Help me with some research please

[Mrs weekendwarrior]

so i was at a wedding on the weekend & had a comment from a non-motorcyclist that is haunting me & just wana do sum research to see if he was right...
so his comment was -how many times have you dropped your bike or have been hit by a car? I responded NONE! but then when he found out that I'd only been riding 6 months he said that when he asks me again in a couple of years that I will say at least once! So can you help me by letting me know how many times you've dropped ur bike or been hit... hopefully i can prove him wrong or otherwise be scared into being very very careful!!
Thanx...:innocent:

[Motu]

Being scared into being very very careful is the best option.

[hayd3n]

4 times in7years
no acc claims!!!!!
2 low speed
2 average speeds
one at about 60 into a bank (gravel on blind downward corner)
one avoiding a accident at about 80 kms with a passenger in to a rocky bank mid corner

[Jonathan]

Oh, I am interested in this too! In the last 4 years (2 of which I have been in London and not riding) I have binned my bike three times, hit a car once and been hit by a car once.

No major injuries or ACC claims. *touches wood*

[paulmac]

been riding since 1982, numerous laps of NZ and one and a half laps of aussie and never been hit, never hit anything and had one lay down ! In a gravel carpark in first gear.

[munster]

dropped once in 25 years (wet white line at Hamilton traffic lights), no acc claim. And that was 18 years ago.

[jamessmith]

1 drop. low speed. had been riding a month. hit some gravel.. freaked out and pulled brake.... been riding 3 years now.

[kwaka_crasher]

Christ. What a wowser. That's like asking how many times you've been injured sitting in your recliner in the lounge watching TV compared to chopping firewood in your jandals.

[Nasty]

yup .. dropped when not moving three times ... literally lost balance in two of those while not moving. Some people make stupid statments ... and saying you are going to makes my response quite simple ' Are you wishing me to have an accident" ... what a dick. Ride carefully, ride safely and hopefully you won't have something like that happen.

[Jantar]

The search tool is your friend:
http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/showthread.php/87458-Did-it-or-didn-t-it

[hellokitty]

On the road - I had an old lady reverse at high speed out of a drive way and knock me off my bike, not too much damage to the bike but I re-injured my shoulder which I hurt falling off a dirt bike 18 months previously.
I saw it coming, I slowed up as much as I could but I had nowhere to go.

[slofox]

Riding 42 years (on and off).

One car drove into me. One spectacular crash on the track. Two low speed drops - one on the road and one in the coffee shop car park.

But then I am a careful bugger...

[pritch]

Tossed my CB500 up the road when I hit wind blown sand on a nice S bend about 1973. Put my VFR in a ditch about three years ago.

I hope I've got that out of my system for the next thirty years or so...

[denefoster]

Riding 12 years, first day I rode a bike I wrote it off (Fijian roads, shitty unmarked gravel, a horrible korean copy of a GN125 and a n00b) at ~80km/h in shorts and jandals (hey, it's Fiji and hot as a mutha), some scrapes and road rash.

T-boned by one drunk driver at night at 50km/h no damage in jacket, helmet gloves (Also in Fiji)

T-boned by gramps going to McDonalds on Adelaide Road for Sunday morning breakfast, 30km/h and a broken foot in full off-road pressure suit, boots, gloves (in New Zealand, as a visitor, not resident)

First one I definitely could have prevented.. second two, not so much.

[Ragingrob]

2.5 years, 1 drop <5kph when the front wheel slipped off a wet curb :weep:

[hellokitty]

Haha yeah I forgot to add, I was learning to ride, and was using my dad's Bandit on gravel, was going really well, got a bit cocky and lost it on a tight corner. Made a mess of his bike!!!!

[Woodman]

Its all relative really. For example i fell off 3 times yesterday, but I think this guy was referring to road bikes on the road.
Is he the same guy who when you say how nice the weather is he will respond with "it looks like its going to rain though".

Ok in 28 odd years of riding off and on I have hit a drunk driver as a pillion, 5 or 6 lay downs on wet roads because of knobblies, and hit gravel on the Whangamoas on the gixxer and flown into the trees. One acc claim from the pillion ride, but that was the drunks fault really.

[blackdog]

once, in 1989, because of an engine seizure locking everything up mid corner and once in '94 lowsided when i hit a some gravel, nothing since

can't count the number of times i bailed off my pushbikes though....

[kevfromcoro]

Been riding over 40 yrs...
Never had an off on the road.. thank fuck..
Did a lot of enduro riding when i was younger . not unsuall to come off 3 or 4 times a day.......

[mashman]

8 years... plenty of close calls... but nothing bad has happened (touch wood)...

[hellokitty]

Been riding over 40 yrs...
Never had an off on the road.. thank fuck..
Did a lot of enduro riding when i was younger . not unsuall to come off 3 or 4 times a day.......

Yep! Had to give up the enduro/off road stuff - always coming off and getting injured

[Bikernereid]

I dropped my bike on some unmarked gravel whilst attempting not to ride into the rear end of OWNER who had missed the turn. Have had the bike about a year. I would say having an accident quite early on has assisted me in my riding, especially where gravel is concerned!!!

And dropped OWNERs motorx bike at the beach whilst stationary (legs too short to touch the ground).

[CookMySock]

hopefully i can prove him wrong or otherwise be scared into being very very careful!! Best you just accept he is right and start being very very careful. That will make you part of the solution and not part of the problem.

Maybe this guy did you a really huge favour?


Steve

[Big Col]

kevfromcoro sums it up for me. Oh Thursday before easter was my last off. and about 30 years my last off on the road.

[thealmightytaco]

Best you just accept he is right and start being very very careful. That will make you part of the solution and not part of the problem.

Maybe this guy did you a really huge favour?


Steve

He has done you a favour, you'll be careful as buggery now (gotta be careful where buggery is concerned) but he definitely aint right. I been riding 5 years, never come off. About to start bucket racing, that'll be another story, but you can't live life on the couch can ya.

[FJRider]

Just be as careful as you can when you ride ... if you start thinking of all the bad things that could happen to you, you wouldn't get out of bed. Let alone ride a motorcycle ...

[Genie]

when I was younger and used to go out riding the firebreaks I fell of heaps, was part of the fun.

Now, having owned the bike since jan I have dropped it twice. Once on the forecourt of the petrol station, had me a blonde moment where balance was not my friend and then attempting to do a hill start whilst turning at the same time, I did succeed on the second attempt.

I have had so many people (non-bike) tell me I'll kill myself and it's so selfish to ride a bike when I'm a mum!!!! Those comments one has to take like a grain of salt, living is a risk, shit eat eggs and you're cholestoral goes high, drink to much and your lliver will pack up, sit in the sun too long and here is some skin cancer, everything is a risk, but what is life without a bit of risk?

[Oakie]

#1, Fell off at about 10 mph on short grass when I had to decide whether to turn or brake to avoid an object. Did both and the bike slid out from under me.
#2, Fell off at walking speed doing a U turn when I hit some gravel.
#3, Misjudged my stopping distance going down the driveway and hit mum's car's bumper ... (hardly counts).

All of these were in my first 18 months of riding. I reckon if you can survive the first couple of years and learn the lessons from the mistakes you make you're a long way towards surviving reasonably unscathed. Just as long as you never think you know it all or get over-confident. I still make mistakes but thankfully not major ones (touch wood).

[H00dz]

three years Licensed never been hit, dropped once in a driveway does that count????

[Bikemad]

been ridin 35 years
1......low speed drop on smooth concrete in petrol station forecourt
2.......medium speed crash when run off the road by car overtaking truck n trailer
3........low speed drop when moving bike while sittin on it holding hemet and hot coffee and the steering lock was on...........doh!!!
4.........medium speed drop after sunstrike and riding into gravel patch on corner

[Coyote]

Hahahahahaha.

Oh dear, don't get me started.

[Toaster]

Sheep 1, Toaster 0.

At least if it was a pig I could have called it a Road Hog.

[piston broke]

well looks like i'm the biggest fecktard here so far.:yes:
in my first 10 years i screwed up at least 10 times,:stupid:
mostly slowish but 3 at near or over the ton.
looking back now i was an idiot with a 'super' guardian angel.:love:
p.s. i have grown up a bit,not a drop for 20yrs other than on the bucket first time out last year.
oh well maybe i haven't grown up too much.:doh:
somehow i'm still here,glad i'm not ten foot tall and bullet proof anymore.
shite happens,but you can lessen the chances by not being stupid like me.
luckily the worst injury was 2 really bruised feet and a couple of cracked ribs from the bucket.

[pattymelt]

Been riding 9 years and had 1 low side from greasy roundabout. 3 smashes from cars hitting me. Been twice in an ambulance to go to hospital. Can't even remember a single thing about the last accident even thou on the ambulance report it states I was walking and concious after the smash. But all these unfortunate events are from riding through the countries worst commuter route which in my opinion is from northshore to the airport daily through peak hour traffic. Everyday there was a close call or a momment with a car. Thank goodness I don't live on the shore anymore, but if I did, I would definitely take the car to work.

[Bodir]

Two for me in 20+ years. Both at 0 to 1 kph

One avoiding a box falling of a truck at about 80. Avoiding the target went good, however, the nerves did give way and dropped the bike while "forgetting" to put the side stand down when stopped. That was a bid annoying as the insurance of the guy did not pay as I did not damage the bike in the accident. That was about 19 years ago.

The other one again while standing still, not looking where I put my foot while stopping to check the surf and .... heavy piece of bike when you have to lift it uphill :) Learned my lesson: Ride first check surf later.

I would say there is three kinds of accidents. The ones involving someone else, the silly shit happens mistakes that don't do any real damage, and the messing up big time ones. The first two are the common ones with everyone, whereas the last one usually fades with experience.

[Conquiztador]

Apart from on the track (solo speedway) I can only remember once in Italy drunk and speeding in 40+ years.

[Berries]

20 something years riding, only been off once. I was paddling a GPX750 in to a parking spot with a sticky front brake. Caught me out on full lock, overbalanced, dropped it. Hardly worth remembering.

Your mate is wrong, but it will only take one lapse of concentration for you to prove him right.

[kevfromcoro]

BUGA.. just got my licence back....
easter weekend.. great wheather..iam off for a ride.....
gas up.... and dumped my bike. i the gas station.....
think i broke my left foot.. wasnt even moving....
fuck i felt an idiot.......
had trouble getting home.. couldnt change gear......
got a big box of medicine..
had Carlton written on the side of it......

[Maki]

Yer mate is a jealous bullshitter. In 2 years of commuting in nasty Wellington weather and some fun rides, KB group rides included I have never even scratched a bike. Just take care out there and you will have years of drop and accident free riding to look forward too.

[sinfull]

I'm scared as fuck !

[SMOKEU]

In the roughly 15,000km I've been riding bikes, I've crashed a dirt bike once when the front wheel got stuck in a ditch and it chucked me off so I ended up rolling quite a few times.
I crashed a scooter turning into my mates driveway when the front wheel slipped on gravel at a fast walking pace.
I haven't crashed a road bike yet.

[swbarnett]

I've been riding for 13 years with a decade or so gap in the middle. During that time I've commuted by bike every work day and spent a few months as a courier, all in Auckland traffic. Add to that a fair bit of open-road touring and I've averaged 20-30,000k/year from my second year on a bike.
The only offs I've suffered are the 6 or so minor drops in the first couple of years of riding (fastest was 60kph, mostly much slower). I've never been hit by or hit a car (been hit by another bike once). No ACC or insurance claims. No visits to any medical provider and no time off work. Worst I suffered was a skinned knee.

[Sable]

Three times in 2 years. Twice on the X7, was racing a chap on a KH350 and hit some loose gravel around the apex of a corner, and again when the fixed footpeg touched down as I was going for it round a corner and flipped the back wheel off the ground. Thing crashes pretty well. On the GB I was going back from Makara Beach after dark along that tortuous shitty unlit road, a seafog hit, visibility was down to about 5 metres, decide to pull over because I can't see where I'm going and hit the first road sign for 5 kilometres. Left a dent about two inches deep in the fuel tank from my hip, I'm still limping 6 months later. Fog lifted and I made it back to town stuck in third gear with no lights and horribly twisted forks.

[putput]

6 months riding and no spills....glad i diddnt start riding as a young fella when i was crashing cars instead

[vfr750]

Had a low speed argument with a cage a couple of weeks ago - first in 37 years.

[BIG DOUG]

Had a crash 2 years ago first in 35 years on the road,retard did a u-turn on the motorway didn't stand a chance it also reminded me of something a teacher said to my 3rd form class on its first day at high school ,he walked into the room and said I'm mr boswell and by the time you are 20 ,3 of you will be dead fuck was he wrong it was 5 and 3 where from motorcycle accidents,allway's stuck with me.

[Mom]

so can you help me by letting me know how many times you've dropped ur bike or been hit... hopefully i can prove him wrong or otherwise be scared into being very very careful!!
Thanx...:innocent:

Sure, I dont mind helping you out here. I have been riding for over 30 years. Done a bit of off road stuff in my youth, came a cropper a few times then, but I think that is par for the course if you are playing silly buggers off road. I dont count them anyways. On the road I have had a few close shaves, generally of the I am avoiding being cleaned up by blind car drivers kind mind you. I have never gone to ground as a result. I have only once fallen off a bike, was on a driveway avoiding a friggen big dog that fancied my tyres. I probably should not count it though as it was lack of momentum rather than speed that made me topple over. That and the fact that there was a culvert right below where I wanted to ground my foot.

[release_the_bees]

I had one lowside 10 years ago when I accelerated out of a roundabout in the wet with brand new rubber on the rear. Apart from that I had a couple of drops whilst getting onto and off of the bike when I was learning. Touch wood, the only other off I've had was a couple of years ago whilst doing a u-turn on the Grafton bridge. I still don't know what went wrong that day - one moment I was half way through the u-turn, the next I was standing on my feet on the pavement with the bike on it's side.

[tommygun]

Dropped it this morning:angry: Had a absent moment and put it down when I had just about stopped. Was leaning slightly to the right with front turned, forgot to put the leg down, bike started to go and I could not stop it in time.:doh: Such a basic mistake that happened so fast didn't even have time to fully understand what happened except that I didn't have the leg down:doh: Have never dropped it like that before...so :angry::angry: with myself. Lucky for me broken indicator cover and marks to the back of the mirror where the only damage.

So, there you go one more stat for your research....:done:

[monkeymcbean]

three years riding, dropped bike three times at a standstill ...stupid stuff really, usually through being a bit tired or in a hurry!

[Herman Jelmet]

Dropped the RD350 in 86-- downhill,, slammed on the brakes-- bad riding skills,, over the bars on KT 250 in 86 dodging a rabbit,,ended up in some trees,,-- bad riding skills, should have just run it over. dropped M900 in feb on sharp downhill right hander-- hit gravel on road, tried to ride through ditch rather than low side, almost worked, hit a culvert,, I am pretty sure I did the right thing and saved myself more serious leg injuries. Good luck.

[Ratti]

well there you go. The keys to not dropping your bike are as follows

1. stay out of driveways
2. dont go slow on gravel
3. remember to put at least one foot down when you stop
that should do you for a while.

[Mrs weekendwarrior]

Dropped it this morning:angry: Had a absent moment and put it down when I had just about stopped. Was leaning slightly to the right with front turned, forgot to put the leg down, bike started to go and I could not stop it in time.:doh: Such a basic mistake that happened so fast didn't even have time to fully understand what happened except that I didn't have the leg down:doh: Have never dropped it like that before...so :angry::angry: with myself. Lucky for me broken indicator cover and marks to the back of the mirror where the only damage.

So, there you go one more stat for your research....:done:

Thanx for helping me with my research but you didn't have to go out of your way for me..... thanx though, really appreciate it!

[Mrs weekendwarrior]

well there you go. The keys to not dropping your bike are as follows

1. stay out of driveways
2. dont go slow on gravel
3. remember to put at least one foot down when you stop
that should do you for a while.

Thanx for summarising it for me..... so basically if i stay out of driveways, stay off gravel, always put 1 leg down when i stop, don't ride when i'm tired & don't ride in a hurry, don't do U turns on grafton bridge, don't have sex on my bike, don't ever actually let my bike leave the garage again then I should be pretty safe! Thanx for all your help everyone!

[Ratti]

even in a garage you can drop you bike. Trust me, Auntie Ratti knows this.
Sex on your bike should be ok, use the center stand and a condom and you should be safe

[thealmightytaco]

Thanx for summarising it for me..... so basically if i stay out of driveways, stay off gravel, always put 1 leg down when i stop, don't ride when i'm tired & don't ride in a hurry, don't do U turns on grafton bridge, don't have sex on my bike, don't ever actually let my bike leave the garage again then I should be pretty safe! Thanx for all your help everyone!

Pretty much, but leave your leathers and helmet on, in case you slip on the hygenically steam cleaned kitchen floor, graze your knee on it, and smash your head into the corner of the bench. And if you make it to the couch, leave your gloves on, you might wear your thumbs out on the playstation. And leave your tinted visor down, the TV might burn your eyes with a pulse of 2 more lumens than the officially recognised maximum...

Tell your mate to grow a pair, and if he's so afraid of the world he should spend his time confronting that rather than trying to pull others down with him. You can't live life on the couch.

[lorenzo.V]

2 low speed drops in 28 years, last one nearly 20 years ago.

[kave]

Been riding for four years. Three crashes.

1. Front wheel tucked under me while under heavy braking in the wet.
2. Car in front of me braked for a speed camera, I rode into the back of the car.
3. T-boned a car that swerved in front of me, wrote off the bike and the car.

There have also been a few stationary drops, mainly from trying to get a pillion on to a bike that I couldn't touch the ground on. All my crashes have been a result of my noobness, possibly excepting my third crash which would have been tricky for an experienced rider to predict or avoid.

[Pixie]

even in a garage you can drop you bike. Trust me, Auntie Ratti knows this.
Sex on your bike should be ok, use the center stand and a condom and you should be safe

I would suggest that,even with a condom on,the center stand would not be safe.
Sharp metal edges etc.

[varminter]

If that's not enough for you go here. http://www.msgroup.org/Tip.aspx?Num=077&Set=&SearchTerms=reasons%20for%20dropping

[Mrs weekendwarrior]

If that's not enough for you go here. http://www.msgroup.org/Tip.aspx?Num=077&Set=&SearchTerms=reasons%20for%20dropping

ha ha the list is great thanx!!!

[Grubber]

My turn! Had a bit of a major about 30 years ago when i rode through a fence at around 60mph. Broke some things pretty bad including myself. Could i avoid it? A bit slower may have helped yea.
2nd one was about 4 years ago. Hit some hidden loose gravel going pretty quick into a left hander and lost it big time. Bit of surface damage on bike and broke some ribs. Could i have avoided it? Na not this time. At what ever speed, i was going to bin it anyway.
Not much to see here i'm afraid. Still trying to figure out why our acc has gone up....

[Blackshear]

Two years, one drop trying to put bike on centerstand.

[howdamnhard]

3 low speed drops/offs in first 3 months of learning. No more so far after 3 years riding ,touch wood (touches his head).

[Oakie]

I reckon if you can survive the first couple of years and learn the lessons from the mistakes you make you're a long way towards surviving reasonably unscathed. Just as long as you never think you know it all or get over-confident. I still make mistakes but thankfully not major ones (touch wood).

Prophetic words. I made two notable mistakes this week. The first involved believing the car I was following into a roundabout was actually turning right even though he was indicating right. I was planning to slingshot through the space he left to get past a car in the left lane before the lanes merged back into one. Unfortunately he was one of those dicks who insists on indicating right when going straight through a roundabout and I finished up nearly occupying the space that he was supposed to leave vacant ... but didn't. The second mistake involved not seeing a small dark car that was coming out of shadow early in the morning. In both cases though I survived because of previous experiences ... the first due to unconsciously leaving just a little leeway ... just in case. The second because I always have a second life-saver look as I turn.
On the other side of the coin though on Friday while riding home from work I approached a tight blind curve and noticed a car had pulled out from the curb to do a U turn and was sitting halfway across his lane. Recognising what would happen should a car come the other way (ie, swerving into my lane) I moved a couple of metres to the left and sure enough, a car came around the curve, saw the other car and swerved into my lane .. where I no longer was.

The point I make is that you may make mistakes and fall off when you're young but these are all part of the learning process. The small off you have today may just teach you the lesson you need to survive a similar incident 20 years later.

[smoky]

Got my first bike about 32 years ago - dirt bike, fell off heaps on the soft stuff, broke a few ribs now and then, tore all the ligaments in my angle when the kick starter kicked back once, and bust my knee up (my leg bent the wrong way).
Got my license 29 years ago; fell off when I pegged down on a back road with a crate of Wiakato bottles on the tank, beer and glass everywhere, skin and rawness everywhere.
Got my scarf caught in the chain and dragged off the back of the bike and down the road - big list of injuries from that one
Car in front indicates to turn right, I move to the left, he turns left - no injuries but bike was stuffed
Riding around Aussy I hit a massive pot hole up in the north of Western Australia, went over the handle bars - dislocated my shoulder
Came around a corner leaning right over - tractor and trailer pulls out of farm gate in front of me, quick trip into a deep drain full of blackberry, tore my jacket and trousers to peices, cuts and thorns everywhere, bike ok, farmer suffered a broken nose after helping me get the bike out the drain, I got fined $75 for hitting him
Then about 20 years incident free (about 8 of those without a bike)
Stuffed shock - going a bit quick and the back wheel walked out on some corrugations in a 35 corner, lay the bike down. No damage to me, bike needed a few little repairs, and some oil.
and for the first time ever, i was stopped on the side of the road and cleaning my visor while sitting on my bike, gust of wind, foot slips, bike falls over, I end up in a fence down a drain - hurt my back!!! sheesh

But hey - I'm a bit reckless

[JohnR]

Two '''offs" in 35 years (not counting off road gutsers),both due to "environmental conditions" i.e. no cars involved.
Did you ask what the "non motorcyclist" did for fun/recreation? My bet is it would have been tiddly winks or canasta every friday with the girls/boys.
I would have asked him/her how many near misses they had had in their car/SUV/truck with motorcycles.

These people are products of the "motorcycles are the devils tool" brigade and should either be ignored or converted in my view! (down off the soapbox now)

[mansell]

I must be a mad prick (or a crap rider), 30 years and I have lost count of the number of times the bike has slid out from under me in corners. Two majors involving cars - some fucker changed lanes into me on the Auckland motorway one morning (bruised ego and a $50 repair job + 1/2 hours work) and had a car u-turn in front of me at about 80mph (130km/h) back in the nineties. That put me in hospital for a week -broken leg and hand - and of work for a couplke of months. Touch wood haven't had one for at least a decade - must be slowing down.

[Mrs weekendwarrior]

I must be a mad prick (or a crap rider), 30 years and I have lost count of the number of times the bike has slid out from under me in corners. Two majors involving cars - some fucker changed lanes into me on the Auckland motorway one morning (bruised ego and a $50 repair job + 1/2 hours work) and had a car u-turn in front of me at about 80mph (130km/h) back in the nineties. That put me in hospital for a week -broken leg and hand - and of work for a couplke of months. Touch wood haven't had one for at least a decade - must be slowing down.

ok think i'll sell my bike now, you are scaring me!

[Bad Gixxer]

30 years riding and only five offs on the road and one off on the track.

3 low siders, 1 high sider, 1 rear ended by another bike, 1.....mechanical failure! In all but the rear ender and the mechanical failure they were all due to my own stupidity/lack of ability.

However, if I were to count all the close calls caused by other motorists then I'd need a few more fingers and toes than I currently have!

[mansell]

ok think i'll sell my bike now, you are scaring me!

The falling off shouldn't put you off riding - the reason for the broken hand etc. was a lack of attention on an unfamiliar bike, otherwise I've never been hurt more than a few grazes.
Besides this side of riding is worth it, I still commute daily and have convinced my wife to learn - better to think about the perfect corner.
ps. most off's have bee due to inattention or riding outside my (and the bikes) limits
I also know lots of people who have been hurt far worse in cars.