I suck at riding.

[G_YamTech_314]

I was riding the mountain route home after work today, and wanted to blow off steam, I found myself far above my level of skill and at a rate of speed where I no longer had control of my Ninja 650, while following a co worker on a newer, faster Ninja 636.

I wrecked my bike and really the only thing hurt is my pride, and the bike... It sucks and I'm grateful to be alive but it could've been prevented and I'm sharing this in the hopes that it solidifies the truth in my brain that confidence kills...

I really hope this kind of post doesn't break any rules, and if it does I'll delete it immediately. I'm just letting everyone know that I'm sorry. Which sounds dumb but it's true. I'm sorry for myself, and that I probably ride in a way that I shouldn't...

Truth be told, there's a time and place for speed, and that place is the track. I love the thrill and freedom of riding and I wanna continue being able to have that experience. Maybe this'll teach someone something, or maybe I'm just posting this because I need to hear the criticism... Either way, the bike can be repaired and was still operational. I rode it 15 minutes to the shop I work at... Ride safe everyone, and be smarter than me...

 

[Kevin Werner]

I am very happy you are posting rather than a worse outcome.
Life lessons.
My ex mother-in-law (no bad feelings) might say "too late smart" or "smarter by half". Please do not take these as put downs. I am much older than you and I find I am holding up traffic these days because I did what you did when I was your age.
Learning experience.
You have a great future with your training and work experience.
Catalog this experience in your memory bank and keep the motto " ride at your comfort level" forefront. Cheers, recover well, be safe.

 

[Mailman]

Well thankfully you’re not hurt too badly ( from what I can see anyways ) and nobody else was hurt. The bike can be repaired and you have learned from your experience. In the end you’ll take what has happened to you and use it to become a safer rider. We’ve all had our moments we regret.
Hang in there.

 

[nj1639]

I worked with a fellow from Puerto Rico many years ago. I don't recall what stupid thing I was doing at the time but he said "Meester Rick. You don' have to worry about sombody killing you, man. You going to kill you self"
"Thanks, Papo." I replied.
It was in jest but it has stayed with me all these years and has given me just a little more caution.
Put those words in your pocket. Good to see you still breathe.

 

[Wirenutt]

Glad you were able to walk away and ride the bike after. I learned my big lesson at 17, and it destroyed my bike and nearly killed me. An instantaneous lapse of judgement got me a ride in the meat wagon and weeks in the hospital. That was 1975 and I haven't been able to walk right since then. Some days are worse than others and I have a handicap hang-tag for the bad days. But I still ride, and I have countless miles in the saddle since then and the closest I came to going down was hitting the back hooves of a deer that ran across in front of me. All it did was turn her into a flat-spinning, four-splayed-legged comedy I could see in my rear view for a few seconds until she stopped spinning and got up and ran off. I was on my Kawasaki ZG1000 whose sheer bulk meant that the deer bounced off and didn't even make the bike wobble.

I ride with my head on a swivel and anyone who rides with me often remarks about how conservatively I ride, and that's no accident. That accident so many years ago changed my life, and affected how I ride and drive, so much so that even in close to two million miles of driving and riding I am accident-free. My cars wear out or rust out, or are wrecked by my wife. (Okay, only one of them!) My retirement job is driving a school bus, and even with the strictest of rules and regs, I have no marks, complaints, or dings in 125,000 miles driving a bus.

My point is, use this as a learning experience, because we literally can't learn anything unless we make mistakes. NONE of us on here are mistake-free. Mine almost killed me and yours scratched you up pretty good and will cost some cash to fix. I'm very happy for you that you got off relatively easy.

 

[Raymond]

I don't think this post breaks any rules and I think it's commendable that you are publicly taking responsibility for your accident. It's right we should all confront m/c safety. Glad you're not badly hurt.

To me, the thing that jumps out in your story is that you were following a co-worker. I usually ride alone, or just me and pillion, but those occasions down the years when I've been out with others on bikes have given rise to a few, uhm, moments. As you have noted yourself, it's all too easy to find yourself riding in a way that isn't your own choosing. Apart from the tendency of men on sickles to show off, there is also the problem that your attention is divided. You should be fully focussed on road & traffic, but you end up being distracted keeping up with the other riders.

Much safer IMHO to ride on your own and take decisions you are happy with.

For anybody interested - nobody? - my start of day ride routine. I like to sit on the bike and let the engine warm up for a full minute. While I sit there, one thousand and one, one thousand and two, , , , a minute is quite a long time, I use that time to think about the forthcoming ride. As well as rehearsing the route, I also think about safety, how I'm not going to get casual about familiar junctions, not going to get drawn into going too fast, above all I'm going to make damn certain to get the bike and meself back home in one piece.

 

[Max Midnight]

Some years ago I was out for a ride with a friend and we came across a rider stopped by the side of the road cleaning mud and dirt off his bike with water from a puddle.
He explained that he'd just come off his bike after try to keep up with other riders and, in his words, 'ran out of talent'.

I guess the important thing is to learn from the mistake and try to understand why it happened. An advanced riding course can help hone skills as can a guided track day.
I think many accident happen a) because there is a tendency to look at the hazard rather than where we want the dike to go.
b) Ego takes over from common sense.

 

[gggGary]

I decided to quit track racing because of my lack of talent/judgement was crippling me.
My advancing age hasen't stopped the stupidity but it doesn't come out as often as it used to.
Thanks for sharing, good to be reminded by other's misfortunes. We've all been in a situation where our ego wrote a check our talent couldn't cash. Life lesson's can be painful. Sounds like this one will stay with you for a bit. Live n learn, it never ends.

 

[G_YamTech_314]

ego wrote a check our talent couldn't cash.

I need to live by that. I appreciate all the grace from everyone. I'm pretty sore this morning. But it's a lesson I'm glad I learned while still being able to walk. I woke up this morning... How awesome is that?

I think many accident happen a) because there is a tendency to look at the hazard rather than where we want the dike to go.
b) Ego takes over from common sense.

I think you're right. In my case specifically I know I wasnt going to make the turn. If I'd tried turning I am all but certain I'd have high sided and been in much worse shape. I looked at the hazard, you're right. But I think it was one of my only options. The guy I was riding with started the turn from the oncoming lane and entered it with his elbow on the ground at about 60 mph... I was in the proper lane doing about 90 by the time I saw the "20mph turn" sign... That's when I realized where I was and that I needed to bleed as much speed as humanly possible. It was dumb... But I'm alive. Looking back at the pictures and the skid mark it's hard to tell exactly how fast I was going. I was looking at the road not the speedometer... Embarrassed but just banged up is a lot better than hospitalized or dead, and gone.

It's pretty humiliating to admit how fast I was riding, but I think I need to feel this. Otherwise will I really learn from it?

Too many times I've gotten away with riding around at 120mph... It was bound to bite me back eventually. I'm just grateful it was a warning nibble.

 

[willis]

Glad to hear you are ok. I think the fact that you are eating this humble pie says volumes of your character. Maybe a refresher in a rider safety course would be a good place to start. I always recommend new riders to take this course. While many think they already know how to ride, the course teaches very valuable information that sticks with your daily riding skills. Or as Gary mentioned, look into an advanced rider course, or maybe look into some track days to help refine your skills. Personally I have no interest in riding at that level. The older I get the more comfortable I am at riding fast on a slow bike. I’ve lost several friends who were riding above their skill level. But reality is that you don’t have to be going fast to have a life threatening injury. These are death machines that we ride and respect for them is a must. Glad you are still here to share your experience with us!

 

[jetmechmarty]

I know what you did. It happens often. “while following a coworker “ You weren’t riding your ride. You were riding his ride. Without realizing it, you may have even been pushing him. Don’t beat yourself up. Just take the lesson.

When I am riding with a friend or friends, I focus on the road by looking through the motorcycle in front of me and riding my own ride. I stay aware of the other rider to maintain my distance, but do not ride his ride.

I have a crash thread on here myself. In 2016, I had a bad one and I’m lucky to be here.
https://www.xs650.com/threads/did-not-make-it-home-in-one-piece.46473/

I’m glad you’re OK. So is everyone who cares about you.

 

[Max Midnight]

I know what you did. It happens often. “while following a coworker “ You weren’t riding your ride. You were riding his ride. Without realizing it, you may have even been pushing him. Don’t beat yourself up. Just take the lesson.

It was my second time on bikes, the first as a 'yoof' when (I hope) I did all the daft things and managed to survive.
The fried I referred to in my previous post tended to ride and corner faster than I was comfortable with.
When that happened I just let him go and have his fun and I usually caught up on the straights.

As Marty alludes to, he rode his ride and I rode mine.

 

[Wingedwheel]

Page 19, sec. 6 BRC handbook. It’s something we stress all during the course.

 

[ThatXS650Guy]

My priorities when riding are: 1) Get bike and self home safely. 2) Have fun.
In that order.
Glad to hear you are OK

 

[cra-z1]

If your state has motorcycle courses I would look into those. You can learn a lot from some of the advanced classes. Even on the track you can end up in pretty bad shape. My girlfriend broke her collarbone on her 650 Ninja at the track. But yes there is a time and place for a little speed but never any guarantees. Glade you'r ok and still have time to enjoy motorcycles. I do hope you wear a helmet and as much safety gear as possible. Took a few falls and sever road rash for me to learn that one.

 

[G_YamTech_314]

If your state has motorcycle courses I would look into those. You can learn a lot from some of the advanced classes. Even on the track you can end up in pretty bad shape. My girlfriend broke her collarbone on her 650 Ninja at the track. But yes there is a time and place for a little speed but never any guarantees. Glade you'r ok and still have time to enjoy motorcycles. I do hope you wear a helmet and as much safety gear as possible. Took a few falls and sever road rash for me to learn that one.

I had a helmet, gloves, and thick denim work pants on with steel toe shoes. Only thing missing was a jacket which would've been a hoodie I had in my backpack... Usually it's how I ride. I'm going to be investing in an actual riding jacket and padded jeans soon. But yes. I ALWAYS wear the helmet and gloves at the very least. I'm still around and kickin. Just a little slower for the next couple days til my scratches and dents go away.

 

[Kevin Werner]

I had a helmet, gloves, and thick denim work pants on with steel toe shoes. Only thing missing was a jacket which would've been a hoodie I had in my backpack... Usually it's how I ride. I'm going to be investing in an actual riding jacket and padded jeans soon. But yes. I ALWAYS wear the helmet and gloves at the very least. I'm still around and kickin. Just a little slower for the next couple days til my scratches and dents go away.

I smacked the pavement at 90+ mph and destroyed a helmet, shredded my jungle commies (UsMC) in 1981. Scraped an awful lot of flesh nicely. My wallet protected 6 square inches of my ass cheeks. The rest were bandaged for weeks. Two years later I bought a bike that I rode aggressively but never had to take emergency evasive action on. I spent a ton of time splitting traffic in LA. 55000 mile later I sold the bike. Motto, if the impact hurt more than you can tolerate slow down...

 

[Jan_P]

Yes to Mr Jetmech one needs to make once own decisions
I have a Fireblade ..without any Traction control or ABS
Some friends I ride with are trying to be the fastest man in town And takes risks.
Sometimes we are at roads they have been riding on before . They know what comes behind the next bend I don't
And there can be a tractor parked
I just let go of the throttle. " chicken out " as they say Other times I know the road and they are looking pale .And are quiet afterwards.
That Honda is fast Excellent handling good brakes a bit forgiving if not exact right gear .it is not the bike that sets the limits it is the driver.
On curvy roads
If one is going to be fast there is a lot to get right right gear .other traffic ... position on the road brake point
Some days it don't work ..

And as you describe it he takes out the turn on the wrong side of the road at the enter. Getting a larger radius That is dangerous and I have heard of one on a Honda CBX 6 cylinder many years ago hitting an oncoming delivery truck losing his leg that way Being on the wrong side of the road
.I believe he survived. The friends above sometimes pass other traffic before hills on the road I dont do that. I brake instead

 

[atom4488]

Amen to all the above shared experiences and wisdom. We used to run a specific piece of country road at night at racing speeds; lots of blind curves, abrupt elevation changes and whatnot. One particular night I came across the brow of hill that drops into a lovely sweeper with wetlands on either side of the road. Lo and behold, there is a huge bull moose standing in the middle of the road. I say the fastest Hail Marys my mind could muster and held right hoping that the moose would hold left. He did and I avoided what was going to be in all likelihood a fatal crash. Lesson learned! I decided that racing speeds were for racing tracks, which was what I did the following season.

 

[bosco659]

Thanks for posting this, it may well save someone from having a serious or fatal accident.

When riding in a group, I’m usually in the back of the pack. If the pack gets ahead and away from me, oh well, I know how to get home. You mentioned your friend had his elbow to the ground. If that was one of people I was riding with, I’d break away from the pack and go home safely. Am I a ? Perhaps, but will most likely be a live one tomorrow.

Glad you’re doing ok and once again thanks for sharing.