I'm a DUMB-ASS! Lost bike on a corner

[dwayne]

I can't believe I did the most noob thing you can do on a bike: hit the brake in a curve. Stupid poo! The Bike, didn't fair nearly as well I did. Being a safety NAZI with riding gear is probably what kept me from having a free ride to the hospital. I don't know if this bike will ever ride again, the frame that holds the seat is not inline with the rear wheel..I'm thinking and dreading 'write-off'. Both System Cases destroyed, and of course my helmet is finished...whether or not it was hit hard I would never wear one that was involved in a spill, or other trauma. Good thing I was wearing my KBC full face helmet, Puma riding boots, Joe Rocket Ballistic 5.0 pants and Ballistic 3 Jacket and heavy reinforced riding gloves.
If there was another vehicle involved I would probably not be kicking myself in the ass so badly, but who, really who, after riding for four plus years, with over 20,000 Km's of riding experience would do this! FU&^%n IDIOT!

I don't know if I will ride again, I honeslty don't know if I have the brain matter to be a good rider any more. ;(

[CARTEEUSMC]

there are only two types of riders, those who have gone down and those who will go down. Take some time, get back on the horse. Sorry to hear about your bike, I am glad you are ok. Breath, relax and get back on the horse.

Regards

[TicTac50]

Dwayne. I feel your pain and can understand what you going trough.
However, I think you are looking at the situation from the wrong angle. From your writing, I can see that you are a responsible rider. You had proper gear and a good helmet. Your good reaction saved you from a ride to the hospital. While gaining riding experience, we also pick up some bad habits. After riding for over 40 years, I am taking an ERC class every chance I get. We all make mistakes and usually the stupid ones. I am more than sure that you will fix your bike. The most important thing is that you are OK. Do not try to play the incident in you had. Just look for a new helmet and get back into the saddle ASAP.
Good luck.

[Buckster]

Well Duane...I fell real bad for you and you bike. I was running through some roads 2 months ago and was going to fast into a turn and applied the brakes instead of pushing harder on the lower grip and the bike stood upright and I ran WAY wide and into the other lane. If anyone would have been coming I would have been toast. I kept saying to myself...STUPID,stupid!
It can happen to anyone of us! I know if I wrecked my bike I would contemplate not riding again as well-I don't know why I have thought that through already!-but I am sure it wouldn't last long and I would want to be back on two wheels again.
Glad your body didn't break and your still alive.

[MIXR]

I wear all the gear all the time. Why? Just in case I do what you did - Make a simple mistake. You know what went wrong. You accept that it wasn't just 'the bike' or 'someone else'. You have accepted that your gear saved you. Hell - Don't be so hard on yourself! I think you've got exactly the right attitude.

Glad you're ok and I hope the bike is fixable and you can handle having a repaired bike, or that it's a write-off and you can get a new one. Main thing is that you're here giving the rest of us a lesson. That's a good thing. Cheers, and good luck with the bike.

[OU812]

Bummer....Get it fixed, or write it off, but get back on a bike! You will learn from your mistakes. I know I did. Well sort of.

[DJ Downunder]

Dwayne...What a bugger!..

Don't be so hard on yourself.

People who ride will always have a little scare every now and then and it keeps us on our toes..and it's a fine line between a little scare and a little crash.

I hope you continue to ride..Get the bike fixed or replaced..and learn from this.

I know how you must feel...Most of us know exactly how you must be feeling..and it's not nice.

Try and think of all the good things that owning and riding a bike brings you..They by far outweigh the bad things.

Keep us informed as to how it's all going...Do you have pics?

DJ

[tor1150r]

Dwayne.
#1...you're ok (excellent!)
#2...the bike is fixable (most likely I hope)
#3...a lesson learned and probably won't be repeated.

Get things worked out and if you still want ot ride...ride.

I'm in my 5th year, with 75k kms under my belt. Have gone down once 3 years ago on the R and welcomed myself to the category. I'd be a fool to think it will never happen again (cuz it might!). BUT...major lesson learned and not forgotten.

It is possible to brake in a turn (with limitations of course).

I've learned this from doing the following:

1. I read technique books (Pridmore, Einatch, Hough) in the off season, and apply them when I have the bike out.

2. I've taken 3 courses in addition to my licensing course (Humber here in Ontario). An advanced touring course and off-road courses.

And of course....ride, ride ride.

These things have helped more than I imagined.

I hope your spirits lift, nothing is broken (bones), and you're back in the saddle soon.

Best,

[sjbmw]

You walked away?
That's all that matters.

I know the "should I be on one if these things" doubts, I spent months replaying my crash, to the point I was scared to ride again.

Give it some time. If the bike is totaled, so be it. You, are not a bike, and are NOT totaled.

We are here for the rants....

[wncbmw]

First, excellent news that you are OK.

Second, what CARTEEUSMC said - it will happen to all of us (some more than once! )

My second weekend of riding a motorcycle, I got on a decreasing radius on-ramp at a higher speed than I should have for my experience and ended up jumping a curb and laying in a ditch on the side of the Interstate! OK but shook. I got the bike back together and learned from it. If I had quit, I would have missed many great pleasureable rides and the great fellowship with riders like on this board! Don't give it up without some serious soul-searching.

BTW, I now take that same on-ramp at 3 times the speed I crashed that day! Learn from it!

[Max Continuous]

Dwayne

We have a saying at work. Any landing you walk away from, is a good one. You walked away having only bruised your pride. I'd say thats a pretty good thing! Experience makes us better riders. Consider this, you are way more experienced now than you were before going down. Don't waste that experience, use it to your advantage.

I am happy to hear that you are well and hope you get back on the bike.

[iowabeakster]

I honestly don't know if I have the brain matter to be a good rider any more.

The fact that you have this self-critical assessment (all though I think a bit overblown), proves you have the ability to be an EXCELLENT rider. Your decision to wear the right gear, shows your fine judgement when riding.

Every one's advice above is spot-on, so I won't repeat.

I first got on a motorcycle over 20 years ago. I am 33 now. I question my abilities more today than I have ever in those 20+ years past. I think this is a sign of improving judgement. I need training. I need more practice. I have yet to experience a crash on concrete (knock on wood). I really don't know how shaken you must be. I hope your fear will fade, your bike is repaired/replaced, and you are back on two wheels with greater levels of confidence and ability than before the crash.

The finest riders in the world, PRO RACERS, crash...repeatedly. It doesn't mean that they lack the skill or brains. Accidents and mistakes happen.

I love this part... GLAD YOU ARE OK!

[fnfalman]

I crashed twice last year, once on the Rockster and once on the Tuono. The Rockster received lots of cosmetic damages but the Tuono was totalled.

I had a serious case of the nerve but I didn't stop riding. Just that my twisties riding is severely affected but I kept on riding. The nerve is coming back slowly.

You can either get on the horse again, or you can quit. Those are your two choices and we can't make the choices for you. Whatever way you go, good luck to you.

[Rog(UK) - Yorkshire Dales]

Dwayne, I know exactly how you are feeling and I agree with all the above posts so I won't go into that side of it any further.

Four years ago, I was on a rideout on my beautiful Moto Guzzi and it was a lovely Summer day. I was following three cars and was quite happy to stay at a 2 to 3 second following distance. Er..... a Range Rover was indicating to turn across our line and let the three cars in front of me to pass, then turned smartly directly in front of me. I hit it doing around 60mph... I won't go into the details but I was in hospital for a couple of weeks with a comminuted fracture of the elbow and wrist (both were shattered).

When I came out of hospital, I swore never to ride a bike again. The following Spring, however, I felt different and I think there was a little of the macho thing, in that I had to get back on that horse (as they say). I bought another bike and am glad I did. The reasoning behind my decision was a little tenuous. I figured that I would be safer on a motorcycle than on a pedal cycle on the road (I still love cycling but now it is off-road) because at least I could keep up with the traffic flow so I wouldn't be hit from behind. I also figured that it would be much safer than riding a horse on the road (not that I ride at present) because accident statistics show that riding a horse in the UK is much more dangerous than riding a motorbike. The bottom line was that it was up to ME to ride safely if I wanted to reach 'old age'!

So... as others have said; don't beat yourself up too much because we have all been there. If you don't ride again, then that's not a problem - there are lots of things to do with ourselves in this world.

I chose to ride again because I love the countryside in my area of North Yorkshire (UK) and the only other way I could see it would be as a 'cager'

We can't swaddle ourselves in cotton wool but we can eliminate some of life's risks by using our brains.

You've obviously got a 'thinking' brain, so I wish you all the best in whatever you decide.

Rog

[scottybooj]

go easy on yourself...you know what you did and you'll probably never do it again.

get back in the saddle, any saddle, ASAP!

[johno]

Been there, done that.
Just get back on and ride. My initial thought was similar, but after I stood my bike up, and seveyed the damage, I hopped on and rode home.
Have been a bit cautious since, but I enjoy my riding too much to let the drop put me off.
The back seat frame only bolts on, so maybe not as bad as it looks.

[chris]

What they all said already Dwayne, sorry to hear it.

[jbuzbee]

Sorry to hear about your accident, but glad your ok. I'm just getting my bike back together from my accident and it feels great.

One of the misconceptions of this type suspension is that you can't break in corners: not true. Light front braking is a good way to scruff off some speed deep in a corner: I'd rather feather the front brake than risk a low side or enter on-coming traffic.

Well, your ok and that's what counts: ATGATT.

jb

[slowpoke 04]

It great to hear all your safety gear protected you, maybe others will see the benefit of always wearing it.
Sorry to hear the bike is toast.
But, it doesn't seem like it's a balls or brains thing to me. If you choose not to ride, good for you. It's not the end of the world. There are a multitude of recreational things out there to do. I've given up lots of things I've done in the past and found just as exciting new things to do. There's only so much time in the day, so choose wisely.
And try not being so down on yourself, you walked away, lots of people don't get to do that. Someone once said, "they can build them faster than I can wreck em" so they'll never be a shortage. (post crash humor, sorry)

[dwayne]

Guys, thank you very much for your kind words of wisdom and support. When I started this thread I had just got back home from the accident, and was not in a very happy place.

Where this happened was a highway off-ramp, which is one that I have only taken a few times in my life, and not recently. It's a decreasing radius corner, with the corner being very close to the beginning of the ramp after the deceleration lane. This is not an excuse, this is what it is. My mistake was taking my concentration away from what I was doing, to wave goodbye to a fellow Beemer that was continuing on the highway. As soon as I did that, I had lost Sierra Alpha, forgot about the sharp corner, realized my entry speed was greater then my experience level, and paniced. I should never have been moving at that speed for that ramp, I know better then that, I also know better then to brake in a corner, and still didn't apply that which I know. I reacted incorrectly, and just as worse I over reacted. I could have made the corner if I had leaned the bike over further, and bled speed with the front in little doses.
Instead, I hit the brake even though I read books and articales on safety relating to riding, including the recent artlcle in BMW ON on riders
not responding correctly in an emergency situation, ergo.

The OPP (Ontario Provincial Police), officer that was on scene, told me that I had taken the corner a little too wide. He was being very generous of course, I was completely at fault for what happened, and should have been charged for reckless driving, which is exactly what that was: not paying attention to sourroundings, moving far too quiclky then I should have been. The Officer stayed with me, the whole time until my wife and friend pulled up. He even asked my wife if she was afraid of me riding, her respone: "No, why would I, he's a good rider, and is safety conscious". Ummm, I beg to differ. A good rider does not allow him or herself to become distracted like that, and lose Situational Awarness.

This was equally hard to swallow, since my mantra has, and always will be: 'that every accident involving a motorcycle is the result of rider error'. Every single one. I don't go for the "it was the fault of the dumb-ass driving the car". No, to ride a motorcycle I have to be better then the other road users, to have this privledge.

Then there is the bitching I did about the oil consumption of these bikes: damn; much as I don't like it, I LOVE this bike, and don't care if it was to drink one litre per thousand Km's. What a beautiful machine, I only hope it can be fixed.

Again, thank you to all of you with your wisdom and thoughts. Once I can look at myself again, I'll take some photos of the bike and my road rash...which I'm trying to figure out since I had a proper riding jacket that was fully done up at the cuffs and proper riding gloves.