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Bikers who have gone down...aka crashed

JulesMaximus

JulesMaximus

No Lifer
Describe the circumstances. Were you going too fast into a turn? Braking too hard and locked up? Just taken out by a clueless cager?

Also, tell us what kind of gear you were wearing...or not wearing, how long (years)/how many miles (overall) you've been riding, and what injuries you sustained if any.

No pics of injuries please. 😛
 
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I dumped a friend's VMAX in the rain back in 2001. It was wet out, I was following him as he rode his new bike to the shop he always used for his bikes, and he was hauling butt. We were on one of those highways where it's old asphalt, no shoulders, 65mph speed limits, and a good many cross streets with red lights. I was coming up on a green light that he had just blown through a good 200-250 yards in front of me, and a dump truck (not sure, but some large box mechanical vehicle like that) pulled out from the street taking a right in the path in front of me without stopping, he took the turn wide covering both lanes. I had very little room for braking, as he pulled out literally in terms of distance where if I had maintained my speed straight ahead I would have hit him in about 1 second, it was just a few car lengths in front. The middle median area was crowded with stuff, the right was just a dirt field, so I got on the brakes as best I could, feeling the wiggle, and ended up blowing by him on the right, ditching it in the mud. I came out without a scratch, and the bike was not hurt either, although we were both extremely muddy. Those things are really heavy, it was hell getting it out even with help. I had been riding about 7 years at that point, though mostly on 250s, my old Magna, smaller bikes. Was wearing helmet, a jacket, jeans, and boots. Jacket and Boots weren't specifically made for bikers, but were pretty solid.
 
Experience at time of incident = 16+ years off and on with a few long gaps. I would guess something like 6k miles in total. Up to this point I had not done any touring.

"Crash" = I dropped my Ninja 500R (EX500) making a U-Turn on sand/gravel. I was doing @3-5mph at most. I was over confident for conditions.

Gear = A* mesh jacket, Draggin Jeans (kevlar panels under denim in strategic areas, Joe Rocket boots, A* gloves, Shoei helmet.

Injury = Pride and a sore left knee.

Damage = Bar end, left front turn signal, left "cheek" of fairing.
 
1. Following a transport vehicle too close. Friggin coconut fell off the back of the truck. Front wheel hit it - the inevitable happened. Lost some skin on my left elbow. Gear : Only helmet, pants n shirt.

2. Had just stopped raining. Going around a curve, came up to backed up traffic. Braked too hard, lost traction and down I went. Got lucky on this one though. Just a couple of minor scrapes.

3. Riding home from a friends place. Again, had just stopped raining. Idiot car pulled out in front of me in the last minute. No space to swerve, hit the brakes. Front locked up and you know what happened next. Had riding gear on - so got out of that pretty clean.

4. Riding pillion behind my idiot friend. Moron jaywalking in the middle of the day. Brake, swerve, fall. I was ok except for a sore butt (insert gay joke here).

And thats about it.
 
caught my tow going through into turn 10 at putnam park and ended up out in the grass, lost it at the last second(full gear obviously at a track day)

riding for 4-5 years? no idea how many miles at this point

my first down was on my old vtwin 'sport tourer'.

it had bad fork seals that i wasnt replacing........one of the brake rotors was covered in fork oil and I came in pretty hot to a turn, a lil too hot + not much brakes + total noob means I went right off the road into the small ditch....

that hurt. jacket/gloves/helmet/jeans/tennis shoes(otw home from work). broke the windshield and jacked the fairing up. dislodged the waterpump impellar seal and had to replace it
 
My aunt broke her leg. She was passenger on a Honda Goldwing back in the late 70's or early 80's. I don't know what safety gear, probably only helmet. It was in San Diego and just started to rain, so the bike wiped out on a freeway ramp (since it doesn't rain much, gets really slick). She had no experience, her husband probably a couple years only.

My brother in law dropped his bike once. Slow speed turn with gravel on asphalt, Ninja 600, at minimum helmet. No injury except to pride and scrapes on bike. He was a noob on his first motorcycle. I think the bike was left in storage for many years after that before he sold it.

I cartwheeled once. Riding a 1987 Kawasaki KDX200 at Buttercup dunes (near Yuma, AZ) with a couple years dirt bike experience and a few more years riding ATVs. Had full safety gear (helmet, gloves, boots, riding pants, the works). Was topping out in 6th gear and came across a "worm" track (ATVs make them, consists of berms, pic here with two green 4-wheelers). It was around noon, so no shadows. Didn't see it until I was pretty much right on it. Basically I hit a 3' tall berm going full throttle while sitting down. Only thing I remember was flying through the air upside down with the motorcycle engine next to my head and the ground above me, then I was sitting up in the dirt. Got a mild concussion, slightly twisted hip. Had to get a new helmet because it was scraped pretty bad and the foam was marginal. Bike had some scrapes on the plastic and I had to adjust the bars and fork clamps, but everything seemed in one piece and not bent up.
 
Experience = Bout 3 months

Crash = Riding on a back road twisty way out in the Hill Country. There's a long sweeper to the ride leading to a cattle guard, and then a very quick, almost 90 degree turn with a descent to the left. Saw the sign for the cattle guard so I started braking, before going over the cattle guard I saw the left turn so I initiated my turn. As the back wheel went over the cattle guard it lost traction and started slipping to the right. Wheel hit asphalt and regained traction which snapped the bike upright and initiated a wobble. Tried to turn again but rain out of road and ended up running into the grass shoulder where I was going slow enough that the bike just flopped over.

Gear = Vega mesh jacket, regular jeans, construction steel toe boots, pretty crappy gloves, Vega helmet. Have since upgraded everything but the jacket & jeans (replaced with a Cortech suit)

Injury = Sprained ankle from landing wrong...and ego

Damage = Bar end mirrors pretty much fell out but were undamaged. Instrument cluster was screwed up and the mounting brackets for the speedo were gone. Cracked the left fairing which led to stripping the bike.
 
experience: ~1-2 months

event: was at a stop sign and was making a right turn. from a dead stop, i turned the wheel to the right and started easing out the clutch to go forward. i stalled out, and due to the lean angle, gently lay the bike on the ground.

gear = shift streetfighter leather/textile jacket, joe rocket ballistic 5.0 pants, vega sport II boots, joe rocket reactor gloves, KBC force RR helmet

injury: just my ego

damage: literally only a couple of small nicks on the fairing paint and couple of scratch marks on the rearview mirror housing. nothing major, and certainly not worth repairing. the fairing paint nicks are almost impossible to see from a distance.
 
Every biker who has ridden more than a few years has laid his bike down. When I say biker, I don't mean someone who rides when the weather is nice but, someone who rides a bike as their primary form of transportation.

I've laid a bike down at high speed and at low speed. Coming home from work one night after it had rained, I was sweeping through a gentle curve on the highway when I hit a puddle of water. It was dark and could not be seen in time. My new Bridgestones, with ~ 3k miles, both hydroplaned and left me perfectly stable doing 55 sideways. Stable that is until I left the pavement and hit the ditch.

The slow one happened on my way to school. I was coming to an intersection and making a left hand turn at about 5 mph. Well, the city had just spread gravel at the intersection and I went down while thanking my case guards.

Oh yeah, full helmet, leather jacket and chaps.

There have been others as well. I've been riding for 30+ years and I can assure you that at some point, you WILL go down.
 
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MagnusTheBrewer said:
Every biker who has ridden more than a few years has laid his bike down. When I say biker, I don't mean someone who rides when the weather is nice but, someone who rides a bike as their primary form of transportation.
There have been others as well.

I've been riding for 30+ years and I can assure you that at some point, you WILL go down.
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^^ Truth. Even the best riders will eventually fall victim to someone else's stupidity or some unforseeable/unavoidable problem. I damned near lost it riding through an intersection at a pretty low speed, maybe 15mph or so, and a shallow-looking puddle had hidden a grand canyon-esque pothole. My front wheel dropped about 4 inches suddenly before hitting the other side of it and giving me one hell of a jolt. I'd ridden through there hundreds of times before, but I guess the bad weather had contributed to it really falling apart suddenly.
 
Had been riding dirt & street for almost 25 years to this point...

1979 KZ1000 in 1994 had just left my folks after looking at a small boat for my dad... Was heading home just at dusk on a two lane street that is pretty busy at that time of the day... Speed limit was 45 which was doing and not a bit over and was wearing work boots, jeans, t-shirt with full leather jacket over it and leather gloves and a full face helmet... A late model Ford F150 pulls right out in front of me and covers my lane at a 45 degree angle and all I can see is on coming traffic... I hammer down on the brakes but just not enough distance and I try to kick the rear down harder and was going to try a quick jog around him but did a slide right into the front bumper and it crushed my right foot between the bike and the front bumper (could`nt get it up high enough and fast enough) it knocked the bike out from under me and launched me over the hood and into the oncoming lane of traffic... A bit luck and the oncoming driver saw what was happening and stopped before running over me... I landed and slid several feet and jumped up and realized I could not feel my right foot and was very pissed off... I was taken to the hospital where my wife at the time worked and we found I had 2 cracked ribs and a chipped shoulder besides several broken bones in my right foot which by that time was as black as the boot I had been wearing... Oh and a mild concussion was included... 8 months later I was released from the doctor after 2 surgeries and alot of pain... Am now allergic to Ibprophen as was taking 2-800mg every 6-8 hours till it finaly got to me... I hate pain killers so would not take them... To this day my toes on my right foot do not touch the ground unless I press them the knuckles are still enlarged and will always be and of course I get aches and pains with weather changes and it will cramp up real easy when cold... BTW I did try to rid again but just dont have the nerve to many idiots out there that I see every day from the cab of my 1 1/2ton service truck that I feel alot better in...

My main issue these days is... I can get a very high dollar ticket for not wearing a seatbelt either in the front or now in the back seat but I can ride a motorcycle with no helmet...? WTF...?😕
 
Experience: At the time about 2 months/3000miles

Event: I was on day 4 of my half cross country loop on my SV650. I had just ridden down from Wildcat Mountain State Park in Wisconsin, which is the highest point in WI at a whopping 2500ft. The road had just straitened out from a mountain road to a country road when the SUV driver in front of me slammed on her brakes and make a left turn without signaling.

I locked the the front brake and skidded off the road on the gravel shoulder. I soon as I hit the gravel I lowsided. I'm guessing my speed was around 40 when I hit the ground. I slid about 75 feet. I did the thing your not supposed to do and planted my foot and used my momentum to stand up out of the slide like a baseball player. I was pretty stunned and stumbled around for a bit. The driver behind me pulled over immediately to help. I told I was OK and asked her to help me pull the bike out of the ditch. I was wearing a Cortech textile/leather jacket, textile pants, boots, gloves, and a full face. I had a few scratches from where jacket slid up but otherwise no injuries. I rode another 200 miles to St Paul, MN that day.

I think the most impressive part is that my droid was mounted on the handlebars during the crash and went flying off, but was completely undamaged.
 
MagnusTheBrewer said:
Every biker who has ridden more than a few years has laid his bike down. When I say biker, I don't mean someone who rides when the weather is nice but, someone who rides a bike as their primary form of transportation.

I've laid a bike down at high speed and at low speed. Coming home from work one night after it had rained, I was sweeping through a gentle curve on the highway when I hit a puddle of water. It was dark and could not be seen in time. My new Bridgestones, with ~ 3k miles, both hydroplaned and left me perfectly stable doing 55 sideways. Stable that is until I left the pavement and hit the ditch.

The slow one happened on my way to school. I was coming to an intersection and making a left hand turn at about 5 mph. Well, the city had just spread gravel at the intersection and I went down while thanking my case guards.

Oh yeah, full helmet, leather jacket and chaps.

There have been others as well. I've been riding for 30+ years and I can assure you that at some point, you WILL go down.
Click to expand...



I rode almost every day for almost 10 years.. hundreds of thousands of miles on bikes including trackdays and cross country trips. I have heated gear and rode all winter as well.


I've.... fallen over... twice. Once my gf and I were lost looking for a lakehouse and ended up on a gravel road (I was on a daytona 675). I put the kickstand down (pissed off because we were lost) and it got caught on a rock. As I turned around a random dude screamed at me, I turned around and ended up under the bike.. Barely scuffed case case covers, barend and clutch lever tip. Luckily no paint.. I swear that dude was more upset than me.. Hah, I just laid there until my gf pulled up to see what happened so I could yell at her some more for getting us lost

The other time I'd come home from a 12 hour stint at the end of a 3 day ride on an 03 sv650, pulled into the garage got off the bike and simply forgot to put the kickstand down. There was more damage to the wall than the bike.

I have kickstand issues lol..

But to say it's impossible to ride and not fall? I dunno about that.. I wore proper gear since day 1, took the MSF, started on a GS500 (after tons of 'real' dirtbike experience growing up), took the ERC, rode on my own at my own pace and developed my skills primarily from the twist of the wrist books. I also have a good friend who was a trackday junkie giving me great 'on the bike' pointers. I'm extremely aware of what's going on around me, and I also think luck (or something) has something to do with it

On that note, I've been a little sketched out the last few times I've ridden. I wouldn't say I'm ready to hang up my helmet, but statistically I feel like I'm getting to a point where it's simply time for someone to run a redlight or end up sandwiched between cars. I've sold all but 1 bike, and only ride for pleasure (IE no commuting, no winter riding).

I believe extremely strongly in going with your gut feeling when it comes to riding. Some days are just not good days to ride, and I've called off trips and ditched rides over it. It never happened often - maybe once a month or so.. But sometimes mentally you just aren't in it and those are the days to drive.
 
Christmas Eve around 1986. Coming home at around midnight.

Had a full face Bell helmet on....the kind with the post office box slot for an eye slit.

Had just downshifted into second and was slowing to turn into my driveway, about 4 houses away.

Just as I drew even with a smallish spruce bush on my right, I noticed some movement, but alas, too late to do anything about what happened next.

A German Shepard ran from behind the bush directly into my path of travel....and having absolutely no time to react, I hit him. I flew over/into the handlebars and landed on the pavement.....skidded for a short bit down the asphalt and into the curb.

The bike, an older Honda 350/4, was churning away in the middle of the street but its motor sound was being drowned out by the screaming of the dog that I'd hit....was pinned under the bike.

All the commotion drew some of our neighbors outside. One did pick my bike up and move it to our driveway. The moment he lifted the bike, the dog was off like a flash....never saw him again. (I honestly thought I'd killed him, T-boning him like I did.)

The next day upon further examination of the bike, several things were found. The forks were bent. Damned dog. But there was fur stuck onto/burnt onto the right side exhaust pipes. So I guess that's what the dog was screaming about....HOT exhaust pipes burning the snot out of somewhere on his body. Shame, that.

As for me, I had jeans on and leather boots and jacket. The boots and jacket kept my skin intact. The jeans, on the other hand, shredded and left me with road rash from my right hip to my ankle. I still have scars on my hip and knee.

And this doesn't include the gorgeous bruise I developed just to the right of my jewel pouch where the right handlebar end punched me. Damn that hurt.

Moral of the story.....you cannot prevent all accidents, but leather works.
 
Meghan54 said:
Christmas Eve around 1986. Coming home at around midnight.

Had a full face Bell helmet on....the kind with the post office box slot for an eye slit.

Had just downshifted into second and was slowing to turn into my driveway, about 4 houses away.

Just as I drew even with a smallish spruce bush on my right, I noticed some movement, but alas, too late to do anything about what happened next.

A German Shepard ran from behind the bush directly into my path of travel....and having absolutely no time to react, I hit him. I flew over/into the handlebars and landed on the pavement.....skidded for a short bit down the asphalt and into the curb.

The bike, an older Honda 350/4, was churning away in the middle of the street but its motor sound was being drowned out by the screaming of the dog that I'd hit....was pinned under the bike.

All the commotion drew some of our neighbors outside. One did pick my bike up and move it to our driveway. The moment he lifted the bike, the dog was off like a flash....never saw him again. (I honestly thought I'd killed him, T-boning him like I did.)

The next day upon further examination of the bike, several things were found. The forks were bent. Damned dog. But there was fur stuck onto/burnt onto the right side exhaust pipes. So I guess that's what the dog was screaming about....HOT exhaust pipes burning the snot out of somewhere on his body. Shame, that.

As for me, I had jeans on and leather boots and jacket. The boots and jacket kept my skin intact. The jeans, on the other hand, shredded and left me with road rash from my right hip to my ankle. I still have scars on my hip and knee.

And this doesn't include the gorgeous bruise I developed just to the right of my jewel pouch where the right handlebar end punched me. Damn that hurt.

Moral of the story.....you cannot prevent all accidents, but leather works.
Click to expand...

God damned dogs. Bet that fucker never chased a motorcycle again.
 
SpatiallyAware said:
I rode almost every day for almost 10 years.. hundreds of thousands of miles on bikes including trackdays and cross country trips. I have heated gear and rode all winter as well.


I've.... fallen over... twice. Once my gf and I were lost looking for a lakehouse and ended up on a gravel road (I was on a daytona 675). I put the kickstand down (pissed off because we were lost) and it got caught on a rock. As I turned around a random dude screamed at me, I turned around and ended up under the bike.. Barely scuffed case case covers, barend and clutch lever tip. Luckily no paint.. I swear that dude was more upset than me.. Hah, I just laid there until my gf pulled up to see what happened so I could yell at her some more for getting us lost

The other time I'd come home from a 12 hour stint at the end of a 3 day ride on an 03 sv650, pulled into the garage got off the bike and simply forgot to put the kickstand down. There was more damage to the wall than the bike.

I have kickstand issues lol..

But to say it's impossible to ride and not fall? I dunno about that.. I wore proper gear since day 1, took the MSF, started on a GS500 (after tons of 'real' dirtbike experience growing up), took the ERC, rode on my own at my own pace and developed my skills primarily from the twist of the wrist books. I also have a good friend who was a trackday junkie giving me great 'on the bike' pointers. I'm extremely aware of what's going on around me, and I also think luck (or something) has something to do with it

On that note, I've been a little sketched out the last few times I've ridden. I wouldn't say I'm ready to hang up my helmet, but statistically I feel like I'm getting to a point where it's simply time for someone to run a redlight or end up sandwiched between cars. I've sold all but 1 bike, and only ride for pleasure (IE no commuting, no winter riding).

I believe extremely strongly in going with your gut feeling when it comes to riding. Some days are just not good days to ride, and I've called off trips and ditched rides over it. It never happened often - maybe once a month or so.. But sometimes mentally you just aren't in it and those are the days to drive.
Click to expand...

I agree but, you share a trait with every other biker I've ever known, superstition. Those new Bridgestones that hydroplaned on me? I've never owned a pair since. 🙂
 
JulesMaximus said:
Fuck him.

Please share!
Click to expand...

I'm already spoken for.

I qualified what I meant by a biker because sure as shit, some squid who only brings his bike out when the temps are in the 70's on a cloudless day, will jump in and say 'I've ridden for years and never put my bike down cuz I'm awesome!'

So, Greenman, you go right ahead and tell your story.
 
MagnusTheBrewer said:
I'm already spoken for.

I qualified what I meant by a biker because sure as shit, some squid who only brings his bike out when the temps are in the 70's on a cloudless day, will jump in and say 'I've ridden for years and never put my bike down cuz I'm awesome!'

So, Greenman, you go right ahead and tell your story.
Click to expand...

Fair enough...not sure we needed to qualify that but thanks for your input.
 
MagnusTheBrewer said:
I'm already spoken for.

I qualified what I meant by a biker because sure as shit, some squid who only brings his bike out when the temps are in the 70's on a cloudless day, will jump in and say 'I've ridden for years and never put my bike down cuz I'm awesome!'

So, Greenman, you go right ahead and tell your story.
Click to expand...

perhaps that squid is not a squid, but just a guy who knows that his supersport tires aren't very friendly with the rain and would rather not take his chances.
 
Been down once. Pretty minor really. Was headed back to Reno after a day of back road sight seeing on my 01 VFR800. Decided to take a back road out of Auburn that ends near Donner lake. I knew at some point the road turned in to a dirt road but I didn't how long or rough it was. I've always been the one to take the road less traveled and it is a motorcycle, right. RIGHT???? When I got to the dirt the sign said 21 miles to Soda Springs and the road looked pretty good so off I went. About 5 miles in it turned ugly quick. It went from a truck road to a logging road to a jeep trail. It was loose dirt with large rocks and rutted all to hell in some spots. I was coming downhill when I saw a diagonal rut in front of me.Instead of turning in to it I hit the back brake and when that started skidding I grabbed a little front. A little too much front that is. The front snapped sideways in the loose dirt and slapped me down to the ground quick. I had been going less that 10mph I'd guess. Dusted myself off and continued on my way.Lucky I didn't break a cover. If I had lost my oil there is no cell phone service there. I would have had to walk out in the dark and those woods have bears.

Damage: None to me and a couple scratches on the tupperware and mirror.
Experience: At the time (2009) 25yrs, 150k+ miles, a few track days, over 20 bikes including V twin cruisers, UJM's, Supersports, and sport tourers. Could have used a dual sport that day.
Gear: Light summer stuff. Jeans, leather jacket, medium weight leather gloves, Full face Arai or AGV (can't remember), Icon shoe/boot (covered the ankle but not much)
 
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