the Art of Crashing

[Social Distortion]

Hi everyone!
I beleive the know i more, the better off i am, but honestly, i have been a little freaked out on all of the info i have been reading regarding motorcycle crashes. Not purchasing my motorcycle until Spring, i am not trying to freak out on ways i can drop my bike or crash. I;ve seen video of guys crashing righto out of the dealer's shop, guy slipping on the painted road markers on the streets and so many other ways!

So, i am asking everyone to educate myself on ways to crash, so that we can possibly learn what mistakes we can avoid! what scenarios have you experienced?

I have already read so many articles on low side crashes and loose gravel, but what else are we dealing with?
How can we crash when we u-turn or coming up a drive way or dealing w/ uneven ground or other everyday situations?

The more we know, I believe, the better off we are.

Thanks ahead of time for all that provide this valuable info and yor stories!

[shane-o]

to me, i dont fear being unhorsed, what i fear is what I might hit while being unhorsed.

for example, i could take a intersection right hander (dont forget we drive on the left here) with all the skills of a race day warrior...now if the front wheel slips under and I go down (lowside), I should be ok for the 0.05 secs it takes for my leather/kevlar clad comfortable sliding body hits the gutter on the other side of the road, at this point my legs, arms and pelvis will probably break into many diff peices and thats provided none of my appendages are amputated by any signage or blunt fixed objects near the gutter.


I dont fear comming off I fear hitting solid objects !!!

[Sev]

Uhh go limp, don't try and stand up until you can see individual rocks in the asphault. Try not to think about where you are.

[glossyredz]

To keep a long story short: I took a turn at 70, hit something on the rode, overcompensated and straightened the bike up then hit the curb. I went flying, landed and slid about 15 ft. Luckily for me I didnt fly off and wrap my body around a telephone pole or fire hydrant. Like one of the previous posts said, you dont want to slam your body against something too hard if you do crash, so becareful around those types of objects around the sides of the roads. My fall was softened by bushes and dirt. Walked away with a jammed shoulder a case of road rash on my side(was only wearing a sweater, ended up buying a leather jacket the next day)...

[scan]

Take your time and be cautious. Learn at your own pace. Practice practice practice. To this day still I stop by a few local parking lots and practice emergancy braking, slow speed turns, and swerving to avoid. The emergancy reaction won't come natural to you unless you do it a lot, and that is the second step in quick reaction to a problem. The first step is be prepared. If you don't know the road, slow for the corner, the exit ramp, or the hill you coming over. Keep your eye out for debris by not over driving your field of vision. Don't follow to close where you won't be able to see the big rock that a car could drive right over. Let someone fast pass you and give a lot of warning when stopping - tap that brake light. Start slow and close to home and expand out and I think you'll be fine. But of course this is a risky activity, so you can only do so much to avoid accidents. Some things are out of everyone's control.

[Kal]

Best thing to do when Crashing? Dont.

I dont know how many other people on here exerienced the crash the sameway I did but I dont remember anything from realising I was in serious trouble to watching gravel slide across my visor as I went down the road. I know the handlebars snapped to the left before she went down because of the new dent in the tank, but I dont remember it.

To be honest with you if the worst happens there probably wont be time for you to 'do' anything. The time to do things is before the crash happens.

For me that starts when I gear up. My friends, even Keyoke, have hadthe odd chickle about the way I look geared up. Between my body armour and my leather I put on about 4 inches across the shoulders and look like a line backer.

I am totally convinced that the gear I wear made a huge difference when I dropped my bike. Where my shoulder impacted I should have snapped my collarbone. The body armour and my boots kept my jeans off of the road enough that I only got light grazing to my knee. My leather got very scuffed up and so did the padding on the palms of my gloves.

I mostly ride defensively. If someone is looking like they are dangreous I get past them or drop back which ever seems to be the best option. I check out approaching turnings because people will pull out without seeing the bike and when things get chaotic I keep an eye out for potenial escape routes if it gets messy.

Finally I trust my instincts. Last weekend for the first time ever I didnt feel confident about taking the bike out so I wore leather jeans as well, I had been out for ten minutes or so and wasnt understanding why I was taking corners slow and running wide on them. After that ten mintues I realised what my subconscious had already dropped to. Road conditions were very greasy and the bike had very limited traction. To keep me safe my subconsious was not allowing me to ride to the bikes limits.

I dont leave the house with the attitude of I am going to crash, its more that I face the idea that it is a realistic possiblity and prepare as much as I can for it if it happens.

[ronboskz650sr]

Kal just made a good point. There are few places, indeed, where you should be riding your bike to it's limits. Those places present themselves, to be sure, but not as often as some folks seem to thing. When you push to the limit of your handling envelope...either yours, or the bikes...you have removed your margin for error, and will need a good road surface, and nothing unexpected to happen for success. Most riders don't wear their bike like a glove that instantly responds to every thought because it's part of the hand now. Yes, Rossi does...and many other pros. I think most of us "ain't there yet," if we're really honest with ourselves. We need to leave a margin for "error"..often someone else's error. It really keeps the fun in the ride, too, when you smoothely swerve or accelerate out of trouble...even emergency braking is more fun when you don't hit anything at the end of it. The other day, my clutch cable snapped off at a four way stop, and I had 4 more miles of four way stop-ridden streets to ride on to get home. I felt triumphant when I pulled in the driveway...although stressed a little, and pretty tired. Leaving a wide margin in front of me for visibility and braking made all the difference in being able to do this. Yes, I used every single gear, both up and down, without the clutch, and yes, I nearly stalled out once (standing up throwing my weight forward to restart the bike must have looked pretty funny, but it worked). Still, I learned alot. Practice makes perfect. Don't be scared, just practice.

[Sauve]

Don't forget about wet manhole covers. I was given this advice by an experienced rider as soon as I passed my MSF.

[9000white]

if you can stay out of gravel do so.
as far as them slow speed turns and turnarounds learn to slip the clutch when you need to to keep from stalling the engine.stay out of gravel--dont go near the gravel--gravel sucks.got the scars to prove it.

[Mintbread]

For me that starts when I gear up. My friends, even Keyoke, have hadthe odd chickle about the way I look geared up. Between my body armour and my leather I put on about 4 inches across the shoulders and look like a line backer.

Why only jeans then?