Discussion
I came around a corner on one of my favourite roads slowing down knowing there was a junction on the right where people can't see far. Still going way too fast though and braked hard when car nosed to the end of the junction and stopped. He could see me then, he was stopped so I came off the brake -- trouble is the old duffer carried on pulling out so I braked hard and headed for the gap between him and the left kerb. He did too and braking so hard I couldn't change course so rather than go into the back of him I managed to bump the bike up onto the kerb somehow -- front wheel hopped up, rear slid along for a bit then hopped up too with a few feet to spare.
I passed him on the pavement (rural road but pub on the left with short length of narrow pavement -- early Sunday morning so no punters) in an almighty tankslapper, just coming back under control in time to get back on the road ahead of him, another tankslapper.
Bike (RC45) FI cut out because it thought I'd crashed but I wanted to stop the old git to get his insurance details as I was certain I'd damaged the bike (I hadn't) so slowed down (no choice anyhow) but he then overtook me completetly on the wrong side of the road with double white lines over a blind crest, luckily with nothing coming the other way.
I coasted to a stop and breathed a sigh of relief.
Lessons learned
SM
I passed him on the pavement (rural road but pub on the left with short length of narrow pavement -- early Sunday morning so no punters) in an almighty tankslapper, just coming back under control in time to get back on the road ahead of him, another tankslapper.
Bike (RC45) FI cut out because it thought I'd crashed but I wanted to stop the old git to get his insurance details as I was certain I'd damaged the bike (I hadn't) so slowed down (no choice anyhow) but he then overtook me completetly on the wrong side of the road with double white lines over a blind crest, luckily with nothing coming the other way.
I coasted to a stop and breathed a sigh of relief.
Lessons learned
SM
Off to the pub on the tail end of a storm last night, half the streetlights out due to the lightning and all the traffic lights flashing orange...car anarchy!!
On the long straight down into town and the rain falling heavily again I didn't see a black tram (black!! no streetlights and a matt black tram gnaaaa!!!) pull across the road at a X junction. Instant emergency braking unfortunately on a wet greasy fat zebra crossing stripe and down I went with the bike trapping my left foot...
I wasn't going very fast so the bruises are more to my ego than my leg / ankle but I came to a sliding / grinding halt about 2m from the tram...
Seeing as I'm having a titanium bolt put in my right foot next thursday due to some silly bint 3 weeks into her licence pulling an illegal U turn in front of me last year I was less than happy about this!
Bike was fine though
On the long straight down into town and the rain falling heavily again I didn't see a black tram (black!! no streetlights and a matt black tram gnaaaa!!!) pull across the road at a X junction. Instant emergency braking unfortunately on a wet greasy fat zebra crossing stripe and down I went with the bike trapping my left foot...
I wasn't going very fast so the bruises are more to my ego than my leg / ankle but I came to a sliding / grinding halt about 2m from the tram...
Seeing as I'm having a titanium bolt put in my right foot next thursday due to some silly bint 3 weeks into her licence pulling an illegal U turn in front of me last year I was less than happy about this!
Bike was fine though
Istvan24 said:
Off to the pub on the tail end of a storm last night, half the streetlights out due to the lightning and all the traffic lights flashing orange...car anarchy!!
On the long straight down into town and the rain falling heavily again I didn't see a black tram (black!! no streetlights and a matt black tram gnaaaa!!!) pull across the road at a X junction. Instant emergency braking unfortunately on a wet greasy fat zebra crossing stripe and down I went with the bike trapping my left foot...
I wasn't going very fast so the bruises are more to my ego than my leg / ankle but I came to a sliding / grinding halt about 2m from the tram...
Seeing as I'm having a titanium bolt put in my right foot next thursday due to some silly bint 3 weeks into her licence pulling an illegal U turn in front of me last year I was less than happy about this!
Bike was fine though
Sh!t, that's a shocker. Glad to hear you're ok. Lucky you weren't nailing it I guess....then again, you might have gone past it though.....who knows.....Much damage to the bike?On the long straight down into town and the rain falling heavily again I didn't see a black tram (black!! no streetlights and a matt black tram gnaaaa!!!) pull across the road at a X junction. Instant emergency braking unfortunately on a wet greasy fat zebra crossing stripe and down I went with the bike trapping my left foot...
I wasn't going very fast so the bruises are more to my ego than my leg / ankle but I came to a sliding / grinding halt about 2m from the tram...
Seeing as I'm having a titanium bolt put in my right foot next thursday due to some silly bint 3 weeks into her licence pulling an illegal U turn in front of me last year I was less than happy about this!
Bike was fine though
Like Chilli, I have too many to tell :? One of my favourites though that my mates still rib me for to this day (10 years later)
I went to Cambridge with a mate on my FZ600 to pick up a Kwack GT750 (to sell in London). Looked at the bike and it was a bit of a hound and had been left standing for a while but did a deal and it was mine (what joy). As it had about 25 minutes MOT left on it I decided to ride home.
After a couple of miles the throttle started sticking open where the carb was stiff, but it could be unfreed by reaching down with the left hand and giving the mechanism a tug. Anyway, we carried on like this and eventually came to a big a roundabout where we had to wait. As we slowed I reached down and freed the sticking throttle and waited for a gap in the traffic.
This is where it got a bit crazy. I went for a soon approaching gap but the traffic on the roundabout suddenly stopped meaning my gap never came. I’d already given it a fist full of revs and you guessed it, the throttle stuck wide open with the bike revving its nuts off with the clutch in, in 1st
I could let go of the clutch to release the sticking throttle so to avoid blowing up the engine I grabbed a fist full of front brake and let the clutch go and proceeded to light up the back wheel with the intention of reaching down and freeing the throttle. Unfortunately the front brakes weren’t up to much so with the rear tyre spinning and tyre smoke everywhere, the bike was creeping towards the roundabout and cars so I pulled in the clutch again and revved the nuts out it. This sequence got repeated a couple of times. I looked over to my mate for help, but he was too busy in hysterical laughter
This is when my gap appeared in the traffic, so with a smoking back tyre I eased off the front brake and launched into a wheelie and onto the roundabout. Now as roundabouts are, well, round and wheelies generally go in a straight line, tarmac was inevitable. I leant it as far as I dare and for a split second thought I was going to make it. Alas that wasn’t to be
The bike went spinning across the roundabout with me in hot pursuit on my arse. All I could focus on was the poor old boy in a metro staring at my bike and me heading at velocity straight at him. Luckily (for him), the bike clipped a gutter and flipped over and back into the roundabout and I stopped about a meter before him.
By the time I got up my mate had picked up the bike (still laughing his ass off) and said “why didn’t you press the engine kill switch?”
Erm???
That has to be my dumbest manoeuvre of all time. Luckily I didn’t actually hit anything or hurt anything more than my ego. The GT throttle didn’t stick once all the way home, but it did now stand up on its own without a stand where I’d twisted the frame.
I went to Cambridge with a mate on my FZ600 to pick up a Kwack GT750 (to sell in London). Looked at the bike and it was a bit of a hound and had been left standing for a while but did a deal and it was mine (what joy). As it had about 25 minutes MOT left on it I decided to ride home.
After a couple of miles the throttle started sticking open where the carb was stiff, but it could be unfreed by reaching down with the left hand and giving the mechanism a tug. Anyway, we carried on like this and eventually came to a big a roundabout where we had to wait. As we slowed I reached down and freed the sticking throttle and waited for a gap in the traffic.
This is where it got a bit crazy. I went for a soon approaching gap but the traffic on the roundabout suddenly stopped meaning my gap never came. I’d already given it a fist full of revs and you guessed it, the throttle stuck wide open with the bike revving its nuts off with the clutch in, in 1st
I could let go of the clutch to release the sticking throttle so to avoid blowing up the engine I grabbed a fist full of front brake and let the clutch go and proceeded to light up the back wheel with the intention of reaching down and freeing the throttle. Unfortunately the front brakes weren’t up to much so with the rear tyre spinning and tyre smoke everywhere, the bike was creeping towards the roundabout and cars so I pulled in the clutch again and revved the nuts out it. This sequence got repeated a couple of times. I looked over to my mate for help, but he was too busy in hysterical laughter
This is when my gap appeared in the traffic, so with a smoking back tyre I eased off the front brake and launched into a wheelie and onto the roundabout. Now as roundabouts are, well, round and wheelies generally go in a straight line, tarmac was inevitable. I leant it as far as I dare and for a split second thought I was going to make it. Alas that wasn’t to be
The bike went spinning across the roundabout with me in hot pursuit on my arse. All I could focus on was the poor old boy in a metro staring at my bike and me heading at velocity straight at him. Luckily (for him), the bike clipped a gutter and flipped over and back into the roundabout and I stopped about a meter before him.
By the time I got up my mate had picked up the bike (still laughing his ass off) and said “why didn’t you press the engine kill switch?”
Erm???
That has to be my dumbest manoeuvre of all time. Luckily I didn’t actually hit anything or hurt anything more than my ego. The GT throttle didn’t stick once all the way home, but it did now stand up on its own without a stand where I’d twisted the frame.
m3psm said:
Like Chilli, I have too many to tell :? One of my favourites though that my mates still rib me for to this day (10 years later)
I went to Cambridge with a mate on my FZ600 to pick up a Kwack GT750 (to sell in London). Looked at the bike and it was a bit of a hound and had been left standing for a while but did a deal and it was mine (what joy). As it had about 25 minutes MOT left on it I decided to ride home.
After a couple of miles the throttle started sticking open where the carb was stiff, but it could be unfreed by reaching down with the left hand and giving the mechanism a tug. Anyway, we carried on like this and eventually came to a big a roundabout where we had to wait. As we slowed I reached down and freed the sticking throttle and waited for a gap in the traffic.
This is where it got a bit crazy. I went for a soon approaching gap but the traffic on the roundabout suddenly stopped meaning my gap never came. I’d already given it a fist full of revs and you guessed it, the throttle stuck wide open with the bike revving its nuts off with the clutch in, in 1st
I could let go of the clutch to release the sticking throttle so to avoid blowing up the engine I grabbed a fist full of front brake and let the clutch go and proceeded to light up the back wheel with the intention of reaching down and freeing the throttle. Unfortunately the front brakes weren’t up to much so with the rear tyre spinning and tyre smoke everywhere, the bike was creeping towards the roundabout and cars so I pulled in the clutch again and revved the nuts out it. This sequence got repeated a couple of times. I looked over to my mate for help, but he was too busy in hysterical laughter
This is when my gap appeared in the traffic, so with a smoking back tyre I eased off the front brake and launched into a wheelie and onto the roundabout. Now as roundabouts are, well, round and wheelies generally go in a straight line, tarmac was inevitable. I leant it as far as I dare and for a split second thought I was going to make it. Alas that wasn’t to be
The bike went spinning across the roundabout with me in hot pursuit on my arse. All I could focus on was the poor old boy in a metro staring at my bike and me heading at velocity straight at him. Luckily (for him), the bike clipped a gutter and flipped over and back into the roundabout and I stopped about a meter before him.
By the time I got up my mate had picked up the bike (still laughing his ass off) and said “why didn’t you press the engine kill switch?”
Erm???
That has to be my dumbest manoeuvre of all time. Luckily I didn’t actually hit anything or hurt anything more than my ego. The GT throttle didn’t stick once all the way home, but it did now stand up on its own without a stand where I’d twisted the frame.
Brilliant!!I went to Cambridge with a mate on my FZ600 to pick up a Kwack GT750 (to sell in London). Looked at the bike and it was a bit of a hound and had been left standing for a while but did a deal and it was mine (what joy). As it had about 25 minutes MOT left on it I decided to ride home.
After a couple of miles the throttle started sticking open where the carb was stiff, but it could be unfreed by reaching down with the left hand and giving the mechanism a tug. Anyway, we carried on like this and eventually came to a big a roundabout where we had to wait. As we slowed I reached down and freed the sticking throttle and waited for a gap in the traffic.
This is where it got a bit crazy. I went for a soon approaching gap but the traffic on the roundabout suddenly stopped meaning my gap never came. I’d already given it a fist full of revs and you guessed it, the throttle stuck wide open with the bike revving its nuts off with the clutch in, in 1st
I could let go of the clutch to release the sticking throttle so to avoid blowing up the engine I grabbed a fist full of front brake and let the clutch go and proceeded to light up the back wheel with the intention of reaching down and freeing the throttle. Unfortunately the front brakes weren’t up to much so with the rear tyre spinning and tyre smoke everywhere, the bike was creeping towards the roundabout and cars so I pulled in the clutch again and revved the nuts out it. This sequence got repeated a couple of times. I looked over to my mate for help, but he was too busy in hysterical laughter
This is when my gap appeared in the traffic, so with a smoking back tyre I eased off the front brake and launched into a wheelie and onto the roundabout. Now as roundabouts are, well, round and wheelies generally go in a straight line, tarmac was inevitable. I leant it as far as I dare and for a split second thought I was going to make it. Alas that wasn’t to be
The bike went spinning across the roundabout with me in hot pursuit on my arse. All I could focus on was the poor old boy in a metro staring at my bike and me heading at velocity straight at him. Luckily (for him), the bike clipped a gutter and flipped over and back into the roundabout and I stopped about a meter before him.
By the time I got up my mate had picked up the bike (still laughing his ass off) and said “why didn’t you press the engine kill switch?”
Erm???
That has to be my dumbest manoeuvre of all time. Luckily I didn’t actually hit anything or hurt anything more than my ego. The GT throttle didn’t stick once all the way home, but it did now stand up on its own without a stand where I’d twisted the frame.
I think the best one I've had was on a quick ride out get some petrol (petrol station 3 miles away, 20 mile ride, usual thing) down some country roads in Norfolk in the early evening.
There had already been a few close calls with the local wildlife but the one that worried me the most was when a hen pheasant decided it didn't like just sitting on the bank and decided to take off into me. I saw it just in time and had to duck under it as it flew over my head. Dread to think what would've happened if it hit me in the face.
There had already been a few close calls with the local wildlife but the one that worried me the most was when a hen pheasant decided it didn't like just sitting on the bank and decided to take off into me. I saw it just in time and had to duck under it as it flew over my head. Dread to think what would've happened if it hit me in the face.
My closest call happened the first time I took my sister out for a ride...which was her first time on a bike...
The bike was a Bandit600, my first big bike. I'd had it a couple of years, so was familiar with the bike, but I'd only taken pillions very rarely.
We were travelling on an A-road in the countryside, in traffic with good spaces to the cars in front and behind. As we came up to a medium right-hand bend, I saw a young cow at the side of the road, standing in front of a gate, with its mother standing on the correct side of the gate. For some reason, as we went past, the young cow made a dash for the other side of the road....
....right towards me! I'd already turned into the corner, but grabbed a big handful of front brake, which somehow lifted the back tyre rather than locking the front...
The cow finally clocked me and started to turn, but too late, and we hit just after the rear tyre landed, at a 45degree angle to the road... and somehow got pinged out on the other side upright, on the bike and not wearing the cow!!?!
My sister, of course, totally shat herself, but was unharmed.. : phewsmilie :
I had an interesting walk for the next few days, as my knee had been slammed between cow and frame, had some interesting scuffs on my leathers, needed new underkrackers... but was otherwise fine...
Best part is, one of the drivers behind a) witnessed the whole thing b) stopped to check we were okay, and c) knew the farmer who owned the miscreant beast... an' 'e said 'e was going to give 'is mate a proper good b*ll*cking...!
The bike was a Bandit600, my first big bike. I'd had it a couple of years, so was familiar with the bike, but I'd only taken pillions very rarely.
We were travelling on an A-road in the countryside, in traffic with good spaces to the cars in front and behind. As we came up to a medium right-hand bend, I saw a young cow at the side of the road, standing in front of a gate, with its mother standing on the correct side of the gate. For some reason, as we went past, the young cow made a dash for the other side of the road....
....right towards me! I'd already turned into the corner, but grabbed a big handful of front brake, which somehow lifted the back tyre rather than locking the front...The cow finally clocked me and started to turn, but too late, and we hit just after the rear tyre landed, at a 45degree angle to the road... and somehow got pinged out on the other side upright, on the bike and not wearing the cow!!?!
My sister, of course, totally shat herself, but was unharmed.. : phewsmilie :
I had an interesting walk for the next few days, as my knee had been slammed between cow and frame, had some interesting scuffs on my leathers, needed new underkrackers... but was otherwise fine...
Best part is, one of the drivers behind a) witnessed the whole thing b) stopped to check we were okay, and c) knew the farmer who owned the miscreant beast... an' 'e said 'e was going to give 'is mate a proper good b*ll*cking...!
Edited for Smilies
Edited by Schmeeky on Tuesday 12th June 17:55
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