Long post everybody, I had my first real crash yesterday. I rode out from NYC on Thanksgiving morning to my mom's place in Eastern Long Island (about a 2 hour ride), and yesterday I took the bike for a quick spin. Out where she lives there's very little traffic and many quiet, windy roads, which was a huge change for me since I've been riding in NYC for the last three months. Needless to say I was loving it: no cagers, finally some twists on a chilly, sunny day. I was practicing getting my butt and torso hanging off parallel to and on the inside of the bike before diving into turns. Keeping my eyes level, looking through the turn, hanging off, a correct line, early braking, on the throttle once leaned, and arms relaxed turned out to be way way too much fun and multitasking for my newbie brain to handle, and about half an hour into my hard riding, my idiocy kicked in and I had a serious brain freeze. I finished a pair of switchback turns and exited hard on the throttle towards a left hander. Before the switchbacks a sign was to warn of 10 mph curves, and I don't know how much faster I was going. I paid no attention to my line as I was too focused on what my body was doing, apexed way too early and headed straight for a bank with a mountain of leaves at the edge of the road. "$#!T!!!" I yelled, cursing, just as mid-lean I slid on the piled leaves and over the bank, sliding for about 15-20 feet on my left side. my left foot was trapped and twisted under the bike, and after about one second of sliding, the bike and I came to a stop, it stalled, and I jumped up cursing full of adrenaline and disbelief. I was furious at myself. I couldn't believe I was dumb enough for this to happen. I had ridden hard for half an hour, turning properly without any problems, but I took this last turn way too fast.
I finally gathered myself together, assessing my body for injuries, and except for my twisted left ankle I felt fine. I moved to the bike, spilled over on its left side on an incline, and couldn't lift it on my own because of the banked incline. A guy in a car came around the corner a minute later and was nice enough to help me and offer a ride. We lifted it up and I pushed the bike back down to the pavement. I was so mad I couldn't face being with a stranger so I turned the ride down. I inspected the bike for a few minutes: the black plastic behind the windshield, which attaches to the upper fairing, was cracked; the lower fairing was scratched, dented, and full of leaves; the left front signal had broken off and the wires stuck out; and my self-esteem was absolutely trashed. i laughed for a long time, so happy I was ok. a massive electric post stood 10 feet from where I stopped sliding. My injuries could have been so much worse had I smashed into that post. Luckily for my armored pants, jacket, helmet, full winter gloves, and riding boots, I came out ok. My jacket was kinda muddy but everything else was fine, so I rode the bike back home and told my mother that I crashed, trying to ease her frantic nerves. I felt like such an idiot.
That was my first crash. For the next several hours I went over what I did wrong (so much) and thanked heavens for my health and insurance. After a good night's rest I feel much better today; I have a slight ankle sprain but my nerves are eased. I don't want to sell the bike! Instead I want to pretty it up and master my cornering. So, today I took the damage as an excuse to peel off all the plastics and embark upon a conversion to naked.
In sum, let this post serve as a warning to all my fellow newbs on the forum who have yet to get too confident and punch through the traction envelope. Don't rush in to advanced riding. leave the passenger at home, wear all your gear, focus on proper corner entry speed, pressing, look through the turn to where you want to go, and ease on the throttle once leaned over. Don't do like me and rush into it! Don't buy the $8k supersport, stick with the flickable, cheap GS, and buy used! My crash happened SO quickly I barely had any time or experience to react. I definitely learned my lesson and I hope others will learn from mine, too. None of us are invincible and we really have to be patient before trying to take on so much. Last, if you're reading this Alphamazing, I've got my eyes on your mods, so I'll be bothering you for some advice on how to take on the F-->naked conversion! Ride safe everybody.
G
glad to hear you're OK!! that's most important part.
thanks for sharing detailed info. We (noobs) will be able to prevent such situations :)
And one more thing: next time you're going to I love YOU in Long Island - LET ME KNOW!! I'll join with joy!!
cheers and stay SAFE!!
I had a similar experience when i first started riding, admittedly i was on a 50cc motorbike which was my first bike however i made the same mistake. There is a road up on the hill where i live called camp lane and its perfect for that 50cc bike, its so twisty that my 50cc bike came into its element, weight almost nothing but capable of 60mph it was the best road and i road on it nearly every day so i knew it well.
I knew of its complete encasement in tree, i knew of the blocked drain on turn 6, i knew that turn 9 had a small "curb" edge to stop the water running directly off the steep embankment which kept this road pirched on the hill. It was a high bank on the right side and a steep steep drop on the left, a narrow and blind road. I knew it very well which was my downfall really. The bike was just too tempting to go fast along there, i had pushed and pushed and could ride that thing with my knee down all the way on skinny ass tires doing about 50mph average, it was an adrenaline rush until the very very near accident.
I went through the first 90 degree left then followed the double apex right hander which rose and then fell then rose again switching to a medium left over the brow of the hill, through the switchback and the drain, the road was slightly damp but i knew i could grip in these conditions i had done it many times, approaching turn 9 a 70+ degree right hander rising slightly, i was doing about 50mph the road gets narrow due to high hedges on the bank on the right overgrowing, the left was a huge drop, just as i commited lent over knee was coming down a massive (comparitively) supermarket delivery van came tearing through the corner, almost in the middle of the road i stood the bike up for a split second and saw the huge drop ahead of me through the light foliage, i threw it back on its side just missing the van by inches, i was going too fast for this line and i could see the small curb coming closer and closer, funnily enough even i my valantino esq' lean i hadn't lost traction ... yet, the wet leaves were collected just round the edge of the small curb, i could see them coming thinkin oh crap im guna hit those and lose it completely. No choice but to hang in and hope to make it through... well i hit the leaves at full lean which sent the bike further wide sliding, then i hit the curb (not too violently) as the bike merged due to the slide. Hit the curb but suprisingly was still on the bike still moving through the corner, the reduce speed now meant i was turning sharper i pulled away from the curb and flew out of the corner standing the bike up, no fall, no accident. Just alot of shaZam! in my pants! I pulled over at the next layby got of it and had to walk around to calm myself down. It was such a near miss, i brushed the curb which was the only thing stopping me going off the edge. It must have been a one in a million chance of it all turning out like that.
I ride there much more safely now and have far more respect for that road. Live and learn.
Glad to hear your ok and made it through!
Sorry kml. us naked riders got another one...haha. Sorry to hear about your crash. Glad you are sticking with it.
Thanks for sharing . Dear God, Please dont let me do that. :icon_lol:
more important than even coming out okay is that you took from it and learned something. That is invaluable.
be more careful next time. glad you're okay.
I just wanna throw this out there, as its a probable factor(s) in your crash which I have been victim to.
QuoteI paid no attention to my line as I was too focused on what my body was doing, apexed way too early and headed straight for a bank with a mountain of leaves at the edge of the road.
Those two items that I made bold are the two things from one sentence that rung out when I read your post.
1. Where your eyes go, your mind goes, where your mind goes, your body goes, and hence the bike follows.... well if your mind is focused on how your body is positioned, then its not paying attention to the rapidly approaching terrain. I commend you for trying to learn to hang off the bike, but unless you are scraping hard parts or have scraped at least your toe on the ground a few times, it not imminent that you learn to hang off. It is much better to slowly work your way into it by practicing in large open parking lots (which in NYC I'm sure are in short supply so take this as it applies). Try to "Kiss your mirror" going into turns. Leaning forward and to the inside. Your upper body is much further from your center of gravity has a greater effect on what the bike does. It also puts you into a great position for turning your head and looking through the corner to whats coming up. If you worry about whats 15 feet in front of you in a canyon, you won't be very successful, and more importantly, its unsafe. at 45mph you are traveling 66 feet per second. Give yourself as much time as possible to react.
2. I hate to say it, and everyone has had it happen to them at one time or another, with varying degrees, but it really sounds like maybe you target fixated on that bank with leaves. As you said you actually had time to say "$hit" before you actually went down.
So, did your crash look anything like this.... This is a video of me being an absolute moron. Not focused on my lines and target fixation.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=RcuM9aBgHL8
So glad you both are / were okay!
I thought "target fixation" too. Gotta look where you want to go, not at the thing you want to miss, even though it can be REALLY hard!. I learned that on my mountain bike first. If I need to ride a skinny line, I have to follow it with my eyes and my bike will follow it. If I look at the big boulder I want to go around, I will hit it or bounce off of it at the last second, if I look at it too long after I spot it. I slid in leaves on a dirt singletrack switchback once, it was a down hill and I was too fast when I got to the level part, so I braked just a little but I locked up the back tire because of the leaves and it slid off the edge. I held it, leaning inland on one leg, but then I looked down, and that was all it took, just a little weight shift. Off went the rest of the bike, and I was either going to go down with it or let it go by itself to who knows what landing. I couldn't see if there was switchback below. So my buddy rode farther down, there was trail below, so I let the bike go and followed it down on my rear, holding the bars, about 25 feet of dirt and brush and leaves, got my jeans and boots full of crud.
NOT to say that I will ever come any closer to knee dragging on a moto than just sliding my rear over a bit and weighting the peg. I'm practicing in canyons and learning a lot and I will never be "fast" as I prefer to be safe, so when *I* see a 10 MPH sign up there, especially on a downhill and I know it's a full semi circular blind curve with a 100 foot drop off on the outside :o , I go around at about 10MPH! Basically almost completely upright! :laugh: I'd rather be a chicken and save the faster stuff for when I can see ahead a lot better, even if I did know the road, I don't know if there is a stalled car, a deer, rocks or gravel, or a cager coming the other way and crossing over to my side. When I can see, I ride harder.
Great stories though, and good teaching material for the rest of us, no matter the level of experience.
Target fixation is an evil evil thing!!! :icon_twisted:
Good advice TragicImage :thumb:
Gotta watch those leaves! I stopped strafing one of my favorite roads up here last week. Too many wet leaves. :mad:
Quote from: TragicImage on November 25, 2007, 02:03:15 AM
I just wanna throw this out there, as its a probable factor(s) in your crash which I have been victim to.
QuoteI paid no attention to my line as I was too focused on what my body was doing, apexed way too early and headed straight for a bank with a mountain of leaves at the edge of the road.
Those two items that I made bold are the two things from one sentence that rung out when I read your post.
1. Where your eyes go, your mind goes, where your mind goes, your body goes, and hence the bike follows....
2. I hate to say it, and everyone has had it happen to them at one time or another, with varying degrees, but it really sounds like maybe you target fixated on that bank with leaves. As you said you actually had time to say "$hit" before you actually went down.
So, did your crash look anything like this.... This is a video of me being an absolute moron. Not focused on my lines and target fixation.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=RcuM9aBgHL8
Everybody, and TragicImage especially,
thank you for the invaluable words. This was definitely a case of target fixation and my crash looked a lot like that youtube video you posted. how fast were you going? I don't know what my speed was, but the crash felt like it happened quickly. I'm mad at myself for being so inattentive. I was focused on my body and what was immediately in front of me (leaves/bank) when I should've honed on proper entry speed and lines. I was excited to be out here instead of the city because the roads were so empty. That definitely contributed to my inattention. I've taken that turn many times, and probably as fast. I had come down it in the other direction only minutes before, looking through the entire turn! The crash could have been a lot more serious - had it been a right hander and oncoming traffic were coming in the other direction I wouldn't be here typing right now. This was definitely a wake-up call.
I'm not sure about anyone else but after a while of riding I find it sometimes harder to concentrate. A few times while out with my friends I failed to notice their brake lights and had to jump on them very hard. Corners can be just as bad when your not ready for them, especially when you aren't familiar with the roads.
Glad to hear your OK though.
honestly, by the time I left the roadway, I was probably only going about 20-25mph.... when you target fixate, you completly lose the comprehension that you really CAN make that turn if you just look ahead. Confidence is Key. If you think you can make it, then you have a 95% chance of actually making it.... when you doubt you can make it, you have 100% chance of crashing.
I forget if it was this board, or SoCal-Sportbikes that said "If you're going down, might as well try to be Hayden for 2 seconds and see what you can pull out of your a$$.. might work out for the best".
Quote from: Dober on November 25, 2007, 09:40:36 AM
I'm not sure about anyone else but after a while of riding I find it sometimes harder to concentrate. A few times while out with my friends I failed to notice their brake lights and had to jump on them very hard. Corners can be just as bad when your not ready for them, especially when you aren't familiar with the roads.
Glad to hear your OK though.
I too do that, its a complacency issue.... I just get comfortable and then it creates a moment when my "brown starfish" swallows a whole bunch of seat foam and jars me back into paying attention.... I wonder if that ever goes away completely?