High-centered my Ninja 250, literally almost died afterwards, adventurous day.

[fuzzybabybunny]

Riding down HWY 1 between Big Sur and Carmel. Two lane road, I'm going north traveling @ 45mph 2 seconds behind a column of cars. I have my brights on, it's somewhat foggy and dim outside, and I'm riding closer to the center of the road (left side of my lane). Suddenly a truck going southbound runs straight across my lane in front of me to get off into a side street. No blinkers, no warning, no slowing down. All I had time for was wedging myself between him and the car behind him, almost straddling the center line. I came within 2 feet of clipping his rear and 2 feet from crashing head on into the guy going straight behind him. If I had been riding in the center or the right of my lane, I would not be posting this right now. When we passed each other I had the sickening realization that I just avoided a very real and instant death at 90mph combined speed due to a driver who wasn't paying attention.

Earlier that day I drove off into a secluded side road of HWY 1, and it was a very very rugged 15 miles. Big rocks, very steep, all dirt, and huge potholes and channels that swallowed my tires whole. Took a slow spill after swallowing one of these channels, and the bike got high-centered between two of them after picking it up. No traction to motor out, so I had to wait for a couple of guys passing along to push me out. Very hairy ride.

http://fuzzybabybunny.smugmug.com/M...-Sur-Bike-Trip/13665670_rD8Cx#997809751_ceJSE

 

[jlee]

I first read that as 'high-sided' and was like wtf, the bike looks fine...then I read it again.

Glad you survived...I was almost merged into the 2nd day with my permit. People just don't look/see you...

 

[PhoKingGuy]

Is it really good for the bike to be doing that?

 

[Arkaign]

Stuff like this is why I doubt I'll ever DD a bike again. I have a son who's gonna be 4 in December, and riding a motorcycle in DFW is a pretty dangerous thing to do. I've known tons of riders that have gone down, thankfully I haven't known anyone personally that's been killed, but lots of gnarly injuries and one amputee/paraplegic.

I would, however, like to get another bike after I retire and get the hell out of the damn city.

 

[TraumaRN]

Glad you are OK...we had a terrible motorcycle accident come in tonight...SUV sideswiped a motorcycle. The driver of the motorcycle was OK, only minor injuries but his wife was riding as a passenger and she had a partial amputation of one of her legs, along with some other pretty serious injuries because she was thrown from the bike(couldn't hold on I guess??) She should make it through but it'll be a long long time before she's back to normal again...Ride safe my friend

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

Glad you are OK...we had a terrible motorcycle accident come in tonight...SUV sideswiped a motorcycle. The driver of the motorcycle was OK, only minor injuries but his wife was riding as a passenger and she had a partial amputation of one of her legs, along with some other pretty serious injuries because she was thrown from the bike(couldn't hold on I guess??) She should make it through but it'll be a long long time before she's back to normal again...Ride safe my friend

Gah, fuck me. At what point do you say that riding is just not worth the risk?

BTW, I think I'm going to spend some money on brighter headlights and the ones that strobe.

 

[Dr. Detroit]

Dualsport?

 

[TraumaRN]

Gah, fuck me. At what point do you say that riding is just not worth the risk?

BTW, I think I'm going to spend some money on brighter headlights and the ones that strobe.

Well just ride with your head on a swivel and trust no one on the road. I mean as an ER nurse I could tell you numerous horror stories about bikes. But seriously. It's not as dangerous as you'd think...and to be honest holiday weekends always see a rise(at least in the ER) from all sorts of car/bike/dirt bike/4-wheeler type injuries. Most related to alcohol. And most bike accidents aren't due to the biker. There are exceptions of course, I got a 20yr old on friday, wasn't drinking, no drugs either, riding shorts, tshirt and helmet only. Driving 50+mph on a side street and a car pulled out in front of him. He barely made it out of surgery. Injuries too numerous to list.

But don't let me scare you...it sounds like you drive/ride very safe and are careful. And damn looking at your pictures...I'm jealous. Looks like a beautiful ride especially those pics above the cloud/fog line

 

[RockinZ28]

Man all these stories are really turning me off on the idea of getting a bike. Glad you are ok, but I sure as hell know I won't be riding in anything but clear weather and sunlight if I ever do.

 

[Zenmervolt]

In a couple years when you get a different bike, I recommend one of the following 3:

Kawasaki KLR 650

Suzuki V-Strom 650

Yamaha Super Ténéré

The Yamaha might be a bit more of a jump than you want (it's by far the largest-displacement of the three), but any of those 3 should give you the sort of dirt road performance you seem to be wanting.

ZV

 

[Arkaign]

Wow, ZV, very nice list. That Yamaha is freaking awesome looking!

 

[PlasmaBomb]

Is it really good for the bike to be doing that?

I'm going to go with no... assuming you are talking about high-centering...

 

[deadlyapp]

Man all these stories are really turning me off on the idea of getting a bike. Glad you are ok, but I sure as hell know I won't be riding in anything but clear weather and sunlight if I ever do.

Don't ride a motorcycle if you're going to worry about your life all the time. You can die from all manners of stupid shit, might as well have fun while you're at it.

I rode my ducati in every manner of weather and terrible condition you could find. You can't let someone else dictate what you do.

And LOL fuzzy at the dirtbiking. I took my old ninja 250 on some backroads once before and decided not to ever again. You should get a dual sport.

 

[JulesMaximus]

I had a nice ride yesterday. 180 miles and no close calls. I met up with some friends and we rode out the 8 freeway toward Alpine and then went up Sunrise Highway through Mt Laguna, Lake Cuyamaca, and down into the town of Julian.

 

[SViper]

Sounds like a really close call. Glad to hear you came out ok though.

You do take some really nice pics on your rides. I think it's great that you combine two of your passions, riding and photography, in a neat way.

 

[RockinZ28]

Don't ride a motorcycle if you're going to worry about your life all the time. You can die from all manners of stupid shit, might as well have fun while you're at it.

I rode my ducati in every manner of weather and terrible condition you could find. You can't let someone else dictate what you do.

And LOL fuzzy at the dirtbiking. I took my old ninja 250 on some backroads once before and decided not to ever again. You should get a dual sport.

I can minimize my chances of having an accident, its not just dying, life wouldn't be too much fun in a wheel chair with no legs. Obviously there are risks to a certain degree in everything you do, but within 10 minutes of it raining in los angeles, there are accidents on every freeway, don't want to be on a bike at
the time.
Only be for pleasure anyway, I have two cars that I'm lucky if I drive one of them a week.

 

[PlasmaBomb]

Don't ride a motorcycle if you're going to worry about your life all the time. You can die from all manners of stupid shit, might as well have fun while you're at it.

I rode my ducati in every manner of weather and terrible condition you could find. You can't let someone else dictate what you do.

And LOL fuzzy at the dirtbiking. I took my old ninja 250 on some backroads once before and decided not to ever again. You should get a dual sport.

He should have stuck to the less rutted areas to either side of the track... not that I would know anything about grass tracking a non dirt bike on occasion :whiste:

 

[fbrdphreak]

Don't ride a motorcycle if you're going to worry about your life all the time. You can die from all manners of stupid shit, might as well have fun while you're at it.

I rode my ducati in every manner of weather and terrible condition you could find. You can't let someone else dictate what you do.

It's all about priorities. As most people age and have more responsibilities, the "have fun" part of riding a motorcycle is quickly outweighed by the inherent risks.

And no matter how you play it, the reality is that you have far less protection in a motorcycle than pretty much any car rolling around with four wheels. Even driving extremely conservatively and defensively, there is a much, much, much greater likelihood of surviving any type of crash with little to no deficit in even a shitty little tin can compared to a motorcycle.

While I have no interest in riding a motorcycle, I have friends that do and I wouldn't be as concerned about it if I was back in North Carolina. The roads aren't as crowded, the drivers rather tame.

In South Florida - you have to be certifiable to ride a bike. And you see that in the bikers down here - 99% of them ride crotch-rocket sport bikes, ~2/3 of them don't wear protective gear (it's not required by law), and about 1/3-1/2 of the time you see a biker they are weaving through traffic or severely breaking the speed limit. And the best part for the rest of us is that the traffic laws are written such that if you have an accident with a motorcyclist, the car driver is found at fault in nearly any situation.

Thanks, but I'll stick to my speed with four wheels, some doors and a roof. In my case, add AWD, four doors and top safety ratings to that mix. While I'd have no regrets if I died doing something risky that I enjoy, a motorcycle is a strong tempt of fate. Not to mention I *would* regret ending up a vegetable or significantly disabled.

Take DeathBUA's story and imagine every possible variant from there. A relative of mine had a bad bike crash and ended up with severe brain damage. He's still learning who he is and how to function without a permanent care taker, despite the accident happening years ago.

No thanks.

 

[SithSolo1]

What on earth drove you to take your bike into that mess?

I mean, it looks like you took a B-line right to the worst part of that section of road.

 

[Imp]

Gah, fuck me. At what point do you say that riding is just not worth the risk?

BTW, I think I'm going to spend some money on brighter headlights and the ones that strobe.

A white/neon helmet and bright green jacket would probably help more, but I've heard of people being hit despite wearing all of that. Some people just filter out everything except cars or anything with 2 headlights while driving.

Good to hear you're okay, ride safe.

 

[madeuce]

Glad you're ok, read the title and was expecting the worst lol

 

[skulkingghost]

Ninja 250 is not a dirtbike. I would not have attempted that ride on a Ninja, I would try it with a nice dirtbike, but not a streetbike / crotch rocket.

 

[Throckmorton]

This is exactly why my hobbies are things other than motorcycling, like bodyboarding (not the pro stuff), sandcastle building, radio controlled cars, and offroading!

BTW why were you offroading with your bike? It looks like you could have gotten out by stuffing vegetation under your rear tire. Maybe you should have bought a dualsport, especially since you're a photographer who apparently drives in the wilderness often

 

[Throckmorton]

A white/neon helmet and bright green jacket would probably help more, but I've heard of people being hit despite wearing all of that. Some people just filter out everything except cars or anything with 2 headlights while driving.

Good to hear you're okay, ride safe.

Yesterday I put a bunch of yellow reflective tape on the inside edges of the doors of my Jeep. It could be the difference between getting hit while getting out after parallel parking, and not getting hit.

If I were a motorcyclist, I'd put reflective tape or reflectors on every surface imaginable, including the helmet. Yellow would be best because it should be legal and logical on all surfaces, while red only works for rear, and white isn't that noticeable.

Why people ride with black helmets is beyond me.

 

[Necrolezbeast]

I don't care what anyone says about Fuzzy... he's a badass! Keep up the good work and keep safe man... <3