A very close call / don't override your ability

[willowstreetguzziguy]

This summer, I was telling a fellow rider not to override your reflexes & ability.... no sooner was I out on a 2-lane county road with a 2 mile view ahead, and I decided to open her up a little. I was at 80 mph when I crested an unexpected small hill in the road. On the other side of the hill was a farm tractor pulling a wagon of hay. And in the approaching lane was a car traveling 50 mph. What I'm about to tell you happened in a second...

 I was on the downhill side of the hill and a critical decision to make at 80 mph. My first split second response was to tap my rear brake and a slight skid resulted. Two choices ... 1.) Brake hard with the front brake and hope I can slow down in time but if I can't, so much weight would be on my front wheel that I wouldn't be able to steer around the tractor and I would rear end it. 2.) Maintain total control and not Brake at all but steer my bike between the tractor and approaching car on the center line. I chose the second option and passed between the two!

45 years of riding experience allowed me to make the right split second decision. It was a MAJOR wakeup call to not override my ability!

[Scud]

I'm glad you are storyteller, rather than a statistic. Always good to have reminders.

[Triple Jim]

Me too, glad you made it.  I'd say it's not overriding your ability in this case, just overriding your vision.

[willowstreetguzziguy]

I overrode my vision. Good point. Know what's on the other side of the hill or be able to stop if you don't

[Arizona Wayne]

I overrode my vision. Good point. Know what's on the other side of the hill or be able to stop if you don't

[Arizona Wayne]

This reminds me of a story............ye ars ago 4 of us are on a country road.   I'm in the lead doing 70 mph.   I come up on an adult on a Honda Trail 90 in the middle of the road riding slow with his left blinker on but there is no road or driveway near him.  We're all staggard apart a little.  I slow down but have no idea what this rider is going to do next and we're closing fast on him.  I pass him on the left side going 65 mph.  The other 3 pass him on both sides. Phew, we made it with no contact!  I bet he shit in his pants.     We just keep on riding like nothing almost happened. 

[tris]

Similar story - we' were on our way home from Naples in my wife's Alfa GTV on a section of motorway rated at 150 km/h (93MPH)

I'm driving in the inside lane doing the best part of 100 MPH and suddenly realise that Luigi in his 1970 Fiat is in the middle lane doing 30 MPH

A very quick assessment caused me to conclude I was best to blow past him on the inside as if I tried to pass him on the correct side I'd probably collect him in the process

I wonder what he thought when this black blur went past him with the steering wheel on the wrong side 

Back on topic - because I was a "late developer" to the art of motorcycle riding I'm very conscious of my lack of skills.

In your situation WSGG I'd probably have been sliding down the road on my ass. The BikeSafe course I went on this year taught me loads about observation!!!

[HDGoose]

And yet, many here complain when other riders are not riding public roads like a private race track. I too used to enjoy 10-15 over the speed limit on curvy mountain roads. But I learn from others' bad experiences. A majority of US roads were built for, and funded by, commercial traffic. In reality, my 1989 Harley ElectraGlide, with proper suspension for my weight and modified brakes, can override any public twisty fun road. My LeMans IV made it easier to override, in 2nd or third gear.

[jas67]

I overrode my vision. Good point. Know what's on the other side of the hill or be able to stop if you don't

I had a similar experience, although, I was traveling at a much lower speed (about 50 MPH), and it was an oncoming car, and a calf standing in the middle of the road.    In this case, I was able to stop the bike within about 8 feet of the calf, who just stood there chewing cud.    The oncoming car also stopped.   After a minute long stare off with the calf, who was in no particular hurry, I tapped the horn a couple of times.     The calf tried to run off the road, but, fell down on it's side.    Now, I felt bad, a little.     It eventually got up and wondered off the road.

Had I been going faster, I'd have T-boned the calf (no pun intended), which wouldn't have ended well for me or the calf.

[webmost]

I'm sure y'all remember the aptly named Hurt report, too many years ago. Most everyone's aware that report calculated as how 70% of accidents were caused by an automobile turning across the rider's path. Left turners, driveway leavers... that's most of your wrecks... but surprisingly few deaths... less than 20%. OTOH -- only about 19% of wrecks happened when the rider exceeded his abilities... but those few wrecks accounted for about 70% of deaths. These figures are all IIRC -- I'd have to look up the old report for certain accuracy. But the message was clear enopugh: You're in highest danger of wrecking where some brain dead cager doesn't grok you; but you're in way way more danger of dying where you let your bulldog jaws bite off more than your chihuahua ass can shake.

So look on the bright side, Willow -- you shook it. That's to be proud of. Once. Long's you don't let it happen again... cause there's not a lot of give in your typical farm implement.


 

[Triple Jim]

...but you're in way way more danger of dying where you let your bulldog jaws bite off more than your chihuahua ass can shake...

Right.  My insurance agent told me that out in the country, like were I live, the biggest cause of fatal motorcycle crashes is the rider entering a curve that the motorcycle is capable of handling, but the rider is not.  He panics and hits the brakes, straightens up, and rides off the road into a tree or other fixed object.

[johnr]

Me too, glad you made it.  I'd say it's not overriding your ability in this case, just overriding your vision.

 :1:

[JJ]

Good reminder and a wake up call for all of us! 

Going a little slower and arriving ALIVE is always best!  :1:

[Sasquatch Jim]

 Over a long lifetime of riding I have learned not to over ride either my vision or abilities.
 So many of those OH SHIT moments, some of which didn't end well.
 Some years ago I stopped riding while drunk, and now I don't even drink alcohol any more.
 I don't know why I am not dead yet but have decided not to hurry it along any more.

[Nic in Western NYS]

I don't override my ability, far as I know.  I'm also the slow guy in the mountain roads.  More cool to be the fast guy on the slow bike rather than the slow guy on the fast bike, but that's my lot.

[normzone]

I steered my younger brother to this thread and asked him if any of it sounded familiar to him. His reply:

" Yeah...I remember working to pass a semi on a hill outside El Centro at around 90 mph, on Reep (mid-seventies Yamaha RD 350 two stroke) with a friend on the back.

As we topped the hill, oncoming semi. I swung in between the two with a foot to spare on either side of the bike. Changed my riding habits a lot after that. "

 

[pete mcgee]

What's the old saying?
"To be old and wise, first one must be young and stupid, and survive".
Complacency can jump up and bite you in the arse at any time, you have now reset your caution switch and carried out a functional check of the poo/ air separator valve.
Glad it all ended well.
That which doesn't kill us makes us better riders, could be a motorcyclists mantra.

[johnr]

What's the old saying?
"To be old and wise, first one must be young and stupid, and survive".
Complacency can jump up and bite you in the arse at any time, you have now reset your caution switch and carried out a functional check of the poo/ air separator valve.
Glad it all ended well.
That which doesn't kill us makes us better riders, could be a motorcyclists mantra.

I can relate to that. well put Pete.

[80CX100]

Right.  My insurance agent told me that out in the country, like were I live, the biggest cause of fatal motorcycle crashes is the rider entering a curve that the motorcycle is capable of handling, but the rider is not.  He panics and hits the brakes, straightens up, and rides off the road into a tree or other fixed object.

Absolutely right,,,, it's scarey watching new riders purchase big bikes for their first ride,,, I know 2 personally who were over biked and under skilled,,, both went wide on turns trying to follow more experienced riders,,,, both were lucky they weren't killed.

Something that slowed my speed demon urges,,, was the crash of a bike mechanic I know this summer,,, he had been singing the virtues of his hopped up dyno tuned 150 hp + Triumph Speed Triple,,, went out for a group ride,,, between egos and too much speed,,, he went too wide on a turn,,, got off lucky with a broken ankle,,, the bike hit a rock wall,,, every single joint in the bike frame was broken apart.

To the OP,,, tks for posting and keeping us all mindful,,, probably saved at least one of us from a get off,lol ,,, glad you got through ok.

Kelly

[Huzo]

Yep, thanks for sharing that as honestly as you did, sounds scarily familiar. As someone said, you over rode your vision and saved your own life by drawing on a massive amount (presumably) of experience and a goodly helping of ability. You may have even been sub consciously ready for something like that and not been aware that you were. Glad you're OK, bloody good post.

[OlDogface]

The older I get the slower I go. Not because I can't handle it; rather, because I can handle it.

[willowstreetguzziguy]

I started riding 45 years ago on a 65cc Honda. I progressed through the years and my ability increased as the size of my bikes grew. As far as my original post here, I can't stress enough that it was years of experience and instincts that tooknover in yhwt crisis situation like I described. These and something subconscious took over and saved my butt instead of hitting that tractor or car.

Several years ago my 20 year old relative bought a used Suzuki GSRX 1000 as a first bike! I tried to talk sense into him but I'd didn't sink in..  he was lucky though in that when he parked it in his garage, it got away from him and crashed into the garage wall. He eventually sold it for parts and never put a mile on it. Several years later, he bought 600 Honda but has not acquired the skills of riding had he started with a much lighter and less powerful motorcycle.

[rocker59]

 when that happened to me, I picked the white line and rode behind the trailer which the tractor was pulling across the road. It's crazy how those things happened so quickly.

[Scott of the Sahara]

I keep the bike a bit slower through blind curves, since I do not know what may be in the road waiting for me.

When I was riding with my friends in September, I caused a problem that resulted in a crash...
I was in the lead going down a highway that was 50mph. We came upon a park that I decided to turn left into.
I slowed down and put my blinker on.
The next bike was not paying attention and waited a second to apply his brakes. He stopped.
The third bike didn't have a chance. He is now trying to brake with 2 bikes slowed in front of him.
HE lays on the brakes and lays the Harley over at about 30mph. He flies into the ditch and the bike skidded about 40 or 50 feet.
The guy in the rear was far enough back to stop.
The Harley suffered minor scratches and needed a new crash bar. The rider made us swear not to tell his wife. He was not injured at all. We rode away and resumed our ride.

[oldbike54]

 Integrated brakes , correct ? Just curious why "tapping" the rear brake caused a skid ?

 Dusty

[Shorty]

I wonder if that stuff happened to JN Smyth as often as it happens to y'all? 

[oldbike54]

I wonder if that stuff happened to JN Smyth as often as it happens to y'all? 

 There was the incident with the GW trike and some barbed wire fence 

 Dusty

[johnr]

When I was riding with my friends in September, I caused a problem that resulted in a crash...

No Scott, I don't believe you did cause it.
They were behind you.  It is every riders responsibility to keep enough distance when following so that they can stop safely. 

[Demar]

A few years ago I was riding my Bonneville T100 on rt 35 Skyline north just after leaving Alice's restaurant on a two lane very popular with bicyclists and motorcyclists. Posted limit of 50mph. I came thru a right hand turn onto a straight section doing 50mph and about 70ft ahead of me was a bicyclist stopped at 90-degrees to the road with his front wheel on the middle yellow line. He had both feet on the ground on either side of the bike and was duck-walking his bike across the road. I could go left into the oncoming lane or try and skirt behind him to the right..... I went right as there was enough lane behind him and I thought if he moved he would go forward. I'm glad he froze and didn't try to move. I passed him going about 35mph and missed him by 18 inches.

[tiger_one]

This thread reminded me of the trip I made to Salida, CO last year in Nov.  3 bikes going north on 285 north of Dumas somewhere, cruising about 10 over, probably 78mph.  A bike blew past us (4 lane divided) in the left lane, we were in the right (felt like 150mph at least).  I never saw him in my mirror nor did anyone else, and none of us could identify the make of bike.  It had stock mufflers and didn't make any noise other than a WHOOOSSSHHH.

Pretty un-nerving for an experienced rider to not even see him coming.