying" things might happen as a result of riding, I wouldn't do it.    ohiorider's situation of being attacked by rednecks might fall into that category in his case, but in my case it would just have been very tedious in explaining to the police and judge later what happened to the two guys that were laying in the road ... so that's one way I make sure I don't get into "horrifying" situations.

Lannis

Agreed ..... I thought 'horrifying' was a bit extreme for my incident.  Highly exciting, however, would be a more accurate description.

[bpreynolds]

Even in my bad crash, where the front of a truck hit me from the side and we went riding 15-20 ft  - and I later was on a knee scooter for 2 months and recovering for 8-12, I was not scared.  In fact, I was cursing the guy the whole time in my helmet as he was driving me and the bike.  No, happened too fast and too much adrenaline there to be much scared. 

However, I was certfiiably petrified for a brief few moments this time last year.  In truth it was only about 45 seconds total but maybe the longest 45 seconds perhaps in my life.  It was the first really cold morning going to work in late November.  Put on my heavy Gerbing's gloves, manned the bike, and I hopped onto interstate 65, avoiding the morning traffic and quickly advancing to the vacant middle of 6 southbound lanes at a speed of about 75.  About that same time the visor began to fog up.  No problem I thought and went to crack it as per usual, only then remembering that I had on my thick gloves.  Try as I might, I could not pop the visor lock as the gloves would not get beneath it.  The screen began to quickly fog over eventually getting to where I could see nothing but the passing white dividing lines directly on the ground and to the right of the bike.  So many decisions, so many thoughts fly by your brain at lightening speed.  I let off the gas, of course but I didn't want to do a dead stop in the middle of a morning interstate and I had no way of knowing how to get off the road.  I tried slinging my left glove off but it wasn't going.  I again frantically tried to flip the visor lock to no avail.  I could not see anything in front of me but I knew I was no longer traveling in a straight line and began expecting impact at any second from another vehicle.  I thought about my wife and, heh, how pissed off she was gonna be at me if I survived.  I thought about how stupid I'd been for not thinking of the heavy gloves and the stubborn visor.  A zillion other things too went blazing by my brain.  That thing of not being able to see and too not knowing what was going to happen next, yikes.  Last ditch effort I tried to wedge my left glove up inside the helmet in front of my chin to push out visor but my windblock on the bottom of the helmet was in the way.  I pushed and pushed until finally I popped the visor open from the inside.  Gasping and near pissing my pants I looked out and saw I was now almost 2 lanes over and doing only about 35mph.  Cars were around me but none near enough to me and some who had seen what was taking place and had purposely slowed down.  I hit the gas and resumed progress knowing I had just been provided a God given second chance at not being an idiot in the future.

[Lannis]

Agreed ..... I thought 'horrifying' was a bit extreme for my incident.  Highly exciting, however, would be a more accurate description.

Really?

People attempting to kill you with a pickup truck, and when that fails, they charge toward you on foot to ... do what?   They've already decided that they should make you die; what did you THINK they were going to do when they got you?

For my part, I wouldn't have taken that risk, either to wait for them or to ride "through" them.   Glad it worked out OK for you though!

Lannis

[Testarossa]

Like Lannis, I don't consider any of my own get-offs to be horrifying. Surprising, yes, and educational.

But I am horrified when I see things happen to other people, and will be really destroyed if I ever manage to hurt my own passenger.

Labor Day Weekend around 1977. During those summer weekends I taught rock climbing and whitewater canoeing at a singles camp for adults, in the Connecticut Berkshires. I commuted there from Manhattan on my CB500/4 with the full Dunstall rig. That long weekend my friend Stu showed up with a new-to-him BMW R75/5. He was a relatively new rider, and asked if he could follow me back to the city.

We started off late afternoon, winding south along the east side of the Housatonic River, some leaves on the pavement and the sun winking through the trees from the right. I set a safe pace and kept an eye on Stu in my mirrors, sometimes losing track of him in the curves. About 15 minutes into the ride he failed to appear on a straight. I pulled over and waited a minute, then headed back. Stu was motionless on his back in the middle of our lane, the bike in the ditch.  I thought he was dead.

He was stunned but relatively unscathed -- a bad cut on his right shin where his leg had hit the right cylinder or carb. That right cylinder was torn off the crankcase, hanging by the studs bent back about 75 degrees.

Stu never did recall the accident, but the motorcycle had departed the pavement to the right, crossed the ditch, and cut a swath through the bushes up a steep embankment and into a tree. The right cylinder head put a divot in the tree and probably saved Stu's leg.

[lucian]

Had a chain snap on a Kawi 750 in 1979, it wedged between the sprocket and swing arm and locked the rear tire up solid at 65 mph on the highway in traffic. Did a squirrelly skid straight off the tar into the grass and low sided it. Ive had a few chain bikes since but never felt safe on them again. I'm sure a little maintenance would have prevented the whole episode, just young and dumb at the time. Still remember being glad to make it onto the dirt and grass.

[twodogs]

About 1984 3 of us heading east on 80 with the sun going down in fairly tight formation getting ready to pass a semi when the left front trailer brake drum exploded taking with it the brakes and shooting out all the hardware at us, no parts hit us but the bikes were not as lucky, the lead rider hit half the brake drum with the front tire and almost went down with a badly bent wheel and when I hit same part it tore off my kick stand, the other rider had a couple of small holes in is windshield but said nothing ever hit him, to this day I don't waste time passing the big rigs.

[hudson]

20+ years ago, when I was much younger, stupid and felt invincible, I was pulling a "ton" on my kwasaki.  That alone was stupid.  It was an extremely cold night around 2am on a divided 4 lane  hwy.  No one around...period... had the road to myself.  Suddenly I was ejected off of my seat and flew up and over, staring down at the handlebars that I was still holding below.  My body dropped back down at full force on my seat.  I hit or ran over something!  But in the dark and going so fast, I couldn't see what.  I didn't have a chance to slow down or react.  Fortunately, my bike stayed a straight course throughout, which probably saved my life.  Inspected the bike over when the sun came up and found a significant dent in my rim.  That experiences (not to mention a few others prior), was the turning point for me and I began to take my riding more responsibly. 

[John A]

I came booming out of Austin, Nevada over the top of a hill. There was a family of skunks crossing the road. Moma skunk was in the middle of the left lane with about eight little ones in a line following her. My brain thought of a lot of things quickly, most actions I could take seemed to result in my Ambassador smelling badly. I gassed it and went around Mama skunk. She raised her tail as did all the youngsters in line. She never sprayed so the line didn't either. That was horrifieing. Another time I was happily going down a street in Yuba City, CA. On the right there was an elderly couple trying to attract my attention. While I was pondering that I looked up and saw a power line draped across the road at neck height. I ducked, the line hit the windshield and bounced over me. Most other incidents I got hurt and I'm happy to be here!

[mtiberio]

I flipped a volkswagon with my Lemans III and broke my leg in 6 pieces and had a plate in it for a year. Does this count?

[cmgies]

I used to own a BMW K75S and was out for a ride in the hills and came around a corner to find three Turkey Vultures feasting in the middle of the road.  Two flew away and the other stayed put.  I thought I could just slow down a bit and go by, but at the last moment, he flew up and we collided.  He hit me right in the front air vent of my Shoei helmet.  He went down and I kept going.  Went to the chiropractor to get an adjustment as it had been a direct shot down the spine.