How long before your first off?
Discussion
2 years after full license I lost the rear wheel at 15mph, which was my first off. Annoying.
5 years later (earlier this year) lost the front wheel and wrote off an R1. Dislocated and fractured shoulder. More annoying.
Last year I knocked a 1200 Monster off its stand and it fell against a wall in the garage and laid flat on the floor. I never really appreciated how heavy the bike was when you try and 'pull' it up and not lift. Had to call my dad to help. VERY ANNOYING
Other than that I've had moments on the track and a couple on the road, but managed to hold it together (more the bike sorting itself out and me hanging on to be fair)
5 years later (earlier this year) lost the front wheel and wrote off an R1. Dislocated and fractured shoulder. More annoying.
Last year I knocked a 1200 Monster off its stand and it fell against a wall in the garage and laid flat on the floor. I never really appreciated how heavy the bike was when you try and 'pull' it up and not lift. Had to call my dad to help. VERY ANNOYING
Other than that I've had moments on the track and a couple on the road, but managed to hold it together (more the bike sorting itself out and me hanging on to be fair)
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?
They all count... for instance whilst washing the Honda's front wheel I'm sat on the ground, when I realise the bike is actually rolling towards me as its found some new ability to start rolling off the sidestand. Thankfully I caught in time. Having said that nothing beats Italian flip-up stands for a comedy moment.Then you've got cambered roads / parking areas and front disc locks for added entertainment.
No idea how I survived those early years wearing bleach jeans, trainers and a paddock jacket . Look out for cars indicating left and slowing down for there left turn off, they may swing a right you turn on your overtake, clear national speed limit road,
straight through the passenger rear door window and out cold
The car still had its left indicator on when the police arrived, he was eventually charged with undue care and attention . Back then there where no big pay outs ( 1997) . I got £3400 for my f
ked legs and loss of memory after 4 years of waiting 
Been off on a diesel spill and that was surreal with ear plugs on, no drama but fk does it hurt the next day 
straight through the passenger rear door window and out cold
The car still had its left indicator on when the police arrived, he was eventually charged with undue care and attention . Back then there where no big pay outs ( 1997) . I got £3400 for my f
ked legs and loss of memory after 4 years of waiting Been off on a diesel spill and that was surreal with ear plugs on, no drama but f
k does it hurt the next day skahigh said:
How long were you riding before your first crash? How bad was it? Have you had many since? Have you never crashed?
1.5 yr since i have my direct accessnot a real crash, but day dreaming let off the clutch without reving when starting at light
the bike so heavy, drag me down and crush on my leg
no accident since then
skahigh said:
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.
They are a bit rubbish. You have specifically tell them NOT to fall over, anything else = crash.First time out (pre CBT etc) on my Pepsi RG125 and struggling with clutch control I semi looped it / semi donutted it into a heap.
Second time out (literally) a few evenings later I managed to get it rolling and enjoyed about 5 or 6 miles of enjoyable riding whereupon an RD350 overtook me and unbelievably I tried to follow it / race it. Failed to lean enough into next corner and crashed into outside ditch. RD350 didn't notice and I had to pull it out myself, a car stopped and asked whether I was ok as I was heaving it out - "Yes!"
Not much has changed. Still mildly useless and completely stubborn.
If static drops count the one I managed with my K5 Streetfighter has had the longest impact of any of my offs. It had snapped its clutch cable so I was pushing it to the mechanic. I was nearly there and had to get a bit of a run up to get it back up on to the footpath after crossing a lane. As I got back up on to the path there was a tree by the curb that had a garden bed around it. My left foot has hit the dirt and slipped and wound up behind me and at an angle. Bike's started to topple over to the left so I push off to try and hold it up. With my left leg. That was at about 45deg underneath me. So my knee promptly gives out and down I go. Somehow manage to dodge getting squished and a bloke who was walking by helps me get the bike back up. Push/hobble the 200m to the mechanic by which point I'm in some serious agony. And then I do the smart thing and walk/hobble the 25 or so minutes home.
Turns out I'd ripped the lateral meniscus in my knee (a McMurray test is absolute agony when they find the tear), still dealing with that nearly 5 years on.
Turns out I'd ripped the lateral meniscus in my knee (a McMurray test is absolute agony when they find the tear), still dealing with that nearly 5 years on.
First off late 70s on an ancient Puch - chrome tank, handlebar twist 3 speed, and reverse pedal for back brake. mates were riding it in an underpass offered me a go. Never rode before so shot off and thought the throttle had stuck open so let go of the handlebars and tried to jump of the back. Seat had a small hump with i couldn't get past so crashed on this thing, engine screaming, no handed. Plenty of skin missing.
2nd off shortly after on a Honda P50 field bike . Rode into a wire fence i hadn't seen at 30 mph. Actually hurt that one, stomach smashed on the handlebars and helmet flew off.
1981 bought a brand new Honda MB5 which i crashed maybe 10- 15 times?
1982 bought an RD80LC which i flipped a few times doing wheelies. One time swapped bikes with my mate and his RD250 DX. I was behind on the 250 and looked over my shoulder, no mirrors. When i looked back he'd braked like mad for a late turn. Slammed into the back off him knocking him off and bending the back of the frame on my 80LC.
Year later borrowed a mates 350 LC and was overtaking a truck on an unlit country road and he turned right onto me. Crashed onto the entrance of a traveller site, bike went about 15 ft in the air cartwheeling. I ground two big holes in my knees and took ski off everywhere. Mate on the back got thrown into a drainage ditch head butting the corner of a small wall which pierced his crash helmet. Both vey lucky there was a Dr following. Travellers then came out in the dark and started shooting air rifles/pistols at everyone.
Year after that 83 i think? loads of us belting down the motorway to London. Im on the back of a mates GSX1100 Katana who's racing a CBX1000 at silly speeds. I look over his shoulder to see the rest of our group going up the slip road in the distance . We shot across 3 lanes, up the the slip road and straight into the back of one of our mates at 70 ish. I went down the armco both bikes went into pieces, and the poor lad we hit got messed up bad, stopped breathing etc. Again two Drs were there to help this lad , motorway completely stopped. Thing i remember as much as anything was all our footwear had come off. One Adidas in the middle lane and the other in the outside lane. Took that fella a long time to recover.
ON a GSX750 ET racing two mates on a RD400 and a Marlboro full fairing, allspeeds 350 LC. Overtook them going into a roundabout to take the 3rd exit and came off. Bike hit me as i slid down the road breaking my wrist.
2nd off shortly after on a Honda P50 field bike . Rode into a wire fence i hadn't seen at 30 mph. Actually hurt that one, stomach smashed on the handlebars and helmet flew off.
1981 bought a brand new Honda MB5 which i crashed maybe 10- 15 times?
1982 bought an RD80LC which i flipped a few times doing wheelies. One time swapped bikes with my mate and his RD250 DX. I was behind on the 250 and looked over my shoulder, no mirrors. When i looked back he'd braked like mad for a late turn. Slammed into the back off him knocking him off and bending the back of the frame on my 80LC.
Year later borrowed a mates 350 LC and was overtaking a truck on an unlit country road and he turned right onto me. Crashed onto the entrance of a traveller site, bike went about 15 ft in the air cartwheeling. I ground two big holes in my knees and took ski off everywhere. Mate on the back got thrown into a drainage ditch head butting the corner of a small wall which pierced his crash helmet. Both vey lucky there was a Dr following. Travellers then came out in the dark and started shooting air rifles/pistols at everyone.
Year after that 83 i think? loads of us belting down the motorway to London. Im on the back of a mates GSX1100 Katana who's racing a CBX1000 at silly speeds. I look over his shoulder to see the rest of our group going up the slip road in the distance . We shot across 3 lanes, up the the slip road and straight into the back of one of our mates at 70 ish. I went down the armco both bikes went into pieces, and the poor lad we hit got messed up bad, stopped breathing etc. Again two Drs were there to help this lad , motorway completely stopped. Thing i remember as much as anything was all our footwear had come off. One Adidas in the middle lane and the other in the outside lane. Took that fella a long time to recover.
ON a GSX750 ET racing two mates on a RD400 and a Marlboro full fairing, allspeeds 350 LC. Overtook them going into a roundabout to take the 3rd exit and came off. Bike hit me as i slid down the road breaking my wrist.
Mr2Mike said:
WinstonWolf said:
Within the first hour or so, but that's what happens when you learn to ride unsupervised on fields when you're about 13...
I also tried to get all my 'offs' at a young age; grassy fields on a 125 are much more comfortable than tarmac roads and cars on a 1 litre bike.Lots if 'offs' since, mostly off road and the few on road were thankfully relatively pain free.
Spanglepants said:
First off late 70s on an ancient Puch - chrome tank, handlebar twist 3 speed, and reverse pedal for back brake. mates were riding it in an underpass offered me a go. Never rode before so shot off and thought the throttle had stuck open so let go of the handlebars and tried to jump of the back. Seat had a small hump with i couldn't get past so crashed on this thing, engine screaming, no handed. Plenty of skin missing.
2nd off shortly after on a Honda P50 field bike . Rode into a wire fence i hadn't seen at 30 mph. Actually hurt that one, stomach smashed on the handlebars and helmet flew off.
1981 bought a brand new Honda MB5 which i crashed maybe 10- 15 times?
1982 bought an RD80LC which i flipped a few times doing wheelies. One time swapped bikes with my mate and his RD250 DX. I was behind on the 250 and looked over my shoulder, no mirrors. When i looked back he'd braked like mad for a late turn. Slammed into the back off him knocking him off and bending the back of the frame on my 80LC.
Year later borrowed a mates 350 LC and was overtaking a truck on an unlit country road and he turned right onto me. Crashed onto the entrance of a traveller site, bike went about 15 ft in the air cartwheeling. I ground two big holes in my knees and took ski off everywhere. Mate on the back got thrown into a drainage ditch head butting the corner of a small wall which pierced his crash helmet. Both vey lucky there was a Dr following. Travellers then came out in the dark and started shooting air rifles/pistols at everyone.
Year after that 83 i think? loads of us belting down the motorway to London. Im on the back of a mates GSX1100 Katana who's racing a CBX1000 at silly speeds. I look over his shoulder to see the rest of our group going up the slip road in the distance . We shot across 3 lanes, up the the slip road and straight into the back of one of our mates at 70 ish. I went down the armco both bikes went into pieces, and the poor lad we hit got messed up bad, stopped breathing etc. Again two Drs were there to help this lad , motorway completely stopped. Thing i remember as much as anything was all our footwear had come off. One Adidas in the middle lane and the other in the outside lane. Took that fella a long time to recover.
ON a GSX750 ET racing two mates on a RD400 and a Marlboro full fairing, allspeeds 350 LC. Overtook them going into a roundabout to take the 3rd exit and came off. Bike hit me as i slid down the road breaking my wrist.
Just how things used to happen back in the 1980's.2nd off shortly after on a Honda P50 field bike . Rode into a wire fence i hadn't seen at 30 mph. Actually hurt that one, stomach smashed on the handlebars and helmet flew off.
1981 bought a brand new Honda MB5 which i crashed maybe 10- 15 times?
1982 bought an RD80LC which i flipped a few times doing wheelies. One time swapped bikes with my mate and his RD250 DX. I was behind on the 250 and looked over my shoulder, no mirrors. When i looked back he'd braked like mad for a late turn. Slammed into the back off him knocking him off and bending the back of the frame on my 80LC.
Year later borrowed a mates 350 LC and was overtaking a truck on an unlit country road and he turned right onto me. Crashed onto the entrance of a traveller site, bike went about 15 ft in the air cartwheeling. I ground two big holes in my knees and took ski off everywhere. Mate on the back got thrown into a drainage ditch head butting the corner of a small wall which pierced his crash helmet. Both vey lucky there was a Dr following. Travellers then came out in the dark and started shooting air rifles/pistols at everyone.
Year after that 83 i think? loads of us belting down the motorway to London. Im on the back of a mates GSX1100 Katana who's racing a CBX1000 at silly speeds. I look over his shoulder to see the rest of our group going up the slip road in the distance . We shot across 3 lanes, up the the slip road and straight into the back of one of our mates at 70 ish. I went down the armco both bikes went into pieces, and the poor lad we hit got messed up bad, stopped breathing etc. Again two Drs were there to help this lad , motorway completely stopped. Thing i remember as much as anything was all our footwear had come off. One Adidas in the middle lane and the other in the outside lane. Took that fella a long time to recover.
ON a GSX750 ET racing two mates on a RD400 and a Marlboro full fairing, allspeeds 350 LC. Overtook them going into a roundabout to take the 3rd exit and came off. Bike hit me as i slid down the road breaking my wrist.
I have many fond 80s memories too, starting out riding on a mates C90 field bike at 13 years old. First proper off from my Honda benly 200 as I thought I was Steve McQueen, and tried to jump it over a railway sleeper and failed miserably....still got the scars in my knee and face - we never bothered with any gear for a couple of years. We just didn't see the danger of doing say 40-50mph down the disused railway line with just a pair of sunglasses on....
At 17 on the road, first 125, Suzuki RG, it was written off after a few months ...had no training, on L plates, 40mph limit, the car in front braked over the crest of a hill to turn into a drive, mid day sun blinding me to his intent, I panic braked and locked the front. Wrote off my first road bike as I ran into his boot. Just some cuts n bruises.
18 on replacement 125, still on L plates, following much faster mates down twisties, target fixation approaching >90 deg right hander, braked mid bend and ended up going in a straight line into a nice flat dusty field for a low speed drop - hurt pride and bent levers.
19 - passed big bike test (with no formal training required) and bought a nice 600, all was well for a while.....
21 - becoming too confident and the price of used 1000cc bikes tempted me to sign some mega interest HP deal. Naturally after about 10k road miles at 21 years old and no training you are ready for a big un (or perhaps not) well it didnt take long for 150mph to become the normal B road daily commuting speed. Then of course one day something unexpected happened. A Lorry appeared and pulled out from unsigned side road into my path, with oncoming traffic, I braked and locked the front, reduced a lot of speed and dropped it before impact. The bike continued into the back of the lorry trailer and ended up in flames, very spectacular I was told. I rolled clear and ended up on my back on the grass verge, luckily for me. Just a dislocated elbow and bruises, out of hospital same day....written off bike, high insurance renewal for a few years. That was the end of my first ZX10.
During the 90s had a couple of minor offs mucking about on motocross bikes off road, but no injuries...I actually had some advanced training in the 90s. Did my first track day and woke up to the fact that I had a lot to learn, and was not invincible.
Some biker mates didnt fair so well, I lost a couple to bike accidents the first year out of school, and then my older cousin who got me into bikes. In hindsight all their accidents were avoidable if they had more training and road sense. They had none and managed to get onto RD250/NS400s with little more than a read up of the highway code the night before the test.
The current licence/test/training system is not perfect, but something must be attributing to the lowest motorcycle KSI in history in the UK. I do think the enforced training on a big bike is helping. I doubt any of us would really want our kids to be able to buy and ride a modern superbike at 17 with no more than a 30mph "ride around a lap of the block" of experience .......but you could do in the 80s
Yeah, didn't bother any of us at the time. Lot of youngsters getting killed on bikes late 70s early 80s.
First thing my younger brother said on hearing I just ordered my first road bike " good I'm gonna dance on your grave" tt.
First thing my younger brother said on hearing I just ordered my first road bike " good I'm gonna dance on your grave" t
t.Biker's Nemesis said:
Just how things used to happen back in the 1980's.
OK on the basis of at anytime since you first rode a PTW solo, about 15-20 minutes. My older sister's C70 I decided to go to a local fair/fete on..binned it by locking the front wheel in the field being used as a car park and my (unstrapped) open face lid went rolling across the floor, causing me to roll about laughing much to the confusion of the people I had braked to avoid. I was unhurt - the same could not be said for the bloke from the Dangerous Sports Club (I think) who was demonstrating what must have been one of the first bungee jumps ever done in the UK (I reckon) His bungee was too long, or the crane wasn't high enough and he slammed headfirst into the ground...I heard he was dead.
Spanglepants said:
Yeah, didn't bother any of us at the time. Lot of youngsters getting killed on bikes late 70s early 80s.
First thing my younger brother said on hearing I just ordered my first road bike " good I'm gonna dance on your grave" tt.
Yep First thing my younger brother said on hearing I just ordered my first road bike " good I'm gonna dance on your grave" t
t.Biker's Nemesis said:
Just how things used to happen back in the 1980's.
The KSI rate for motorcycles was over 20,000 a year in 1980 compared to 5000 ish now. It peaked in the 60's pre helmet laws
That may account for a lot of the negativity towards motorcycling, when people of a certain age all know someone who has had an accident and they want to warn you about the dangers of motorcycling when they hear you ride ......
Biker's Nemesis said:
Just how things used to happen back in the 1980's.
great times. had all the usual field bike offs, including one two up on a kx dirt bike off a dirt ramp that collapsed as we hit the top. the bike and then passenger landed on me. couldn't walk properly for a couple of days but don't think anything was broken. was 16 at the time,mate had to ride my 250 super dream (i know) that i used to get to work in my first year of my apprenticeship (didn't even have a provisional) home as i couldn't get my leg over it. a couple of months later (did i mention the super dream didn't even have a front brake caliper) i crashed on the way home from work turning late into a small country lane to avoid the police car up ahead that had stopped someone else. those super dreams were heavy, dinged a leg again.first legal bike was a rg 125. crashed it 2 nights after getting it in an attempted knee down on local roundabout. i just kept going faster each lap until it went down the road. usual skin removal but no serious injuries. the bike got nicked a few weeks later and was replaced with a tuned version. shortly afterwards i was dropping off girlfriend and wheelied away from her house showing off. unfortunately a lamp post got in the way. that hurt ,a couple of weeks worth of hobbling around hurt, again nothing bad.
then an overtake in the wet round the outside of a transit on a set of s bends at about 70. the following bend was covered in diesel. i slid about 200 feet, rights across the t junction after the bends. jumped up to get going before the van got back passed me to avoid being embarrassed. got to work and mate asked why blood was coming out my shoe. gear lever had punched right into ankle and i never felt a thing. just luck nothing was coming along the main road at the time. the time i got jammed between a bus and hgv lorry after wheelying past a bus stop in a local village where a few girls i knew got the bus was most embarrassing , only damage was two indicators and a scuffed jacket. it's handy being small sometimes.
that bike must have gone down the road about 30 times in two years. i sold it to a mate for 300 quid. he gave me a go on it about 5 months later and i only rode a few hundred yards before handing it back,it was a rattling pile of s
t and everything from the swing arm to the frame and forks was bent. i never noticed at the time as i evolved with the bike each crash.those early years taught me how easily it can all go pete tong. riding faster bikes later in life i never fell off though witnessed quite a few offs by mates, including two at around 130 mph on the road with virtually no injury other than to pride and wallet. few close calls including grass tracking on the outside of a bend at over 100 mph but all good fun and a timely reminder to pay proper attention. lost a couple of mates (lost more, including my best mate at the time, to car crashes) and had others face long recuperative periods, one especially long for a serious brain injury. flying off a 50 ft cliff at 140 mph will do that. how he survived that crash no one knows. the bad ones all happened on runs or trips when i wasn't there fortunately.
35 years ago a fresh spotty faced youth riding the magnificent CB50J
Used to have an off almost weekly … generally on one of two regular locations
I'd like to blame the main stand hanging low due to being buckled and with a weak return spring combined with what can only be described as plastic tyres.
In reality it was probably more to do with a lack of talent and trying to get to work at v-max rather than slowing for the bend (location 1) roundabout (location 2)
21, two week old GPz500 in France braking to a standstill & lost the front on diesel at 15mph, Literally climbed under the bike to save it from damage …. only broke an indicator lens
The thought of damaging the over paid for over expensive POS bikes I currently have mean they spend most of their time in the garage …. obviously negating the risk of having an off or damage …. Or is it because their Italian & therefore can't make any journey over a local commute
As others have said …. 80's 90's was a different era …. you just jumped on and gave it the biz with no thoughts and definitely no training/education. God knows what our parents were like as I'm dam sure my son will get extensive training if he thinks he's getting on two wheels …. even for a scoot scoot
Used to have an off almost weekly … generally on one of two regular locations
I'd like to blame the main stand hanging low due to being buckled and with a weak return spring combined with what can only be described as plastic tyres.
In reality it was probably more to do with a lack of talent and trying to get to work at v-max rather than slowing for the bend (location 1) roundabout (location 2)
21, two week old GPz500 in France braking to a standstill & lost the front on diesel at 15mph, Literally climbed under the bike to save it from damage …. only broke an indicator lens
The thought of damaging the over paid for over expensive POS bikes I currently have mean they spend most of their time in the garage …. obviously negating the risk of having an off or damage …. Or is it because their Italian & therefore can't make any journey over a local commute
As others have said …. 80's 90's was a different era …. you just jumped on and gave it the biz with no thoughts and definitely no training/education. God knows what our parents were like as I'm dam sure my son will get extensive training if he thinks he's getting on two wheels …. even for a scoot scoot
Edited by T6 vanman on Friday 25th May 20:02
30 mins. I had done my CBT and had booked my DAS, being a few months between the two I decided to hire a bike (125cc) for a couple of days, 30 mins later a car turning right whilst looking left hit me as I was waiting to turn, luckily he hit the rear part of the bike and I was flung off.
I passed my tests first time and the driver has had a new ahole chewed by the insurance and my genuine whiplash. 7000 miles on my ER6F, no offs.
I passed my tests first time and the driver has had a new a
hole chewed by the insurance and my genuine whiplash. 7000 miles on my ER6F, no offs.Edited by Harji on Saturday 26th May 09:03
Only had one off and I'd love to know WHY it happened.
I had a little GZ125 to learn on. One day going straight on at a roundabout, going pretty slowly around it, I lowsided, slight graze to the knee, scratched exhaust, broken indicator.
This was in the dry, no oil on the road.
All I can think is about 200 miles ago a new front tyre was fitted, a decent brand. But to this day I dont know why it gave out, i didnt brake during the event either, or lean much at all.
As a result I take roundabouts very carefully.
Had a very near off since, going along a 30mph built up road, a guy was waiting to turn right (facing me, into a side road) decides to go for it when im right in front of him. I panic brake, front tyre skids about 2 metres, im lurched hard into the handlebars but amazingly dont drop it. just stalled the bike. I saw the driver stop down the side road, and I wish i called the police and had a word with him but was too shook up, calmed down and rode away.
Probably didnt drop it because it was a heavy cruiser with a thick front tyre, luckily.
I had a little GZ125 to learn on. One day going straight on at a roundabout, going pretty slowly around it, I lowsided, slight graze to the knee, scratched exhaust, broken indicator.
This was in the dry, no oil on the road.
All I can think is about 200 miles ago a new front tyre was fitted, a decent brand. But to this day I dont know why it gave out, i didnt brake during the event either, or lean much at all.
As a result I take roundabouts very carefully.
Had a very near off since, going along a 30mph built up road, a guy was waiting to turn right (facing me, into a side road) decides to go for it when im right in front of him. I panic brake, front tyre skids about 2 metres, im lurched hard into the handlebars but amazingly dont drop it. just stalled the bike. I saw the driver stop down the side road, and I wish i called the police and had a word with him but was too shook up, calmed down and rode away.
Probably didnt drop it because it was a heavy cruiser with a thick front tyre, luckily.
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