And the latest inductee to the Crash Wall

[NevadaWolf]

:raises hand meekly:

So, today was my second track day. We'd finished the sighting laps and had the class time discussing proper braking techniques around corners. We were to run this session without an instructor so we could find the line and know our way around the course, looking for big blatant reference marks (eg the corner workers).

30 seconds after the grid marshal waved me out, gravity turned against me and while the asphalt went one way, I went the other.

@Jiggles Got another addition to your video collection.

Link TO Original YouTube Video

Someone help, I can't get the embedding to work...

Link to original page on YouTube.

[Jiggles]

Awesome sauce

Link to original page on YouTube.

[Bentley813]

Looked like you were going fine until you got close to the inner track. What happened?

[NevadaWolf]

Originally Posted by Bentley813

Looked like you were going fine until you got close to the inner track. What happened?

Honestly? Felt like the bike wouldn't turn. Usually, I come in from the outside into two, cut along the inside of two and straight out to the midpoint between two and three then turn hard to come into three and line up for four.

But this time, coming into two felt weird and once I got through there I felt like I couldn't turn hard enough for three so my line was completely off. And yeah, wipeout.

[csmith12]

Whoa! Glad your good, bummer about the bike.

[Alex]

Aw, that's too bad! Glad you're OK. Something cause the bike to lose traction; it didn't appear to be too much lean angle. What was going on at the controls right at that moment, more gas? Any brake (front or rear)? Trying to lean the bike further or change direction?

[NevadaWolf]

Coming into two I thought it felt odd and assumed to much spped. So rolled off the throttle and lightly squeezed the front brake. As I was leaning, bike got squirrely since i'm not skilled at braking while leaning. Let up brake and kept off gas. Tried setting up for three and looked into the corner, trying to apply the maintenance throttle as I'd be shown to avoid simply coasting.

My fuzzy recall right at the moment is i could not get it to turn, so looked deeper into the corner and leaned further hoping to have my hands push further. Still no turn and as it leaned further it felt like the tires unglued from the track just as i fell off the saddle.

I am really wondering if my two week old rear tire is the cause of both lowsides i've had since.

[greg737]

[kingkang204]

It sounded like you hit your head pretty hard, hope you're doing well.

It's okay, your bike just has lots of character now.

[NevadaWolf]

Yeah that is a pretty solid thunk isn't it? Had a slight headache that cleared up shortly after so no cobwebs knocked loose thankfully.

Yeah, my little bike is pretty banged up. Her nose is definitely looking like a prize fighter. ROFL

[koenigcitizen]

Glad you are ok! I can't wait to have opportunity to have my first track day

A little off-topic: Does insurance cover crashes on the track?

[NevadaWolf]

I don't know. I'm going to find out Monday! :fingers crossed: I want my bike back.

[csmith12]

Originally Posted by koenigcitizen

GA little off-topic: Does insurance cover crashes on the track?

I am covered but I have had insurance through state farm ever since I was 16 (38 now), so it could be possible that it's grandfathered in. I was told by other state farm riders that they are NOT covered.

The key to this is "continued education/training". Since I ride Mid-Ohio most often and all the paperwork says "Mid-Ohio School", it is treated similar to the BRC/ERC as taught by the MSF. It can be a real gray area in your policy, so read and understand carefully.

[csmith12]

Oh! I am NOT covered while in a "sanctioned" race though....

[cuong-nutz]

Originally Posted by csmith12

Oh! I am NOT covered while in a "sanctioned" race though....

It's the same deal with Farmers here.

Anyway, glad you're ok! That was one hard sounding thud! Looked like a lot of lean and speed for that turn. Turn looked cambered too so looks like you ran out of traction. Hard to tell from that camera angle.

[Stingray1000]

Glad you're ok!

[AlanDog]

Teri, glad your okay! Sorry I didn't get a chance to introduce myself, I'm socially inept. Kudos for the crash video set to music on the same day it happened! I was actually lined up behind you and rode by when you were in the dirt... a couple thoughts.

I felt the classroom session (was it the second or third?) was really not good advice for people just learning--and they were giving conflicting advice. They were saying in the first session "ride at 70% and you'll learn the most" and on the second (third?) meeting saying "go in faster, brake later, brake with the bike leaned over, you should either be on the gas or on the brake"--all good advice if you want to go faster, but as a first-timer who had a total of 2 or 3 laps experience, is that really what they should be telling people to work on? So they were catering to a mixed group, but it was still about 50% first timers... I think they had lost their bearing on who they were giving instruction to and had totally forgotten how overwhelming the experience your first time (or second time). I did find the classroom sessions and discussions really useful, and got great feedback from the instructors on the track. So I don't know how much of the classroom session you took to heart when you went out on that run, but they were basically telling us to push ourselves to the limit, and five minutes later on that first turn you found that limit!

My thoughts on the crash itself, having just ridden that track, and having gone from being completely confused by that turn to getting the line right (at a sedate pace, that is)... So turn 2 and 3 are basically a big hairpin which we're taught to take as a double apex turn, going wide in the middle like a big 'V'. It seems from the video you're holding an inside line early, not really going wide as you say, and so you hit an early apex on 3, and basically you were asking your bike to take the turn really sharply. So yeah, what tires are you running, what was your tire pressure?

If anything, it seems you followed the advice told time and again, if you feel you're going to fast in a turn, don't brake, just lean the bike over more. Maybe you leaned it over too suddenly when you saw it was going tight? But it could just be that with the line you took, with the tires you have, at that speed, the bike just wasn't going to stick. But hey, what do I know! That was my first time on a track!

I think the fact that you can recall in detail the moments before the crash is really impressive. How many people posting here have been able to do that? Thanks for posting this!

[NevadaWolf]

Hey Alan, bummer that our "meeting" was me on the side of the track and my bike a dusty mess. LOL

I went into the second session intending to work on what Peter had taught me last month, going into a turn and braking, then using a light maintainence throttle to maintain a set speed throughout the turn before picking up speed on the exit. Based on the GPS, I was coming out of the initial turns at 68 then slowed down to 58 just before the turn, had a steady deceleration down to 54 right up to the crash. Yes, that was faster than the 45 that Justin recommended, but at that point, I didn't feel I was going too fast. The entry was taken fast, but that's why I let go on the throttle and tried applying breaks.

The way I ran it last month following Peter was to make it one big V, come in along the inside, go way out, and then turn back in. So that was my intended goal even though I failed miserably on it. Front tire is the stock one I think, at 28psi and the rear is the brand new Pirelli Speed Demon set to 30psi, which is what the folks at the SPL trailer set them too.

I honestly don't know what happened but only that it happened. I will review the record I have, repair the bike (damn, did NOT have comp/collision on my policy and so SOL for any wreck!), and get back to it as soon as I can.

Maybe make a time lapse video of me dismantling and then rebuilding my girl up to a spiffy new bike? That'd be fun!

[NevadaWolf]

Just in case someone hasn't seen a buck nekkid ninja, I present ... Mine!

[Jiggles]

Yo! Take her top off lets see the goods!

[NevadaWolf]

Got to leave something for a tease. LOL

[Cazper]

Sorry about the crash... hope you are doing good now. How did the right side of the bike get messed up? Is that from another crash? I thought you only slid on the left side

[NevadaWolf]

Originally Posted by Cazper

Sorry about the crash... hope you are doing good now. How did the right side of the bike get messed up? Is that from another crash? I thought you only slid on the left side

Watching the video frame by frame you can see the bike slide on the left side out into the gravel. Frame slider did its job there and the left side is fairly unharmed. However, once it got into the dirt/gravel, something caught the bike and stood it up onto the tires (got a great screenshot of that). The next time I can see the bike it's in the middle of a huge burst of dust. Once the dust settled it's back on the left side.

So it slid on the left, flipped over in the dirt and crashed down onto the right side (the greatest damage was along the right edge of the front cowling and the support bar underneath the instrument cluster) and destroyed all the plastic on the right side as it came down, then flipped again back onto the left side before settling.

That confused me too until I watched the video and saw it stand up midway.

[Cazper]

@NevadaWolf, after watching it in slow mo I see exactly what you're talking about... sorry for all the damage. I see race plastics in your future though

[NevadaWolf]

Race plastics? Are those different from the normal OEM plastics? If so, how? I'm researching plastics (btw nice carbon ones you've got) and have seen that term but not it's specific definition.

[Fappy]

ouch...looks brutal! I'm no track expert, but it looks like you were getting too close to the inside -- then proceeded to back off the lean, and then subsequently went to correct and asked for more lean than the traction could provide? I want to get to the track, but these videos are making me nervous lol.

Glad you're alright. Hope the bike bounces back quick!

[Gurk]

My guess would be panic braking as you're leaned. Just a few degrees of lean should do it if you're braking hard. Hell if you're fast enough, even letting go off the throttle abruptly will make your forks compress hard enough where the whole weight is gonna transfer on the tire (nothing left in forks) and good chance the tire will give up and you'll get slammed on the pavement.

Glad you're ok. Learn from it and move on! That's what I did

[NevadaWolf]

Well, took her to Kawasaki today. They took one look at the tail and declared her totalled. The frame twisted enough that though still rideable, there is a noticeable difference in the tail between the left end of the frame and the right. Gave me an estimate to return her to factory condition, but that scared me more than the wreck itself did!

Guess I have a winter project now. I will get my bike back on the street.

[AlanDog]

Sorry to hear. So you're going to try to bend the frame back?

[NevadaWolf]

Yeah. I think its going to be a simple matter of sliding a bar across the end of the tail and applying a steady pressure to twist it back. It really is minor.

All the rest of the damage is replaceable. Expensive but replaceable.

[akima]

Originally Posted by NevadaWolf

Race plastics? Are those different from the normal OEM plastics? If so, how? I'm researching plastics (btw nice carbon ones you've got) and have seen that term but not it's specific definition.

Someone answer the lady! I must know what these magical "race plastics" are?

I'm guessing it's just cheap third party fairings that are more modular than stock so you just throw away and replace the small segments that get damaged.

[NevadaWolf]

Originally Posted by akima

Someone answer the lady! I must know what these magical "race plastics" are?

I'm guessing it's just cheap third party fairings that are more modular than stock so you just throw away and replace the small segments that get damaged.

Well, from what I can see it seems to be a lightweight but more durable construction (I think Armour Bodies says it'll withstand crashes that'd destroy OEM cowlings). But it eliminates the parts not needed for track (no headlight, taillight, turn signals). I do really like the one piece side and front fairings but need my girl to be streeet legal.

Airtech Streamlining

Armour Bodies

[CThunder-blue]

I've talked to racers and most dislike frame sliders for the exact reason that happened to your bike. On pavement, they're great. Once they hit dirt/grass, it catches and catapults the bike. You would likely have a good right side if you didn't have the sliders.

Glad you're ok though.

[NevadaWolf]

Just an update on how FrankenBike is coming along. The side fairings and front bracket should be in this week/early next week. Paint job is in the future that's for sure!

[NevadaWolf]

She lives!! Somewhat, at least she is in one piece!

Link to original page on YouTube.

[AlanDog]

Awesome job!

[NevadaWolf]

Thanks. Hopefully the garage feels the same when I take it in for inspection. :fingers crossed:

[akima]

She's looking great! First time I've seen flushmount lights like that.

[NevadaWolf]

I picked those up through i5motorcycle on eBay. It came with three wires and a dual filament bulb to have running lights, but I need to tinker to get that working correctly. I think I may have my wires reversed.

[akima]

^ Ah! Custom mod! I'm a bit scared to do stuff like that. For now, I've only been interested in things designed for the bike that I can screw/clip on to it.