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General => General Discussion => Topic started by: streido on June 13, 2011, 04:51:42 PM
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Just got home from work, still shaking and numb. Was getting my helmet and gloves on at work to ride home, biker guy from work was doing the same, dont know him personally but he gave me a nod as I pulled away. 2 mins later he flew past me up the white line, I was doing 20-30 and he passed me as if I was going backwards. He was easy doing 50-60mph and still accelerating when a parked car pulled out and he hit it side on, classic t-bone.
I saw it unfold right in front of me like slow motion, car pulled out, bike slammed on brakes, skidded and smoke everywhere from his back wheel, then WHAM! Car looked as if it was hit by a truck, whole side caved in, biker somersaulted over the car when he hit it, looked in a bad way.
Needless to say it shook me up, rode home at 30mph, no cutting thro traffic or taking my usual moves to beat the jams. I can still see him nodding at me in the bike park before we left work, very scarey stuff.
Just wanted to share it to get everyones sensible head on when riding. Its a dangerous place out there so everyone just ride safely and dont take too many risks or chances, its not worth it. Im off to sit down, have a smoke and contemplate how lucky ive been so far considering how I sometimes ride. Im sure we all do it for the buzz but just make sure next time you have a blast down the road that its safe to do so.Trust me you dont want an accident like this on a scooter.
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I always make sure never to ride faster than I can think. That was a horrible accident, tragic because it could have been avoided. Was he wearing a helmet, and do you know if he survived?
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Yeah, horrible, luckily he was wearing a helmet and had leathers on his top half. I know he was alive right after he landed, he was awake, or his eyes were open, but he looked in shock, obviously. I stopped to try help but here were loads of people there who were 1st aiders so better trained than me so I didnt hang around long to just get in the way.
Have since found out that the guy driving the car works near to me. Will probably find out more tomorrow, hopefully the biker is ok and not too badly hurt. Looked like a pretty bad one tho. Think it was a new bike he was riding too, so if he is ok he will be kicking himself for wrecking his bike.
Had a few "what if's" and nearly's myself but nothing like that, and hope I never do.
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That would be a horrible thing to see. It can happen any time which is why it pays to wear safety gear.
Hope to hell I never cop it, but, you just never know.
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I guess you can only control so much and accidents will happen so I also wear as much gear as I have. My new armoured leather bike jacket feels like a good investment now, would never ride without it or a helmet and decent gloves at any speed now that I saw that. I had a few squirmy moments on bends in the rain with my back end twitching when I put the power on but managed to save it so now slow my riding way down in the wet on bends especially.
It was a big stripped down racing bike as well, when he flew past me I got that usual jealous feeling of "man, I wish I was on that rocket", that quickly turned to "no, think im safer on my 50cc scooter". I know I would do the same if I had a powerful bike right now, do fancy one eventually but will build up slowly thro the ranks of 125cc - 250cc - 500cc to get there.
With luck hes got off with a huge fright and a few broken bones, like I say hopefully hear tomorrow how he is. I plan to still enjoy my scooter and take it fast on clear roads in good conditions but will definately be more carefull, for a while at least.
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That is so scary! When I was a youngster I got smacked on a little Trail 70 that I had. I wasn't hurt outside of road rash, but it shook me up big time.
Did this happen in a parking lot?
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@teknik, no it was on the open road. We had literally just left work, about 800yds along the road it happened.
The biker was to blame really for booting it up the white line to avoid waiting in the traffic queue, like i say he was hammering it at probably 50-70mph in a 30mph zone when the street was busy with everyone rushing out of my work, about 300 people trying to get to their cars and beat the traffic. Saying that the motorist should really have had a better look before pulling out into his way.
I admit i was thinking of doing the same white line trick myself but luckily i looked in my mirror 1st before i pulled out or he would've ran into the back of me maybe :o He was flying along at a fair rate, was a big powerful bike.
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The obvious moral to the story: Don't ride like you have a deathwish, as you may just get it.
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Very true JP.
Fun as it is to go fast, there's a time and a place for everything. On this occasion it was the wrong time and the wrong place, unfortunately for him.
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After I bought my scoot, I found a picture in the newspaper of the aftermath of a motorcycle crash with the bike on it's side in front of a banged up SUV and the cops doing their job. I cut it out and it is posted near where i keep the scoot so I see it every time before I go for a ride. I started doing that way back when i first started riding. It gets your head in the right place and I recommend it.
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Abov a year ago, there was a story about a bike that hit a kangaroo, then hit a semi going the other way, it was a little south west of us. When I saw the picture it made me think, it was the same bike as mine. A Suzuki Boulevard C50. Needless to say, the bloke died.
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Keep us updated please.
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I like to weave thru traffic,and feels good to sometimes beat cars and others,from main road to bike lane and vise versa.I like the look on peoples face when I'm beating them doing 50 while on the bike lane and they're on main road.But your story kinda wakes me up ,I wear helmet half the time but will be wearing it everytime now..Hope your coworker's fine..
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Just update, I got to work today and found out that he was unconscious when he landed but came to after a few minutes and was even sitting up by the time the ambulance arrived. So good news there, he may have escaped with not too bad injuries considering the impact he had, I really thought he was dead when I saw him hit the car.
Hopefully he will be fine once he heals, cant say the same for the bike tho, thats written off for sure.
I will still enjoy myself but maybe just be a bit more aware of potential accidents and slow down more at junctions etc. Also wont be blasting down the inside of queued traffic like I used to, will take it a bit easier for a while.
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"Those of us who are not afraid of the sea will surely be drowned for we will be going out on a day when we should not. Those of us who are afraid of the sea are drowned only now and then."
Unknown author
Keep your head on a swivel and regard all other vehicle operators as wanting to kill you.
Karl
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"Those of us who are not afraid of the sea will surely be drowned for we will be going out on a day when we should not. Those of us who are afraid of the sea are drowned only now and then."
Unknown author
Keep your head on a swivel and regard all other vehicle operators as wanting to kill you.
Karl
AMEN
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Glad to hear that he is ok. I see a lot of motorbike riders going way too fast in crowded areas. I am guilty of this as well.
Scan, Identify, Predict, Decide, Execute (SIPDE) is still good to remember at all times.
I have crashed a motorcycle as well and it hurts physically, emotionally and monetarily.
Live and learn, hopefully.
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Its especially important for newer riders to take it easy and not go mental on adrenaline when you 1st get on a bike/scooter, imo. Only started riding at the end of last year myself and I didnt even need to do any test or anything, just bought a 50cc bike and rode it home! Im now beginning to appreciate that it is a good idea to do a basic "get to know your cycle" test of some kind before jumping on the open roads for he 1st time. Even tho I passed my car test in 1991 and did a lot of cycling on my mountain bike, a powered bike is way different. My car driving and cycling gave me road awareness but it takes a while to grow accustomed to how you bike handles in different conditions and situations. Over here all new riders, who passed their car test after 1993, must do a compulsary basic bike test, driving round cones etc, to prove they have some understanding of riding before hitting the streets, thats a good thing in my opinion.
But yeah, good to know he seems to be not very seriously injured. For the life of me I dont know how he got away with it, he was one very lucky guy. I wont forget seeing it happen in a hurry anyway.
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Man, after all my ranting about riding safely, I came off myself this morning on the way to work. Not badly hurt, sprained wrist and left some knee-skin on the road. Smashed my footplate at the rear footrest, smashed mirror, couple of scratches on it, not as near as bad as I thought it was going to be when I walked over to pick it up. Bummer, just resprayed it a few months ago!
I know I cant take corners in the wet fast so what was I thinking of? Oh well, at least I know my protective gear works.
Time to hit ebay and look for a replacement foot plate and mirror :(
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That sucks, at least you are not hurt, what tyres are you running?
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Running stock tyres, been going to upgrade them but just havent got round to it yet. Its always been squirmy in the wet on bends, I usually slow way down, but the road was drying off so I thought I was ok. Was not going much faster than i normally go when wet driving tho.
Bloody knee swollen up now, time to visit the company doc at work for an ice pack.
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Yeah, gotta be careful in the wet, I don't do too bad, until I get to the painted arrows on the roundabouts in the wet, then they just skate, gets your attention. I am running Michelin Pilot Sport on mine, the best I have had yet.
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Do your tyres improve wet riding over the stock ones? I think i need to improve my grip now since ive upgraded other parts. It was my front wheel that slid out as I was starting to turn. Luckily it was not busy or I could've been worse. Looks like I got 3 kneecaps now, all swollen and gone numb so at least that kills the pain a bit :D
I live and learn.
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I guess the numbness is a bonus of sorts. I do still get slip, especially on the painted lines, but not nearly as much as I did with the Continental tyre. In the dry I lean this scoot over a lot more than I used to, confidence in the tyres.
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I was gettng more confident, till today. My tyres are kind of scalloped too, want just normal tyres cos the scallop has caught before when leaning onto bends. Too sore today to look into tyres, need to find a new footplate panel 1st anyway.
Just annoyed because I was almost there with my Agility, now I went backwards and am back to body panel work :(
Will get there in the end, just need to get home 1st tonite after work, should be fun.
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I haven't been riding long enough to feel all the things to be aware of as yet. One thing about my surrounding area, there are many curvy roads and speed limits vary 35, 45, 55. I say this in response to reading and seing on the news about more than anything else bikers having accident with serious injuries and death while failing to negotiate the curve. Those of you that ride much, what is the event happening on these curves? Is there too much speed, failure to correctly lean through it or what? My personal experience on curves as a fairly new rider is at first I would forget to lean and attempted to steer! I know, dumb, I admit that but.....it didn't take me long to keep remembering just how to do the curves and the tilt turns. I had a few crazy experiences with the tilts and leans! No, I am definetly not a speeder. If I go the speed limit or maybe 5 over no more. If the speed limit is high, I will not go over even 2 and a half miles an hour, example 55 zone bouncing between 55 and 60. You experienced 300i riders, is in fact the 300i a great handling unit compared to many others? I personally think it handles well but am interested in some pro experiences. Thanks
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Just two weeks ago, a 19 year old rider got killed trying to negotiate a turn a few miles from where I live. He was about to get married and start his young adult life and he's gone. The curve was a downhill one, so that was possibly a factor. I'm sure speed was too with a Ninja in the hands of a 19 year old.
One thing I noticed about speed on a curve is this: You may travel a certain road at the same speed hundreds of times and negotiate it's curves at always the same speed. Then one day you get a bug up your rear, and really crank it up. It is surprising how much more steering effort is required to negotiate that same curve. It surprised the hell out of me. I'm no physicist, but I assume the gyroscopic force of the faster rotating wheels requires more handelbar input from the rider.
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at first I would forget to lean and attempted to steer! I know, dumb, I admit that but.....it didn't take me long to keep remembering just how to do the curves and the tilt turns. I had a few crazy experiences with the tilts and leans!
do you countersteer (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Countersteering)? if you countersteer your weight is pushed outwards and gets you leaning the correct way, then you turn your bike into your turn.
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Countersteer? Im not actually sure if I do that? Im going to really study how I ride and pay attention to what im doing on the bends, I dont know if I countersteer or not. I think I do kind of, but it wasnt a conscious effort I was more to do with finding my race lines when I would pull out then in to hit the apex.
Im pretty new to motorcycles, tho used to mountain bike to work, so still finding all the tricks out. Been driving cars for years and years and like to push them on the bends but I know from riding now that its totally different lines etc on a bike.
Going to make a bigger effort next week to watch exactly how I ride and then change any bad habits. Thanks syl, good info to ponder on.
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Countersteer? Im not actually sure if I do that? Im going to really study how I ride and pay attention to what im doing on the bends, I dont know if I countersteer or not. I think I do kind of, but it wasnt a conscious effort I was more to do with finding my race lines when I would pull out then in to hit the apex.
that's the thing :) you are doing it unconsciously no matter what. it's something that becomes an aid when turning at speed once you become conscious of it.
the other comment about don't "turn before you lean" got me thinking, you actually do turn before you lean, but you do it in the opposite direction of the turn to initiate the lean.
when you are going slow you don't really notice it because the act of balancing already gives you a small countersteer before you turn.
On a mountain bike it's that feeling of standing up before you go into the corner that does it. you don't notice it as much on a bike because it's so light in weight.
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I cant lean in anyway in the rain due to my crappy gripping tyres, have to slow down and only doa small lean at most or it slips. Hopefully once I get new tyres sorted it will improve tho, just need to find the cash 1st ::)
By the way, I spoke to the guy driving the car who the biker hit, he told me he heard the guy got off with a broken ankle and some bruises, so lucky there. He is also getting done with speeding and dangerous driving tho, so not so lucky there, but probably deserved.
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He was certainly lucky. A moment of madness can be a life changing event.
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I cant lean in anyway in the rain due to my crappy gripping tyres, have to slow down and only doa small lean at most or it slips. Hopefully once I get new tyres sorted it will improve tho, just need to find the cash 1st ::)
you always want to be careful in the rain! I'm really curious to see how the piaggio mp3s do in the rain!
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you always want to be careful in the rain! I'm really curious to see how the piaggio mp3s do in the rain!
The same as any vehicle, nothing magic about it.