NorCalAthlete
O_o
This is me, half asleep, reading BARF on my laptop and seeing threads about squids, jeans, crashes, mishaps, etc. The sink's a lot more entertaining and a lot less Debbie-downer...but here I am poking my head up into CA / General so bear with me.
The first time I crashed was also the first time I rode a motorcycle. We've all been there. I was about 12, riding my neighbor's dirtbike around the backyard. Didn't know how to turn very well and hit the fence. Low speed, fell off, got a couple scrapes and bruises.
The second time I crashed, I was on a group ride, at dusk, at a rather high rate of speed in some broad, sweeping twisties, my first time riding with this group, first time riding that road. Came around a blind, varied angle bank, decreasing radius right hand turn, carried wide onto the bot dots on the double yellow, and had a deer run in front of me all at once. About everything that could go wrong, did, simultaneously, and from what I can remember, the back end got squirrelly, I tried to stand it up and brake without tucking the front, and I ended up in a barbed-wire fence after about 75-100 yards of sliding on pavement and dirt. I was wearing Dainese leather gloves, my Dainese leather jacket, JEANS, and Timberland boots along with my Shoei RF1000 helmet. My bike was an '03 GSXR 600. Here's a couple pics of the bike and my helmet:
I was fortunate enough to walk away with minor road rash that left no scars and a minor concussion. I bought the exact same helmet, new gloves, and a new bike, a 2007 GSXR750, the next day. Lessons learned - go easier on unfamiliar roads, be more aware of wildlife at dusk/night.
The third time I crashed, I was doing about 35-40 mph down a 3 lane business way heading home from dinner at night with some friends. I was in the lead, and about to go through an intersection when I glanced behind me to make sure my friends were close enough to make the light (I hate blowing through a yellow then having to pull over because they caught the red, or when someone I'm following barely makes a red and I stop for it). Well, when I glanced back, they were all waving me to turn left through the intersection and had their turn signals on. We had a green arrow and there was no traffic in either direction, so I jammed on the brakes and cut across the lane just as I entered the intersection. Since it was night time and the road had been freshly renovated, I didn't see the black tar gravel leftover from the renovation in the intersection. Tucked the front as I was still braking from the last minute lane change and slide maybe 10-20 feet on my palms and toes. Again, I was wearing the same jacket, a new set of the same gloves, similar jeans, the same Timberland boots, everything. My wrist hurt the most from impacting the ground, but I was otherwise unscratched. My bike had frame sliders (bought them at the dealership as I bought the bike) and was likely unscathed (though I did need new pucks for my sliders). To recap this incident - last minute lane change, night, fresh black pavement, black gravel, tucked the front. Lesson learned - be more careful about last minute lane changes, be more wary of intersections, construction zones, and debris at night.
The fourth time I dropped my bike was exiting a parking lot behind a friend. There was a wide patch of dirt/gravel, so we were going slow, but also had to merge into traffic. A gap was coming up and I was directly behind him and a little to his left. While watching traffic to the left, and seeing the gap, I heard him rev his engine and saw his brake light go off as he started rolling, so I started to go as well. He changed his mind and braked again as I started rolling, and I was so close I locked up my front brake trying to avoid hitting him. The front slid in the dirt and I dropped it going maybe 2 mph, jumped off and landed on my feet. No biggie, picked the bike up. Lesson learned - give more space when in reduced traction conditions, even when standing still in preparation to move.
The fifth time wasn't really my fault, but sort of was. I was on Woodside road, and a pickup truck was doing about 15 mph in a 35 mph section. He moved over and drove half on the shoulder for me to pass, but right before I got up next to him to pass we approached a blind right hand. I decided to go for it anyway as it was relatively slow and I had plenty of room, but as I did he accelerated and came back into the lane. (Looking back at the road after, he'd run out of shoulder to drive on and instead of stopping sped back up). Right as we were now side by side, a car came speeding around the turn, partly OVER the yellow into our lane. I jammed on my brakes to tuck back in behind him, not wanting to get caught between vehicles, and he hit his brakes as well. Net result was I clipped his rear bumper trying to tuck back in behind him and slid about 20 feet on my hands and knees. Again, same riding gear, but I'd picked up some Dainese Torque-In boots, and instead of my leather gloves I was wearing some cheaper Alpine Star MX style summer gloves. The gloves held up fine, as did my jeans, but I still ended up with some road rash on my knee which is now a large scar. Funny how a high speed crash that totaled my first bike left me with no scars, and a low speed dink left me with a large one. Lessons learned - be wary of oncoming traffic in the twisties, don't assume you can pass someone even if they look like they're letting you. Shit can change in the blink of an eye.
I've kept these lessons in mind over the years, and adjusted my riding habits accordingly. I'm glad to say I have 0 crashes in the last 4 years now and going strong. I've had some close calls and pucker moments, but my own experiences combined with reading other people's accounts of the random things that can happen when you're riding have kept me relatively safe.
My late night ponderance tonight however is whether I've adjusted enough. I still ride in jeans, and not even kevlar jeans. I don't wear kneepads. I've picked up some Sidi Vortice boots that I wear when I'm riding for fun, and stick with the Dainese Torque-Ins when I'm commuting/not doing any hard riding. I also picked up some RS Taichi gloves to replace the Dainese ones I had (they got stolen a while back). I still have the same helmet I bought the day after that second wreck. I don't know that leather pants or full leathers would have helped me at all in any of my wrecks. It *may* have prevented some road rash from the Woodside crash, but the jeans I was wearing then didn't even get a single fray mark. You literally could not tell that I had just gone down. The jacket I have is still perfectly serviceable and while it does show the scuffs of each crash, it's surface damage only and the seams and everything are quite intact. I do have a 1-piece now for trackdays (just did my first a little while ago, getting around to doing a second). I don't wear it on the street though. And honestly, I don't push things nearly as much as I used to on the street. Or at least it doesn't feel like it. I'm not sure if I've just improved that much as a rider to where it doesn't feel like I'm pushing things, or if I'm really just holding back.
Anyway, just thought I'd share what's keeping me up at 2am on a Monday night/Tuesday morning. Feel free to comment, critique, whatever :thumbup and always :ride safe!
The first time I crashed was also the first time I rode a motorcycle. We've all been there. I was about 12, riding my neighbor's dirtbike around the backyard. Didn't know how to turn very well and hit the fence. Low speed, fell off, got a couple scrapes and bruises.
The second time I crashed, I was on a group ride, at dusk, at a rather high rate of speed in some broad, sweeping twisties, my first time riding with this group, first time riding that road. Came around a blind, varied angle bank, decreasing radius right hand turn, carried wide onto the bot dots on the double yellow, and had a deer run in front of me all at once. About everything that could go wrong, did, simultaneously, and from what I can remember, the back end got squirrelly, I tried to stand it up and brake without tucking the front, and I ended up in a barbed-wire fence after about 75-100 yards of sliding on pavement and dirt. I was wearing Dainese leather gloves, my Dainese leather jacket, JEANS, and Timberland boots along with my Shoei RF1000 helmet. My bike was an '03 GSXR 600. Here's a couple pics of the bike and my helmet:
I was fortunate enough to walk away with minor road rash that left no scars and a minor concussion. I bought the exact same helmet, new gloves, and a new bike, a 2007 GSXR750, the next day. Lessons learned - go easier on unfamiliar roads, be more aware of wildlife at dusk/night.
The third time I crashed, I was doing about 35-40 mph down a 3 lane business way heading home from dinner at night with some friends. I was in the lead, and about to go through an intersection when I glanced behind me to make sure my friends were close enough to make the light (I hate blowing through a yellow then having to pull over because they caught the red, or when someone I'm following barely makes a red and I stop for it). Well, when I glanced back, they were all waving me to turn left through the intersection and had their turn signals on. We had a green arrow and there was no traffic in either direction, so I jammed on the brakes and cut across the lane just as I entered the intersection. Since it was night time and the road had been freshly renovated, I didn't see the black tar gravel leftover from the renovation in the intersection. Tucked the front as I was still braking from the last minute lane change and slide maybe 10-20 feet on my palms and toes. Again, I was wearing the same jacket, a new set of the same gloves, similar jeans, the same Timberland boots, everything. My wrist hurt the most from impacting the ground, but I was otherwise unscratched. My bike had frame sliders (bought them at the dealership as I bought the bike) and was likely unscathed (though I did need new pucks for my sliders). To recap this incident - last minute lane change, night, fresh black pavement, black gravel, tucked the front. Lesson learned - be more careful about last minute lane changes, be more wary of intersections, construction zones, and debris at night.
The fourth time I dropped my bike was exiting a parking lot behind a friend. There was a wide patch of dirt/gravel, so we were going slow, but also had to merge into traffic. A gap was coming up and I was directly behind him and a little to his left. While watching traffic to the left, and seeing the gap, I heard him rev his engine and saw his brake light go off as he started rolling, so I started to go as well. He changed his mind and braked again as I started rolling, and I was so close I locked up my front brake trying to avoid hitting him. The front slid in the dirt and I dropped it going maybe 2 mph, jumped off and landed on my feet. No biggie, picked the bike up. Lesson learned - give more space when in reduced traction conditions, even when standing still in preparation to move.
The fifth time wasn't really my fault, but sort of was. I was on Woodside road, and a pickup truck was doing about 15 mph in a 35 mph section. He moved over and drove half on the shoulder for me to pass, but right before I got up next to him to pass we approached a blind right hand. I decided to go for it anyway as it was relatively slow and I had plenty of room, but as I did he accelerated and came back into the lane. (Looking back at the road after, he'd run out of shoulder to drive on and instead of stopping sped back up). Right as we were now side by side, a car came speeding around the turn, partly OVER the yellow into our lane. I jammed on my brakes to tuck back in behind him, not wanting to get caught between vehicles, and he hit his brakes as well. Net result was I clipped his rear bumper trying to tuck back in behind him and slid about 20 feet on my hands and knees. Again, same riding gear, but I'd picked up some Dainese Torque-In boots, and instead of my leather gloves I was wearing some cheaper Alpine Star MX style summer gloves. The gloves held up fine, as did my jeans, but I still ended up with some road rash on my knee which is now a large scar. Funny how a high speed crash that totaled my first bike left me with no scars, and a low speed dink left me with a large one. Lessons learned - be wary of oncoming traffic in the twisties, don't assume you can pass someone even if they look like they're letting you. Shit can change in the blink of an eye.
I've kept these lessons in mind over the years, and adjusted my riding habits accordingly. I'm glad to say I have 0 crashes in the last 4 years now and going strong. I've had some close calls and pucker moments, but my own experiences combined with reading other people's accounts of the random things that can happen when you're riding have kept me relatively safe.
My late night ponderance tonight however is whether I've adjusted enough. I still ride in jeans, and not even kevlar jeans. I don't wear kneepads. I've picked up some Sidi Vortice boots that I wear when I'm riding for fun, and stick with the Dainese Torque-Ins when I'm commuting/not doing any hard riding. I also picked up some RS Taichi gloves to replace the Dainese ones I had (they got stolen a while back). I still have the same helmet I bought the day after that second wreck. I don't know that leather pants or full leathers would have helped me at all in any of my wrecks. It *may* have prevented some road rash from the Woodside crash, but the jeans I was wearing then didn't even get a single fray mark. You literally could not tell that I had just gone down. The jacket I have is still perfectly serviceable and while it does show the scuffs of each crash, it's surface damage only and the seams and everything are quite intact. I do have a 1-piece now for trackdays (just did my first a little while ago, getting around to doing a second). I don't wear it on the street though. And honestly, I don't push things nearly as much as I used to on the street. Or at least it doesn't feel like it. I'm not sure if I've just improved that much as a rider to where it doesn't feel like I'm pushing things, or if I'm really just holding back.
Anyway, just thought I'd share what's keeping me up at 2am on a Monday night/Tuesday morning. Feel free to comment, critique, whatever :thumbup and always :ride safe!
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