Sorry to hear about your misfortunes Daniel. It would probably be good to do something different for awhile to have fun and take your mind off everything.  If you decide to return to motorcycling your mental state will be fresh. I don't know if you've ever tried bicycling but that's about the only thing that I've ever done that takes my mind off everything. It's also great exercise.

Derek

Well im lookin at several months before i get full mobility back, and im able to start lookin at anothe bike. I think this CBR was a bad buy all around.

Danny.....that sucks man.....hope you heal up allright.....I had a similar (but less damaging) crash early in my riding career.....went down on some sand on the road in the middle of a nice lean.....mild shoulder separation....mostly bruised pride....luckily my bike wasn't thrashed.....I was able to get her upright (all adrenaline) and ride to the nearest ER only about 10 miles away.....

.....give everything time to heal....and before you know it you'll be back on two wheels.....you might want to consider a different bike......you've got time to pick out the right bike for you....

.....we're just glad to hear that you were able to walk away from the accident.....

Thanks to those for clarifying the MSF course teachings.

One other thing in obstacle avoidance and fixation, look for the clear area and not at the object to be avoided. This has proven itself to me. Once on the track we were going 4 wide into a left turn. There was one bike to my left and two to the right. The bike to my left spun up the rear and tossed it in front of all of us. Bike parts were flying everywhere and the rider was sliding across our path. I just focused on the clear track (well, as clear as I could find) and we all made it past it debris field upright.

Fixate on the clear road, a good way to avoid potholes and manhole covers.

Regarding lean angles and traction, are there techniques for learning the limits of your bike on a track that you can't learn on a road, or is it just a safer environment to make mistakes?  I can understand the advantage of repeatedly taking a known sequence of turns and observing the effects of small adjustments in lean, speed, throttle, brake, etc on each turn, but is that all?

-Gavin

yeah, my MSF instructors taught us the straighten up and brake technique.  if i remember this was always prefaced by "if you _need to stop_ in a curve"

i distincly remember them saying that most single-motorcycle crashes occur on turns and a majority could be prevented if the rider would just KEEP PRESSING the handlebar


gavin, "learning the limits" in this case is really just overcoming your fear of low-siding.  especially if you do not have much experience, the ability of your bike to hold on to the road while leaning into a curve FAR surpasses your perception of that ability... so, most people just go "oh shaZam!, i can't lean that far" and give up, while they still have a shaZam!-load of lean left

Most of the same things can be learned on the track as the street but the consequences of your mistakes are much more dangerous on the street. The learning curve is much slower on the street than the track since pushing the limits can cause major injury. The track is a more controlled environment. Less to be concerned with along with more opportunity for concentration on the bike and it is action. Remember that it is not the fall that hurts, it is the sudden stop.

Since I have started going to the track, I have become a slower street rider eventhough my ability is greater.

Sorry to hear about your fall - Hope a full and speedy recovery.

awww daniel. so sorry to hear you crashed...hope you get better quickly and get back on a honda soon.

more practice is in order for sure, even a track school or two...

I feel your pain danny and hope it doesnt last.

now i must say this


WAIT WAIT WAIT, did i read that correctly?  
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Rider prep? I've got 12 years of experience on various styles of motorcycle, streetbike for 5 years.

Danny's got 5 months.
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and Danny was riding a CBR?

that about right?

i have some questions then, is it 5 months experience total on bikes dirt and street? 5 months on the CBR alone? how many other bikes riden? (parking lot practice doesnt count)

Yeah I was wondering the same thing... possibly the CBR is too much bike for you right now

In Daniely's defense (sort of)...
It didn't sound like he went down because a too powerful bike, it sounded more like he had too much entrance speed, and reacted wrong to it.

Anyone can do that on any bike, irregardless of HP. heck, you can mess up on a moped like that. You just gotta shake it off and try to train yourself to react the correct way in a situation like that.

He might have been riding beyond his limits (too fast into a corner not knowing the road, etc) but blaming the bike isn't very fair.

     Glad your ok Daniely....heal quick brudda...!!

Glad you had the most essential gear on...~~~    

I dont think its so much the bike, the CBR is a great bike, im just trying to understand if Indeed a new rider was on a CBR and why not on a smaller,cleaper, more forgiving bike.  The chances of a new rider going down are high regaurdless of what he/she rides.  it just boggles my mind knowing this why some choose to grab New, or Fast bikes when they dont have the miles on their belt.

in all honesty, would you cry more over your totaled CBR or someting abit used and is more beginer friendly that was bought and is cheap to fix.

again, i hope you heal well and this is a breif notch in memory for you. i also hope your ride is fixable and you get riding again soon.
peace

I'm glad you are (relatively speaking) OK. Heal quickly.  :kiss:

To clarify a bit, Danny bought his GS500 back in November.  He had limited weekend riding of quads before that, but nothing regular or fast-paced, as far as I know.  Cummuterguy is right on too much entrance speed from not knowing the road and how he wouldn't have been any better off on a lower-powered bike.  

I do agree with the too much bike sentiment, but it's also partly an almost complete lack of knowledge of what to do once on a canyon/twisty road.  

The CBR was already trashed, had a salvage title, no fairings nor upper/windshield, rear plastics were broken and Danny had covered the tail and the seat with fur, frame was tweaked, subframe bent, both rims bent, forks were already bent, etc etc.  So...you could definitely say it was already used.

but what about weight and geometry of a larger bike?  idk just a thought..

That could have played a part, but from what I saw looking at his path, he decided he couldn't make the corner, went upright, and hit the brakes as hard as possible until his front tire washed out on the gravel shoulder.

I doubt that a smaller bike would have enticed him to throw it over on it's side and try to stick the corner.

well from riding some MUCH heavyer bikes (my XJ650 is a pig and a half) then going to the GS, ive found stuff that would have wiped out, or no margin for error with the XJ, the GS has been INFINNATLY forgiving. ive ridden out some stuff i was convinced for sure i was going to eat. the bike may or maynot have been MUCH of a factor. i have found the GS able to scrub off alot of speed all by itself entering and proceeding through a corner. i still think 5 months riding time and steping on a CBR is abit uncalled for.  Im not trying to rag on you Dan and hope its not sounding too much like that. but i do know that some of the supersport bikes can and often do inspire confidence in one's skills.  often cases this is False confidence.  miles will be the only thing to give real confidance.  heh, ive ridden many years and can lean over on the GS, cant get the tires to slide as im not that confidant.  but hopfuly with my newly aquired Honda XL250R i can go out and get comfortable with sliding and help improve my street thrashing skills.

Danny sorry to hear you crashed, hope you get better soon. As a beginner (two weeks) reading other riders experiences really helps. Does anyone else have words of wisdom or experiences that could help us newbies?