Ever crashed?

[Viirin]

Anyone on here ever total their GZ (or another bike)?

Just something that doesn't seem to be discussed around here a lot - i had a small crash last year but only cracked the front fender and the bike didn't even fall but just wondering has anyone had to get anything major done to their GZ or even replaced it after a crash?

Vii

[alanmcorcoran]

Never had even a minor scrape on the Geezer but I had two little whoopshits on the Strat, both at low speed. One scratched up the right saddle bag and the other I eventually had to replace the front blinker and scratched up the floorboard the brake lever and a bit of the windshield. The Geezer's like a bicycle in comparison.

[frempath]

In my younger days I have dumped a bike 3 times. All 3 involved breaking the rear tire loose at low speed.
1) Parking lot had a sharp "S" to slow folks down as they came off a major street. Came in as I always did, but this time some gravel had accumulated on the concrete. Leaned into the curve and out went the rear, and under a pick-up truck went I. Dinged the bike and road-rashed me.

2) Coming home on a clay bed gravel road after a night shift. Construction had started on a bridge and crew was spraying water everywhere, I guess to keep dust down. Very greasy situation and as I applied some throttle to get up a grade, dumped it. Would been nice if the crew would have helped get me out from under the bike, but hey they were union and didn't get paid for that. Just dings, cuts and bruises.

3) Coming around a sharp curve on county blacktop with gravel cross roads. Caught some gravel on the blacktop and the rear broke loose. This time I felt the bike going, let go of the bars, planted my right foot, did a hard pivot while swinging the left leg over the bike, and walked/ran away from the bike without injury.

First and Third probably could have been avoided with more attentiveness on my part. The second, nope cause I was stuck driving through the mess as it was the only way home.

frempath

[alantf]

Last year while overtaking a 4x4 he decided to turn left without checking his mirror. The bike went down and the parts that needed replacing were crashbar, bar ends, clutch lever, brake pedal, mirrors, luggage box, handlebars, headlight & bracket, front mudguard, indicator lenses.

All this, & I'd only had the bike back on the road for a fortnight (two weeks) after someone reversed into it whilst it was parked. That time it had all the above parts replaced, plus the exhaust (which got scratched).

So you see, these parts have all been replaced twice. It's a good job the other driver's insurance paid up both times. And it's one of the resons I won't ride without crash bars. They certainly saved my legs when the bike went down.

[dhgeyer]

1. When I was 21 and stupid I had some clothes tied on the back fender of my Ducati 250, because I didn't have any other way to attach them. They came loose and jammed the back wheel. I was doing 45 maybe 50 on a back country road. If I'd had the training then that I have now, I'd probably have been able to bring it to a stop. As it was I got it down to 20 or 25 before I went down. Minor damage to the bike, and I had a sore back for a while.

2. Three years ago my wife and I were riding two up on my Kawasaki Concours C10 sport touring bike. We were going 50 to 55 on a good 2 lane US route. It was 4:00 PM on a perfect June day, with absolutely no impediment to anyone's vision. A young lady coming out of a side road didn't see us and pulled out at exactly the worst possible moment. I swerved violently and almost missed her. She actually hit us. My right hard bag took off her front license plate. It wasn't a severe impact, but it was enough to knock us off the bike. I tumbled and rolled about 100 feet down the road. I paced it off later. I'm pretty sure ATGATT saved my life. I got up and walked away with minor injuries. My wife broke 20 bones in 26 places including most of the ribs where they attach to her spine in the back, had two punctured lungs (they burst from the pressure, but with lungs that only makes fairly small holes), severely damaged her left shoulder, and suffered a traumatic brain injury. I'm absolutely sure that ATGATT saved her life. We were wearing full face DOT and Snell approved helmets, and if she suffered a brain injury with that on there's no way she would have survived without it. She never recovered completely, and never will. It ended her career. She is now on long term disability from her insurance company and the Social Security Administration. The case has not settled yet, but it will within the next few months.

[Sarris]

From my previous post "The Story"
In April 2006, I was riding my 2005 Yamaha 1700 Roadstar (120 hp Barons modified) with another biker, enjoying the ride and just minding our own biz. We came around a blind corner onto a cage that had come to a full stop in an area where it is illegal to turn. She had no turnsignal on, but was turned slightly to the right. My buddy was on my right. He swerved between a power pole and a sign, and thought he was going to hit her. I swerved left to go around her (there was no oncoming traffic) and just as my front wheel got beside her left rear tire, she made a left, and I t-boned her at 35 mph. The momentum made made the bike snap sideways to the right, crushing my right foot and ankle (from about midcalf down) between the cage and the bike. After 4 hours of orthopaedic surgery and 7 days in the hospital, I was relegated to a wheelchair and was totally non-ambulatory for 6 months. I now have a 12" long scar on the outside of my right ankle where a titanium plate and 10 screws was inserted and there is a bunch of miscellaneous metal bits and pieces holding all my foot and toe bones together. Every bone in my ankle and foot was broken, as well as both leg bones that were broken off just above the ankle. The surgeon commented that had this happened 10 years ago, I would have lost my foot. I was wearing riding boots, a leather jacket, gloves, and a 3/4 helmet.

The woman driving the cage never saw me. She also had just enough insurance to get a tag in Florida, and no other assets. I got nothing. My $18k bike was totalled.

It was was only time in 35 years of riding that I got clanged, so I got it out of the way. I don't limp and I can still ride. Just another very valuable life lesson.

Shit happens. End of story.

:oops:

[dannylightning]

i almost crashed the other day, i went to stop, leanded the bike over and went to put my foot down and some how it stuck on the foot peg and i almost fell over.. kind of funny actually, got my foot off in time to save it haha..

[Water Warrior 2]

i almost crashed the other day, i went to stop, leanded the bike over and went to put my foot down and some how it stuck on the foot peg and i almost fell over.. kind of funny actually, got my foot off in time to save it haha..
That's more of a drop than a crash with bloodshed. 4 drops for me in 5 years and once I wasn't even on the bike.

Dirt bikes are different. You know you will crash, flop over, spin out or just plain have a blonde moment with a resulting get off. Lots of fun if speeds are not death defying and you have protective gear. It's the most fun you can have with your cloths on.

[ncff07]

Almost dropped my GZ twice forgetting to kick the stand down but never crashed. Almost did over the weekend though. Was going down a 4 lane road doing around 50 and noticed a white car fixing to pull out in front of me. I let off the throttle and covered the clutch and brakes and checked the lanes to the left of me(i was in the far right lane). The driver hit the brakes hard, you could tell since it "bowed" up, front goes down and back goes up and got stopped with the front bumper barely in the road. Had already decided if he did pull out I'd have had to hit the gas and swerve over to the center turn lane cause I didnt know which lane the car would have been trying to get to.

[Viirin]

Man, people just shouldn't drive...at all

[alanmcorcoran]

As Hough says, "Plan your escape route..."

[dannylightning]

i almost crashed the other day, i went to stop, leanded the bike over and went to put my foot down and some how it stuck on the foot peg and i almost fell over.. kind of funny actually, got my foot off in time to save it haha..
That's more of a drop than a crash with bloodshed. 4 drops for me in 5 years and once I wasn't even on the bike.

Dirt bikes are different. You know you will crash, flop over, spin out or just plain have a blonde moment with a resulting get off. Lots of fun if speeds are not death defying and you have protective gear. It's the most fun you can have with your cloths on.

if you are on it when it falls over i still think it is a crash ...

[ncff07]

As Hough says, "Plan your escape route..."

i did. probably within the span of half a second i checked the other lanes and covered everything and thought to myself OH SHIT!

[DrSpeed]

i had a kz440 downtown tucson has trolley tracks i was puttering along after a concert and this dick decides to cut me off then brake check me so i slam hard lock up the fronts and the rea washes out as iwas saving it the front tire caught a connector track and whomp over teh bars i go onto the sidewalk and there goes my bike now the kz 440 aint that light and lifting it up was a pain but thank god for icon titanium gloves a good leather jacket and a full face helmet needless to say that helmet was retired but it sists in my garagare as a reminder as to why i always wear one

[music man]

i had a kz440 downtown tucson has trolley tracks i was puttering along after a concert and this dick decides to cut me off then brake check me so i slam hard lock up the fronts and the rea washes out as iwas saving it the front tire caught a connector track and whomp over teh bars i go onto the sidewalk and there goes my bike now the kz 440 aint that light and lifting it up was a pain but thank god for icon titanium gloves a good leather jacket and a full face helmet needless to say that helmet was retired but it sists in my garagare as a reminder as to why i always wear one


:??:

[Viirin]

Did the guy even stop?

[bonehead]

Did the guy even stop?
No punctuation taught in that english class?

[ArizonaKev]

Wow dhgeyer, I'm really sorry to hear about your wife. My prayers go out to her, and you.

I have dumped it twice in the years I have been riding. Both times were 20 years ago, and neither one of them involved any other vehicle than my bike. On one occasion, I had someone riding on the back and stopped suddenly on an uneven, dirt portion of a road under construction, and the bike slid out from under us. Fortunately, we were only going like 10 miles an hour, so we both pretty much just stepped off and were totally fine.

The other time, I was doing about 40 mph hour down a 6 lane road in Phoenix, took my eyes off the road for a minute, accidentally veered right a little too much, and went straight into the curb. I'm not sure exactly what happened, but I know the bike slid across the sidewalk spitting sparks for over 100 ft. and I got some nice road rash on the right side (probably cracked a few ribs too, but never went to the hospital) of my chest and my right knee. It was only by the grace of God I wasn't killed or more severly injured, as I was wearing no protective gear at all. I pretty much quit riding after that until just this last year.

Now, I don't get on my bike without a jacket (mesh riding jacket with armor in sleeves, shoulders, etc), full face helmet, boots and gloves. I don't wear actual riding pants, but I never wear shorts either. I also am much more careful on less-than-optimal surfaces - i.e. gravel, dirt, uneven roads, wet pavement, etc. I am much more careful about braking, try to make sure that I never get in any situations where I have to panic brake (of course some cannot be avoided, but if they can at all, I try my best to) and risk the rear tire breaking loose. I always try to "look for an out", and always assume that each driver will do the worst thing at the worst time, and try to be ready mentally if they should do that.

Of course, all this being said, there will always be those situtations like Sarris, dhgeyer, and others have faced in which there is nothing we as riders can really do. Well, almost : at the very least, we can wear all the protective gear we can, as dh mentioned he and his wife did. It sounds like, in their case, it saved their lives. And I know that for me, I never, EVER want to feel the pain of having my flesh grated off by the asphalt again.

Again, my thoughts and prayers go out to you and your wife dh, and to all who have either been killed or injured while riding. Please ride safe all, and take it from me - if I can find it in me to wear full gear when it is 115 degrees in the Phoenix summer, don't you think you might be able to too? It might just save your hide - and your life.


AZ Kev

[burkbuilds]

I've been very fortunate. So far, all my spills were in my teenage years on a dirt bike and nothing worse than some lost hide and pride in those. Driving in Atlanta traffic on a

daily basis can be intimidating at times and this week I saw two news stories of bikers getting run over by cars in the area. One couple was stopped at a traffic light and got

rear ended by a car whose driver was talking on a cell phone. The passenger was knocked onto the hood and the driver got a concusion and both were pretty bruised and

beat up but nothing more. The bike was knocked over 50 feet into the intersection, and the driver that hit them drove away and witnesses only got a partial tag, they are

still looking for her.

The second involved a car on I-285 which ran over a biker, who became lodged under the car, the driver kept going over 100 yards before stopping and when the cops

arrived he got so combative that they eventually tazered him.

Crazy drivers out there, watch out.

[cayuse]

Put her into the ditch yesterday. Not proud of it, but sharing here to promote wearing good protective gear.

Going downhill in some twisties I got a little too aggressive, didn't pick my line very well and rode off into the gravel shoulder. I think I fixated on it, couldn't steer away from it, but managed to slow down somewhat. The instant the front tire touched gravel the bike went down and right and I just kept going on my own, doing a faceplant onto the gravel/grass shoulder. I don't remember leaving the bike, or even hitting the ground. I just remember hearing the gravel grinding away at my visor and thinking 'I'm so glad I'm wearing a full face helmet'. Next thing I know I'm on my back in the bottom of a damp grassy (thank God) ditch. I was VERY fortunate and got out of there with only a couple of bruises and scrapes. Leather gloves saved my hands, mesh jacket saved my left arm and chest and the helmet saved my face.

ATGATT, brothers.

[blaine]

Sounds like you had quite a ride.Glad your o.k. :rawk:

[Viirin]

Glad your alright man and hope the bike isn't too messed up

[ArizonaKev]

I echo blaine and viirin's sentiments - glad you're ok cayuse.

And thanks for posting this as yet another testament to the ATGATT philosophy. Sounds like you might have had a little "unwanted makeover" if not for that full face helmet, as well as some other injuries and road rash.


AZ Kev

[DrSpeed]

sorry for the horrible grammar and no the guy didnt stop. and after that was when that kz started to go to hell it never ran right afterwards but remember kids. HELMETS!!!!!!!! and a jacket and gloves at the very least! and remember to keep your gear in good condition!

[Water Warrior 2]

Cayuse you are not supposed to do that. Glad to hear you survived relatively unhurt. Yup, I can relate to twisties and target fixation. I have been successful in avoiding a get off but have had a couple very close encounters of the pain kind. I did purposely look at the side of the road to experiment with target fixation and the results were interesting. Even when you are aware of the fixation and your view it is a bit hard to snap out of it. So always look where you want to go. The bike will take you there. We just unconsciously ride where we look. Any damage to the bike ?
And thankfully you were dressed for the get off. So many riders think they will never have an oops and suffer through a lot of pain and healing when all they should really be doing is getting new undamaged gear. ATGATT. :2tup:

[cayuse]

Thanks, guys. I feel like I got a little slap on the wrist from my guardian angel. Things could have turned out so much worse. I've got a nice little ding in the tank, a bent mirror, a scuffed front fender, and maybe a bent headlight bracket. All in all, a pretty inexpensive learning experience. I'm ready to go back out there and retrace my steps (with a little different attitude) and just see what's going on.

Learning experiences that scare the $hit out of you but leave you pretty much unscathed are the best.

Keep the shiny side up!

[alanmcorcoran]

Put her into the ditch yesterday. Not proud of it, but sharing here to promote wearing good protective gear.

Going downhill in some twisties I got a little too aggressive, didn't pick my line very well and rode off into the gravel shoulder. I think I fixated on it, couldn't steer away from it, but managed to slow down somewhat.

Hate it when that happens. Glad you are okay. Once you get past the shock (and possibly embarassment!) I have a technical suggestion for you to try to incorporate into your riding habits: Most of the time when you blow it on a curve, it's not the (too fast) speed that does you in, but the panic - something Keith Code (a somewhat oddball, but successful racing instructor) calls the Survival Reaction or SR. Typically, most of the things people do naturally to survive, including braking and letting off the gas, tend to stand the bike up and shift the weight from the rear to the front - the first leads you off the road and the second is bad for your traction. Unintuitively, it is often better to stay ON the gas and steer!!!. I have been focusing on this one thing for about six weeks now, whenever I am in the curves (even when riding two up.) I still have some backsliding, and some days I am better than others, but generally, I rarely brake anymore going through curves and I am constantly telling myself "keep steering, Keep steering, steer, steer - no matter what." I am trying to replace my natural SR with one that is to ALWAYS KEEP STEERING!!! A few times, when my attention wandered, I found myself going a little faster than I intended into a sharp curve and I surprised myself by just cranking the bar a tad more rather than panicking and letting off the gas or hitting the brake. In each case, I was able to complete the curve without decelerating (and, of course, was quite pleased with myself!) It's hard for me to do this consistently, but practicing gives me one more thing to work on when out enjoying the scenery.

[Water Warrior 2]

Excellant advice. I experienced this first hand with a younger newbie on a 600 sport bike. He could pull away from my Vstrom easily on the straight or up a hill but I always caught up. His survival reaction slowed him and I would just pass him usually in the first curve and lead him a merry chase. I could get far enough ahead that he would just barely pass me heading for the next curves and we would start over again. Not proud to say our speeds were more than illegal but it was fun for a while.

[3-D Video]

I am trying to replace my natural SR with one that is to ALWAYS KEEP STEERING!!!
On the first day of my last trip down to Portugal I took the GZ out for a ride. I haven't been able to ride it much (I've been stuck in Brussels), and was a bit trepidatious… I forgot to put my helmet and gloves on, and I wasn't using my sense of smell to monitor the mix. I had to use more choke than usual, so I really should have been paying more attention to the exhaust odor.
The "main street" through the village is a narrow one lane blacktop that runs past my door. Off in one direction there's a wide area for an easy turn in front of a train station, so I headed that way. I made my turn and headed back past my house… all the time futzing with the choke. The road leads down to a narrow bridge which is steep enough to be blind to oncoming traffic. I could have squeezed past a car, but a tractor would have been a different story, and there are a lot of tractors around there. So, that was as far as I wanted to go for a warm-up ride.
I slowed and made a tight U turn, the engine sputtered into the turn. I backed off on the choke and gave it some gas, which made it accelerate, and I went wide. Let off on the gas, the engine sputtered again, but I'd cleared a stone house at the edge of the road and I was now facing in the right direction. I gave it the gas… gravel sprayed off the wall and down the road behind me. The bike fishtailed until the tire caught the asphalt, up I went onto the rear wheel. As my life flashed before my eyes, I heard an old flight instructor tell me, "3D (he called me by my first name), no matter what happens, always fly the plane". Huge rocks were everywhere, I just hovered above them, balancing the bike with the front wheel until it came down. The wheel bounced a couple of times as I lined up with the road. I smoothed out the engine, and got it back under control.
… I parked the bike facing the far corner of the garage, and I gave it a day to reflect before I rode it again. :whistle:

[Viirin]

I had no idea the GZ could wheelie - good story

[3-D Video]

good story
Thanks, Viirin :)
I had no idea the GZ could wheelie
Motivation. It was trying to kill me... Abandonment issues I suspect.
Anyone here try to do a wheelie?
Back in ancient times I had a 250 Duke. I loaned it to a guy, and the first thing he did was to pull a wheelie, all the way down the dock (I lived on a boat), a pretty long dock, in Sausalito, on a weekend, with a whole lot of tourists jumping out of the way... Probably surprised them more than it surprised me, and I was pretty surprised!
Back to your question, "Ever crashed?" Yes. Sort of. On the Duke, going down a steep, steep, deeply rutted dirt and gravel road, with a passenger, and going too slow. The scariest time(s), however, were crossing the Golden Gate Bridge... Keeping up with traffic on a heavily traveled freeway, and crossing those metal grates that cause everything to go all squirrely.

[alanmcorcoran]

When I was 18, summer after freshman year of CU, I worked at a drive in theater, where we had little booths to sell the tickets (looks like a toll booth.) Given your typical drive-in demographic (the working poor) most of the cars were oil-leakers and over time, those few minutes they sat at the booth paying for admission, created a little oil slick. The theater had a No Motorcycles (in the gravel, scalloped parking lot [there was a little "hill" separating each row to aim your car up at the screen]) policy, and it was up to skinny, pizza-faced, 145 pound weakling me to enforce said policy. (You could park it in our MC lot and walk in and watch the movie from a picnic table. Right!) So one day, Mr. Badass biker club member pulls up to my window complete with his MC regalia, loud pipes and nasty skank on the pillion. After I gently explained the bike/picnic table option to him he made some threats, legal and bodily harm-wise, and proceeded to ride on into the theater - without paying! Before I could alert the authorities, he executed a tight u turn, and came back through my booth heading in the opposite direction. After glaring at me, showing me his middle finger, he proceeded to rev the engine until the glass on the booth almost popped out from the deafening roar of his mighty V-twin and tuned pipes. When he let out the clutch, his rear tire was sitting at ground zero of the aforementioned oil slick and it just spun. The lack of any forward progress caused him to twist the throttle even more and, slowly, a millimeter at a time, the bike inched forward on the greasy patch. After about a half foot, the back tire bit on clean concrete and up went the front. From the look on his face, Mr. Biker had never had the front off the ground. To his credit, he held the wheelie for about twenty feet before he lost it and he, skank and bike all came a-tumbling down. Skank had minor cuts and bruises, but Sir Bad Ass busted his tibia (or his fibula - I'm not a doctor) and was down for the count. We pulled the bike off him, called a meat wagon, and parked his now dinged up scooter over in the motorcycle parking area. One of his club colleagues came down later that night and rode it home for him. Did we laugh at him? Well, not while he was actually lying there in road moaning and cursing. But I did have the presence of mind, when I walked over to help untangle the mess to tell him, "That, sir, is why we don't allow motorcycles into the theater!"

[Water Warrior 2]

That's a good one Alan. Got a little story about Benny and his Busa, a bad A$$ rocket. A couple weekends ago Benny and 3 others went for a local ride around the area here. Now First you must realize Benny is not always truthful and never speeds or does twisties at super sonic velocities. Yeah right !! Absolutely no chicken strips on his tires so we do know different. So we know he can be fast and must be pretty good.
Anyway to make a long story short he pulled a wheelie and passed eveyone scaring them half to death. As the front end was coming down he decided to lift it again. He did in fine fashion and went over backwards. Probably at about 80 MPH. Benny landed within eye sight of the local RCMP detachment so they might have even heard the crash and commotion. Benny spent 2 days in the local hospital before being shipped off to one closer to home. The Busa was just a pile of parts scattered down the road.
Benny himself lost a fair bit of his hide when he landed on his backside in jeans. After that he just rolled and flopped down the road till he stopped.
2 of the 3 riders that saw this were certain they would never ride with Benny again and glad he got what was coming to him. Cruel to say but it is pretty much the truth. The 3rd rider hasn't been seen since. He was very tramatized by the whole thing.

[alanmcorcoran]

When we were doing our parking lot MSF course exercises, dudes on Ninja's and the like would taunt us by driving past doing wheelies the whole length of the thing (at least a football field if not longer.) Have to admit, I was jealous of their skills...

[Water Warrior 2]

Don't be jealous Alan. They will eventually wind up like Benny if things go bad. Got an update on his condition...............OUCH. A really big OUCH. Still in the hospital after being put back together with some new parts. Yup, a partial artificial shoulder, both feet broken, all toes broken, one hand just salvageable and the other barely useable at the present time. Severe road rash and other stuff to make things more interesting during the healing. Benny will be a long time healing and regaining his strength to say the least. Should be a lasting memory for him. I do wish him well but he is his own worst enemy.

[blaine]

With his body messed up so bad,his little stunt probably ended his riding career,so he can't jeopardize himself or anyone else on the highway.

:skull:

[Water Warrior 2]

I doubt I will see him any while soon. He still has another bike but I think he will be in a cage for a long time to come. If I was ever hurt that bad in an accident my fault or not I would probably give up riding and be thankful to be alive.

[alanmcorcoran]

It's that sort of thing that riles up people about universal health care. I'll bet Benny's wheelie will cost taxpayers/ratepayers several millions of dollars (US or Canadian) over the course of his convalesence - if it ever really ends. At least he gets to bear all the physical pain.

[3-D Video]

At least he gets to bear all the physical pain.
Sheesh :tdown:

[cayuse]

It's that sort of thing that riles up people about universal health care.
just ignorant people :whistle:

[blaine]

At least he gets to bear all the physical pain.
Sheesh :tdown:

:plus1: :tdown:

[cayuse]

I rarely brake anymore going through curves and I am constantly telling myself "keep steering, Keep steering, steer, steer - no matter what." I am trying to replace my natural SR with one that is to ALWAYS KEEP STEERING!!!
Great advise, Alan, thanks! I'm working on this every time I go out, now.

[alanmcorcoran]

Great advice, Alan, thanks! I'm working on this every time I go out, now.

Keith Code comes off to me as a bit of an eccentric, but if you can look past his (lack of) writing skills and his somewhat off-putting dogmatic style, I think his ideas and suggestions are useful. His book "A Twist of the Wrist" was recommended to me by a sport bike riding guy I work with in Chicago, but, after I read the (mixed) reviews, I went with "Twist of the Wrist II" instead.

It's not as well written or well put together as David Hough's "Proficient" books, but it presents very simple (yet powerful) riding techniques that have improved my riding almost immediately. Part of my experience might be due to having read the first few chapters just before setting out on a 2000 plus miler, so I had lots of "practice time". But if you are a novice and are looking to get better (and more confident) in the curves, check it out and let me know what you think.

[sneakercat]

Had my first unplanned exit just a few hours ago. I'm sore, got a nice hematoma forming on my hip, a little bit of road rash, but I walked away and the bike's only got scratches on front fender, mirror, brake fluid box, brake, footpeg and exhaust.

Was making a tight hairpin turn on what's *supposed* to be a one-way road up a little mountain/big hill. Right in the bendiest part of that turn I met a car who'd decided to use the ascending road to descend (there are two separate roads- one up, one down; I was going up). I grabbed a fistful of front brake while still turning and lowsided. Was only going 15-20mph max, and was wearing a helmet, jacket, boots so it's really not bad, just enough to put a little fear in me- which will make me pay attention better next time I'm out.

I wanted to be mad at the drivers coming down the wrong direction on a wet and slippery, leafy one lane road. But really- I wasn't paying as close attention as I could have and I grabbed that fistful of brake without righting myself first. It could have been a deer, or a kid walking down that path instead of a car going wrong way, and I think the result would have been the same- I still would have lowsided. It's a great wake up call that no matter how attentive you think you're being, that one instant can change everything.

To add insult to injury, my bike's been having problems starting (??need carb cleaner/change plugs??? will post in another section of forum if I can't troubleshoot it out) and so I had to pop it into first to get it started again to get home. :P Embarrassing in front of the two ladies I'd just skidded out in front of!

[Easy Rider]

To add insult to injury, my bike's been having problems starting (??need carb cleaner/change plugs??? will post in another section of forum if I can't troubleshoot it out) and so I had to pop it into first to get it started again to get home. :P

Wow. Glad that you're mostly OK.

The starting problem could be partly due to an aging battery too.
A push start actually works better in 2nd or even 3rd gear; less back tire sliding.

[Water Warrior 2]

Glad you are relatively unscathed and up and about. Things could certainly have been a lot worse overall. Sadly some folks think a one way roadway only applies to others.

[ArizonaKev]

Glad to hear you are ok sneaker. And I am impressed with your ability to overcome the natural tendency to simply get angry at the other driver, and instead see what your part in it was and what you can take away from the situation. Kudos to you for that, and glad you are ok : )

AZ Kev