Ok...I'll be honest. The end of this summer marks the end of my complete first whole  riding season. I've ridden here and there a few times over the past 5 years on friends bikes but hadn't gotten my endorsement until this year. Bought my  '04 GS500F as a beginner bike at the beginning of the summer  to learn the basics and become more profiecient in all of the aspects of riding (plus I thought it looked pretty sweet )  I am starting to feel almost too comfortable on the bike and that worries me a little bit. I haven't had my first "Holy Crap...that could have been very bad" moment yet to get that whole "You don't know as much as you think you do Junior" mentality drilled into my brain....My question or topic starter is how long was it till you had your first Holy Crap" moment? And did it put things into perspective for you?

I've been riding about as long as you, and I've had a couple of those Holy Crap moments already.  First about 3 months after getting my bike - drunk driver jumped a light and I almost smashed into his door...     -- a good reminder that intersections are the most dangerous.

Couple others this summer during a road trip - a deer crossing the road in the evening, a possum doing the same later at night (luckily I saw them far enough).  In any case, as I've gotten more confident in the twisties I have to constantly remind myself to not get overconfident.  On the other hand, it's way more fun now. 

I had a few moments today. WAY more than normal and WAY more than average, but I was riding at different times than normal too, so traffic patterns were different (and stupid drivers were out in greater numbers). I typically don't get any Holy shaZam! moments. Only one or two people have ever tried to merge into me or cut me off; this was the first time someone turned left in front of me, and I very rarely have to haul the bike down as fast as possible. Thankfully I practice it for the occasions needed, as described below.

1st was in a neighborhood. I hit a patch of sand rounding a corner due to road construction and the front end started to was out on me. It was only for a split second, but the bike stood itself up a little and straightened itself out. This was the most frightening thing today.

2nd was at an intersection. The light turned green and I started to go, only to realize that the car coming my way wasn't slowing down for the red light in the turn only lane. I slowed down and watched as a girl on her cell phone proceeded to turn left in front of me, running the red light.

3rd was going down the interstate. The traffic was slow in the right two lanes, but pretty much wide open in the left lane. I hopped into the left lane and picked up my speed to pass traffic when a guy in a Dodge Ram started to pull out into my lane. He was pretty close to me, but I hauled down on the binders and by the time he saw me I would have been able to slow my speed below his. The  scary part about that situation was that my front end got a bit wobbly when I hit the brakes hard and gave me a bit of a scare.

4th was leaving campus. Traffic was backed up and slow in the right lane behind a bus, and I saw an opening in the left lane so I gassed it into the right lane rather quickly, and either I hit it way harder than I thought or I slipped the clutch a little on accident, but the front end came up a little and since I had pressure on the bars from countersteering the front wheel was at a weird angle and when it touched ground again it started to shake. It quelled itself after a few oscilations, but it still wasn't comforting.

It's like I got all my Holy Crap moments taken care of for the month/year in one day.

I've been riding for a little more than a year now, with 7500 miles under my belt.

No moments yet, except for the pothole incident.  I didn't go down.  I didn't even stagger.

My 1st was right after i began to get extremly comfy on the bike so i decide to show off and do a wheelie---yes they can do it----so i do it and the f-er comes up to about 11:30 with me and scares the creap out of me but later i try to turn to sharp in a parking lot and i layed it down in front of some peep--the bastards were laughin and so was i cause i thought it was kinda funny--but these accidents cause u to b careful 4 a little while then u get used to it again and thats beginning to happen and im startin to get scared--thats the reason i've slowed down and dont drive as crazy as i used to ----maybe its the thought of wat could happen that is controlling me but n e way thats my 3 cents worth

Oh yea I almost niled the ass end of some big ass SUV and a semi truck with trailer nearly jack knifed and pinned my ass ... some how some clown thought it will be great fun to like merge out into lane 2 from the lane 5 on ramp and the speed differential was only like 60 clicks and we had all of I dunno 10 feet.
Oh yea, it happens everyday around here. Or almost ... who the heck gets to see it ... I never get to leave work before 7 anyway ...
Cool.
Srinath.

This is my first whole riding season also.  I've had several encounters with other drivers that did not see me and changed lanes into mine or turned...I think the worst Holy Crap moment I've had was a couple months ago  in a line of cars that all locked up the brakes for the first car making a left turn.  I skidded to a stop just a few feet from the one ahead of me.

It is more enjoyable riding as I get more confident but I remind myself often that I am still a noob.

my first one was about...hmm...less than a week after i got my bike. i had about three today...but they were all my fault haha

If you're stuck wearing a tinted visor at night:

Be REALLY CAREFUL & leave lots of room in front of you -- earlier this week there were 2 cars stopped in the middle of a main road & they decided it would be a great idea to leave all their lights off & exchange insurance information in the middle of the road -- they didn't even turn on the hazard lights.

Dark-colored cars at night camouflage very well into the road.

I have those moments everytime I ride...it's a part of riding.  The only time I ever really startled myself, though, was going a little too fast through a 90* left hander and the front wheel start slipping on some gravel...I must be a pretty mythical magical though because I managed to recover without any harm.  Everyone else seems to break shaZam! in the vacinity of gravel.

You don't need to have a "holly crap moment" to be a safe rider, in fact those moments only help if you learn something from it and change your riding accordingly. In fact your lack of holy crap moments is most likely telling you that you're doing it right so  good for you. I've had a couple of those moments, but thankfully relativly few and I try to learn from them. Just don't get too relaxed and follow these tips. These are more or less in order of importance but that depends on different things

1. Always wear a helmet (no brainer) and preferably decent gear, I'm no gear nazi but if you want to be safe....
2. Never expect a car to do the right thing. Give yourself an out, expect that oncoming car to turn left in front of you with no signal, expect the guy to change lanes into you.
3. Move through areas which limit your option as soon as possible, don't cruise in blind spots next to cars. Pass semis quickly, etc.
4. Intersections allow people to kill you from all four sides. Look before going through them even when green, be ready to dart in between cars/go in the ditch when someone is about to rear end you.
5. Pretend you're invisible, because you pretty much are.
6. never ride beyond 70% or so of your ability, this gives you options to stop or swerve without crashing.
7. Watch the road surface, sand,gravel,oil, water, groves, etc.
8. Be very carfull in wooded areas, especially in turns, for wildlife darting out, they could ruin your whole day (theirs too)
9. Don't ride arround closing time since everyone is drunk.

And remember that going down really sucks, but with decent gear you pretty much always live, usually without serious injury. It isn't untill you hit something hard that it gets really bad, cars, deer, trees all will put a major hurt on you.
keep riding safe and avoid the holy crap moments 

My first holy crap moment was the day I passed the MSF. I went out for a ride ( I know, it's not a license, just a voucher blah blah) and it was slightly damp (couldn't restrain myself). Was coasting to a stop light, clutch in, first gear, probably 25mph and slowing. Light turned green.. instead of shifting to 2nd like I should have, I left it in first, tried to rev match, locked the rear momentarily and slid. Scared the shaZam! out of me. But didn't go down.

I also have only been riding for a short period of time... 4 months and about 4,000 miles.

My first "holy crap moment", occurred roughly a month after I got the bike.  It was a day or two after some very severe storms had gone through the area and I came around a corner and beheld an entire lane full of loose gravel that had been washed onto the road.  It was still during a slight curve, so I managed to keep the bike mostly upright while leaning off to the side to get the bike through the turn.  The back end came loose, and the bike wobbled quite a bit, but I looked ahead down the road where I wanted to go and kept the throttle as steady as I could.  I got through without any problems, but it certainly got the adrenaline flowing.  It also was a good learning experience and got me to be more cautious in blind turns, especially without knowing the current road conditions.

Since then, there have been moments where I've had animals (deer, possum, sheep, a raccoon, and dozens of squirrels) run across my path, but I saw almost all of them from quite a ways down the road and was able to keep from any intimate meetings.   

Just today, roughly 3 months and 3,000 miles from my first incident, I had a similar situation as before, in a spot only a mile or two from where the first took place.  In one particular turn, heading uphill through 3 consecutive turns, a small part of the concrete on the side of the road has been crumbling away for the past several months.  Apparently in the past day or two, a road crew "fixed" it by dumping a large helping of sand and dirt and packed it down into the cracks and holes... however, the top soil which covered the entire lane and part of the oncoming lane was rather loose and there were no road hazard signs anywhere to be seen.  Riding at a fairly brisk pace through that series of previously enjoyable turns, I didn't notice what had been done there until I was nearly on top of it, when again the rear came loose and again scared the hell out of me.  I was once again fortunate enough to be able to recover without any incident, other than my sudden rise in blood pressure.

I guess it was just another reminder to be prepared for anything and always keep focus while riding.  Losing traction is not on my list of enjoyable things.

Stay safe out there.

i have had my licence since i was 15 im now 27, i get a holy crap moment atleast once a week
sometimes i think im indestructable and ride like a maniac, but then i have a moment, and realise, if i crash riding like this im gunna die,
don't be in too much of a hurry to have a moment of clarity, they'll come soon enough,
take it easy out there, ride as safe as you can. welcome to biking  

Quote from: makenzie71 on September 21, 2006, 09:33:22 PM
I have those moments everytime I ride...it's a part of riding. 

I would say if it happens every time, you're doing something wrong.  I would stop riding to preserve my life if this were the case.

Quote from: makenzie71 on September 21, 2006, 09:33:22 PM
...I must be a pretty mythical magical though because I managed to recover without any harm. 

What happened was that you were scared sh!tless and did nothing, and your bike's natural self-correcting geometry could do it's job.    That's happened to me enough times that I can stay calm and wait for the bike to settle itself without needing new underwear.  Sorry if that's not as exciting as thinking you're da bomb.

Three days ago I was on my normal route to work, following behind a minivan. It was like 6:30am, and unlike most days, I was out of coffee...

Anyway, some kid on the sidewalk faked like he was going to jump out into traffic and the minivan slammed the brakes. So did I.

Rear wheel came up about a foot and a half. I rode to the side of the road, near the kid and was about to go hit him with my helmet when a cop got out of his car in the parking lot and started totally chewing him out. Gesturing at me, etc. So I sat and listened to the yelling, smoked a cigarette, and the kid came over and apologized.

i have had a few.  i have been broad sided by a sweet little old lady as she turned right from the middle lane. (no major injuries)  i have had to lay the bike down as a sweet little old lady pulled out in fron tof me out of a parking lot. (no major injuries)  i have been squeezed into the center divide by a sweet litle old truck driver when he swerved to avoid a gum wrapper in the freeway. (no injuries)  gear up and pay attention.  never ever take a hole shot.  if it looks like you can beat the light, you can't.  always know that the inside shot belongs to the car on your right.