Snake Rd. turn 3 claims another victim

FullMotoJacket

FullMotoJacket

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Coming home from work, come around turn 2 to find a couple of cars stopped with their flashers on in 3. Stopped to find a young kid standing (gingerly) beside his wadded white Kawi. Other than his wallet, he looked to be ok. It bears repeating, you've got to slow down for that corner this time of year when the pavement's cold.
 
FullMotoJacket said:
Coming home from work, come around turn 2 to find a couple of cars stopped with their flashers on in 3. Stopped to find a young kid standing (gingerly) beside his wadded white Kawi. Other than his wallet, he looked to be ok. It bears repeating, you've got to slow down for that corner this time of year when the pavement's cold.
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Highlighted his first problem. :lmao:


GWS.
 
A big welcome to the newest member of the G.R.R (Guard Rail riders).
 
Actually Kawi makes great bikes. Get well soon rider.
 
About 5 people a weekend fall on turn 3.
It's target fixation.
It is a very nice turn when you look through the corner.
 
I know this rider, he was going around the corner when a car came too close to him.....he tried to straighten up only hitting the guard rail! He is fine other than he cant ride the last few days of the season :( Good rider too......stupid cars!
 
This wasn't what I was expecting to see when I opened this thread. I'm glad there were no serious injuries.

gws
 
EngineerJoe said:
Turn 3 is the hard left while heading downhill?

GWS to the rider.
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If it's southbound then that would be the decreasing radius left, which is why so many people crash in it. Turn in too early, run wide on the exit, and hit the guardrail.
 
lol I think he said he may have been going a little fast! ;) But cars always go over the line on corners and if ur not prepared for it.....well crashes happen!

mmmnaked said:
Yeeeah sure.
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Rob MacLennan said:
If it's southbound then that would be the decreasing radius left, which is why so many people crash in it. Turn in too early, run wide on the exit, and hit the guardrail.
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^ This. Every crash I've heard of in that corner has been because of an incorrect cornering line followed by the rider panicking rather than looking through the corner to the exit.

You have to stay towards the outside of the corner as you enter it and through the beginning part of it, until you see the part where it tightens up, then aim for the exit of the corner (which will require turning in a wee bit more). This is very typical of decreasing-radius corners. It also puts you towards the outside of the corner through the beginning part of the corner in which you can't see what's coming, i.e. that hypothetical car that's over the center line.

At this time of year, cold tires and cold pavement and possible condensation or frost on the road does not help matters.

At ANY time of year, worn out tires and wrong tire pressures and wrong suspension setup won't help matters.
 
Agreed.......

Brian P said:
^ This. Every crash I've heard of in that corner has been because of an incorrect cornering line followed by the rider panicking rather than looking through the corner to the exit.

You have to stay towards the outside of the corner as you enter it and through the beginning part of it, until you see the part where it tightens up, then aim for the exit of the corner (which will require turning in a wee bit more). This is very typical of decreasing-radius corners. It also puts you towards the outside of the corner through the beginning part of the corner in which you can't see what's coming, i.e. that hypothetical car that's over the center line.

At this time of year, cold tires and cold pavement and possible condensation or frost on the road does not help matters.

At ANY time of year, worn out tires and wrong tire pressures and wrong suspension setup won't help matters.
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Brian P said:
^ This. Every crash I've heard of in that corner has been because of an incorrect cornering line followed by the rider panicking rather than looking through the corner to the exit.

You have to stay towards the outside of the corner as you enter it and through the beginning part of it, until you see the part where it tightens up, then aim for the exit of the corner (which will require turning in a wee bit more). This is very typical of decreasing-radius corners. It also puts you towards the outside of the corner through the beginning part of the corner in which you can't see what's coming, i.e. that hypothetical car that's over the center line.

At this time of year, cold tires and cold pavement and possible condensation or frost on the road does not help matters.

At ANY time of year, worn out tires and wrong tire pressures and wrong suspension setup won't help matters.
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Yup, seen a few there too.

I generally think of it in more simple terms; stay to the outside and then turn two heartbeats after you see God. For an Agnostic, that's just about right.
 
That is a very dangerous corner... one of the toughest corners I have ever seen. I have been on a few rides way back in the day and it was the same story.... usually someone would crash there. To the point that if I was leading a ride, I'd take Snake UP northbound ... mind you as some will know here, it has claimed at least 1 life going in that direction too.

What makes it tough is that the sight lines are terrible..... and if you are looking a head you can kinda see where the road goes on the other side of the ravine.... so you wouldn't expect it to decrease its radius as much as it does. By looking ahead you'd think it would start turning right a bit sooner. That's an assumption and I believe that is one of the many reasons why people into trouble on that corner.

ALSO - if you approach that corner to the inside and are going a bit hot, it is VERY hard to make it as your trajectory will be ALL WRONG.

However, it does teach a VERY important lesson about street riding. Like BrianP said.... keep WIDE on corner entry when street riding, until you can see where the corner starts to open up. That does 2 things:
1 - prevents you from apexing too soon, therefore buggering your exit to potentially crashing results.
2 - if a car is going a bit wide, it gives you a greater margin for THEIR error.
 
Metastable said:
That is a very dangerous corner... one of the toughest corners I have ever seen. I have been on a few rides way back in the day and it was the same story.... usually someone would crash there. To the point that if I was leading a ride, I'd take Snake UP northbound ... mind you as some will know here, it has claimed at least 1 life going in that direction too.
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Yup, I remember.

I once led a ride through there, when the usual group ride leaders were all down at The Gap. I stopped on Cedar Springs and took the time to explain about that corner, in detail, saying that I would signal when we were about to hit that road. When we stopped at Hillsdale and Plains, sure enough, the rider I had pegged as 'most likely to crash' said, "NOW I understand what you meant about it." Another rider reported that he almost hit the guardrail, on the exit, despite having hit the corner at maybe 35 Kmh.

I can't remember if you were along for the 30+ bike processional ride, later that same season, when that same rider DID hit the guardrail.

What makes it tough is that the sight lines are terrible..... and if you are looking a head you can kinda see where the road goes on the other side of the ravine.... so you wouldn't expect it to decrease its radius as much as it does. By looking ahead you'd think it would start turning right a bit sooner. That's an assumption and I believe that is one of the many reasons why people into trouble on that corner.

ALSO - if you approach that corner to the inside and are going a bit hot, it is VERY hard to make it as your trajectory will be ALL WRONG.

However, it does teach a VERY important lesson about street riding. Like BrianP said.... keep WIDE on corner entry when street riding, until you can see where the corner starts to open up. That does 2 things:
1 - prevents you from apexing too soon, therefore buggering your exit to potentially crashing results.
2 - if a car is going a bit wide, it gives you a greater margin for THEIR error.
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You should treat every corner, on the street, as if it's a decreasing radius corner. It lets you see further through the corner which helps avoid vehicles that cross into your lane, and other road hazards like gravel.

It also has the added benefit of KEEPING YOUR HEAD OUT OF THE ONCOMING TRAFFIC LANE! I can't count how many times I've come around a corner, to see a rider coming towards me with his head 3 feet into my lane. Just because your tires are in your lane, that doesn't mean that a car won't take your head off.
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