My First Crash: Looped on Highway 1

[ZeteticRaider]

Hello, BARF! As someone that watched a lot of crash videos to learn from prior to getting my license in 2016, I'm really glad to have found this section.

I was on my third solo touring trip up the California coast with around 3000 miles to my name. My goal was to spend the night at Fort Bragg, then camp two nights near the Avenue of Giants before heading home.

The weather was great. In the first hour of the trip, I hit traffic on a random road going to the coast from the 101 to the 1. As it was hot that day, I found myself getting annoyed from the long holdup (construction on a two lane road). I continued on my journey and started to have a blast once I got to Highway 1. The twisties were very fun and challenging and I could feel myself improving.

Somewhere on the 1, prior to getting to Fort Bragg, there was a straightaway of about 100 yards. I was second in a line of 3-4 cars. The car in front of me slowed down to cautiously drive around a box that was in the middle of our lane. Though it was a double yellow, the coast was clear and I decided to take this opportunity for an overtake while the car in front of me was slowed down to around 20 mph. I had shifted down to 1st gear.

I gassed it as I went over the double yellow into the oncoming lane and, almost immediately, the front started to rise... and kept rising. My exhaust hit the ground and I was thrown off. The bike tumbled and flipped while sliding. She came to a rest about 15 yards from the end of the straight stretch and right before a blind corner in the oncoming lane.

Some awesome elderly ladies that were in the cars in front of and behind me started to control traffic and made sure nobody came flying around the corner. I was worried that these people were putting themselves in the middle of the street to stop cars but they handled it like pros. I couldn't thank them enough for their help.

As I had gunned it in first gear many times before, I tried to isolate what I did differently/wrong this time. Once my front started to lift, I know that my lack of experience and ability to execute the proper actions led to looping my bike. I knew to modulate the rear break or let off the throttle to bring the front back down, but that information didn't come into play in my reaction. The front lifted up very fast and the only thing I could manage to do was think "I won't be making it to my paid-for motel"...

Being my first crash and having plenty of time to think about it as I waited by my wrecked baby for a tow, here is what I think happened:

As I went down only a few miles before a mapped out resting point, I was at the period where I needed to rest my butt. Even though my tail was loaded with completely-packed side bags and duffel bag (full of tools, rain gear, clothes, camping equipment, etc.), I cancelled that out as being a reason for the crash as I had ridden with a big load on my tail before while gunning it in first and second, and it wasn't too different than being two up and having the weight of a person on the tail.

After the earlier stint through hot traffic, my impatience led me to cross over a double yellow on the first straight I deemed sufficient. I usually overtake in 2nd gear and had little to no experience overtaking from 1st. Rather than being smooth with the acceleration, I gave it too much throttle from the start. This was probably due to my unfamiliarity with the road and wanting to complete the overtake as fast as possible before getting to the blind corner about a hundred yards ahead. Had I not been impatient that day, I would have found a better area to overtake without rushing it.

I realized quite a bit later how lucky I was to not have hit anything or hurt anybody as my crash happened and ended in the oncoming lane. Right after the straightaway was a blind corner, then another straightaway. Cars coming the opposite direction would come in fast before that blind corner, so they would have a high speed into and exiting that corner where my bike came to rest.

I had full leathers with knee, hip, elbow, shoulder and back armor, gloves and over the ankle boots. I am sold on Dainese as a brand and have them to thank for my lack of injuries. At some point during my slide/tumble, my helmet-mounted GoPro snapped off. Besides the regular aches and bruises from sliding and tumbling on cement, I didn't get a single scratch. The shoulder that hit the ground is still healing up, but I consider myself very fortunate it wasn't worse. And I found the GoPro.

Summary:

100% my fault. Impatience led me to choose a bad spot to overtake, and that led me to put on too much throttle in 1st gear. Then inexperience resulted in a front tire lift becoming a loop. Many mistakes were made. RIP CBR.

 

[motomania2007]

good that you wrote it down and worked through it.

To quote my grandmother when ever I made a blunder: "what did you learn from it and what are you going to do about it so you don't repeat that mistake?"

 

[Hank Wong]

Happy to hear you are not hurt and your gear did a marvelous job in protecting you. Three cheers for gearing up for rides! Bike, leather and hotel cost are replaceable. In the long run, they're even inconsequential. What is consequential is that you are not hurt from the accident, you live to ride again, and you are wiser. Let's call it half full. You are lucky.
Besides impatience being root cause. We can agree on that. How about cause? it is a case of throttle control and the front end picking up changing your weight distribution. You didn't say. Have you done wheelies before? If yes, you are familiar with doing wheelies on that bike, then you may ask what was different.
Do you remember how much gas you have in the tank? Do you remember what you did with your body when motorcycle weight starts to shift aft? An near empty tank and wrong body position can become contributors.

 

[Tally Whacker]

First off, let me say that the difference between a bad rider and a good one is whether they can learn from their mistakes. It seems you are doing just that, and that is a Very Good Thing. We all make mistakes (well, maybe not that Lou guy, but the rest of us do). Learn from it and move on. As long as the injuries aren't too bad and the cost can be absorbed, it's all just an anecdote to recall later.


Second, that photo is awesome. Seriously awesome. There is no way I would have thought to get my camera out at a moment like that. That's good journalism right there.

 

[NorCal Factory]

BTW the heavy load on the rear of the bike was a major factor in addition to a lack of smooth throttle.

The balance point of the bike was far to the rear and showed up once the front wheel was in the air. That is exactly why airplane pilots conduct a weight and balance calculation referring to graphs for every flight.

Different aircraft can become unrecoverable from different attitudes due to too much weight forward or to the rear. The same for your bike.

 

[RV6John]

As others have said, glad you are OK, props for full gear and great picture!

Don't discount the amount of weight you had on the back. Once the swingarm goes past a point, you lose anti-squat in the suspension and the rear will compress even more quickly.

Is it possible that this is a case of "whiskey throttle"? This is where your initial wrist position is high so when you accelerate, your hand moves down adding more throttle. Of course you would be holding on tight and unable to release the throttle.

I watched a guy do this at an MSF basic class. Fortunately, he bailed off the back before the bike hit a telephone pole then a car (it was his car).

I've also done a version of this myself. I had a back protector with a neck extension that would ride up and bump the back of my helmet. As I was leaving the pit area, I sat upright and was trying to bump it down with the back of my helmet. That motion pulled my arm back rolled on the throttle unintentionally. :wow

I didn't drop it but it was close. The best part is I don't think anyone saw it. At least no one was laughing

 

[madsen203]

Awesome picture attached. Sounds like everything else was discussed. I suggest to practice some wheelies so you know how to control a bobbing front wheel. Better positioning of the hand on the throttle, clutch lever, and rear brake would have saved you. Lean forward, back off throttle, shift up?

 

[ZeteticRaider]

Sorry for the delay in responses. I appreciate the feedback!

motonania2007, thanks. Wise words from your grandmother. Applying the lessons learned to my current riding.

Thanks, Hank Wong. I feel lucky and grateful. Throttle control was definitely an issue. After I shifted down to 1st approaching the car in front that had slowed down, I put too much throttle to get around. I accelerated in 1st like I usually do in 2nd. I would say it was my first or second overtake in 1st gear in my short list of overtakes. I gunned it around 6000 rpm and the front started lifting around 9000 rpm. Being on 2 wheels to my exhaust/tail hitting the ground took 1 second. I have not done wheelies before. This was the first and the worst. Gas was around 80%. I was sitting in my regular body position.

haha Tally Whacker. I knew I had to get a good shot! Thanks, I learned my lesson. I'm smoother on the throttle and more conscious of accelerating, particularly the start.

NorCal Factory, the load weight was a factor for sure. I meant not a factor as being the reason I looped it. I forget I even have luggage most of the ride. I accelerated like I would have with no load. With a similar load on the tail and accelerating hard, that was the first time the front wheel ever lifted. Surprised the shit out of me.

Thanks, RV6John. I didn't know that. So the more compressed the rear suspension, the easier it will be to pop the front up? I would say my hand position was the same as usual. At the point the front started to lift, the top of my hand was about 80 degrees to my wrist. I'm glad your accidental wheelie ended up okay! Good reminder that those kinds of movements can make your bike follow.

Thanks, madseb203. I'm thinking of getting a used dirt bike beater to practice on to get used to that feeling. All I managed to do was get thrown off in the 1 second it took to be vertical. With practice/experience, that could have been a good wheelie.