I suck at riding.

I think we all been there at some point ( especially the older once in the group like myself) and we are lucky to be able to write about it. Be safe and heal well. Nothing like hurt pride and self esteem :) but there’s at time for everything - I’m sure you learned a lesson that’ll benefit you going forward !
 
Thanks for all the support and shared experiences everyone. It really makes me feel a lot better. I'll be continuing to replay it over and over and over. Each time I try and guess how fast I was going and each time I feel more embarrassed. Picked the bike up in fifth gear. So I was probably hauling some serious ass. Go fast, don't die. Thats the saying ain't it? I think I'm only going to need a new mirror, and fender... The rest of the bike, believe it or not seems just fine... Same with me. I'm just still so confused as to how it didn't end worse...
 
G_YamTech_314 said:
Only thing missing was a jacket
Click to expand...

When I was 19 , I experienced my only crash to date ( knock on wood ). My only piece of riding gear that I had on was an open face helmet ( hey it was the early 70’s 😄 ) , anyways I took a long slide on a deteriorated gravely asphalt road and wound up in the ER, with a nurse scrubbing grit out of my road rash with a brush 😬.
After that ATGATT looked pretty good! 😄
 
Kevin Werner said:
Motto, if the impact hurt more than you can tolerate slow down...
Click to expand...
I have two issues with that:
1) It isn't always the rider that causes them to fall off.
2) It should read 'if the impact hurt more than you can tolerate buy some riding gear designed to save your skin'.

Nobody plans to fall off their bike and I fail to understand the reluctance to invest in good helmet, jacket, trousers, gloves and boots.
 
You are fortunate Yam. July 4 2020, I rode my bike to pay my water bill, which is close enough that I can walk it if I feel like. It's along a brick road with concrete addons to widen it. I caught the edge where the concrete was a little higher than the brick and high sided and went shoulder first into the grass and folded like a squeezebox. I got up and hurt like hell but went on and dropped my bill in the night slot and rode back home. By this time I knew I was damaged and got out the freeze packs and taped them to my side. It was two months before deep breathing wasn't painful and longer before
I didn't grab a pillow if I felt a sneeze coming.. Black and blue bruising all down my side and under my arm initially and lingering pain in shoulder, scapula and ribs for a long time after. Just a couple of weeks before, a friend and I took our motorcycles on a 100 mile ride out and back along the beach and had a great ride. This ride however was not on the xs, it was on my Panasonic 3500 road bicycle and I was only poking along at maybe 5 mph because the brick pavement is so bumpy. For the couple of weeks I was mostly immobile I thought what a flight to ground would be like at 50 mph or even 15. Yes, you are fortunate indeed.
 
I just remembered something that reminded me of something else about my great bicycle wreck, A lot of motorcyclists pass by my house on a daily basis. I usually check them out when I hear one coming. A few days ago I heard one and took a look. The rider was cruising down the street no hands and looking down at his cell phone just like he was sitting on his couch or should I say , in a car. Now I remember that I have never had any fear of injury while riding my bicycle ( except the fear of being ironed by a car or other large ride). Not that I even considered it, a fall of 3 or 4 feet from bike seat to ground wouldn't hurt, especially on grassy shoulder, right? Now I know ! naka.
 
G_YamTech_314 said:
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...
Click to expand...

The trouble with trouble is it starts out as fun . We all can learn a bit from your experience .
 
Raymond said:
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.
Click to expand...
I lead group rides all the time. Some people ride slower than others. I always tell people, ride YOUR ride.
 
In the UK there are many rider training courses available from different organisations.
Years ago I did a ROSPA advanced rider course, which was equivalent to the UK Police rider standards; and those Cop guys on hefty BMW's can run rings around most 'hobby' sports bike riders on any sunny Sunday.

https://www.rospa.com/safety-traini...training-courses/advanced-motorcycle-training
Screenshot 2023-08-06 at 10.06.47.png


I also did a similar course for car driving.
My mate Tim and I then went about driving Rally cars (Mini Coopers / Escort Lotus Twin Cam / Subaru Impreza) at many competition events.
I also did many track days on various sport bikes; including guidance by James Witham and Leon Haslam.
A further 15 years on the road as a sales representative driving 30k-50k miles a year; I consider myself a professional driver / rider.

With all that in mind I use a 'safety first' approach to the road and ride within a 'safety bubble' with regards to other road users.

I have had only one road riding accident in all my years on the bikes; and that was nobodies fault but mine.
On that particular day I was not feeling confident on the bike. Following a mate, too close, around a blind fast right bend; I was unsighted for the turn exit. I took a wider than normal approach to improve my vision; dind't see the gravel in the left gutter which took the front wheel away.
I ended up cartwheeling into a farmers field with the bike bouncing over the top of me.

Just that momentary lack of concentration and not riding in a good state of mind brought me down.
Moral is always prepare and be prepared. Safety first and enjoy the ride home.
 
Adamc said:
In the UK there are many rider training courses available from different organisations.
Years ago I did a ROSPA advanced rider course, which was equivalent to the UK Police rider standards; and those Cop guys on hefty BMW's can run rings around most 'hobby' sports bike riders on any sunny Sunday.

https://www.rospa.com/safety-traini...training-courses/advanced-motorcycle-training
View attachment 248549

I also did a similar course for car driving.
My mate Tim and I then went about driving Rally cars (Mini Coopers / Escort Lotus Twin Cam / Subaru Impreza) at many competition events.
I also did many track days on various sport bikes; including guidance by James Witham and Leon Haslam.
A further 15 years on the road as a sales representative driving 30k-50k miles a year; I consider myself a professional driver / rider.

With all that in mind I use a 'safety first' approach to the road and ride within a 'safety bubble' with regards to other road users.

I have had only one road riding accident in all my years on the bikes; and that was nobodies fault but mine.
On that particular day I was not feeling confident on the bike. Following a mate, too close, around a blind fast right bend; I was unsighted for the turn exit. I took a wider than normal approach to improve my vision; dind't see the gravel in the left gutter which took the front wheel away.
I ended up cartwheeling into a farmers field with the bike bouncing over the top of me.

Just that momentary lack of concentration and not riding in a good state of mind brought me down.
Moral is always prepare and be prepared. Safety first and enjoy the ride home.
Click to expand...
You ought to see what our Florida cops can do on a H-D Road King. Un-Freaking-Believable.
 
lakeview said:
I may be out of line here, but that straight line skid mark shows target fixation. You were looking where you were going to go off the road, rather than up and around the curve.
Click to expand...
Excellent point. Nothing wrong with constructive criticism as it's just another way for us to learn.
 
lakeview said:
I may be out of line here, but that straight line skid mark shows target fixation. You were looking where you were going to go off the road, rather than up and around the curve.
Click to expand...
He said he was going too fast to make the curve.....trying to avoid a high side. Fixated yeah, on keeping up with the rider ahead.
 
The faster yer going, the higher your work load. That's true even when your giving full attention to road & traffic.

Add riding in company, your attention is split, giving you even less time to fully appreciate the evolving situation. Till you overload the system, run out of time/space to slow down and fixate on where you're going to crash.

Police RTA investigators have told me that in most cases of a single-vehicle m/c accident, where the rider has failed to take a bend, the bike could in fact have made the bend if the rider had reacted by correcting his/her line but they have given up by then.
 
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