+ Why we crash + | GTAMotorcycle.com

+ Why we crash +

rizvi

rizvi

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Got this off svrider.com
With all the people going down so early in the season, I thought I'd post a reminder to for the riders out there. This was taken from tristatesportbikes.com and gixxer.com. Have fun and keep the shiny side up.

1. We crash on cold tires. Respect them by giving them a few miles to warm up, especially if they're brand new. After stopping to eat or something, remember you're not the only thing that has cooled down, allow your tires sufficient time to warm up again.

2. We crash on overloaded tires. If you are new to riding or rusty after a winter layoff, applying too much throttle or brake while leaned over could be very costly. Our tires can provide amazing levels of traction but they're not immune to "lead" hands. The instinct of grabbing a handful of front brake while leaned over will put you in the guardrail.

3. We crash trying to keep up. Ultimate speed on a back road has little to do with the bike and everything to do with the rider. Once you realize this, twisting the throttle WFO to keep your friends in sight on the straights while losing them in the corners becomes a non-option. Ride your own pace.

4. We crash because we want to go fast. Sometimes, even the posted speed limit is inappropriate. Coming over a blind crest at 45mph might be too fast if you can't stop the bike before hitting the hazard you only see when it's too late. Speed reduces time to react and adds distance to react in emergency situations.

5. We crash because we bail out. How many posts have there been about entering a corner too hot, standing the bike up and running out of road before getting the bike stopped? Too hot means your brain is probably freaked out but there is still plenty of tire traction available. LOOK through the corner, LEAN the bike until hard parts drag, BELIEVE in modern tire technology.

6. We crash because we lose our focus. The bike travels 88 feet per second at 60 mph. A moment's inattention puts you that much farther into a corner. Think about the next corner, not the one you just blew. That one is over, focus on getting the next one right.

7. We crash because we rush corner entrances. Slow in, fast out works for racers season after season. It works for road riders too. Slow down a bit on your corner entrances and see how much smoother you become.

8. We crash because we can't keep up with the motorcycle. Make sure your software is the equal of your bikes hardware. The bike has the ability to go 160mph, that doesn’t mean YOU do.

9. We crash trying to look cool. If it takes wheelies, stoppies and other stunts to impress your friends...you need new friends.

10. We crash because we don't practice enough. If you are going to be riding at 100kph you should practice emergency braking at 100kph. Otherwise, how are you going to know how to do it when the situation comes up?

11. We crash because of indecisiveness. If you're going to do something, then do it. If your bud decides to go through a red light and you decide to stop, then STOP!... and vice versa.. if you decide to go, then GO!, don't stop.

12. Communication in group riding, make sure you understand what to do and what the signals mean.

p.s. Alcohol dosen't help either. Use your head.





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Motorcycle safety

Despite accounting for approximately 3% of vehicle registrations in Victoria, motorcyclists represented 14% of the road toll in 2005.

Motorcyclists have a high vulnerability to sustaining injuries on the road given their limited protection in the event of a crash.

Issues

Protective clothing
One of the most effective measures motorcyclists can take to avoid or lessen certain types of injuries is by wearing full protective gear.


Visibility
One of the most common crash types involving motorcycles involves other vehicles. A proportion of these result from other road users failing to see the motorcyclist. The use of daytime running lights and bright coloured motorcycles and clothing can help to address this issue. Methods of improving the way other road users perceive motorcyclists on the road need to be explored and acted upon.

Alcohol
Riding demands greater co-ordination, balance and concentration than driving. Effects of alcohol are therefore far more dramatic for riders, even at levels under the legal limit of 0.05g/100ml.

Experience
Inexperience amongst motorcyclists is a contributing factor in many motorcycle crashes. As with car drivers, experience is critical in making motorcyclists safer on the roads. However, whilst inexperienced drivers normally fall within the age group of 18 to 25 years, inexperienced riders can be of any age. This is partly due to individuals taking up riding later in life and partly as a result of riders taking up motorcycling again after many years of not riding at all.
 

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Thanks for posting this up. Good food for thought before the start of my 2nd season.
 
Yes good post. Too bad many will forget aboutthis when the season starts.
 
Agreed

A lot of them works hand in hand with each other, as long as you ride for yourself, not anyone else, and use common sense, you'll be fine.

Another one I've experienced many times, let it be when I was a newb to riding, skiing, driving, or even on a bicycle, don't let panic take over. Try and find an exit or make the best of the situation, but of course, this is much much much easier said than done. Everytime I get a close call, I spend 10-20 minutes thinking and analyzing the close call, so that I can hopefully be prepared if it were to happen again. (touch wood) But of course, not letting panic take over is much much much easier said than done.
 
pearl said:
Agreed

A lot of them works hand in hand with each other, as long as you ride for yourself, not anyone else, and use common sense, you'll be fine.

Another one I've experienced many times, let it be when I was a newb to riding, skiing, driving, or even on a bicycle, don't let panic take over. Try and find an exit or make the best of the situation, but of course, this is much much much easier said than done. Everytime I get a close call, I spend 10-20 minutes thinking and analyzing the close call, so that I can hopefully be prepared if it were to happen again. (touch wood) But of course, not letting panic take over is much much much easier said than done.
Click to expand...
I work moving 780' ships in Toronto and Hamilton. I once read that fighter pilots talk after each flight, good or bad. We do the same thing and the info you can get out of the conversation or thought is invaluable.
For us , if we f'ed up , there was obviously a better way! If it worked out it's important for everyone to understand why it worked out.
I believe at the end of the day eating at a diner talking about the corners only serves to make a better rider!
 
Let me add this:

- We crash because we don't practice enough. If you are going to be riding at 100kph you should practice emergency braking at 100kph. Otherwise, how are you going to know how to do it when the situation comes up?

- We crash because of indecisiveness. If you're going to do something, then do it. If your bud decides to go through a red light and you decide to stop, then STOP!... and vice versa.. if you decide to go, then GO!, don't stop.

- Communication in group riding, make sure you understand what to do and what the signals mean.
 
Metastable said:
Let me add this:

- We crash because we don't practice enough. If you are going to be riding at 100kph you should practice emergency braking at 100kph. Otherwise, how are you going to know how to do it when the situation comes up?

- We crash because of indecisiveness. If you're going to do something, then do it. If your bud decides to go through a red light and you decide to stop, then STOP!... and vice versa.. if you decide to go, then GO!, don't stop.

- Communication in group riding, make sure you understand what to do and what the signals mean.
Click to expand...

Agreed. This should be added to the origional post.
 
Many of those lead me to bail my bro's 929. Too bad I never though about them before it happened!

Any newbs reading this. REMEMBER EACH ONE OF THEM!!!!!!!
 
Blind cagers that cut you off and give you no time and distance to react, would be from my experience. Assume your are invisible and that every vehicle on the road is out there to get you.
 
All those are excellent points.

I could say that, yeah, I know them all, but in truth I must admit that I forget some of them some of the time. I appreciate reminders.

Please let these numbers sink in for a moment. I am 65 years old, and I have been riding since 1961. The distance I have ridden a motorcycle is the distance to the moon.

I need to know and heed all this advice to stay alive.

One point I wish to add. In January I met a rider who had suffered a head-on crash with a car a few days earlier. He was walking around and looked as if he would recover, but he was awfully sore! From the details he told me, it seems that he was southbound behind a van, and the driver of a northbound car figured he could make a quick left between a van and a car to get into a strip mall on the left side of the highway. The northbound driver didn't see our hero on his bike in that gap, and bang, there's your head-on.

There's our lesson. We are always in some gap or other, and we need to make ourselves highly visible quite often. If you see an oncoming driver, stopped and signalling left, make *SURE* you wiggle a bit to shine your headlight at him, or otherwise shift around some in your lane so he doesn't think you are far more distant than you are. If you are in the curb lane of two or more lanes going your way, and a lone car is ahead of you in a lane to your left, either stay close enough that the jerk who dashes behind that car to turn left cannot hit you, or stay far enough back that the left turner can see you and is not likely to turn across your path.

Summing it up in five words: avoid riding in blind spots.
 
Salos brings up a scenario that has always made me wonder if one particular riding habit the handbook suggests is safe.

The handbook suggests that everyone should always stay on the right-most lane, and leave the other lanes for passing, but I believe it should be the opposite for us motorcyclists, I believe we should always stay in the left-most lane when possible.

A picture is worth a thousand words, so I whipped up a few diagrams.

So to keep with the wording/tone on the original post, I believe:
We crash because we don't stay in the most visible positions at all times - the left most lane.

Do you guys agree with my little theory? Feel free to bash it, with valid points, if you disagree.

A.jpg


B.jpg
 
We also crash beacuse we follow too close to the car in front of us.
TOO many times I've seen bikes riding up the azz of a car and when that driver slams his/her brakes.....most of the time its too late for the rider to react. I've seen it a billion times. Respect others on the road and leave yourself space to get out of sticky situations.

Defensive riding goes a long way too :D
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