O/T How many of you have had a motocycle accident/incident?

[gettingreasy]

Well on the way to school to nite I had my first. I was gettin off the freeway and going down this off ramp and hit a piece of retread and it came up an smacked me across the hip and left leg(ouch), which putt the bike into a tank slapper and when I grabbed the front brake I went up over the curb and laid it down and slid my ass over dirt for about 200 feet with the bike on top of me. This sucked, I walked away with only some ass burn and a scrapped up ankle(and awhole shit load of dirt everywere), I was fuckin lucky. The bike is alright to, just no more tail light and a bent exhaust pipe. So how many have had one to, were they were lucky and lived?
-Jesse

[=mike=]

I have had many , all the way from rolling into the parkinglot at 7-11 to blasting past traffic in the fast lane , getting up and dusting myself off to waking up in t he hospital with my head taped to a board . thats not a pretty picture , but hey . . . what can you do ? the http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif's far out wiegh the http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif's . I do know some people who have fallen and they cant get back up . . . and that does make you think .

[Humboldt Cat]

I haven't learned how to ride (but want to), but when I went shopping around for one, one seller talked me into a test drive, despite me warning him about my serious lack of experience.
It was an off-road Yamaha in a hill town east of Redding. After riding with him down the highway, then a shortcut through to woods back to his place, he insisted I try it out. Had a helmet but no gloves or even pants.
And of course I spilled, down the road.
Thankfully it was a dirt road, I just got mixed up while trying to gear down and slow down, slid the bike.
Skinned myself really good, but didn't break anything. Guy ran over, had a good sense of humor about it.
That put some ice on my plans to buy a bike, for awhile. I know I'll be back hunting for one, when the money and timing's right.

[SKR8PN]

You asked........so here ya go.
2 years ago,I watched a fellow biker "buy the farm" Lady in a Jeep turned right in front of him. He never stood a chance. After that day,every single time I would throw my leg over the seat of my scoot,I would see his face.....That kinda took all the fun out for me for awhile. 2 months ago,had a biker get killed not 1000 ft from my driveway. He was headed north on my road,going up a small knoll in the road,when a girl coming south, went left of center and hit him head on. Both vehicles doing about 55 mph. To say it was not very pretty would be an understatement. He died instantly and she will be paying for that mistake for the rest of her life.I have had to many close calls to remember and at times you feel like there is a TARGET tattoo'ed on your ass...
YOU, were very lucky...... this time.......
Ride Safe.

[Curly]

Been there! Done that! Slid across a gravel drive way on my face and busted my teeth up! Ground my hair off in the front (unfortunately this was not my first mullett). My glasses slid down and "scalped" the skin off of my nose. Had a skin flap for a nose, the cheesiest mullett ya ever saw and teeth that would scare the hell out of Hannibal Lecter. The bike was worse.

Another time I was working in a shop and a bike came off the lift next to me. I went to help the poor mechanic and grabbed the thing only to have the license plate gash my left arm open. I duct taped it closed and went back to work, no insurance + bills = no time off. Never run a plate w/o a frame http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif

[Christian]

me, came around the corner and smashed into a car getting out of his parking spot, I was allright, girfriend had a busted chin, went apeshit and started beating the women driver http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif it was kinda fun but I broke them up, girfriend never rode on the back again, few years later, new girfriend, we're riding down this twisty road, nice and calm, get passed by a guy on a scoot, rides like a madman, with each curve I lose sight of him till I come around too and see he gets further and further ahead until I just see him taking the next curve, we go round that curve, apocalyps!!! car in the middle of the road, his bike smashed into it, the biker laying 10 meters behind the car on the concrete, old guy with blood straeming down his head staggering outta the car, dunno if the biker made it, his body was twisted like a pretzel but he was still making noises, worst part was getting back home on the bike after that with my gf on the back....

[Reverendcolin]

We had an old saying. "There's thoses that been down and those that are goin."

Been there, that's why I drink.
Ride fast and safe

[gregg]

A drunk (at 2 in the afternoon!) ran me down in '88. Pushed me into another car & into the curb at 45mph. Knocked my glasses 4 lanes away. Still have nerve damage, hip & leg probs; Because of that asshole I can never ride again (no anger HERE).

[Spike!]

My very first time out on the street on a bike was on a Honda CB360 twin. A buddy of mine with a few KZ1000's had just synched the carbs and had it runnin' great. we head out to get some gas. Its a Saturday morning. Spring time. Not a cloud in the sky. We turn onto a road and I hit it. I go through the gears and I'm doin about 65 when I see a curve ahead. I let off the throttle but its still screamin wide open. An experienced rider would have pulled in the clutch and slowed down with the brakes, but this was my very first time on a real road. By the time I thought to pull in the clutch the turn was right there...along with a telephone pole. I panicked and stood up on the pegs. the bike hit the pole dead on at about 65-70 MPH, snapping it off at the base. the front forks were bent to the side of the motor. still wide open and screaming, the front end plowed down and sent the rear end up and over into an endo cartwheel that went a good 1/8th mile back onto the road. Everytime the rear tire would hit, it would send the bike up in the air, hit gain and so forth. Finally the back rim collapsed and the bike landed on its side. STILL at wide open throttle! It began kicking around in circles leaking gas and showering sparks which set the whole spinning mess on fire!

Me? well I got lucky. I missed the pole and hit the grass of some guys yard. I could feel my feet going over my head and felt the grass going up into my helmet. I must have rolled and slid a hundred feet. All the way into the guys bushes. I stayed alert the whole time and through my feet I could see the home owner on his front step, half bent over to get his newspaper. The look on his face was priceless. Heres me sliding and rolling past him while my bike is turning cartwheels down the road.

As soon as I stopped sliding ( I hit his bushes) I popped up like a Jack-In-The-Box onto my feet and started chasing my bike. by the time I got there it had started its fire/death spin. I chased it around, pulling wires until it stopped. Took off my leather jacket and beat the fire out. the whole thing only took a few mins. I drug the bike off the road so it wouldn't cause another accident and sat down, lit up a smoke and started cracking up laughing. My buddy on the KZ thought I was nuts but later confided that it was the funniest thing he had ever seen once he knew I was OK.

The moral of the story is this. I was wearing a helmet (Full face), leather jacket, jeans, boots and gloves. I have ridden without either one of these things or a combination thereof.. but its not recomended. Most of all I was lucky.

You should have seen the Paramedics when they arrived to scrape me up off the pavement. They spent a long time looking through the bushes trying to find the guy on the bike. When I told them it was me, they threw me onto a board and strapped me in, much to my protest. Off we went to the hospital where they cut up my jeans, only to find nothing wrong. Not a scratch! So here I am at the front of the hospital, cut up jeans to the knee and no way home. I was closer to home at the accident! Had to have my buddy pick me up..in his car. Soon after I bought another bike and have had only a few scrapes since.

Spike

[modernbeat]

Ranch Road 32 outside of San Marcos, Texas; otherwise known as "The Devil's Backbone".

I was riding my overpowerd and way underbraked '65 BMW on the ragged edge, which was to way I was keeping up with the commuter Toyotas. As I topped a hill I saw a Semi-Truck going my way but on the far left shoulder making a right turn into a tight driveway completely blocking the freeway. I slowed down as much as I could and tried to drive around the back of the truck but realized I wasn't gonna make it and dropped the bike. The bike slid into the back of the rear wheels of the truck, and I slid into the bike.

Trauma: bent forks, broke everything on the left side of the bike, totaled my leathers and ground up my helment pretty good. My head kept banging against the ground as I slid and I felt woozy when I stopped, but I had the sense to keep my hands off the ground while I was moving. I got a wrecker to take me back into town and had that bike sold by that evening.

Also, driving real-real slow across diagonal railroad tracks in Houston after a rain, I dropped it. No damage, but I did it in front of my folks and they freaked out. I never told them about the other fall.

FWIW, I was always too scared to drive in town. Too many uncontrolable freaks going every which way. I much perfered hitting the highways where I could turn the wick up.

[30roadster]

modernbeat - only motorcycle accident i've ever seen personal was in san marcos....same story as you... up over hill...dusty and slightly wet out...bottom of hill there was a car turning...the cycle had to lay it down....
I've riden friends bikes and love em...but i don't have a single friend with one that hasn't wrecked... one of my school friends went through a guard rail...knocked out his front teeth and broke both his wrists...he had to wander around a neighborhood ringing doorbells with his elbows until someone opened up and called an ambulance for him..... my best friend from dental school lost his mom our senior year... she went into a corner too fast and caught a trailer in oncoming traffic...flew into the air and was hit mid-air by a mini van... it amputated her legs and she bled to death on the side of the road.... i've got kids and i live in a college town full of kids that will run you over so they aren't late for class or a beer on thursday night.... no friggin way will i ride a bike!

[McGrath]

I used to wrap Dirtbikes around Tree's and Fencepost's all the time.Does that count?

A friend of mine got parylized from the chest down in a Bike wreck. Hit a piece of scrap Lumber in the road.Front tire popped it up in a way that it was wedged on the ground about the time the other end hit the skidplate. He lost it and he and the Bike cleared the fence on the side of the road.He hit a tree right in the middle of his back. Only reason anybody found him was because the bike lost enough oil to start smoking on the exhaust. Trashed the skidplate and broke the lower casing of the motor, amazing what a 2x4 will do to you.

[colorado51]

In 18 years of riding, I have never been down on the street, which is surprising since I ride way too fast in the canyons most times. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

But, I did spend a few years road racing, so I have been down a few times at the track. Just a couple bumps and bruises, thats about it. But of course, the track is MUCH safer, nothing to hit, no cars, no cops, etc. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

FYI, the MOST COMMON motorcycle accident is a car making a left turn in front of you. Watch those intersections! http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif

[porknbeaner]

One of my most outragious happened on 101 by the San Francisco airport.

Me and a friend (Small Paul) were headed for the Top Hat. I don't think we needed to go but... http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

Anyway, not sure what I hit but I did end up being the roadrash king. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif Paul made me go to the emergency room, but when the doctor didn't work fast enough he took matters into his own hands. Doused me good with something that really hurt, grabbed some gauze and we left.

Skint my paint pretty good and took out a couple of clutch studs, and crunhed my rear pipe.

I think the party at the Top Hat was excellent. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

[deuce]

yep, olds cutlass full of not from this country construction workers thought going to the beer store more important than watching for motorcycles on the road. i hit the quarter panel and went over the deck lid. crushed right foot (fixed), got pneumonia after the operation on my foot. bike was wasted. down time sucks.

[flyin'eye]

Local farmer's kid towing a flatbed overloaded with hay, pulls over to let traffic go by. 4 cars pass him, my bike was to be the fifth, but no sooner had the fourth car pass, and....He makes an unsignalled left turn across 2 lanes of traffic. I locked up the brakes, the bike hit the trailer, and I was catapulted face first into a load of hay! Talk about a lucky break, if'n that was a livestock trailer, I woulda been screwed. Kid pulls over, says "WHAT WERE YOU DOING? DIDN'T YOU SEE THOSE OTHER CARS THAT ALMOST HIT ME? I asked him if he knew what a turn signal was, and if he had any lights on the trailer."YEAH, I GOT FUCKIN' LIGHTS" After a quick check, it was discovered that he had forgotten to plug in the trailer. "oops..sorry man..." Moral? don't trust anyone on the road, they want to kill you.

[raven]

Six months after I bought my first bike I pegged a concrete piller at 55mph. Kinda crunched the bike like a tin can. I flew 70 feet and the bike passed me for a total of 90 feet before touchdown. I walked away. Two weeks later, I sit on the back a friend's bike to ride and get ready to put on my helmet (same one I was wearing two weeks prior), only then do I see the neat 'scalping' effect the ground did on the top of it. Fast foward a few years and I'm going to get a newspaper in the apartment complex I live in. GF says, "Aren't you going to wear your gloves and helmet?" "No, I'm just going to the paper magine in the parking lot" Her reply was, "You know most accidents happend close to home" Yeah, I heard that before. Paper machine doesn't have any paper, so I go to the local 7-11.
this means I have to go on the main street and make aleft hand turn. I wait my turn at the light and when it turns yellow and the guy in the near oncoming traffic lane nosedives, I take my turn. what I didn't see was the guy in the next lane running the light. Needless to say, he cleaned everything off the right side of my bike including my foot-peg. Bie and I go round and round through the air, bike lands, I roll and stand up like some stunt man. I walk ove to the bike and turn it off.
I walked away from that one too without any injuries other than a scrape on my hand. Since then I always wear leathers and a full face helmet. Since a few years ago, i traded my street bike for a drag bike. Everyone else on the street is just too crazy to ride with anymore...
r

[Action Girl]

Yea...

I know what you're talking about. I've never ridden a "motorcycle" but have ridden my scooter (it does about 60) on just about every kinda road including I-95 (with a pack of other scooterists, in the slow lane for about 10 miles). The one time I wrecked was the first day I had my scoot and I misjudged a turn in the parking lot I was practicing in and fell over after I panicked and overcorrected.

As a general rule, I always try to ride with other people when I can so we're more visible. I also wear full gear- gloves, boots, jeans, armored jacket and full face helmet every time I ride. The only time I don't is if I'm camping at a scooter rally, then I'll ride gearless at the campground. I'd rather look a little dorky than a lot dead.

I try to keep my 2 wheeled riding to back roads and low traffic situations and I'm always looking for the jerk who's gonna hit me. My mantra is "ride like everyone you see if trying to kill you" cause they are!

I've only been riding for 2 years now and aside from my little first day wreck I've been lucky. Like they say there's two kinds of riders those who have wrecked and those who will.

Riding on two wheels is a wonderful experience. I don't live my life in a way that will discourage me from enjoying it, but I do try to have a healthy respect for risk and do my part to minimize it.

If you ride a bike at all you should take the motorcycle safety course. I'm hoping to take it in the spring because everyone I knaw that's taken it said it was the best thing they ever did.

Be safe out there!

Stacey

[deuceV8]

I had one about five years ago I was going down a road in traffic when a lady in a van in oncoming traffic turned left in front of me and I hit her. I dont remember leaving the motorcyle but the first thing I remember was sliding down the wrong side of the road on my back with cars in rush hour traffic swerving to miss me. I tore up my ankle and my hands trying to stop sliding and totaled the bike. It shoved the forks back and pushed the motor back in the frame tweaking the frame. The worst part was she had shitty insurance and it took me two years to get them to pay for my motorcyle and doctor bills.

[lesabre59]

Back in my "daily drinking" days,I was riding my Harley home from my favorite dive and went face first into the back of a Van. Got the bike back from the shop and had it a month before I had a run-in with some punk ass kids that shot me in the back while riding the same bike back from the same dive!

[daddylama]

laid a full-race '80 CB900f down, in a canyon... in the middle of nowhere... at 80mph, with no leathers (they were sitting at work... i was on a "little ride"). Three hours later, i limped back into work... by the looks of the faces, i knew i was bad. Woke up the next day in the hospital.
Another time... gsxr1100... just ahead of a steady trafic flow @ 55mph, a lady makes a left turn right in front of me. went over the hood, a truck smashed her car, which hit me while i was on the ground, on the other side. walked away with a bunch of bruises and a hole in my helmet.

Got rear-ended by a lady in an escort wagon, at a red light, on a '86 GSXR750... sitting there, minding my own business... car stopped on either side of me, and she "didnt see" me... hit me at about 10mph.

at the strip: CBX, back tire blows off the rim @130. Nothing happened, but scared the shit out of me...

another canyon thrashing: GS1150e, a mate dropped his bike in a turn, to avoid hitting him, i had to squeeze between an on-comming porsche and his sliding bike. Didnt lay it down, but got a good knocking 'bout by the porsche.

CB750 cafe bike... coming down a curved off-ramp, hit a big ass puddle of fresh oil... slid the bike across the off-ramp, over a curb, through about 20' of ice plant, onto the following on-ramp... somehow never laying it down, despite hitting a small pole. my buddy that was riding behind me hit it, too... fliped the bike over the curb and landed in the ice plant. No injuries, and a good laugh afterwards.

The list goes on and on... at least another 5 or 6 on the street, a good 10 at the track... and i did motorcycle stunts for a few movies... ate shit bunches of times with that.

Worse for some of my friends... Manny lost his life in a stupid accident in '92... Charles is forever in a wheelchair, his girlfriend died... one of my ex's had skin grafts on her back/leg and has 3 vertabre fused after breaking her neck (she was/is a wicked racer).

motorcycles are an addiction. no matter how many accidents ive had, ive always had at least one bike since i was 13... dirt bikes, street bikes... but ive calmed down a lot in the past few years... no more race bikes, either.

[48_HEMI]

greasy
I just read this whole thread to see who was going to mention the fact that brakes should not be touched in the middle of a tank slapper. brakes will get you in more trouble than good most of the time. when in doubt gas it!

I've never had a bad one yet, unless you count the one that left me in traction for 70 days and two surgeries and took two years to relearn to walk. left me with a rotated hip, a knee that doesn't bend and a leg thats 1 1/4 inches short (but I never touched the brakes haha!)
I have had a couple times that I laid it down at 90+ but nothing serious except the 13 broken,cracked and bruised ribs, or maybe a few bones in the foot or torn cartalege in the knee. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

looking back I think bikes are like guns "GUNS don't kill people, PEOPLE kill people"
if I had it to do over again, I wouldn't think twice and I thank the lord I'm still here to tell the story! (over and over! http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif)
Jim

[justinm]

i'm just gonna say-
don't ever ride a trials bike for the first time in a tight space on the street with people around. and always wear a helmet.

my first ride in an ambulance was month before last..............

[raven]

The only time I actually broke something was when I was riding a restored '59 Schwinn. I was peddling hard and my foot slipped off the peddle. The momentum threw me off the side and into a 8' curb which promptly broke two of my ribs.
r

[Mike]

Yikes Jesse! That's some bad ju-ju, man. Glad you weren't seriously hurt.

I dig old motorcicles, but I'll never own one, they scare the hell out of me.

[truth]

Luckily, I have never had a major accident. Especially living in Boston - riding around in this city is like a friggin video game. I've had plenty of close calls, though... and things that should have been major accidents but lucked out - (like people turning into my lane with me still in it - pushing me into the next lane, which luckily no one was in).

I do ride cautious in the city, man. ANd I always carry old bolts and spark plugs to throw at the cages around me that are driving stupid.

[Mike]

Truth, I can understand your frustration and wanting to throw objects at folks in cars that nearly kill you through their stupidity, but is that really such a good idea? You dodge one bullet by surviving the initial encounter with stupidity, then piss the guy off and possibly give him a "reason" to come after you intentionally with a 3000 lbs hunk of hurtling metal.

It's never a good idea to poke the bear, even when the bear deserves it.

[burger]

My first bike was a '89 CBR600. Paid $1200 for the bike, crashed it three times, sold it for $1400... wish they all worked out that way.

[38Chevy4door]

I was riding a Suzuki 550Four to my girlfriend's (now wife) house, and I had just slowed through a turn and was accelerating out. I saw a guy wanting to hitch a ride, figured I'd ride him the 100 ft. up the road...by the time I made the decision, I was pretty close, so I needed to brake hard.

I always preferred my pedal a little loose, so my foot's on it, and I just pivot my ankle to brake. My brother had borrowed it, and adjusted the brakes to suit him, without telling me.

The bike locked up, started fishtailing, I'm trying to compensate, when a footpeg catches in a rut in the road. It spins so quick it throws me off, I do a headfirst into the pavement, bounce to the side of the road as the bike lays down, still running, a few feet up the road. I roll over and turn it off as the guy comes up and says, "You been drinkin'?"

My helmet got ate up pretty good, and rashed my knees and hands a bit. I think the guy was the one who'd been drinking, 'cause, after seeing me do all that, he asked me for that ride.

[gettingreasy]

Well I know your supposed to gas it but I had the tank slapper about controled but was still heading towards curb and rocks so I leaned way back the opposite way to try to right it, she was leaned way over and I thought it was gonna flop on it's side and hit burst the tank. Why I did all this I don't know, if i did what i trying to do i would of went down alotharder on the pavement with cars on my ass.
-Jesse

[gears-n-grease]

layed one down just before I was 16- Hit gravel on pavement around a curve- Broke just about every bone in my hand and wrist, tibia , and fibia, and went home and mowed the yard before I realized that I should go see a doctor.

[El Caballo]

I had a tank slapper on my 1974 Honda 550K, didn't spill, but I nearly buttered my shorts.

[lesabre59]

Theres only 2 kinda bike riders...those that have been down and those that are going down. My first bike salesman actually told me that...damned if he wasnt right http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

[TWO]

How can it be "lucky" when he hit a retread?

I crashed a couple times and decided I didn't like it, so now I don't crash anymore.

[Drive on]

Here's mine.
I was riding down the road with Hankcash on the back of the bike. Going to fast and a car pulled out in front of us. We went down. Hankcash went with the bike and a flew over the bars. I landed down the road and under a car that was sitting at a light. She didn't see me and was inching up and drove up on my legs. Which made me come to and start banging on her SUV to get off my legs. When she realized she was on me she freaked out and slammed on the gas which spun me out from under her. Then she got out and saw the mess and drove off. The ambulance came and took us in. Delirious we laughed the whole way. My nickname was Speedbump for a long time after that.

[hatch]

Rode for 28 years nonstop(no accidents)...I cleaned out the garage after four summers of losing a biking friend every summer. Took a ten year break, then bought a 650 yamaha this spring to see if I still like it....yup. Looking for a triumph to build.

[Sam F.]

ive had one,just moved to kentucky and hadn't been here two weeks.
was out on a gsxr750 checking out the scenery riding some curvey backroads.
some guy came at me head on from the other direction around a blind curve and forced me off into the ditch on the side of the road,,really sucked .roadrash on my back and side,luckly i was wearing a helmet.
the bike was never the same after that. and to top it off this happened on a saturday and i was starting a new job that monday morning..

[HOTRODPRIMER]

6/4/1974,,,,,, I was ridding my 1956 H.D.Panhead chopper
down Dobbins Bridge road when the front wheel bearing locked up,,,,this started pulling spokes out of the rim and i speed-wobbled off the side of the side of the rode ,,a drop of about 15 feet,,,,,,I tore the Hell out of a elderly gents corn field,,,,,,,got my first ride in an ambulance,my first trip to the hospital,my first surgery,my first broken bone and my first Harley-Davidson all on the same day.

Compound fracture of my right ankle,,,,messed up a good pair of boots,,,,,,punched a hole in them when the bone came out the side,,,,,,,,wore a cast for over a year ,,,many problems because if dirt in the wound,,,,

Rebuilt the scoot while i was still in a cast,,,,sold it about 20 years ago,,,,,,

Remember,,,,,never use a part that has a sealed bearing!!

[El Caballo]

Hey HRP, do you know any of the Sextons there in Anderson? Ol' Meatball?

[Uncle Pancakes]

1981 405 Fwy in the San Fernando Valley on a 1979 Vespa P200 doing around 70 MPH seized solid spat me off (no helmet or gloves = me a big ol' dumb ass) I got really lucky as I was almost hit by more than one car and I got up and walked away with minor road rash, started the bike and rode home. After that always wore gloves, then about 6 months later was riding on Santa Monica Blvd right in front of the Kings Head pub and was run into the curb by a car full of assholes, I went down the street using my right cheek as a skid plate when Istopped my cheek looked like hamburger, after that always wore a helmet... A few more "incidents" too, but thats enough for now. Ride safe!!!

[HOTRODPRIMER]

[ QUOTE ]
Hey HRP, do you know any of the Sextons there in Anderson? Ol' Meatball?

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah,I'm afraid I do!,,,,, http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif HRP

[G V Gordon]

1970, Had a XLCH Sporty, Small town everyone hangs out on main street on Saturday night. Fellow comes to town on a BSA Lightning and wants to race. Like all small towns back then there was a Quarter Mile marked off on the edge of town so everyone goes out to see the show. Long story short we were flagged off and as we aproached the finish line a gal (who shall remain nameless) pulls her Corvair across the road, realizes that we are coming and freezes. BSA goes in front I go behind and slam into a "68 Torino sitting beside the road, as I proceed to crater the side of his car He is trying to shut the door. I slid down the side of the car tearing the door back open. As I was thrown off the bike and through the window (thank God it was a hardtop) the door sheared off the carb and stuffed it into the oil tank where my leg had been a nanosecond before. I walked away with a split lip. It did sort of break me from street racing. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

[El Caballo]

I know his boy Randy...

[Junkyard Dog 32]

Which time? Lemme see...

I guess the most memorable was when I grabbed too much throttle on my '74 Sporty, while slamming 2nd, in a turn, in the rain. The bike slid down the street in a plume of pretty sparks, while I slid, on my back, across the street and ass-first into a curb. The impact shattered the comb I had in my back pocket, and embedded about a dozen little plastic porcupine quills into my left ass cheek. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif
True story... I wouldn't make this shit up about myself...


JOEhttp://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif

[HOTRODPRIMER]

Randy's known to lurk around the hamb from time to time. HRP

[Rocknrod]

dang... the most graphic of them all was the comb...

I'm looking for a bike http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif

[Kilroy]

So lets see... To sum up, riding motorcycles is stupid.

That about cover it?

Thanks for the reality check guys. Needed that. A few of my friends recently bought bikes and I was just about ready to start gathering parts for a triumph project.

My dad was a Harley rider and a Nurse Aenesthatist. He told me so many horror stories about bikes, that I barely felt comfortable riding around in his Jeep with the doors off. Also growing up in Lancaster, I saw a few deaths on bikes...

I saw a guy get decapitated when he hit a car at speed, another guy on a rice-rocket center punch a truck and actually flip the truck over, I got a friend that is dying of Hep C cause of a transfusion after a bad bike wreck, and another friend who face-planted a lady's hood and broke just about every bone in his head. But I had just about forgotten all that.

Bikes sure look cool but I got too many plans that require use of all my limbs. It'd be hard to chop a top from a chair.

Thanks for the wake-up call. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

[Nick32vic]

This summer some very good family friends were ridin on there bike (husband and wife) and they were with there club riding in the country when a big grain truck pulled out in front of them and boom hit them. They both died. We miss them very much. Me and my dad were at a charity car show when we got the call. It was probably the worst car show ive ever been to. O ya, the husband owned this really cool Chevy Delivery too. and his dream car was a 32 Ford 3 window. Sadly he never got his dream car.

Nick

[Sam F.]

heres some stories i was thinking about after reding this thread..

saw a friend in highschool laying at the end of my street in a puddle of blood,he was riding on the back and the guy in front failed to negotiate a curve,my friend on the back hit a concrete light post head on (no helmet)....

a few years back,a guy i know went to check out a bike for sale.he was riding it and some how lost control and ran off the road and broke his neck.


this summer,there were 3 bike fatalitys back to back where i live,,

one kid on a crotch rocket was laying on the bike with his feet up on the bars cruising(they say) at about 60, an oncoming car was aproaching so he went to sit up,his shoelace was caught in the lever and when he pulled his leg it turned the bars hitting the car head .

2nd one,
aparanty two riders were attempting to pass a tractor on a country road that was turning right into a drive way.the tractor had an attatchment on the back like a big pick to carry the big roll of hay. the rider apparantley didnt see it and him and passanger hit it and were killed

3rd,the Snap On dealer in bowling green was out riding and while there were no witneses from what they can tell he took a curve going to fast and went off the road and hit a post and was found dead...

bikes can be very dangerous, some can be blammed on inexperience,some on bad luck and some on auto drivers who dont payattention...
every time i go out im always cautious about some idiot pulling out in front of me or slaming into me.people dont seem to realize that there 3500 pound automobile can very easily kill you http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif

[D Picasso]

it's true- not if but when.

I've had my share of getoffs. Buicked [left turn into my lane] back in '94, stood up on the pegs and flew after impact. remember folks at the sidewalk cafe watching me in slo-mo upside down for the longest time before I hit the pavement.
friends came from the cafe down the street and lifted the wreck into a trailer. meat wagon came and looked me over but I told 'em I was OK, massive bruising and a busted wrist so I was outrageously lucky. got a nice settlement from Buick's insurance a couple years later.
bike, a '66 BMW, was totally destroyed but I rebuilt it anyway.
every year for 4 years after that I had an annual bike wreck; literally couldn't go 12 months without some sort of crackup. helmet and training saved my life more than once.
every friend killed on a bike was not wearing a helmet....simple as that.

I have six bikes and they all run fine. they're very important to my happiness.

[gettingreasy]

Ya it may be dangerous but it's what makes me happy and feel at ease but, you gotta watch out(I wasn't). I drove right buy were it happened on my way to school, there's a skid mark and a black mark on the curb for 20 feet then a whole bunch of gravel in the road. I'm affraid I hit my shoulder a lil' harder than I thought and it's swollen abit(my ass to). My incident wasn't to severe but it sure made me think, I'm glad it was on my triumph and not some heavy behemouth. Any wanna buy a '71 TR6C minus a tail light?
-Jesse

[Flat Ernie]

I've had a few - a couple on my ironhead sporty chopper - a lot of that was my inexperience with that extended front end I think & it's wonderful handling qualities...never any real damage other than to my pride.

Rode a Suzuki 750 for a while - had some clown stop at a GREEN light in front of me. During the ensuing panic braking, I realized there was no way in hell I was going to stop, so decided to try to go around as best I could. Almost got away with it, but ended up running down his quarter panel. Bent my bars, broke my brake lever (didn't hurt my hand!), slammed my knee into my tank hard enough to dent it, broke off the outer plug, bent the brake pedal & other stuff like that. I managed to keep the bike up somehow & pulled over on the other side of the intersection about two blocks away to wait & the dude drives off!

Also had one on my dad's bike way back - picked up a stripper at a bar who'd never been on a bike and decides it scares her to lean into the turns, so going around a wet curve, she decides to sit up! I couldn't completely counteract what she was doing and slowly drifted outside my line and when the wheels touched the curb, we tumbled. Cracked my wrist & imbedded a piece of glass in my knee (that I found 5 days later) & had a nasty blood bruse on my leg - turned my whole leg black! Worst I'd been hurt on a bike, but with the beer in me, didn't feel too bad at the time http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

I don't do that anymore, but I still ride. Plenty of close calls - always a stupid cage driver.

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif

[Nads]

Er, quite a few.
The worst one was at a speed of maybe 25 mph. I and the wife had just eaten dinner and split the Greek restauarant on my '63 Triumph T100SC. I'd been in this shopping center a bunch of times before. I said goodbye to my pal who was riding the other way and I left the lot diagonally. I had no idea there was a median in the middle of the shopping center. I jumped the first curb but the second one stopped me dead. I didn't see it coming at all.
I was out like a light for about a minute, when I came to I thanked my lucky stars I was OK....until I tried to get up.
That's when I realized I was hurt bad.
I had shattered my hip.
My wife hid it from me, but she shattered her right hand really bad, three fingers had bones come out of them.
The nice police officer gave me a ticket on the gurney at the hospital.
I had 6 hours of surgery and went through four units of blood.
I had to stay with my parents for six weeks until I could walk again.

A time before that I rode my friend's '68 Bonny into the back of another friend's Renault Alliance. I did $400 damage in two seconds.

Another time I had a rear tire blow out at 80 mph. Both the wife and I split the chopper at 60+mph. We walked away. She had some nasty butt rash, all I got was a scratch on my nose, that's it.

Sometimes it's not the speed, but the way you fall that'll kill ya.

Ride safe, but the odds are stacked against you.

[porknbeaner]

[ QUOTE ]
So lets see... To sum up, riding motorcycles is stupid.

That about cover it?

Thanks for the reality check guys. Needed that. A few of my friends recently bought bikes and I was just about ready to start gathering parts for a triumph project.

My dad was a Harley rider and a Nurse Aenesthatist. He told me so many horror stories about bikes, that I barely felt comfortable riding around in his Jeep with the doors off. Also growing up in Lancaster, I saw a few deaths on bikes...

I saw a guy get decapitated when he hit a car at speed, another guy on a rice-rocket center punch a truck and actually flip the truck over, I got a friend that is dying of Hep C cause of a transfusion after a bad bike wreck, and another friend who face-planted a lady's hood and broke just about every bone in his head. But I had just about forgotten all that.

Bikes sure look cool but I got too many plans that require use of all my limbs. It'd be hard to chop a top from a chair.

Thanks for the wake-up call. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

Uh, not stupid, trazy http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif at least that's what Wilbur says. OK don't tell me you don't ever hear Wilbur talking. You ride a scoot, and own a jalopy (or want to reallly really bad).

40 Phil,
Here's an interesting statistic. All humor aside. 70% of all fatalities happen within the first 2 weeks of owning a bike, and within 2 miles from the house.

Put you head on a swivel Bro, and keep safe. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

[Smokin Joe]

PB nailed it. Bikes take time to learn and a different attitude to be safe on. I've been riding bikes all my life and only had 1 wreck. Same for cars.

[truth]

hey Flat Ernie - yep nothing let's you know you are alive like a 12" over springer skipping on a tight freeway curve going 65-70mph... haha. That's why I mostly stick to bobbers..!

Mike, I replied to your post, but for some reason it nevr showed up... prolly cause I hit back or something before it was sent. But yeah, I know it's not always good to antagonize the lions, but sometimes they need a little tough love driver's ed!

[McGrath]

One I forgot about. A friend of mine popped over an overpass running about eighty just as a 4020 John Deere pulling a disc pulled out in front of him from a side road.

Quick reactions weren't quick enough at that speed. He didn't have time to do anything, and hit the disc so hard it knocked some of the weights off the front of the Tractor! Threw him over the disc and into the three point Hitch on the back of the tractor. Took 22 hours of Emergency Surgery, then about 3 weeks in ICU.

Soon as he was semi-fit again he went out and bought a brand new GS1100ES. Rode it about 4 times before Fear took him over, bikes been setting in the Garage ever since the 80's with less than 100 miles on it. Fucker won't sell it, but he won't ride it either.

[Mr 42]

Here is a pic on my and the bike after a 75 year old gentlemen dis a left turn 10 meters in fron of me.
I did fly 15 meters, and spent two days at the hospital.

[Baumi]

I ´ve crashed my RD 500 for several times . I found out you don´t need lots of hp , a shitty suspension and a bent frame gives you a even better kick http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif.Everytime I had an accident it was on my own fault due to overspeeding, sliding and rubbing knees at the tarmac. If there was dirt, sand or oil on the road, I ´d have found it.... I really love those narrow roads over here, one curve after the other...And luckily I never got hurt.After hitting a parked car with my foot rest at 160km/h ( 100mph) and causing a vented drivers door and two flat tyres I decided to sell that little screamer. Best idea ever...

[TWO]

[ QUOTE ]
So lets see... To sum up, riding motorcycles is stupid.



[/ QUOTE ]


You must cling to life so tightly that no amount of joy will ever pull even an ounce of it from your grasp.

Until you eventually die anyway, of course.

[Kilroy]

No num-nuts...(after a long ride on your Trad-Rigid-Pan-Bobber) http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

I have plenty of fun (River-Rafting, Surfing, skiing, cliff diving, mountain biking, all things that if I fuck myself up, it's my own damn fault, not some lady turning left in front of me) I just weigh risks vs rewards.

As point of fact, I HAVE ridden Harley's and Crotch-Rockets, but never felt comfortable on the roads with other drivers. Just too many things out of my control. It's kinda like coming in outa the rain.

And as bad as I would feel about hurting myself on a bike, I'd feel even more like a heel if I was unable to provide for/protect my family due to some selfish, easily avoided act on my part. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

My point was to try to inject a little humor into the discussion of mangled bodies and hope to give some a better reason to be more careful out there.

How many people have you seen decapitated? At least he was wearing a helmet. In fact it was still protecting his head long after it had taken leave of the rest of him. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

All kidding aside, that image still flashes through my head every time I even think about a bike.

So ride to your little hearts content, just don't jump to the conclusion that I'm a pussy for thinking the risks you take are kinda on stupid side, especially after hearing all the story's on this post. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

[TWO]

So I'm either "stupid" or you're a "pussy". Not much of a continuum there.
Once a person has real riding skills they become less likely to get in an accident than a car driver because a motorcycle is so much more capable at accident avoidance. But people just think bikes look cool and are fun, and if you treat it like a jetski shit happens. Yeah I've seen things happen to motorcyclists, caused by car drivers, and I don't think "I hope that never happens to me" I think "I hope I'm never the cause of something like that".

[Crosley]

Been down a few times. Had an incident at BeeLine dragway just past the traps many, many years ago.

I've been riding legally for 34 years.

[atch]

let me pass along a small tidbit that i keep in mind when i'm riding:

i consider myself to be a very good rider, but i'm not good enough to see around that next corner or over that next hill...

and the one listed above several times is SOOOO true; assume that every other person out there on the road is trying to kill you, 'cause they probably (usually) are.

[Sam F.]

funny,this was in todays newspaper...
interesting read (http://www.courier-journal.com/localnews/2003/10/30ky/wir-front-motorcycle1030-11361.html)

[gettingreasy]

Very interesting article Butt. I don't belive in being "forced" to wear helmets, if I want to wear one I'll wear one but tell me I have to(I get enough of that living in Cali http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif ). Sorry about my anti. helmat rant.
-Jesse

[leadsled1953]

i went over the bars on my then 3 week old 85 sportie, i had a another bike stop short. to avoid him i cut the bars hard and bike highsided me.i landed on my chest on I-90 i got got banged up but i didnt get run over which was going thought my mind as i was flipping over an over on in the fast lane

[haring]

I've been riding for only 8 years now, but I've never heard of a "tank slapper". What's this?

[Nads]

haring a tank slapper is a front end wobble that results in your hands slapping the gas tank. Usually it occurs at high speed due to bad tires, road surface or poor engineering.

[Curly]

A high speed SEVERE front end wobble that will /can get so bad that the front end will go from steering stop to steering stop and hop off the ground. Scares the piss out of you and makes your asshole pucker like a sunnava beotch. Had one when running a set of apes on a four lane road...took three lanes to get it back in line and this was after years of riding dirtbikes did I know what to do to pull this off. Pull the clutch in and slightly rev the motor(The torque will try to stand the bike upright) but don't need to go any faster (The reason for pullin in the clutch) and slowly apply pressure to the rear brake to slow it down, lots of upper arm strength to hang on to those slappin bars and enough body moves to make any 70's disco queen envious.

[haring]

[ QUOTE ]
haring a tank slapper is a front end wobble that results in your hands slapping the gas tank.

[/ QUOTE ]

Got it. Thanks for the answers.

On an off note, the annual Philadelphia Toys for Tots Ride is this Sunday. It brings in about 70,000(!) bikes. It's a lot of sitting and waiting, and it's a really short ride, but lots of fun. I'll try to snap some pictures.

[leadsled1953]

you dont hear about tank slappers as much any more.when i used to run sidecars i got a few.its a hell of a scarey thing