How long before your first off?
Discussion
dern said:
Got off my bike and forgot to put the sidestand down and the bike fell on me and pinned me to the ground. That count?
Got off my RD 500 many years ago at Rothbury and the bike rolled forward off the side stand knocking me over and trapping me, my Brother in law picked the bike off me and stood it up while I threw the 2 stroke oil that I had just bought from the garage at the bike which burst over the front of the bike covering the discs in oil.I wasn't the brightest Back then.
Within the first year of riding, before I took my licence, I had two falls on the road:
1. Going too fast into an unexpected 90 degree turn and not leaning enough - flew into oncoming lane where the car came. Luckily could brake to a stop and the driver was vigilant as well. Ended with killing the engine (forgot the clutch) and dropping the bike on its side, but I could jump off it and had no damage.
2. Downtown Zurich, an Italian truck decided to change a lane before a corner and suddenly stopped blocking both lanes. Again me braking and dropping the bike on the side, again no damage to me but I bent the gas lever, that was one day before my driving licence exam, thankfully my Honda mechanic could take a lever off of another customer's bike and install on my bike for a day.
I also put down a bike on its side in my garage.
There were a few close calls on the road, but so far so good.
No falls on race track so far but that's because I am inexperienced and too cautious (=damn slow).
1. Going too fast into an unexpected 90 degree turn and not leaning enough - flew into oncoming lane where the car came. Luckily could brake to a stop and the driver was vigilant as well. Ended with killing the engine (forgot the clutch) and dropping the bike on its side, but I could jump off it and had no damage.
2. Downtown Zurich, an Italian truck decided to change a lane before a corner and suddenly stopped blocking both lanes. Again me braking and dropping the bike on the side, again no damage to me but I bent the gas lever, that was one day before my driving licence exam, thankfully my Honda mechanic could take a lever off of another customer's bike and install on my bike for a day.
I also put down a bike on its side in my garage.
There were a few close calls on the road, but so far so good.
No falls on race track so far but that's because I am inexperienced and too cautious (=damn slow).
Biker's Nemesis said:
dern said:
Got off my bike and forgot to put the sidestand down and the bike fell on me and pinned me to the ground. That count?
Got off my RD 500 many years ago at Rothbury and the bike rolled forward off the side stand knocking me over and trapping me, my Brother in law picked the bike off me and stood it up while I threw the 2 stroke oil that I had just bought from the garage at the bike which burst over the front of the bike covering the discs in oil.I wasn't the brightest Back then.
Been lucky on the road, maybe as I am mostly* quite sensible. Been riding 20 years, probably no more than 50-60,000 miles in total though.
Slid a CB500 dispatch bike down the road on wet leaves braking for a junction. Sore pinky and lost bar end. Picked the bike up and carried on.
Minicab changed lanes on me at about 25 mph in Wandsworth one way system on my Bandit 1250. Steered away from him towards the pavement and put the bike down on the pavement doing a sort of commando roll off it ending up next to a takeaway joint. Minicab actually stopped and sent me £30 via Paypal for the broken indicator and clutch lever.
Only injury accident was getting my leg broken trapping it under a GS800 on the Trans-Amazonian Highway in Brazil, which is the biggest road in the region even it is a heavily rutted track covered in fine sand. Not sure if that counts as on or off-road.
Slid a CB500 dispatch bike down the road on wet leaves braking for a junction. Sore pinky and lost bar end. Picked the bike up and carried on.
Minicab changed lanes on me at about 25 mph in Wandsworth one way system on my Bandit 1250. Steered away from him towards the pavement and put the bike down on the pavement doing a sort of commando roll off it ending up next to a takeaway joint. Minicab actually stopped and sent me £30 via Paypal for the broken indicator and clutch lever.
Only injury accident was getting my leg broken trapping it under a GS800 on the Trans-Amazonian Highway in Brazil, which is the biggest road in the region even it is a heavily rutted track covered in fine sand. Not sure if that counts as on or off-road.
Well I lasted 6 months from passing DAS, around 13 months total riding (first 7m on a 125).
I was established on a large round about and a car at the next exit/entrance did not check before pulling out and on to the roundabout (in to the exact same space I was in). She impacted me side on and sent me and the bike a good distance to the right, ending with the bike landing on top of me.
I remember a fraction of a second before she hit me seeing the bonnet come in to my peripheral vision on the left and thinking "Oh great, is she actually going to drive in to me?". Next think I know I'm on the ground.
The fun started when she denied responsibility (despite at the scene repeatedly saying how sorry she was and she would pay for everything)...go figure.
Thankfully I had several independent witnesses who kindly stopped to assist (including a biker) - with their account of events liability was very recently resolved.
Quite significant damage to the bike, some injuries to myself but not enough to put me off riding again. I am counting down the days until I can get back on the road!
I was established on a large round about and a car at the next exit/entrance did not check before pulling out and on to the roundabout (in to the exact same space I was in). She impacted me side on and sent me and the bike a good distance to the right, ending with the bike landing on top of me.
I remember a fraction of a second before she hit me seeing the bonnet come in to my peripheral vision on the left and thinking "Oh great, is she actually going to drive in to me?". Next think I know I'm on the ground.
The fun started when she denied responsibility (despite at the scene repeatedly saying how sorry she was and she would pay for everything)...go figure.
Thankfully I had several independent witnesses who kindly stopped to assist (including a biker) - with their account of events liability was very recently resolved.
Quite significant damage to the bike, some injuries to myself but not enough to put me off riding again. I am counting down the days until I can get back on the road!
I started riding at a time where you just bought a moped (Honda SS50 
) at 16 and rode it home with zero training, and then bought a 250 as soon as you turned 17, and then got a 750 (or thereabouts) at 17/18 as soon as you passed your (rudimentary) test. Having been messing about on bikes for a few years before, I thought I 'knew it all' then when I got that first road-bike...
...but I fell off it on the first day I had it; absolutely no idea why, as looking back as it was hardly a corner at all - but I just dropped it and went sliding down the road. And also in that first year I recall running in to the back of a car, the side of a car and the back of a bus...plus numerous other offs, but nothing more than scrapes and bruises despite the 'biker gear' being trainers, jeans and a nylon jacket. So maybe there is something to be said about starting on slow bikes.
Year 2 on the road and I had a Honda 250. I'd kind of worked it out by now and only fell of that a couple of times, but once at a fair old lick (about 70 I guess). Carted off to hospital. but just a scar or two to show for it - nothing broken.
Year 3 I had a Norton Commando, and the only spill off that was when it was getting towed (it broke down on a number of occasions!) and the tow-rope went round the front wheel...so not really a proper 'off'.
And a year or two later I had a slow speed off on ice off my Z900. But then for about 40-odd years now (touch wood
) I've managed to keep things right-side up. So the moral is you are certainly a whole lot more likely to come off in the early days (although I guess the mandatory training these days really does make a difference), but later on if you do come off it hurts a whole lot more as you're probably going quicker on a heaver bike.
But thinking about it I just can't believe how accident prone I was in the first year; I think I was falling off or crashing the thing about every month! In the days pre-training we really didn't have a clue about riding and just learned the hard way. I think it really is a whole lot safer for new riders now.
) at 16 and rode it home with zero training, and then bought a 250 as soon as you turned 17, and then got a 750 (or thereabouts) at 17/18 as soon as you passed your (rudimentary) test. Having been messing about on bikes for a few years before, I thought I 'knew it all' then when I got that first road-bike......but I fell off it on the first day I had it; absolutely no idea why, as looking back as it was hardly a corner at all - but I just dropped it and went sliding down the road. And also in that first year I recall running in to the back of a car, the side of a car and the back of a bus...plus numerous other offs, but nothing more than scrapes and bruises despite the 'biker gear' being trainers, jeans and a nylon jacket. So maybe there is something to be said about starting on slow bikes.
Year 2 on the road and I had a Honda 250. I'd kind of worked it out by now and only fell of that a couple of times, but once at a fair old lick (about 70 I guess). Carted off to hospital. but just a scar or two to show for it - nothing broken.
Year 3 I had a Norton Commando, and the only spill off that was when it was getting towed (it broke down on a number of occasions!) and the tow-rope went round the front wheel...so not really a proper 'off'.
And a year or two later I had a slow speed off on ice off my Z900. But then for about 40-odd years now (touch wood
) I've managed to keep things right-side up. So the moral is you are certainly a whole lot more likely to come off in the early days (although I guess the mandatory training these days really does make a difference), but later on if you do come off it hurts a whole lot more as you're probably going quicker on a heaver bike. But thinking about it I just can't believe how accident prone I was in the first year; I think I was falling off or crashing the thing about every month! In the days pre-training we really didn't have a clue about riding and just learned the hard way. I think it really is a whole lot safer for new riders now.
Edited by tvrolet on Thursday 24th May 10:59
I can't even remember the first time.
But biking was way different when I started in the early-ish 80's to now.
We all started on 50's and worked our way up (in theory) to bigger bikes. My licence was lagging a bit behind the bikes in this respect as there were loads of 250's about that were cheap as chips at the time and I couldn't be bothered to wait. Having to go from a GS1000 back to a 125 to take the test was almost fun in a way.
Crashed plenty of times. Often corners. Often in the wet. Tended to hurt less, which was a bonus.
The two fastest were both around 70mph offs in the wet, one on an XJ650 and the other on an XS850 (Crap Yamahas, I never liked those bikes).
Regarding the OP, I don't recall falling off my AP50, but I remember using Mole grips and the club hammer to straighten footrests and levers on more than a few occasions (the AP had pedals as well, which could cause cornering problems sometimes)
But biking was way different when I started in the early-ish 80's to now.
We all started on 50's and worked our way up (in theory) to bigger bikes. My licence was lagging a bit behind the bikes in this respect as there were loads of 250's about that were cheap as chips at the time and I couldn't be bothered to wait. Having to go from a GS1000 back to a 125 to take the test was almost fun in a way.
Crashed plenty of times. Often corners. Often in the wet. Tended to hurt less, which was a bonus.
The two fastest were both around 70mph offs in the wet, one on an XJ650 and the other on an XS850 (Crap Yamahas, I never liked those bikes).
Regarding the OP, I don't recall falling off my AP50, but I remember using Mole grips and the club hammer to straighten footrests and levers on more than a few occasions (the AP had pedals as well, which could cause cornering problems sometimes)
I started off riding big sportsbikes which everyone told me I was going to die on, and rode without incident. Four years on I bought a Honda C90 which was written off by a car doing a U-turn out of stationary traffic without looking or indicating. Only 20ish mph but still nearly broke my foot.
total beginner
12 months
2k miles
0 offs
2 'garage' accidents
12 months
2k miles
0 offs
2 'garage' accidents
- panigale (rolled off the side stand as i was warming it up)
- monster wheel caught on the garage door as it was opening and over she went straight through the new units that i's just finished installing
Passed my test in the May, had a smash in the September back in the early 2000's (Right here on the A83).
Hit a car head on, on a closing radius left-hander. Can't remember a thing, but have pieced together that it was likely I braked IN the bend, the bike stood up and went straight on, crossing the white line and hitting the car coming the other way.
Wrote off my bike (GPZ500), wrote off the Astra I hit, and my friend who was behind me got a broken finger from riding into a cloud of debris (and he was far enough behind me that he didn't see the impact)
I ended up with an 'open book' pelvic injury where the front ligaments that holds your pelvis together were separated, requiring a plate (that's what happens when you go both sides of the petrol tank at the same time).
My right wrist saw the distal radius destroyed requiring bone grafts and pinning for 10 weeks (suspect I put my hand out as I went over the car)
Since then, I've continued riding. I read a lot of stuff on advanced riding techniques from books like Keith Code's Twist of the Wrist, and Motorcycle Roadcraft : The Police Motorcyclists's handbook. I also did some unofficial advanced training with a police motorcyclist friend of mine.
I've since done numerous trackdays, toured France and the UK and then got into off-road riding, culminating in competing in the ATRC rally series on large, rally bikes (longer events were 200-300 miles off-road over a weekend).
In the last year or two, I've all but stopped riding, however, due to a combination of things. Primarily because the wrist injury (in addition to a career in front of a computer keyboard) is now showing signs of early onset arthritis and riding my bikes for any length of time results in numbness and loss of feeling/dexterity in my hand (the last straw was a weekend tour which resulted in this sensation for almost 2 weeks), but also my son is only 7, and so I've been spending more time working on and modifying my MX5 which we have both been able to enjoy for the last few years.
No lasting effects from the pelvic injury. In addition to the racing and whatnot, I've been doing a lot of cycling and more recently trail-running. I'm still a keen skier and do a lot of off-piste and freeride stuff (even entered a Freeride World Tour qualifier, but came dead last). It's just the wrist that's a 'pain', literally and metaphorically
Hit a car head on, on a closing radius left-hander. Can't remember a thing, but have pieced together that it was likely I braked IN the bend, the bike stood up and went straight on, crossing the white line and hitting the car coming the other way.
Wrote off my bike (GPZ500), wrote off the Astra I hit, and my friend who was behind me got a broken finger from riding into a cloud of debris (and he was far enough behind me that he didn't see the impact)
I ended up with an 'open book' pelvic injury where the front ligaments that holds your pelvis together were separated, requiring a plate (that's what happens when you go both sides of the petrol tank at the same time).
My right wrist saw the distal radius destroyed requiring bone grafts and pinning for 10 weeks (suspect I put my hand out as I went over the car)
Since then, I've continued riding. I read a lot of stuff on advanced riding techniques from books like Keith Code's Twist of the Wrist, and Motorcycle Roadcraft : The Police Motorcyclists's handbook. I also did some unofficial advanced training with a police motorcyclist friend of mine.
I've since done numerous trackdays, toured France and the UK and then got into off-road riding, culminating in competing in the ATRC rally series on large, rally bikes (longer events were 200-300 miles off-road over a weekend).
In the last year or two, I've all but stopped riding, however, due to a combination of things. Primarily because the wrist injury (in addition to a career in front of a computer keyboard) is now showing signs of early onset arthritis and riding my bikes for any length of time results in numbness and loss of feeling/dexterity in my hand (the last straw was a weekend tour which resulted in this sensation for almost 2 weeks), but also my son is only 7, and so I've been spending more time working on and modifying my MX5 which we have both been able to enjoy for the last few years.
No lasting effects from the pelvic injury. In addition to the racing and whatnot, I've been doing a lot of cycling and more recently trail-running. I'm still a keen skier and do a lot of off-piste and freeride stuff (even entered a Freeride World Tour qualifier, but came dead last). It's just the wrist that's a 'pain', literally and metaphorically
Edited by feef on Thursday 24th May 12:06
Edited by feef on Thursday 24th May 12:07
Pothole said:
Before or after starting to ride legally?
Whatever you want to tell us about.The stories are interesting.
What's interesting to me is that hardly anyone has said 'I've never crashed' so it really does seem to be a case of when not if, even if that happens to be a car driving in to you while you're stationary.
Many moons ago (1988) just after I passed my test too.
Riding towards a staggered junction a classic SMIDSY. T boned a White Escort van. Knocked out so don't remember anything apart from waking up in hospital.
Faired very well all things considered, a bit of bruising. I think due to the fact I was out cold.
Wrote my bike Suzuki GS 125 and the van off.
Went to see my bike a few weeks later - wish I hadn't!!!!!
Riding towards a staggered junction a classic SMIDSY. T boned a White Escort van. Knocked out so don't remember anything apart from waking up in hospital.
Faired very well all things considered, a bit of bruising. I think due to the fact I was out cold.
Wrote my bike Suzuki GS 125 and the van off.
Went to see my bike a few weeks later - wish I hadn't!!!!!
Took me about 2 months as a 17 year old. Going too fast in the wet, got to a roundabout and went to turn in, ended up on my arse watching the bike sliding down the road. Blamed absolutely everything apart from myself.
About a month on from that I did the exact same thing in the same place in the same conditions. Realised that time it was my fault and I had a lot to learn.
5 years on I was riding home from work, a woman turned across the road into her driveway in front of me. I swerved to avoid her but went into the back of a parked car having successfully avoided her. I smashed my nuts on the tank, my girlfriend went flying over the top of me and ended up sat on the roof of the car I hit. The owner was actually in the car at the time. I bet he s
t himself when there was such a loud bang from behind then roof started caving in!
My last one was on track in 2016. Trying different lines around Chris Curve at Cadwell, obviously picked a bad one, tried to add more lean and throttle at the same time stupidly. Lost the front at 80mph and sent the bike flipping end over end several times. It didn’t look that bad but was pretty bent. Realised then I don’t have deep enough pockets to regularly do track days.
About a month on from that I did the exact same thing in the same place in the same conditions. Realised that time it was my fault and I had a lot to learn.
5 years on I was riding home from work, a woman turned across the road into her driveway in front of me. I swerved to avoid her but went into the back of a parked car having successfully avoided her. I smashed my nuts on the tank, my girlfriend went flying over the top of me and ended up sat on the roof of the car I hit. The owner was actually in the car at the time. I bet he s
t himself when there was such a loud bang from behind then roof started caving in!My last one was on track in 2016. Trying different lines around Chris Curve at Cadwell, obviously picked a bad one, tried to add more lean and throttle at the same time stupidly. Lost the front at 80mph and sent the bike flipping end over end several times. It didn’t look that bad but was pretty bent. Realised then I don’t have deep enough pockets to regularly do track days.
Unless you count being blown over during a poorly-judged U-turn leaning downhill, my first official traffic accident happened after about a year and a half. It was caused by a woman flying out onto a small residential roundabout taking a selfie, went straight into her door.
I wish there were CCTV for me to keep. I somehow managed to roll over her roof, along the floor on the other side, and got up onto my knees with my arms out as if to say "What the ever loving fk was that?" and ended up looking like a circus performer facing the crowd. Miraculously, I didn't have even so much as a bruise.
I wish there were CCTV for me to keep. I somehow managed to roll over her roof, along the floor on the other side, and got up onto my knees with my arms out as if to say "What the ever loving f
k was that?" and ended up looking like a circus performer facing the crowd. Miraculously, I didn't have even so much as a bruise.Riding for 2 years and approx 5k miles, crashed twice and have had multiple incidents in the garage.. Mostly due to having a lowered bike making it awkward to use the centre stand.
The first crash was in a car park and I forgot to remove the disk lock, embarrassing but not much damage other than a clutch lever and a few scuffs on the fairings.
Second crash I was on a roundabout when a van driver didn't as much as turn his head to look and pulled straight into my path. I had seen it coming and had started to brake but it was too late, locked the rear up and hit the van sideways. Didn't drop the bike, no damage or injury luckily.
The first crash was in a car park and I forgot to remove the disk lock, embarrassing but not much damage other than a clutch lever and a few scuffs on the fairings.
Second crash I was on a roundabout when a van driver didn't as much as turn his head to look and pulled straight into my path. I had seen it coming and had started to brake but it was too late, locked the rear up and hit the van sideways. Didn't drop the bike, no damage or injury luckily.
MDUBZ said:
total beginner
12 months
2k miles
0 offs
2 'garage' accidents
I shouldn't laugh, but that second one sounds hilarious.12 months
2k miles
0 offs
2 'garage' accidents
- panigale (rolled off the side stand as i was warming it up)
- monster wheel caught on the garage door as it was opening and over she went straight through the new units that i's just finished installing
Some of my more entertaining mishaps :
I managed to drop the FJR in Tesco carpark when I locked up the front wheel on a plastic bag.
Pinned myself to the car with my Thunderace when I lost balance wheeling it up the path. Hit my head on a low branch wearing my lid, stepped to one side and my foot sank into the gravel enough that the bike unbalanced and pinned me to the car by my thighs, meaning I could only bend at the waist to try and lift it back up. Took a good 10 mins to wriggle myself into a position that I could grab something structural and hoist it back up.
Touring France on the Thunderace, I'd stopped in Le Havre to get a hotel for the night. The one I'd intended to stay at was fully booked but was directed around the corner to another that had space. The street had pillars supporting the buildings above near the kerb, so rather than ride along the pavement, I rode along the meter or so between the pillars and the kerb to the junction a short distance away. Still on the edge of the pavement, I waited for the lights to turn green, and pulled away only to feel the bike lean drastically to the left. I hadn't spotted the concrete bin to my right, but my panniers made contact. I was left paddling air with my left foot off the edge of the kerb and then the whole lot came down on it's side. The one thing I did notice on that occasion was that folk came running out from shops and cars to help pick it back up. Whenever I've had or seen something similar happen in the UK, folk just stop and gape, that's if they stop at all.
I managed to drop the FJR in Tesco carpark when I locked up the front wheel on a plastic bag.
Pinned myself to the car with my Thunderace when I lost balance wheeling it up the path. Hit my head on a low branch wearing my lid, stepped to one side and my foot sank into the gravel enough that the bike unbalanced and pinned me to the car by my thighs, meaning I could only bend at the waist to try and lift it back up. Took a good 10 mins to wriggle myself into a position that I could grab something structural and hoist it back up.
Touring France on the Thunderace, I'd stopped in Le Havre to get a hotel for the night. The one I'd intended to stay at was fully booked but was directed around the corner to another that had space. The street had pillars supporting the buildings above near the kerb, so rather than ride along the pavement, I rode along the meter or so between the pillars and the kerb to the junction a short distance away. Still on the edge of the pavement, I waited for the lights to turn green, and pulled away only to feel the bike lean drastically to the left. I hadn't spotted the concrete bin to my right, but my panniers made contact. I was left paddling air with my left foot off the edge of the kerb and then the whole lot came down on it's side. The one thing I did notice on that occasion was that folk came running out from shops and cars to help pick it back up. Whenever I've had or seen something similar happen in the UK, folk just stop and gape, that's if they stop at all.
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