GSXR1000 TT Edition - one less left
Discussion
Someone on a TT edition GSXR Thou rear-ended a mate of mine in his car yesterday, near Paddock Wood (if anyone knows, it was on the really fast bit of road between the end of Seven Mile Lane and the Hop Farm). Story was, mate doing 50-odd in lane 1, van pulls out to overtake him without checking first, bike is coming up behind them both, the bike instinctively jinks left to avoid the van and piles into matey's car instead. The bike hit the van as well.
The biker bounced but got up, although he had suspect broken both arms, plus plenty of other injuries. Hell of a lot of damage all round. Mate's car was a 62-plate 3-Series, the biker hit the rear offside and head butted the C-pillar (hard by the look of it). The interior of the boot is severely crumpled; may well be a write off. The van had dents and scrapes. The bike - well, from photos I couldn't work out what it had been at first. Zero fairing left. The left fork leg was torn right out of the top yoke.
Just thought I'd report it in, anyone know the biker? He's going to ache a bit today, but hopefully OK long term.
The biker bounced but got up, although he had suspect broken both arms, plus plenty of other injuries. Hell of a lot of damage all round. Mate's car was a 62-plate 3-Series, the biker hit the rear offside and head butted the C-pillar (hard by the look of it). The interior of the boot is severely crumpled; may well be a write off. The van had dents and scrapes. The bike - well, from photos I couldn't work out what it had been at first. Zero fairing left. The left fork leg was torn right out of the top yoke.
Just thought I'd report it in, anyone know the biker? He's going to ache a bit today, but hopefully OK long term.
Jesus. Small world. I drove past this not long after it happened. Glad to hear the biker is alive. Nobody at scene other than a very broken bike.
Bits of bike all over the road. When I drove past the bike was at the side of the road bars all bent up. I actually thought it was a street triple as it had no failings at all.
Hope your mate makes a full recovery.
Bits of bike all over the road. When I drove past the bike was at the side of the road bars all bent up. I actually thought it was a street triple as it had no failings at all.
Hope your mate makes a full recovery.
Baryonyx said:
A sage reminder to always expect the numpty ahead of you to act without looking or thinking. Hope the rider is okay and the dick in the van finds his mirrors.
How do we know the van driver didn't check his mirrors? Nobody here has got his opinion on what happened. He may well have.If we're taking this at face value, then the OP says it's a "fast stretch of road", maybe the biker was going so fast that even if the van driver checked his mirrors that the bike was so far away / not even visible yet.
Just a flip side view.
Just read this again and realise your mate wasn't the biker. Stil hope all invoked are OK as it looked a nasty one given the state of the bike.
That sectoion of road is fast duel carriageway after miles of 50 and 40 to NSL. You are likely to have been behind some dawldling fkwit for some time before you arrive at the first roundabout. This is the best chance to overtake. Silly speeds are pretty easy to hit.
Edited to add a link to googlemaps but can't link with an kidle. This happened on a straight bit of road in near perfect conditions. I would guess at too much speed from the bike coming off the roundabout and the van not checking his mirrors. Potential no rear view mirror. Just a guess.
That sectoion of road is fast duel carriageway after miles of 50 and 40 to NSL. You are likely to have been behind some dawldling fkwit for some time before you arrive at the first roundabout. This is the best chance to overtake. Silly speeds are pretty easy to hit.
Edited to add a link to googlemaps but can't link with an kidle. This happened on a straight bit of road in near perfect conditions. I would guess at too much speed from the bike coming off the roundabout and the van not checking his mirrors. Potential no rear view mirror. Just a guess.
Edited by HairyMaclary on Tuesday 31st May 08:09
CoolHands said:
Ahhh summer's here, the MotoGP riders are showing their talents....
If a van pulls into your path without checking mirrors, then what are you supposed to do? Additionally, that dual carriageway can be a 150mph sweeper if you want it to be and most people give it a little beans onto it as it's well sighted, clear and devoid of any hazards.OP - not good for anyone involved - the amount of people who dawdle on that dual carriageway and then just pull out into the fast lane is very annoying. If there are clumps of cars, I back it off along there and only go for it if traffic is super sparse
3DP said:
If a van pulls into your path without checking mirrors, then what are you supposed to do? Additionally, that dual carriageway can be a 150mph sweeper if you want it to be and most people give it a little beans onto it as it's well sighted, clear and devoid of any hazards.
OP - not good for anyone involved - the amount of people who dawdle on that dual carriageway and then just pull out into the fast lane is very annoying. If there are clumps of cars, I back it off along there and only go for it if traffic is super sparse
I would class other vehicles as very much a hazard. I'd be very nervous of blasting past vans or cars in the inside lane exactly because of the risk of them pulling out without seeing me. OP - not good for anyone involved - the amount of people who dawdle on that dual carriageway and then just pull out into the fast lane is very annoying. If there are clumps of cars, I back it off along there and only go for it if traffic is super sparse
HairyMaclary said:
Just read this again and realise your mate wasn't the biker. Stil hope all invoked are OK as it looked a nasty one given the state of the bike.
That sectoion of road is fast duel carriageway after miles of 50 and 40 to NSL. You are likely to have been behind some dawldling fkwit for some time before you arrive at the first roundabout. This is the best chance to overtake. Silly speeds are pretty easy to hit.
Edited to add a link to googlemaps but can't link with an kidle. This happened on a straight bit of road in near perfect conditions. I would guess at too much speed from the bike coming off the roundabout and the van not checking his mirrors. Potential no rear view mirror. Just a guess.
Thanks, yes, my mate was very much the innocent party. He said that the police expected the van and bike's insurers to have to argue it out.That sectoion of road is fast duel carriageway after miles of 50 and 40 to NSL. You are likely to have been behind some dawldling fkwit for some time before you arrive at the first roundabout. This is the best chance to overtake. Silly speeds are pretty easy to hit.
Edited to add a link to googlemaps but can't link with an kidle. This happened on a straight bit of road in near perfect conditions. I would guess at too much speed from the bike coming off the roundabout and the van not checking his mirrors. Potential no rear view mirror. Just a guess.
Edited by HairyMaclary on Tuesday 31st May 08:09
As you say, and as 3DP says, that can be a very fast stretch of road. I imagine it happened exactly as you surmise, it's a great bit of road for a blast, it's not unlikely the bike was well into three figures although of course that's speculation.
I've seen lots of photos of the aftermath. As you said above, there was not one ounce of fairing left on the bike, I had to look closely and ask lots of questions before I worked out what it was. The car he hit is really quite badly damaged. As well as the visible damage on the outside, there's really serious creasing on the inside, as in, creased up hard into tight bends, so that plus the roof damage may be sending it on it's way. The bike has to be totalled, the way the fork was ripped out of the yoke, there's no way there won't be frame damage too.
Still, everyone walked away, that's the main thing.
snorky782 said:
Baryonyx said:
A sage reminder to always expect the numpty ahead of you to act without looking or thinking. Hope the rider is okay and the dick in the van finds his mirrors.
How do we know the van driver didn't check his mirrors? Nobody here has got his opinion on what happened. He may well have.If we're taking this at face value, then the OP says it's a "fast stretch of road", maybe the biker was going so fast that even if the van driver checked his mirrors that the bike was so far away / not even visible yet.
Just a flip side view.
anonymous said:
[redacted]
Perhaps. If a van is close to a car you have to moderate and expect a pull out. We have no idea of the actual circumstances, and personally, I will only fully open it up if the cars are well spaced, but assuming the rider WAS doing his MotoGP impression is a bit off. For all we know, the car and van were doing 40 and he was doing a legal 70 with the van suddenly pulling out. Or the van may have not seen him as the bike was doing 150... Either way, condemning the rider is not on and even a bike at speed is able to be spotted so more inclined to think the van shouldn't have pulled out. If the bike managed to hit the car and van, with the car first, the bike must have been almost on top of the van when it pulled out with the bike bouncing backwards or across from the car, into the van.Still - hazard awareness is key, but drivers still do unpredictable things.
For example, that section of road is broken up by 3 roundabouts. If you know the area, it's not unusual for cars to pull out into the fast lane at slow speeds, without signalling, very early as they plan to take a 3rd exit of a roundabout.
Unfortunately in the Southeast if you wait for a completely clear road before ever opening it up, you'll perpetually ride at 50mph, so you open it up and just try to manage the risk as best you can.
3DP said:
CoolHands said:
Ahhh summer's here, the MotoGP riders are showing their talents....
If a van pulls into your path without checking mirrors, then what are you supposed to do? Additionally, that dual carriageway can be a 150mph s3fella said:
snorky782 said:
Baryonyx said:
A sage reminder to always expect the numpty ahead of you to act without looking or thinking. Hope the rider is okay and the dick in the van finds his mirrors.
How do we know the van driver didn't check his mirrors? Nobody here has got his opinion on what happened. He may well have.If we're taking this at face value, then the OP says it's a "fast stretch of road", maybe the biker was going so fast that even if the van driver checked his mirrors that the bike was so far away / not even visible yet.
Just a flip side view.
It's eminently possible to see a vehicle a long way back and pull out on it. I do it all the time on the motorway on bike or in car. I do it when the gap is seen to be safe. What might easily catch me or others out is when the bike is doing a silly speed, let's say 150mph as 3DP says is possible and common.
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