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The Crash Poll has become a popular place and the page has become BIG, so I broke the stories into seasons of the year.The topic of "get-off's" came up and the stories started, many have found them very educational and some find them entertaining. A real study into the details of how and why motorcycle accidents are what they are. Read This! Spring Time Stories Summer Time Stories Fall Time Stories Winter Time Stories On Road?: yes Model Year: 79 2-up?: No Hurt: No Rider Age: 40 Comments: Overshot a curve radius, got into paving "marbles" (round pebbles placed on hot asphalt to re-surface highway) which had piled up on outer edge of curve. Hung on to bike for a long time got it slowed down in a skid then highsided, landing in some soft, newly plowed dirt along a fence line; lucky me! Loaded?: No season: Winter Group?: No Model: CX-500 Bike Make: Honda Helmet?: yes DUI?: No On Road?: yes Model Year: 1978 2-up?: No Hurt: No Rider Age: 25 Comments -------------------- I was commuting in the early morning in the winter (in Corvallis, Oregon). The road was frosty and I had to make a left turn through an intersection. There had been no traffic through the intersection yet to wear off the frost, and I went down right in the middle. I was going about 10 mph. There was no damage to the bike or to me. That has been my only road crash in 25 years of riding. -------------------- Loaded?: No season: Winter Group?: No Model: Californian (350) Bike Make: Jawa Helmet?: yes DUI?: No On Road?: yes Model Year: 1997 2-up?: No Hurt: No Rider Age: 39 Comments: Lost traction on front tire(new) while making a right hand turn at about 30mph. Loaded?: No season: Winter Group?: No Model: 651 Bike Make: KLR650 Helmet?: yes DUI?: yes On Road?: yes Model Year: 76 2-up?: No Hurt: No Rider Age: 36 Comments: Doing Wheelie and in forgot what gear I was in and looped it before could react. Skinned butt and hands mainly. Loaded?: No season: Winter Group?: yes Model: 525 Bike Make: Yamaha Helmet?: yes DUI?: No On Road?: No Model Year: 1990 2-up?: No Hurt: No Rider Age: 28 Comments: 2nd crash: Riding down the parking ramp of the garage I normally park in. Unknown to me, they had just washed down the ramp (it was 1:30am). I rode over a painted arrow and before I could do anything I was on the ground watching my bike slide a little further down the ramp. Wonderful. Damage: broken front brake lever, broken mirror, bent rear brake pedal, minor scuffs on fairing and exhaust pipe. Loaded?: No season: Winter Group?: No Model: EX 500 Bike Make: Kawasaki Helmet?: yes DUI?: No On Road?: yes Model Year: 91 2-up?: No Hurt: No Rider Age: 31 Comments -------------------- In the morning I found some 5 meters of ice crossing the road and I cannot go straight accross it, despite going to some 40 Kilometers per hour. I got a low side and went down by the left side and I got the front left flashing light out of the bodywork (with a hole in the place of entering the screw), some deep scratch in the muffler and mirror. Helmet scratched near the nape and naylon raincoat also scratched and cut in some places. -------------------- Loaded?: No season: Winter Group?: No Model: GPz500S Bike Make: Kawasaki Helmet?: yes DUI?: No On Road?: yes Model Year: 1993 2-up?: No Hurt: No Rider Age: 28 Comments -------------------- I'd not long had the bike (totally stock) & this is my first venture into the big bike world. Well, it was also going to be the first long journey I'd done on it as well, down the motorway (highway) & everything!! I was loaded (no, laden) with tank bag & panniers all heavily packed (honest). It was just gone 5:00pm & I'd finished work, working out the days stresses with some serious bad mouthing of all car drivers who would not get out of the way of a motorcycle, for which the roads were made. Hmmm.. Well, as is happens I'd gotten into a lane of slow moving traffic & wanted to be in the faster moving lane. I take a quick peek over my shoulder to check the chance of a swift lane change (there was'nt) & when I look back I see that the geezer in front of me had slammed on his anchors & I'm far too close for comfort. I bang on my brakes & loose the front wheel on the greasy road & all of a sudden I'm thinking all my previous driver bound swearing looses credibility. I put this dow! n to (in reverse order) (3) Not adjusting the back brake after I got it (far too much slack), (2) A certain lack of any response from the bike under braking - soft as shi** suspension, (1) My own damned hastiness in rush hour traffic. Jeez, I was so embarrased I just though that all these motorists following would be going - 'Ha, ha, that'll teach him for overtaking ME.' I got the front 2 indicators popping out from my faring (still got to properly mend the bugger) & did'nt do any damage to the car in front - although the guy was very glad of the directions I gave him 'cause he was lost. I thought about ditching the journey down to Bournemouth (UK) but you've got to get back on that horse (it turns out I got lost anyway & did about an extra 100 miles, all good experience) & besides it was for a friend's birthday & a strip club visit was on the cards (sad really!!!) Yeah, now I've decided that the bike will not get the better of me & I want to get the bas***d sorted into a great bike which I'm sure it could be so I can thrash the hell out of it (I'll teach it to throw me & it probably will learn to throw me quicker than I tame it.) Still, never mind - the no claims bonus is safe - for now. Live & learn. I got the impatience demons out by resorting to my Yamaha DT 125 MX - which I had just replaced the piston rings on & needed to run in. It took about 1 minute to get to 30mph & you can't be impatient with that performance (or you end up getting off & walking.) I got back on that bike thinking that it was so much fun - I was singing all the way to work. Now this bike has a puncture & I'm back on the GPz for the first time today: What fun (okay, no singing, far too busy concentrating) & it was frosty today & the roads were greasy as hell, but what fun. -------------------- Loaded?: yes season: Winter Group?: No Model: GPz/EX 500 Bike Make: Kawasaki Helmet?: yes DUI?: No Model: KLR 650 Hurt?: yes Model Year: 99 hurt: No Rider Age: 55 Comments: far off road frozen single track, scoot hit rut, and embankment, landed on left side, bent bars, demolished choke control lever, scratches etc. minor muscle damage to me road: No season: Winter Bike Make: Kaw Helmet?: yes DUI?: No On Road?: yes Model Year: 1972 2-up?: No Hurt: No Rider Age: 17 Comments -------------------- My one and only crash on the pavement occurred when I was going to work on Christmas Day 1973. I was in high school and worked at a historical/ tourist site (USS North Carolina Battleship in Wilmington, NC). It was about 0730 and there was little traffic on the road. As I was coming around a left hand turn, I was hanging off the bike, a la Kenny Roberts, when I lost the front end. I was going about 25 mph and instantly went down. I tumbled head over tail several times. A car nearly ran over me while I was rolling around. As soon as I stopped rolling, I turned the bike's ignition and fuel petcocks off. I sat by the bike for a moment to collect my wits. The driver of the car was a physician heading to the nearby hospital. He wanted my to go to the hospital, but as I was not injured, I refused. He did request that I stand and extend my arms and touch my nose with my index finger. I guess that that is some sort of test for mental/physical impairment. The bike, a Honda CB-350, was basically un- damaged with no visible scratches or dings. I was wearing cotton long pants, a nylon jacket, leather gloves (not motorcycle), and a 3/4 helment with clear shield. I had no visible injuries, tears, or abraisions to my clothes. I got on the bike (started right up) and went to work. Before leaving the scene, I looked around and saw a thumb-sized acorn nut that my front tire must have hit. As I was only able to afford cheap Cheng-Shen tires, there wasn't much grip to start with. With me playing at being KR, the least perturbation in the road surface caused me to crash. I didn't tell my parents about that crash until a few years ago. There's a lot that I haven't told my parents about my high school years :-) :-) I started riding dirt bikes (100cc Honda) at age 14. While riding in the woods, I fell nearly every day. But falls in the dirt don't count. Heck, if you don't fall while riding in the dirt, you ain't riding hard enough :-) -------------------- Loaded?: No season: Winter Group?: No Model: 350 Bike Make: Honda Helmet?: yes DUI?: No On Road?: yes Model Year: 68 2-up?: No Hurt: No Rider Age: 18 Comments: This time I learned about coming down the steep San Francisco hills and trying to make a corner on no paving, just wet steel streetcar hardware embedded in the ground, so you get to fall down and lose control of your machine in front of about 900 or 1000 people on the street, in the financial district. Loaded?: No season: Winter Group?: No Model: 600 Bike Make: bmw Helmet?: No DUI?: No On Road?: yes Model Year: 92 2-up?: No Hurt: yes Rider Age: 69 Comments -------------------- Blind corner on mountain road. Pick up truck over center line. I struck the drivers door. Without the side car, I would have avoided. 16 fracture, punctured lung, torn knee ligaments. Recovered completely -------------------- Loaded?: No season: Winter Group?: No Model: 1200 CC Bike Make: Harley with Sidecar Helmet?: yes Bike Make: Kawasaki Comments: iteresting circumstances lead to my mini crisis (aren't they all): Cruisin' a jeep trail--two nasty ruts with an un-navigable hump in the middle. Looked like it (the road) had been the home of some serious mud in the recent past--however for now it was hard packed like lava or flowing water in suspended animation. So there I was puttin' along (luckily for me) when SLAMMO!! I was standing next to my bike lying on the ground with her wheel spinnin like a ferris wheel gone mad. The damage consisted of, what i thought at the time, was a broken pointer finger where the bike had been snatched from my grip (turned out to be simply very sore for several days; an enormous gouge down the side of my pride; a hefty dent in the center of my ego; oh yea and a scuff on my left handgaurd. The culprit: Amusingly the surface of the rut I was in was a false ground. Water had in the recent past sloshed down into the rut causing erosion horizontally under the false surface. in effect I had been riding on a 4-5 inch slab of dried mud which was cantilevered out a few feet shading a 8-10 inch deep chasm--like an overhanging cliff or something where miniture people could have sought shelter to rebuild there race--HA! When that shelf collapsed it simply spit my tires as if a rug had been pulled out. Minor crash but with amusing, unique circumstances. thank you DUI: no Dirt Or Road: Dirt Helmet: yes In A Group: no Injured: no Loaded With Gear: no Model: 650 Model Year: klr 2003 Rider Age: 32 Two Up: no Season: Winter Bike Make: KLR Comments: Brand new bike...just drove it off the show room floor. Was going to transport the bike from CA to AZ, so I loaded it up in the back of my truck. 100 feet down the road and it falls over and smashes into the side of the truck bed...big dent in the shiny NEW gas tank. Needless to say, I was ticked!! It is amusing now...but not then!!! Did I mention it only had 25 miles????????? DUI: no Dirt Or Road: Road Helmet: no In A Group: no Injured: no Loaded With Gear: no Model: 650 Model Year: 2002 Rider Age: 23 Two Up: no Season: Winter Bike Make: Yamaha Comments: I was rev it up ready to pop 3-4 at the red line (about 85-90 mph) when a dear jumped out of the forest from the embankment next to the road. I had enough time to say "shit it is a..." before I hit it. Full face helmet and leathers seriously saved my life. DUI: no Dirt Or Road: Road Helmet: yes In A Group: no Injured: no Loaded With Gear: no Model: Vision 550 Model Year: 1981 Rider Age: 19 Two Up: no Season: Winter Bike Make: suzuki Comments: blew rear tire at about 70mph on clear Noverber morning, about 0600hrs. headed east out of Del Rio Texas. Wide bar ditches with lots of grass, no traffic. Lost it at about 40-45 or so. Finally slid to a stop on the shoulder. For some reason I had passed out just as I fell. woke up as they were putting me in the ambulance. Had the best helmet money could buy at the tiem, a Bell Magnum. Open face, got two fairly deep road rashes on the face and one on the heel of the hand, glad I had lots of clothes on! The outter jacket and pants went to the trash. The bike faired well actually. minor damage to hand grip, foot peg, and upper cap nut on the rear shock. Minor dent in tank where bar was pushed into it. DUI: no Dirt Or Road: Road Helmet: yes In A Group: no Injured: no Loaded With Gear: yes Model: 350 (315) Model Year: 1969 Rider Age: 23 Two Up: no Season: Winter Bike Make: kawasaki CGI URL: http://crash-poll.50megs.com/cgi-bin/cgiemail Comments: cold wet tires with cold wet brakes on a cold wet road with a cold wet rider on a cold wet bike. Too much brake and tucked in where everyone could see me. DUI: Dirt Or Road: Email Address: Helmet: yes In A Group: no Injured: no Loaded With Gear: no Model: 750 Model Year: 83 Rider Age: 41 Two Up: no Season: Winter Bike Make: HD Comments: A late modle p/u was slowing down in front of me and when he went left I pulled over to the right to go by,and thats when he turned right. Bottom line- Bad judgement! And broken left foot and just under 6k damage to the bike. DUI: no Dirt Or Road: Road Helmet: yes In A Group: no Injured: no Loaded With Gear: no Model: Sturges- 1340cc Model Year: 1991 Rider Age: 55 Two Up: no Season: Winter Bike Make: BMW Comments: I'd been riding a new DRZ-400 SM while working on the Bimmer...a couple of months. I'd gotten used to the catlike manners of the DRZ and pulled off on my Bimmer to do some test riding after replacing all the bearings and putting on a new shock, among about 20 other things. A cold road, cold tires, and rusty me sent me down in the first corner I found. I tried to push it over like I did on the DRZ every day and it was having none of it. Plus I think I had a little dog poop on my front tire. I was ATGATT and didn't feel a thing...got right up, turned the bike off, picked it up, checked it out and rode off before anyone saw me ;). This was a very cold day and I was heavily layered. I'm sure I'd have felt it had I not been wearing my gear. DUI: no Dirt Or Road: Road Helmet: yes In A Group: no Injured: no Loaded With Gear: yes Model: 650 Model Year: 2002 Rider Age: 34 Two Up: no Season: Winter Bike Make: Kawasaki Comments: Lost in Mexico near copper canyon. Picked up the pace on a washed out dirt road, front end washed out, down I went-HARD. No broken bones. Sheared off the back brake pedal and bracket that holds it. Alone and in some pain from the crash, spent a cold night in the middle of nowhere. Loved every minute of it. Mark Williams DUI: no Dirt Or Road: Road Helmet: yes In A Group: no Injured: no Loaded With Gear: yes Model: 650 Model Year: 1989 Rider Age: 50 Two Up: no Season: Winter if you have or want changes to any of the stories you submitted, drop me an e-mail, I'll do what I can... |