Right turn, but fell on left side???

[AlanDog]

So it finally happened. I was daydreaming as I turned in to the freeway onramp on a green light, was not going fast, maybe 20 mph, hit a patch of gravel that was very well hidden, almost invisible, but very deep, and I remember the bike going further and further down on the right side. Next thing I remember I was down. I got up, saw my knee was scratched up, windshield is cracked, mirror destroyed. I rolled my bike to the side of the road. This happened less than a mile from my house, the I-5 onramp in Woodland to get to Davis--I take this onramp every day going to work. The bike was fine and I ended up riding it back home tonight. The shift lever is slightly bent but everything seems fine. Oh, ps. this was on my cx500 but I know where the crash experts are and so explain this...

Here is the weird part. Over an hour later I am driving my car back to work and I realize it was a right hand turn, yet my left knee is skinned up and the left mirror and left side of the windshield was the side that was damaged. So somehow I flipped from leaning over on the right side on a right turn but crashing on my left side.

My theory: I must have tried to countersteer when I was coming close to the ground on the right because the right side is totally untouched (I just looked). It's like there is a blank spot in my memory, I remember the bike sliding down on the right side, and the next thing I remember is being down on the left side of the bike... so weird. Anyways, I didn't have a conscious reaction in the moment when the bike was sliding, there was no thought, it happened too quick. I was daydreaming, completely on autopilot. I think my body just reacted to the bike being leaned over that far with an extreme countersteer and that ended up flopping the bike over on the left. My knee is pretty skinned up, will go to the health center tomorrow for that, just to be safe, but it doesn't hurt and I cleaned it out pretty good.

So to prevent the accident, I think I could have spotted the gravel, but it's funny because it's been there for a week (they repaved the onramp last week), I've been on that corner 5-6 times since then, but never saw it--it is really, really well-hidden--and I want to go verify how deep it is, it felt like it was an inch deep, like they tried to fill in a elevation change with gravel. But once I started sliding the only thing that could have saved me was maybe some dirt bike training, really ingrain in my natural reaction to respond correctly to the bike going sideways like that. Because by first 'thought' during the crash was after I was already down.

It's funny because I think I should feel lucky, but it was a low speed slide and just lucky there wasn't a car behind me. I really didn't slide far, by the time I went down I didn't have much forward momentum. The engine guard has a scrap and I think the line on the asphalt was only about 5-6 feet long.

[Motofool]

Damaging the Honda cx500 is almost a sacrilege

It is great that no car was following close.

It seems that the front tire reached the edge of the gravel patch and regained traction while the handlebar was turned hard to the right.
That instantly created the centrifugal force pointing out of the turn to flip the bike from right onto left fall.

[csmith12]

^^^ Sounds about right.

[reading between the lines]
You were on autopilot, at a slow pace, so can I safely assume you were not leaned over very far? If so, the it further supports Hernan's theory. Because when the tire hit clean pavement, it most likely had good traction. Enough to change the direction of what little bit lean you had at the time. If your pace had been faster, you just may have slid on the right.
[/reading between the lines]

[AlanDog]

Well, I was on the gas and since I was getting onto the freeway, and this is an onramp at an intersection, so it is a sharp right turn... so the light turned green when I was maybe 100 feet back from the intersection, and so, for me it wasn't a completely sedate pace... but I've taken this turn a million times, just was not that alert. Classic statistical data point, a crash close to home.

I went from somewhat leaned over and when I hit the gravel the bike definitely slid out into a deep lean, my rear tire actually has gravel marks on the right side showing I was all the way over on the tread. But no scratches on anything on the right side of the bike.

So kind of like a low-speed high-side, I just didn't have enough speed to get thrown over the bike???

[csmith12]

Originally Posted by AlanDog

So kind of like a low-speed high-side, I just didn't have enough speed to get thrown over the bike???

Sounds like it, it happens often enough while playing in the dirt. Do you remember if it was only the rear that slid or was it the front too? Or maybe only the front?

[Motofool]

Originally Posted by AlanDog

..............So kind of like a low-speed high-side, I just didn't have enough speed to get thrown over the bike???

Not really, Alan; a high-side fall always starts with a rear slide.

This article explains a high-side fall better than I can:
http://www.msgroup.org/Tip.aspx?Num=001&Set=

[alex.s]

check out the video of @cynicalkit crashing at cvma going into turn 10... she did this awesome thing where it was like almost a highside... slid out the rear but then it like caught in flipped around the other way. one of the weirdest crashes i've seen.

[crazymadbastard]

Luv the cx500s. That's all I can add-other than good luck!

[AlanDog]

Well, it was my rear tire that slid, because I was accelerating, front tire did not slide, or at least not as much as the rear. But it does make sense that once I traveled out of the gravel the sudden traction of the rear tire threw me over the other side of the bike. Maybe combined with letting off on the gas.

The article implies a high-side requires rear braking--I though you could high-side by chopping the throttle closed as your rear slides out. I don't have my twist of the wrist book handy. I thought it was pretty rare for racers to use their rear brakes.

[csmith12]

Originally Posted by AlanDog

Well, it was my rear tire that slid, because I was accelerating, front tire did not slide, or at least not as much as the rear. But it does make sense that once I traveled out of the gravel the sudden traction of the rear tire threw me over the other side of the bike. Maybe combined with letting off on the gas.

The article implies a high-side requires rear braking--I though you could high-side by chopping the throttle closed as your rear slides out. I don't have my twist of the wrist book handy. I thought it was pretty rare for racers to use their rear brakes.

Yes, your right. You can highside without use of the rear brake. Sudden slide + suddenly regaining 100% traction while leaned over even just a little bit may be enough to send a rider to the outside of their intended turn. If it slides out far enough, not even pinning the throttle will save you. And the rarity of use of the rear brake while on track is situational and mostly limited to the run off areas.

While the TOTW2 book is a great resource, but take the time to watch the DVD if you haven't. There is some awesome stuff about riding over slick stuff AND pay close attention when they show the CSS coach on the slide bike purposely sliding the rear. And then watch it 2 more times.