What caused you to crash and what bike where you on?

Once oil spill in a tight uphill curve, once a car that pulled out of a driveway and caused me to lay the bike down.
For some unknown reason oil / Diesel spills are very common in my area, certain roads affected more than others.
 
Loose nut behind the handlebars.
Poorly trained operator. (Target fixation on exit ramp) and (too aggressive left turn on new tires)
Innocent victim. (rear-ended by truck at Stoplight queue) girlfriend on pillon didn't care for that AT ALL!!!
 
Where do you start with a question like that...
The first ride as a kid. Dont go WOT across a clover paddock with submerged rocks. Too scrawny to get the bloody thing off me. Lesson was to let the thing go when the endo hits the fan.
.
 
Vince said:
I had just fitted a dogleg lever to the front disc braked Bonnie I owned, that's the excuse I am sticking to. I was approaching a red traffic light at walking pace and standing beside the road was 2 teenage girls with an unleashed Rhodesian Ridgeback, the dog charged me going for the bite so I had 2 choices. Stop and get bit or go and hit the cars going through the other way. So I went with option 1, which had an addendum that involved locking that new dog leg brake lever, I wasn't used to the changed pull and crashing. I was pissed off to the max and got up abusing these teenagers who just simply walked away. I saw them regularly continuing to wonder about with that unleashed dog and it chased me a few times. Would happen these days thankfully.
Click to expand...
You should have put on a catleg lever.

Paul
 
Doing about 50mph on an old CB250k4, the Volvo driver watched me approach... waited... waited... made eye contact and... pulled out. I kind of stepped off as the bike went under his rear side and I ended up 30m away upside down in a hedge then hospital. Lessons learnt, don't trust the bastards and don't ride with a screwdriver in your jacket pocket!
 
Doing Mount Palomar East Grade in winter on my Moto Guzzi Griso - coming down around a curve and see two guys pushing a BMW RT dripping broken plastics off the road. I tap the brakes to pull off the road to help and *BANG* I'm on the pavement! Hit the same patch of black ice as the BMW guy... good news, there was someone to help me pick up the bike and move it off the road.

No good intention goes unpunished...
 
July this year on my 750 Formula after over year of getting it running right I was in Newquay, Cornwall sat stationary behind a 4x4. The reverse lights came on and he reversed right over the bike, turned out he had missed his turn into his hotel. Still haven't got it back from the insurance company yet:rolleyes:🤬
 
Yamaha T80...lost front end on slow left hander due to gravel....half inch square chunk of flesh out of left knee

Honda CB250 K4...left footrest caught raised kerbstone turning out of car park at work...cut left knee

MZ Supa Five.....Icy back lane somewhere in the Brecon Beacons....no injuries

Suzuki GS500E.....A38 junction with Over Lane...at night...car pulled out in front of me...sore left leg and spectacular bruising all down my right side...keep left traffic bollard demolished....police arrived...I had been drinking in Bristol so kept my distance , said as little as possible , and took big gulps of fresh air when they weren`t looking...driver said he didn`t see me as his side windows misted up...GS still rideable so rode home

Laverda Mirage...down on left side 530 in the morning due to icy road surface... indicator smashed and left footrest bent...bloke at work straightened that out for me ...no injuries

Laverda Mirage...smashed generator cover after trying to mount kerb at an angle...got heavy duty replacement cover from Phil Todd ...no injuries

Laverda Mirage...rear ended by car at roundabout in Cirencester....£850 worth of damage to bike ( probably more like £1500 now ) including above mentioned heavy duty generator cover...no injuries

Laverda Mirage....fording the River Windrush between Kineton and Roel Gate in Gloucestershire due to slimy surface beneath water.....low speed tumble.... no injuries but did get very wet ........
 
Last edited:
Shajota said:
Fell asleep once, went straight ahead instead of around a sweeping bend..............!!
Click to expand...
I did that once too - fell asleep. It was the end of a long day in the saddle and I was only a couple of km from home. I have no memory of the event but a mate following me said my head drooped down and I kind of slumped on the bike (Honda 750 K1) and made no attempt to negotiate a roundabout. I woke up in hospital with a ruptured kidney. Apparently I hit my back on some street furniture as I slid/tumbled down the road. My mate said I sat up and was talking for a couple of minutes before passing out, but I have no memory of that either. Someone must have called an ambulance from a nearby phone box (before the days of mobile phones). They kept me in hospital for 10 days until my kidney healed enough so there was no blood in my urine. Even so, I figured I was better off than the young guy in the bed next to me. His little brother had accidentally shot him in the wedding tackle with a .22 rifle. The bullet went through his penis, a testicle and ended up in his inner thigh. They patched up his dick and removed the perforated knacker. That's not a good way to get circumcised.

In more than 50 years of riding, I've had too many unplanned get-offs to remember. The worst were hitting other vehicles (their fault on every occasion). I've twice had cars travelling in the opposite direction turn across my lane and wipe me out.

The first time a car turned in front of me, I was on a 1967 Yamaha YDS5E (250cc twin 2-stroke). I was 17 years old. It was my first bike and I'd only just got my licence. The car driver suddenly turned straight across in front of me with no indication that she was turning. I hit the front of her car at 60 kph and was catapulted over the top of it. The brain must speed up at such times of mortal peril because I remember it all like it was happening in slow motion. I flew through the air like superman and landed in a broken heap on the road. Some passers-by looked after me and called the ambulance. They were well-intentioned but did everything wrong. They rolled me over, dragged me off the road and someone tried to take my helmet off without undoing the chin strap. It felt like he was trying to yank my head off. Luckily I didn't have a spinal injury, but they weren't to know that at the time. Some kind lady put a blanket over me to keep me warm, but it was a stinking hot day and I was lying in the sun with my black leather jacket zipped up. I kept trying to push the blanket away but she kept pulling it up around my neck and tucking it under me. I reckon I was lucky not to get heat stroke. I had a smashed knee, broken arm, concussion, and lost some skin off my hip and lower leg (was wearing jeans that got shredded - couldn't afford leather pants in those days). The pocket of my jeans was ripped open and my wallet fell out as they dragged me onto the footpath. It was returned to me while I was being loaded into the ambulance, but all the cash was gone. It was only about $50, but that was a lot of money to a teenager in 1968. It has to be a special kind of low life that steals money from a 17 year old kid injured in a road crash. The driver of the other car never got out of her vehicle. A police officer who attended the scene later told me that she was very upset, and she thought she'd killed me (probably because she saw someone put a blanket over me). She didn't want to look at a dead body. She was obviously quite traumatised by the event.

The other time a car turned in front of me was several years later and I was on my long-suffering Honda 750 K1 (that bike got crashed several times, not only by me). It was at an intersection in the city late at night. I had a green light, he had a red arrow, but it didn't stop him turning in front of me. I was only travelling at about 50kph and almost managed to avoid him, but not quite. Just a few scrapes and bruises that time. He took off but several pedestrians standing at the corner got his number, so the cops picked him up within minutes. He was a young bloke with a car full of his pissed mates. Apparently he'd been hooning around, doing burnouts and stuff just before he hit me. He also had about 3 times the legal limit of alcohol in his system. Police threw the book at him for a whole bunch of offences. Surprisingly, he only got a token fine and no points off his licence. But he did at least get a stern talking to by the magistrate. I found out some time later that his dad was a barrister and a mate of the magistrate.

I had a Kawasaki 900 Z1B that I chucked down the road a couple of times without serious injury. Both times due to oil/diesel spills on the road.

The only times I ever came off due to excessive speed in bends were on the race track. Only low-sides. Never had a high-side thankfully.
 
A mate of mine dropped his XS1100 when his pillion fell asleep. No one else saw it but we all heard about it. In fact we heard about it every time anyone looked drowsy or spilt their beer, “christ, that looks like Steve when he fell asleep and made me crash…”
Steve’s reply tended to be short, sharp, and funnier than the wind-up 😁
 
Dellortoman said:
I did that once too - fell asleep. It was the end of a long day in the saddle and I was only a couple of km from home. I have no memory of the event but a mate following me said my head drooped down and I kind of slumped on the bike (Honda 750 K1) and made no attempt to negotiate a roundabout. I woke up in hospital with a ruptured kidney. Apparently I hit my back on some street furniture as I slid/tumbled down the road. My mate said I sat up and was talking for a couple of minutes before passing out, but I have no memory of that either. Someone must have called an ambulance from a nearby phone box (before the days of mobile phones). They kept me in hospital for 10 days until my kidney healed enough so there was no blood in my urine. Even so, I figured I was better off than the young guy in the bed next to me. His little brother had accidentally shot him in the wedding tackle with a .22 rifle. The bullet went through his penis, a testicle and ended up in his inner thigh. They patched up his dick and removed the perforated knacker. That's not a good way to get circumcised.

In more than 50 years of riding, I've had too many unplanned get-offs to remember. The worst were hitting other vehicles (their fault on every occasion). I've twice had cars travelling in the opposite direction turn across my lane and wipe me out.

The first time a car turned in front of me, I was on a 1967 Yamaha YDS5E (250cc twin 2-stroke). I was 17 years old. It was my first bike and I'd only just got my licence. The car driver suddenly turned straight across in front of me with no indication that she was turning. I hit the front of her car at 60 kph and was catapulted over the top of it. The brain must speed up at such times of mortal peril because I remember it all like it was happening in slow motion. I flew through the air like superman and landed in a broken heap on the road. Some passers-by looked after me and called the ambulance. They were well-intentioned but did everything wrong. They rolled me over, dragged me off the road and someone tried to take my helmet off without undoing the chin strap. It felt like he was trying to yank my head off. Luckily I didn't have a spinal injury, but they weren't to know that at the time. Some kind lady put a blanket over me to keep me warm, but it was a stinking hot day and I was lying in the sun with my black leather jacket zipped up. I kept trying to push the blanket away but she kept pulling it up around my neck and tucking it under me. I reckon I was lucky not to get heat stroke. I had a smashed knee, broken arm, concussion, and lost some skin off my hip and lower leg (was wearing jeans that got shredded - couldn't afford leather pants in those days). The pocket of my jeans was ripped open and my wallet fell out as they dragged me onto the footpath. It was returned to me while I was being loaded into the ambulance, but all the cash was gone. It was only about $50, but that was a lot of money to a teenager in 1968. It has to be a special kind of low life that steals money from a 17 year old kid injured in a road crash. The driver of the other car never got out of her vehicle. A police officer who attended the scene later told me that she was very upset, and she thought she'd killed me (probably because she saw someone put a blanket over me). She didn't want to look at a dead body. She was obviously quite traumatised by the event.

The other time a car turned in front of me was several years later and I was on my long-suffering Honda 750 K1 (that bike got crashed several times, not only by me). It was at an intersection in the city late at night. I had a green light, he had a red arrow, but it didn't stop him turning in front of me. I was only travelling at about 50kph and almost managed to avoid him, but not quite. Just a few scrapes and bruises that time. He took off but several pedestrians standing at the corner got his number, so the cops picked him up within minutes. He was a young bloke with a car full of his pissed mates. Apparently he'd been hooning around, doing burnouts and stuff just before he hit me. He also had about 3 times the legal limit of alcohol in his system. Police threw the book at him for a whole bunch of offences. Surprisingly, he only got a token fine and no points off his licence. But he did at least get a stern talking to by the magistrate. I found out some time later that his dad was a barrister and a mate of the magistrate.

I had a Kawasaki 900 Z1B that I chucked down the road a couple of times without serious injury. Both times due to oil/diesel spills on the road.

The only times I ever came off due to excessive speed in bends were on the race track. Only low-sides. Never had a high-side thankfully.
Click to expand...
JESUS!!!
 
Riding steep downhill into a right hander going up and to the right.. gentle corner, Sydney suburbia.. flat bed truck coming the other way.. his load of bricks shifted and off they came and bounced all over the road in front like ping pong balls.. remember the front end collapsing and not much else. Woke up in someone's front garden with people looking down at me with the usual.. "are you alright..?" Like yea, just FN fine, just thought I'd have a little lie down.. :rolleyes:

:cool:
 
Shajota said:
Fell asleep once, went straight ahead instead of around a sweeping bend..............!!
Click to expand...
Friend did that on a Suzi GT550 coming back to Germany after a long party weekend in Switzerland.
He was very unlucky to fall asleep, drive into a field and hit a stere of fresh cut wood.
Bike was totalled, he got away unscathed.
A few years later he crashed a RD500 near the same location, this time into the newly installed guard rails.
Cost him his left arm.
 
Gerald said:
Friend did that on a Suzi GT550 coming back to Germany after a long party weekend in Switzerland.
He was very unlucky to fall asleep, drive into a field and hit a stere of fresh cut wood.
Bike was totalled, he got away unscathed.
A few years later he crashed a RD500 near the same location, this time into the newly installed guard rails.
Cost him his left arm.
Click to expand...
One of the reasons I support some of the Vision Zero policy. No one should receive a death, or in this case, serious injury ‘sentence’ for having an accident. Well intentioned authorities that install ‘safety’ barriers in danger spots etc without considering the potential risks for users of two wheels should not be allowed.
 
Andy J said:
One of the reasons I support some of the Vision Zero policy. No one should receive a death, or in this case, serious injury ‘sentence’ for having an accident. Well intentioned authorities that install ‘safety’ barriers in danger spots etc without considering the potential risks for users of two wheels should not be allowed.
Click to expand...
I agree but unfortunately, two wheel users don't have much weight in a car world.
What is Vision Zero policy?
Paul
 
It's called towards Zero here. They love buzzwords. The latest BS is Casual Speeding. Happy family driving along saying at loud 60ish, next scene Dad is sitting in a wheel Chair literally dribbling with a look on his face that says I wish I wasn't doing 63 in a 60 zone cause that's why I hit the Telegraph pole and am like this. That 3ks was 100% the cause of the crash. Simple BULLSHIT that insults the population's intelligence and does nothing to fix any issue.
 
Andy J said:
One of the reasons I support some of the Vision Zero policy. No one should receive a death, or in this case, serious injury ‘sentence’ for having an accident. Well intentioned authorities that install ‘safety’ barriers in danger spots etc without considering the potential risks for users of two wheels should not be allowed.
Click to expand...
His injury and loss of an arm got the local authorities to install protective collars around the I-beams that support the guard rails in dangerous locations. But as with everything in Germany, it was a very short lived campain. A few years later the protective collars had perished and didn't get replaced.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top