Hawk down. Ebay sliders did well. Parts needed.
04-10-2010, 10:38 AM
#1
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Hawk down. Ebay sliders did well. Parts needed.
Hey Everyone,
Just had my first real motorcycle crash. Thought I'd relate my experience so that others could benefit. First of all, I'm fine - sprained thumb and road rash seems to be the worst of it. Basically I got pretty lucky.
Here are the parts I need. Here are high-res pictures of the bike after the crash. (medium-res attached below)
So, the accident: This was a single person situation. Simply put I attempted to ride beyond my abilities. I was negotiating a fairly tight turn at about 45mph. I'm fairly certain it was well within the bike's abilities. In fact I don't think I had to lean as far as I did to make it. The mistake was that I just did not hang far enough off the bike when I leaned it, so something metal hit the ground, and that took enough weight off the rear tire that it slid. I'm not sure what hit, I expect it was the muffler. Obviosuly the peg hit, but it's on a spring, so that shouldn't lift the tire. The transmission case also has rash on it, but my guess is that came once the bike was sliding, rather than being the cause of the slide.
I didn't have the where-with-all to try to surf the bike, it didn't occur to me. Once I was separated from it, I slid for a while and then started rolling. My brain did kick in there and remind me to go with the rolling rather than try to prevent it. I rolled for quite a while, I'd guess 20 or so turns. It's probably better in this case that I didn't surf the bike b/c I stopped long before it did. It got stopped by some really thick brush. I probably would have been worse off if that had been what stopped me.
Clothing: I was not properly dressed for pushing the limits. I was wearing a heavy leather jacket that is not a riding jacket. I was wearing heavy, reinforced knuckle riding gloves - they definitely saved my hands big time, their knuckles are a mess, mine are fine. i was wearing 8" leather boots (my ankles and feet are fine). For pants I had on simple cotton cargo pants. I'm really shocked at how well they held up, they just have a few holes in them. Both the pant legs and the jacket sleeves slid up, so I got a pretty big road rash on my arm, and a lighter one on my calf. Minor scrapes & bruises on both knees. I had on a full face helmet, nothing wrong there.
Bike: I do have a pair of really long eBay frame sliders that I figured would have been worthless in an event like this. I'm amazed to say they did pretty well. The braked only bent slightly. The slider saved a lot of the bike and probably my leg. I did crack my fairing, but that was from hitting a tree in the brush, no slider can prevent that. Dent on the tank, either from belt buckle or tree in the brush. Broken right rearview. Ground down transmission case corner and brake pedal. Rash on right side of rear faring, not too bad - may be able to sand and paint it myself.
Take-aways: Well mostly I only learned things I already knew: If I had been in full riding leathers, I probably wouldn't have a scratch on me, just the sprained thumb. That doesn't mean I'll never ride with out them again - I am generally just very clear on what kind of riding I'm doing. Chilling out and riding slow, and I'm ok with jeans or the like, but still want a leather jacket. The difference here is I was kinda showing off to the girl who was riding my Ninja 650R behind me (I'm selling it, she's probably buying it). That was stupid, and I knew it was stupid when I was doing it. The one big "new" thing I learned was about how you really do have to hang way off the side of the bike on a really tight turn. I just don't normally ride that fast, so I hardly ever take turns that require any hanging at all. The real take-away is really just "duh, don't push limits without full gear on".
I say I got lucky, and I did. But that luck was helped out by the fact that I do think about what I'm getting myself into in advance. A lot of the "it could have been worse" scenarios are ones that I did clarify I wasn't in before I knowingly pushed my limits and failed. The three things I did do "right" were: One I was completely clear that there were no oncoming cars before I attempted the turn. I didn't *expect* to crash, I was merely aware that I was choosing to increase my risk. I had plenty of time to slow down and take the turn well within my abilities, and that's what I would have done if there had been traffic. Second was that I was "almost" dressed right. The heavy leather jacket, the riding gloves, the boots, and of course the helmet, were not luck. The Third thing I did right was the rolling. I have learned from others that the worst thing you can do in a bad slide/roll is try to stop yourself. That's pretty much how you break bones and dislocate joints.
It's an interesting question as to why I wasn't dressed better. There are two ways to look at it. One is that the purpose of the ride was for the girl to test-ride the Ninja. She's coming from a 250R, so I intended not to do any hard-core riding. The other is that when I ride with other people, I make sure that I am dressed the same as they are. It's sort of like the "reciprocal restraint" rule that a lot of auto clubs have on their track days - you can't wear a 5-point harness unless you have one for your instructor too. In this case it is that I don't want to set myself up to be able to push the limits if the person I am riding with is not also set up that way. The idea is supposed to be that I then *won't* push the limits. Obviously that didn't work out today. But the secondary idea is that it's not fair to the other person to be better prepared for a crash than they are. That part basically did work right today.
Just had my first real motorcycle crash. Thought I'd relate my experience so that others could benefit. First of all, I'm fine - sprained thumb and road rash seems to be the worst of it. Basically I got pretty lucky.
Here are the parts I need. Here are high-res pictures of the bike after the crash. (medium-res attached below)
So, the accident: This was a single person situation. Simply put I attempted to ride beyond my abilities. I was negotiating a fairly tight turn at about 45mph. I'm fairly certain it was well within the bike's abilities. In fact I don't think I had to lean as far as I did to make it. The mistake was that I just did not hang far enough off the bike when I leaned it, so something metal hit the ground, and that took enough weight off the rear tire that it slid. I'm not sure what hit, I expect it was the muffler. Obviosuly the peg hit, but it's on a spring, so that shouldn't lift the tire. The transmission case also has rash on it, but my guess is that came once the bike was sliding, rather than being the cause of the slide.
I didn't have the where-with-all to try to surf the bike, it didn't occur to me. Once I was separated from it, I slid for a while and then started rolling. My brain did kick in there and remind me to go with the rolling rather than try to prevent it. I rolled for quite a while, I'd guess 20 or so turns. It's probably better in this case that I didn't surf the bike b/c I stopped long before it did. It got stopped by some really thick brush. I probably would have been worse off if that had been what stopped me.
Clothing: I was not properly dressed for pushing the limits. I was wearing a heavy leather jacket that is not a riding jacket. I was wearing heavy, reinforced knuckle riding gloves - they definitely saved my hands big time, their knuckles are a mess, mine are fine. i was wearing 8" leather boots (my ankles and feet are fine). For pants I had on simple cotton cargo pants. I'm really shocked at how well they held up, they just have a few holes in them. Both the pant legs and the jacket sleeves slid up, so I got a pretty big road rash on my arm, and a lighter one on my calf. Minor scrapes & bruises on both knees. I had on a full face helmet, nothing wrong there.
Bike: I do have a pair of really long eBay frame sliders that I figured would have been worthless in an event like this. I'm amazed to say they did pretty well. The braked only bent slightly. The slider saved a lot of the bike and probably my leg. I did crack my fairing, but that was from hitting a tree in the brush, no slider can prevent that. Dent on the tank, either from belt buckle or tree in the brush. Broken right rearview. Ground down transmission case corner and brake pedal. Rash on right side of rear faring, not too bad - may be able to sand and paint it myself.
Take-aways: Well mostly I only learned things I already knew: If I had been in full riding leathers, I probably wouldn't have a scratch on me, just the sprained thumb. That doesn't mean I'll never ride with out them again - I am generally just very clear on what kind of riding I'm doing. Chilling out and riding slow, and I'm ok with jeans or the like, but still want a leather jacket. The difference here is I was kinda showing off to the girl who was riding my Ninja 650R behind me (I'm selling it, she's probably buying it). That was stupid, and I knew it was stupid when I was doing it. The one big "new" thing I learned was about how you really do have to hang way off the side of the bike on a really tight turn. I just don't normally ride that fast, so I hardly ever take turns that require any hanging at all. The real take-away is really just "duh, don't push limits without full gear on".
I say I got lucky, and I did. But that luck was helped out by the fact that I do think about what I'm getting myself into in advance. A lot of the "it could have been worse" scenarios are ones that I did clarify I wasn't in before I knowingly pushed my limits and failed. The three things I did do "right" were: One I was completely clear that there were no oncoming cars before I attempted the turn. I didn't *expect* to crash, I was merely aware that I was choosing to increase my risk. I had plenty of time to slow down and take the turn well within my abilities, and that's what I would have done if there had been traffic. Second was that I was "almost" dressed right. The heavy leather jacket, the riding gloves, the boots, and of course the helmet, were not luck. The Third thing I did right was the rolling. I have learned from others that the worst thing you can do in a bad slide/roll is try to stop yourself. That's pretty much how you break bones and dislocate joints.
It's an interesting question as to why I wasn't dressed better. There are two ways to look at it. One is that the purpose of the ride was for the girl to test-ride the Ninja. She's coming from a 250R, so I intended not to do any hard-core riding. The other is that when I ride with other people, I make sure that I am dressed the same as they are. It's sort of like the "reciprocal restraint" rule that a lot of auto clubs have on their track days - you can't wear a 5-point harness unless you have one for your instructor too. In this case it is that I don't want to set myself up to be able to push the limits if the person I am riding with is not also set up that way. The idea is supposed to be that I then *won't* push the limits. Obviously that didn't work out today. But the secondary idea is that it's not fair to the other person to be better prepared for a crash than they are. That part basically did work right today.
Last edited by avramd; 04-10-2010 at 11:01 AM.
04-10-2010, 08:11 PM
#2
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Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Utah
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Glad you came away fairly unscathed and didn't try to "surf" the bike. That would have been REALLY stupid.
If the turn was well within the bikes limits, then no "hanging off" required. Maybe a better line ? Trail brake ? Suspension settings / upgrade ?
If you are at the point where Hanging Off is required, maybe think about doing Track Days instead of canyons
If the turn was well within the bikes limits, then no "hanging off" required. Maybe a better line ? Trail brake ? Suspension settings / upgrade ?
If you are at the point where Hanging Off is required, maybe think about doing Track Days instead of canyons
04-11-2010, 07:58 AM
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Location: Newport, RI
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I mean, my tires still have chicken strips on them. I'm not "at the point" where performance upgrades are the answer. Also, I personally submit that performance upgrades are not the solution to crashes. Track days, yes.
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