Well guess what guys, tonight was my night to go down. I was coming home from work and there is this turn thats like 1 mile from my house, I thought i would try and be a big shot and bump up 10 mph over the 40 mph speed limit, I'm not positive on how fast i was goin when i went down though. This is a pretty shapr turn BTW. you get a pretty good lean doin 40. Well I started drifting to the outside so I leaned in a little bit more and it helped some, I don't think I could lean anymore due to fear. So I drift into the grass and ride it out for about 40 feet, then, guessing by the marks in the grass, the front tire slid out and then the rear tire slid out and it went down. I start sliding on my back the flip up in the air and fall on my arm HARD and then a little more sliding on my back till I stopped. The funny thing is, is that when I went down I was holding onto the bike for like 10 feet or so and I was lookin through the lil mini fairing and then let go of the handle bars. Well damage is not bad at all from what I have seen so far. The clutch lever completely broke off and the left footpeg broke off to, and some scratches here and there. Only thing thats hurt on me is my knees, pretty good gashes, and my left arm from falling on it when I was in the air. My gear will be used another day. My leather gloves are a little messed up, but I wouldn't have any fingertips if I wasn't wearing them. My jacket is fine so it wi;; be used again, boots, little cuts and scrapes, and my helmet just has a few light scratches on it. My jeans, though, are torn up. I have to thank God because I know it could have been way worse than what it was. Need to thank the nice old folks who let me use their phone to call my mom, and I need to thank my friends boyfriend who helped tow it home. Sorry for the length but it was my first wreck so yea. Safe riding everyone.
sorry to hear dude....i know you're young and maybe that's a good thing....now you know how it is and you're lucky you didn't have to experience what most of us did which is sliding on pavement....
it can always be worse but now you know...get better soon
Quote from: GRUnow you know how it is and you're lucky you didn't have to experience what most of us did which is sliding on pavement....
Thanks, but I was sliding on pavement, like I slid in the dirt then drifted onto the pavement. Cause when I got up I was on the yellow line that separates the lines. But yea I'm just mad at myself for being a stupid immature kid. But, its a lesson learned so thats the only positive thing bout it.
I hope you were wearing full gear, heal soon!
It seems you're pretty clear about what you did wrong. I'll bet you've learned a lot. Glad your alright! :thumb:
glad you're not hurt worse. with more experience, and more importantly-with incremental increases in speed/risk/etc you'll be able to take a posted curve at 2x the posted speed. You'll be amazed how far you can lean the bike over. Its astonishing.
Good you were wearing gear (now how about those pants?). :thumb:
Glad you are OK, well reasonably OK, You will recover bike is repairable. Road tyres and grass just don't mix as you discovered. Standard advice is to replace a helmet once it's had a whack but a laydown and scratches might be OK. Replace it with your next lottery win just in case.
i'm glad you're ok...believe it or not that was probably a good learning experience for you. did you know that the biggest factor in motorcycle crashes are not rain, not intersections....but curves on the road? well, if i was scared of leaning i probably wouldn't pushed it...but everyone likes to once in a while. i guess that's one way to get better, by pushing yourself...
so you're in the middle of a curve...what do you do if you feel like you're in big trouble? first, your instinct will tell you to slow down, right? so you go for the brakes and your eyes are fixated on the ditch you're about the end up in...i think those two are one the most common mistakes beginner rider can make. i know because i've done those things. so next time, trust your bike, look ahead, through the curve, keep your center of gravity as low as possible and do not apply the brakes especially the front brake.
hey, hop on that bike and keep riding... :thumb:
Yea, I knew not to let off the gas, so I kept it at a steady throttle postion, just looked straight at the dirt and went down. Thanks everybody and I'll be alright. New left footpeg and new clutch lever and I'm gone!! 8)
its good that u are willing to get on the bike right away.. when totalled my car at 16, my dad made me go driving the next day, to conquere my 'fear' of crashing again. as cal said, get a new helmet. even if u drop it on the ground while walking around, can damage it just enough that it wont function properly in the event of a crash.
Damn. Sorry to hear about the wreck. Heal up well. :thumb:
Actually I suspect that dealing with your parents post-crash was worse than the crash itself. I know that's the way I would feel. :o
Dude....we all get a little crazy pushing the limits on our little GS. I know I have in the past and went down once. After that I pretty much learned what the bike can do with my lack of experience. Now I just ride to gain experience and don't push my luck.
Good to hear that your not road rashed or worse. Heal well and get some pants on..... :P
what I noticed is that after my crash you get that same feeling as right before crashed, when you go around certain corners and you think you are going to crash. Jimmy
Sorry to hear that mate, glad your body held up well.
I had a moment, myself, this evening, but I saved it. I was headed home from work on Market St. (main downtown street in San Francisco), which has tons of metal gratings, metal plates, and streetcar rails, plus bad surfacing and plastic markers everywhere. Horrid road.
Anyway, I'm cruising near (behind and to the right) this M3 that decides to cut into my lane. I see it coming, brake a bit adjust my lane position. Thing is, theres a bus in our lane thats stopping that he must not have noticed, so he changes his mind. He hits his brakes and cuts back into the lane he started from .Kind of a quick right-left jink. Anyway, I hadnt fully straightened the bike from my little swerve, and when he hit the brakes I momentarially skidded my rear on one of the ruts in the road, and it went sideways a bit. Bike auto-corrected for the fishtail and came back in line quite smoothly... but it still kinda sucked. :( I rememberd to not let off the rear brake and not to fight the skid... so no nasty off for me tonight. Even if I had gone down, I was only going like 15mph.. so I wouldnt have been too hurt, but still, going down bites.
Glad you are OK!! ;)
Glad you're allright.
Quote from: 96gsjust looked straight at the dirt and went down.
I knew it. When I read your first post you stated that you were looking through your windshield. "looking at what?", I thought.
Glad you're taking a little constructive criticism well with your learning experience.
As JetSwing stated, don't look at
where you're going, look where you
want to go. If the turn is rated for the 40mph, I'm thinking you should have made it (I know, too late for 'should have'; I'm conjecturing). At least at 45. You took it at a big chunk of speed faster, instead of a little bit at a time. You're learnin'. I'ma firm believer that you will go where you are looking, so I think you would have made the turn if where looking up into and through the turn.
Heal up well, (shameless plug for Fieldsheer Carbolex overpants here, or any other proper leg protection), I do not mean to offend.
Eisenfaust - You have one of the most dangerous jungles to ride and learn in. Glad you're allright, too. I'm scared to go into SF.
not looking through the turn (plus speed) is what might get you riding on the side of the road...applying the front brake when your bike is not upright and there's no sure footing (side of the road) is what get you down.
please don't try to correct your speed in a turn when you knowthere are debris underneath you.