Bike accidents hurt. (Pic intensive)

[Linuss]

So Mizono and I felt like doing a ride today and go exploring for some twisties. We were headed down a road that had a fair amount of curves, no divider line in the middle, and speed limit about 50mph. We come up on a left hand curve with a sign warning of the turn, but no speed limit, so we continue on at the 45ish mph we had been doing. We start to make the turn... which was not a turn, but infact a darn near U-turn.


Midway through the turn I see some stuff in the road (turns out to be chunks of asphalt) so I straighten my bike up a bit to miss them, and realize "Shoot, I'm in a turn" so I push on my rear brake to slow down a bit... and again realize the that end of the road was coming up fast. I pull on the front brake, but it was too late. Ended up going over the side of the road (which was a small hill) and bailing off my bike. Sat in the spot I was in for a little bit just doing a mental checklist of myself, making sure nothing hurt too much before moving. Sat up, moved around a bit and realized Mizono was saying my name.


A truck driver pulled up behind us (found out later he rode a Gixxer) and he helped us bring my bike back on to the road. Did some nasty stuff to the fairing, and it took a few tries for the engine to finally turn on, but there doesnt appear to be any mechanical damage, clutch worked fine, and we drove another 40ish miles home without a problem. Mizono gave me one of his spare turn-signals and we fixed it at his house.




I was wearing my helmet, gloves and jacket. Jacket has CE armor in the shoulders and elbows... shoulder took the brunt of the fall as evidenced by all the dirt on it, but I didn't feel it. Elbow is a bit scraped up. Helmet had some dirt and grass in it, but fit snugly.



Oh, and I have a Manta XL tank bag on my tank, and my headphones were being fed from the bag to my ears. Bag didn't budge an inch!


Mizono will be on giving his view of what happened behind me, and how he almost lost it on the turn as well.

Bike is down in the ditch:


As you can see, the road was actually curved the OPPOSITE of how it should be in a turn... forcing you to the outside instead of inside:


Rear seat fairing:

[Xoulrath]

Ouch man. Sorry to hear. At least it seems like the damage is limited to cosmetic and hopefully after a once over, it will remain that way.

Just keep practicing. I had a similar experience riding a new road last year, but I was lucky in having an out: I was coming out of a right-hander into a left hand corkscrew and there was plenty of warning. I know I'm going too fast, so I start to slow down. Unfortunately not quick enough. I know I will have to lean like hell, and I already had no faith in the IRC's, so I see there is a grassy shoulder, I keep the bike straight, and I stop just in time.

I learned two things that day:

1) Take it easy the first few times on a new road and give yourself more room for error than normal.

2) I needed to use three fingers to get any real braking power out of my 250 for my weight, and not two as I had been up to that point. If I had three fingers on the brake that day, I believe I would have been able to slow enough for the corner.

Live and learn and be safe. Again, glad to hear you are OK.

[bdavison]

When in doubt, ride it out....when yer in a corner, DONT hit the brakes. It will always make you wide.

Its natural reaction to hit the brakes, you gotta retrain yourself to leave the brakes alone, they will get you in trouble in a corner everytime.

Bike doesnt look too bad, im sure someone on here will be offering the parts you need soon enough.

Glad to see yer ok.

[Alex]

Youch! Glad you're OK! I think Xoulrath is on the right track, more and more seat time and practice is the cure for these types of things. But one thing that stood out for me in your description was this:

Originally Posted by Linuss

and realize "Shoot, I'm in a turn" so I push on my rear brake to slow down a bit... and again realize the that end of the road was coming up fast. I pull on the front brake, but it was too late.

Going for the rear brake first in just about any situation isn't going to be terribly helpful. It's not going to do much on its own to slow you down if you really do need to bleed speed, and the more likely outcome is that it will negatively affect the traction that you desperately need in that situation. If you need to brake, front + rear or even front alone is going to work out much better than rear alone.

But, the main point is probably a bit different from either of those anyway. If you find yourself in a turn, already starting to lean over, and you start to worry about whether you are going to make it; applying either brake isn't the preferred option. Stay smooth on the controls, lean more by applying more steering input, and more often than not the bike will happily make the turn. Pictures don't give us as good of a view of the scene as you both had by actually being there, but it sure looks like that corner could be taken at 60+ mph without too much worry.

Seriously, very glad you're OK and the bike isn't too banged up either.

[Mizono]

So yeah it was a interesting ride. as Linuss already mentioned we get into this turn and as we come around we see it keeps turning. So far no biggy. except right in the middle of the curve is as mentioned some asphalt chunks. I see Linuss straighten up to try and stop but his back end started going squirly and there just wasnt enough room to stop. Thankfully he rolled off the bike so it didnt land on him and it was all overgrown grass so it made a soft landing. Thankfully Linus is ok and again always wear your GEAR!!!!

As for my tale i saw Linuss get squirly and so i got the bike upright and got on both brakes to slow down. I felt my back end start to go funny too but thankfully it settled down but it was close. Thankfully the one guy stopped and was kind enough to lend a hand getting the bike upright and out of the ditch. The other crappy thing was the gear shift peddle landed in a wonderful fire ant hill. So in order to get the thing in neutral and test it we had to clear the bike of fire ants.

But despite the crash it was a awesome ride.

[Mizono]

Originally Posted by Alex

Pictures don't give us as good of a view of the scene as you both had by actually being there, but it sure looks like that corner could be taken at 60+ mph without too much worry.

That pic is actually the start to the curve it tightens up as you follow it around. Im sure the more experienced crowd could fly around it and maybe one day i will be able to also.

We both took it fairly easy today both being new riders. This goes to show even if your being cautious things can still happen

[Alex]

Steve - I've got a thread that's calling you ----> link

Don't worry, the thread makes the point that you're not alone.

[Xoulrath]

David, your post shows exactly how new you are to riding. I do not mean that in a bad way. I was there merely one year ago myself. I had typical new rider mistakes: turning too early, leaning too little, not trusting the bike (and tires) to be able to lean more, letting off the throttle when I started running wide. The list could go on and on.

About that turn, from the angle of the picture and what Steve said about the turn, it sounds like you guys turned in way too early, especially if you were only running about 45-50 mph. Steve said he had to avoid the asphalt chunks. If the picture is representative of where the debris was when you guys took the turn, as in before the asphalt, you simply turned too early.

Judging just from the one picture we have of the turn, I would have been setting up positioning on the bike around the point of the asphalt and would not have turned the bike until around just before where the bike is in the picture. This is just something you learn while you ride. I am sure an expert rider has an even better solution to that corner.

Again, I am a new rider, and am in no way criticizing you or Steve. I am simply sharing what I have learned that is still so very fresh in my mind.

[Mizono]

I don't take any offense. I know I'm new and learning. I'm sure there were probably better ways to approach the corner. The skills will come with seat time.

[Xoulrath]

Absolutely, skills will improve with seat time. You two keep practicing and you'll be rocking those 250's all over the place.

[oroboros]

As far as places to put down your bike... the grass looks pretty soft and squishy. Glad to hear you are O.K and just some cosmetics on the bike. Also nice that you were able to drive away!

It would have been a different story if there was a guard rail.

I have a feeling that in a few months you will take that same corner with with ease and confidence.

[CC Cowboy]

You would be surprised how a few trackdays would help in these situations.

I always try to tighten up the turn instead of going wider.

[HKr1]

That sucks dude! Always good being able to walk away

[Linuss]

Thanks for the well-wishes guys. Now that it's a few hours later, I'm starting to get pretty sore, especially on my left arm... great... work will be a joy tomorrow.

I can straight up say the accident was most attributed to by me not being as comfortable turning as I could be, mainly because I never have to lean very far in my every day riding, so I don't know the extent to which the bike can go.


In the situation, my thought process was if I turned too far and hit the asphalt, I would have low-sided with the bike on top of me and kept on going right off the road. If I had slammed on the front brakes, I would have highsided, and been pretty bad off too, especially since I was still at somewhat of an angle.


I did what the MSF teaches when you come around a turn and see an obstacle: Straighten the bike, slow down as much as you can and get ready to crash off the road.


But biggest factor to how we took the turn was that it was a blind u-turn, fairly busy for being a backroad, and there would have been no time for reaction had a car come the opposite direction.

[RedCromwell]

Glad to hear you're OK. Sorry about the bike. Look at it as an opportunity to do some tech stuff.

Originally Posted by Linuss

I did what the MSF teaches when you come around a turn and see an obstacle: Straighten the bike, slow down as much as you can and get ready to crash off the road.

My MSF course didn't teach us to prepare for crashing. In the situation you experienced our instructors taught us too lean more and commit to the turn. In the event we have to stop in a turn, straighten up first and stop as quickly and safely as possible.

I'm still a big noob to riding, and I've gone into some turns too fast. When I do, I lean more and/or push on the handlebar of the direction I want to go and that's gotten me through.

I've been monitoring local news regarding motorcycle accidents and there's been a few fatalities. At least two thirds of them involved a single motorcycle failing to negotiate a curve.

Again glad you're OK. Ride safe.

[Mizono]

Still a good day and a fun time. Linuss if your up to it next week we can hit up going the other direction towards Mansfield.

[kkim]

looks like a decreasing radius, off camber turn? if so, those have caught many people off guard, so don't feel bad. still, crashing sucks and glad to hear you made it out relatively unscathed. ATGATT

hindsight is 20-20, but it really sounds like you were riding too fast for the situation and your experience level. slow down before the turn.

as Oscar already pointed out, perhaps a track day would help to get you familiar with exactly what your bike is capable of. skills learned there translate extremely well to the street.

if not, at a a minimum, I highly recommend you pick up a few good books on street riding skills. David Hough's "Proficient Motorcycling" and "More Proficient Motorcycling" are excellent reads.
http://www.webbikeworld.com/books/pr...torcycling.htm

have fun, ride safe

[Snake]

Ouch.

[Cali619]

Sorry to hear about the crash but glad to hear your in good shape. Its always fun finding new twisties, and even if I know the road I ride like a pussy the first run(i have low-sided) just cause of lame crap like the debris you encountered.

[Fly'in Ninja]

wow!! glad your ok!!

[sixer]

Get rid of the IRC rear also...
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[Yasko]

Way to keep on keeping on...

[Green Streak]

Glad you were geared up and you and the bike are ok!