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Woman dies after attempting wheelie

By Alexa James
Times Herald-Record
ajames@th-record.com

Montgomery – Men and women who ride motorcycles understand the risks. If something goes wrong on a bike, the resulting injuries are usually serious or life threatening.
Even so, millions take that chance for the thrill and passion of the cycling experience, and increasing numbers are participating in stunt classes to learn "safer" ways to perform tricks.
About 1 p.m. Sunday, the Los Angeles-based company On One Wheel was using a rented stretch of tarmac at the Orange County Airport to help riders practice popping wheelies.
Something went wrong.
According to Town of Montgomery police, Leslie R. Duco, 46, was participating in the wheelie class when she lost control of a Triumph motorcycle and was thrown from the bike.
Sgt. Dennis Barnett said Duco was treated on-site by Montgomery County Regional EMS, already on standby at the airport, and transported by Mobile Life Support Services to Orange Regional Medical Center in Middletown, where she later died.
Police said the cause of death has not yet been determined.
"The pavement was wet, (but) right now it does not appear that the weather had anything to do with it," Barnett said. "It's not prudent to do those kinds of maneuvers in inclement weather."
A reconstruction and investigation by Montgomery police and the Orange County Sheriff's Office is continuing.
While there's no risk-free way to practice motorcycle stunts, On One Wheel uses a modified training bike equipped with anti-flip devices designed to slow the bike and lower it back to the ground. According to the company's Web site, one device activates a "rev limiter" to kill one of the engine's three cylinders, and the other device applies the rear brake. The training bike can also be adjusted for different wheelie heights.
According to the Web site, Sunday's class was the last of three consecutive days of sold-out training courses at the airport. The next series of classes is scheduled from June 10 to 12. Lessons cost $495 per day.
Orange County spokesman Steve Gross said On One Wheel had the appropriate permits and insurance to conduct classes at the airport. It's not unusual for the airport to rent to private organizations. "We have a number of venues that rent space from the airport from time to time," Gross said. In the past, bus drivers have trained on unused runway.
Duco's family could not be reached yesterday. A spokesman for On One Wheel could not discuss the accident by press time yesterday.

I've been doing research on motorcycle fatalities, and if you use yahoo or google and research motorcycle fatalities, it's most of the time, due to lack of good judgement, excessive speeding, or trying stunts.

lowlux wrote:Woman dies after attempting wheelie

By Alexa James
Times Herald-Record
ajames@th-record.com

Montgomery – Men and women who ride motorcycles understand the risks. If something goes wrong on a bike, the resulting injuries are usually serious or life threatening.
Even so, millions take that chance for the thrill and passion of the cycling experience, and increasing numbers are participating in stunt classes to learn "safer" ways to perform tricks.
About 1 p.m. Sunday, the Los Angeles-based company On One Wheel was using a rented stretch of tarmac at the Orange County Airport to help riders practice popping wheelies.
Something went wrong.
According to Town of Montgomery police, Leslie R. Duco, 46, was participating in the wheelie class when she lost control of a Triumph motorcycle and was thrown from the bike.
Sgt. Dennis Barnett said Duco was treated on-site by Montgomery County Regional EMS, already on standby at the airport, and transported by Mobile Life Support Services to Orange Regional Medical Center in Middletown, where she later died.
Police said the cause of death has not yet been determined.
"The pavement was wet, (but) right now it does not appear that the weather had anything to do with it," Barnett said. "It's not prudent to do those kinds of maneuvers in inclement weather."
A reconstruction and investigation by Montgomery police and the Orange County Sheriff's Office is continuing.
While there's no risk-free way to practice motorcycle stunts, On One Wheel uses a modified training bike equipped with anti-flip devices designed to slow the bike and lower it back to the ground. According to the company's Web site, one device activates a "rev limiter" to kill one of the engine's three cylinders, and the other device applies the rear brake. The training bike can also be adjusted for different wheelie heights.
According to the Web site, Sunday's class was the last of three consecutive days of sold-out training courses at the airport. The next series of classes is scheduled from June 10 to 12. Lessons cost $495 per day.
Orange County spokesman Steve Gross said On One Wheel had the appropriate permits and insurance to conduct classes at the airport. It's not unusual for the airport to rent to private organizations. "We have a number of venues that rent space from the airport from time to time," Gross said. In the past, bus drivers have trained on unused runway.
Duco's family could not be reached yesterday. A spokesman for On One Wheel could not discuss the accident by press time yesterday.

rickyh wrote:I've been doing research on motorcycle fatalities, and if you use yahoo or google and research motorcycle fatalities, it's most of the time, due to lack of good judgement, excessive speeding, or trying stunts.

i though the number one fatality reason was being hit from the side.

number one Crash reason being riders fault during a turn.

This might sound stupid, but I'm pretty sure to go to a school like that you need to have FULL protective gear, like race leathers and a fullface. So how did she die popping a wheelie at low speeds?

Unless of course she didn't have full protection, or she came down on her neck which might break it. But... I don't know, just seems weird. Is there any confirmation from a secondary source?

Sevulturus wrote:This might sound stupid, but I'm pretty sure to go to a school like that you need to have FULL protective gear, like race leathers and a fullface. So how did she die popping a wheelie at low speeds?

Unless of course she didn't have full protection, or she came down on her neck which might break it. But... I don't know, just seems weird. Is there any confirmation from a secondary source?

they do require full gear so its safe to assume she had full gear on or they wouldnt allow her in the course. just because she had full gear on doesnt make her invincible.

she could have landed on the ground in just the right way to cause a life ending injury. i have no idea what happend so its all speculation. but in my accicent the way i was hit actually shifted my hip in a way that it shredded an artery on the oppesite side of the impact(right side of my hip was crushed, left side caused the artery to be "shredded"). doctors had no idea why i was bleeding internally or where. something similar may have happened there. doesnt take high speed to cause that sort of thing, and leathers would do no thing against it.

could also be a case of a damaged helmet(maybe she dropped it previously) and she landed on her head. could have been a flip up face helmet and the hing broke and caused a head injury.

id sure like to know more info and the cause of it.