Part 1:
http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/sh...ad.php?t=39808

Part 2:
http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/sh...ad.php?t=39809

Part 3:
http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/sh...ad.php?t=40711


Part 4:
http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/sh...ad.php?t=40775

Ok, for those that have been following my threads on Mortality,
I hope you have enjoyed the reading and have also learnt from
my personal experiences. I have tried to make them light hearted
for easy reading, but there is a message in every incident that
I sincerely hope you will take on board to help make you a safer
and better rider.

This will be the final part for now and covers my last one
and three quarter years riding on the trusty GSX1400's. I may have
to split this in two parts depending on room.

I have owned several more bikes on which no serious accidents or
minor incidents occurred, partly as a result of being married and
becoming a little wiser. I have to throw that in or you will
think I am a total unredeemable menace.

Since my last bike was sold to cover bills for home and children
I had not owned a bike for 20 years or more. I did a lot of
online studies on various reviews and narrowed my choice of bike
down, to the Suzuki GSX1400. My reviews on this bike and the
reason I bought this particular model, can be read here:

http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/sh...ad.php?t=26613

http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/sh...ad.php?t=34913

http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/sh...ad.php?t=34914

It is with reticence that I share my bad experiences on the
GSX1400. I truly believed that at my age, any idea of riding
hard and fast would have been thoroughly flushed from my
system. Unfortunately, in hindsight, this has not happened.
I have always loved speed, power and corners and age does
not change this disposition. Some will think I deserve all
that has happened to me and you are entitled to your opinion.
I know I am not alone in the way I ride and there are many,
many more like me, but I would like you all to live long and
healthy as well.

So, I put my heart on my sleeve. Please learn. I type
this thread with a broken ankle and a mind set that has
finally woken up to the fact, that I am now going to take it
a lot easier than I have in the past. I want to live long
and besides, coming off your bike really, really hurts

End of January 2005, I buy my K2 GSX1400 with 15,000kms on
the clicker. I ride it easy and carefully for several weeks,
exploring it's performance envelope and how far she will lean
before bits start touching down. I've accidentally had the
front off the ground a few times, but each week my pace begins
to creep up. I love the bike and it's got under my skin.

I bought it as a sports tourer because I am older and wiser
and won't be riding hard like I used to. BUT: I find the
bike goes like a sports bike when you want and handles very
much like one, despite it's weight and thrives on the twisties.

By 10,000 kms, I've probably tested all of it's limits and
ridden it many of times to the edge. Then I meet a rider
on a sports bike that I end up riding with a lot. Real nice
chap and we kinda clicked. His riding style was the best I've
seen, his lines perfect and so smooth. Until then, I honestly
thought I was fast but after tucking in behind him, I realised
that my skill set could leap a whole new notch. So for thousands
of kilometres we rode together and had a ball. Around 95% of the
time I could stay with him, but I was working at around 90% of
the bikes and my limits and sometimes right on a 100%, where as
he would be riding at 70-75% becuase of the nature of his bike
and his riding style.

I had three incidents on my GSX1400's. Two on the K2 blue and
white and one on my new K6 black. I will discuss these now.

From these incidents, I have learned several things. Some times
you can be doing everything right and things still go wrong.
So, you need to be wearing the best gear you can afford!!!

My mate and I had just completed a longish ride of around 600kms.
The tyres were hot, we had been riding quite hard and the pace
was well up there. This was early last summer and we were heading
home up the east side of that lake by Ohinewai.

My mate was about 30-40 metres ahead and disappeared around this
right hander that was a moderate corner compared to some we had
been around. My pace had been consistent all day with no problems
at all. I gently lean the bike into the corner at around 140kmh
and about a third of the way in, the rear swings out. Things get
fairly hairy, when your bike goes sideways at 140kmh. As always,
things appear to go into slow motion when everything turns to custard.

It seems you have time to make decisions but in reality it's all
happening a lot faster than you would like. My brain has considered
three options in that short time:
1. Lowside, always the safest option, except for the trees ahead.
2. Don't try and take the corner or you'll highside which is even worse.
3. Stand her up if you can, straighten and steer towards a safe landing.

Option three it is. I managed to straighten the bike, slam on the
brakes without locking up fully, on the seal that remains, bleed off
considerable speed, hit the gravel, aim for a nice grass patch with
the intention of laying her down to cause as little damage as possible
and then discover there's a clay bank in the grass, hit that, over the
bars, flat on my back and no air in my lungs yet again.

I lie there for a few seconds till I get my breath back, stand up
and feel not too bad considering. The bike looks ok, so I manage to
pick that up on my own and push it back on the road. I am amazed
that there is no sign of damage to me and the bike looks okay too.
I thought the forks would be bent at least. They are one tough bike.
The left side engine cover has a few marks and there's lots of dirt
tucked into various places but other than that, she's fine.
The clay bank was actually good to have as well. A couple of
metres behind it was a good 20-30 metre cliff, onto rocks below.

I walk back down the road to find out why the tyre should just shoot
out like that. Metzler Z6's are awesome tyres on this bike, so
something had to have caused it. Just before the black rubber
marks where the tyre let go, I notice fine sand amongst the coarse
chip. I wonder why that would possibly be a cause as my mate had
not been effected by it. Mind you, my bike needs a slightly
different line because of the weight and size. I'm not happy with
that explanation but have to accept it as being that.

About this time my mate turns up, not realising for about eight minutes
that I was no longer collecting stone chips on my tank from his
sticky Super Corsas. He was relieved to find me and the bike all in one
piece so we completed the ride with no further problems.

Late summer we are riding with a group to Raglan and back through all
the back roads. My mate and I are well out front at this stage.
I have no idea where I am but used to hunt out Niake way regularly.
On that property is a huge stand of pines which is on a ridge line.
I use that for my bearings when out that way. BUT: don't do that when
riding hard on a motorbike

My mate tops a small rise and his helmet disappears from view. I assume
the road goes straight ahead and he knows the road and we are doing
160-170kmh, so it must go straight. As I top the rise I look left
for a split second to check where my pines may be and then turn my eyes
front again as I crest the rise. Oh joy, a relatively tight right hander
which would have been fine if I'd been concentrating. No time to
get off the seat to get my weight over the side of the bike to help
keep the hard bits off the deck. I apply the brakes quickly and hard
to bleed off speed, off the brakes and throw her in into the corner.
My pegs are touching down quite hard, we are riding the edge of the
seal where it drops off to the gravel and I think I'm going to make it.
yes, yes, go you beauty. Two thirds of the way around both tyres slide
off the edge of the seal and drop onto the gravel.

At this point, the road worker gangs get a good helping out as
I spread gravel evenly down the side of the road and then start
demolishing a large patch of blackberries. It's a shallow long drain
and it's only in the last few metres that the bike finally goes down
on it's side. I hit nothing hard, no poles, fences, rocks or clay
berms. I feel like a right dick. Totally my fault of course.
I quickly check the bike over, fire it up and power out of the drain back
onto the road and squirt her back up to 110kmh. The rest of the
group round the corner behind me and are no wiser that I've had an off,
till we get to the intersection a few kilometres up the road where
my mate is waiting, wondering where I went. My right side and the bike
is covered in dirt and blackberry remnants which explains to him where
I've been and to the rest why I happened to be directly in front of them
again when I had been so far ahead.

The bike now had a few scratches on the right engine cover and underneath
but again, considering the speed, very little damage. My right knee
must have whacked the edge of the seal on the way down the drain as that
was starting to hurt. I don't like telling the missus about my offs
so mentioned nothing about this one. It was real hard trying to walk
nomrally but come Monday, a trip to A&E revealed bad bruising on the knee
joint but no breaks, thankfully. For three weeks I had to walk totally
normally around my other arf. I don't like to upset her as she's to sweet.

My accident on the new Black K6 1400 in part two:
http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/sh...ad.php?t=40948