All I'm saying is...

[mikemike104]

EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED!

Almost the same spot where I had my tank slapper experience earlier this year. I'm riding home from work behind a black car, as per usual nothing special about this, on my way home very near my house (I can almost f*&n see it) on a very straight piece of road are some railway lines, car brakes I brake, next thing I know from the corner of my eye he's waiving over the top of his roof for me to pass him on the inside, as this I find quite unusual I am distracted enough to not realise he has essentially stopped at the railway crossing due to the fact that his very low Nissan Silvia may not make it in one piece were he to drive normally over said railway line. I brake harder but do not have a hope in stopping in time. Now the unexplainable happens.

Instead of the swerve and avoid manoeuvre I know I should have employed (explainable I know), under brakes I run straight into the back left of the Siliva going I don't know how fast, I distinctly remember my face/visor being centimetres from the bottom edge of his rear windscreen and me sliding up the boot, I remember the sound of hitting the car... unsure if the sound was bike hitting car or me hitting car, I am uncertain, but pretty sure I wasn't holding the bars by this time and vaguely remember sliding back down the boot of the car.. straight onto my waiting bike which by this time it would seem was in the process of causing a fuckin whopping great big long dent on the rear left quarter panel (on a Siliva this begins at the rear facing part of the car above the stop lights and continues around to the door frame) said dent stretches from the top of this panel above the brake light to almost knee level ending half a meter from the passengers door! I can only assume this was caused by the right bar end because nothing apart from that and me hit the car... I'm thinking "Jesus I'm still upright" I expected to be sliding by this point but I'm upright on two wheels and braking again to pull over and stop on the left, I get off the bike and give the Silivia driver two thumbs up as they walk over, helmet off expect bike is at least forks bent due to impact and front guard gone.. no damage, check road for white GPX fairings, no fairings, they are still on bike.. unscratched... pat myself down, move all muscle groups that spring to mind, decide I have bump on right shin from plastic bumper, no injuries. Car driver seems pretty happy I am unhurt, swap details, he seems pretty nervous, I try crackin jokes but he's not having it.. to ease the tension I admit fault as I hit him from behind, he seems happier after I do this, say our goodbyes, bike wont start... somehow I have managed to hit the "engine off" switch as well. I ride home and decide I'm still going to the gym anyway. Gym was great btw.

Lessons learnt today:

1. Following distances are really fuckin important even when its bone dry.
2. I will be practising brake & swerve till I run out of petrol money asafp.
3. I am lucky to be typing and every day's a gift.

I didn't post this looking for sympathy, I certainly expect the "slow down Rossi" etc comments I got when I posted about my tankslapper. I posted this because I was so happy with my riding, thought I was doing really well, got restricted recently and had not had any kind of incident for months, I was sure I was checking and processing everything that needed to be checked and processed and was undone because somebody did something I didn't expect them to do.... they waved.

[sil3nt]

Slow down Rossi.


Good to hear your ok mate!

[mikemike104]

HAHA, thanks mate, I'll have an excess to pay but I'm happy to do so when I think about the other options that could have applied.

[ckai]

Wow you admitted fault quick :) In saying that, you were there and know if the following distances where good or not.

It's funny. We seem to learn the "expect the unexpected" the hard way. haha. Sux really. I thought I learnt it from others until I found out I didn't ;)

At least you learnt it with minimal cost. You buying a lotto ticket? Better still, grab a Big Wednesday and I'll have the Porsche :niceone:

You're really getting some "experience" under your belt. I'm yet to experience the art of "slapping thy tank".

Glad your good :woohoo:

[steve_t]

Good to hear you're OK. I was admiring your paint job down at unirec this evening. If you were following the car in the right wheel track, why did u decide to undertake the car on the left instead of overtake on the right?
You may or may not remember Peter Brock and his ad campaign "only a fool breaks the 2 second rule" though there's not a lot of that happening around Hamiltron

[IdunBrokdItAgin]

Slow down Rossi! LOL.

Sounds like you learnt all you needed to, from the incident. I learnt my lesson in following distances earlier this year. Something you never forget.

Good on yer.

[IdunBrokdItAgin]

Slow down Rossi! LOL.

Sounds like you learnt all you needed to, from the incident. I learnt my lesson in following distances earlier this year. Something you never forget afterwards.

Good on yer.

[PrincessBandit]

Following distances can be a funny thing - we know we're meant to observe them at all times (expect the unexpected being the primary reason) and yet when conditions are good or we're on a piece of familiar road it's so easily overlooked. The road is dry, traffic is "predictable", we know the stretch/bends like the back of our hand...

Like everyone else has said thank goodness you are ok, and thanks for reminding us all how easy it can be to get caught out when we least expect it.

[BMWST?]

EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED!

Almost the same spot where I had my tank slapper experience earlier this year. I'm riding home from work behind a black car, as per usual nothing special about this, on my way home very near my house (I can almost f*&n see it) on a very straight piece of road are some railway lines, car brakes I brake, next thing I know from the corner of my eye he's waiving over the top of his roof for me to pass him on the inside, as this I find quite unusual I am distracted enough to not realise he has essentially stopped at the railway crossing due to the fact that his very low Nissan Silvia may not make it in one piece were he to drive normally over said railway line. I brake harder but do not have a hope in stopping in time. Now the unexplainable happens.

Instead of the swerve and avoid manoeuvre I know I should have employed (explainable I know), under brakes I run straight into the back left of the Siliva going I don't know how fast, I distinctly remember my face/visor being centimetres from the bottom edge of his rear windscreen and me sliding up the boot, I remember the sound of hitting the car... unsure if the sound was bike hitting car or me hitting car, I am uncertain, but pretty sure I wasn't holding the bars by this time and vaguely remember sliding back down the boot of the car.. straight onto my waiting bike which by this time it would seem was in the process of causing a fuckin whopping great big long dent on the rear left quarter panel (on a Siliva this begins at the rear facing part of the car above the stop lights and continues around to the door frame) said dent stretches from the top of this panel above the brake light to almost knee level ending half a meter from the passengers door! I can only assume this was caused by the right bar end because nothing apart from that and me hit the car... I'm thinking "Jesus I'm still upright" I expected to be sliding by this point but I'm upright on two wheels and braking again to pull over and stop on the left, I get off the bike and give the Silivia driver two thumbs up as they walk over, helmet off expect bike is at least forks bent due to impact and front guard gone.. no damage, check road for white GPX fairings, no fairings, they are still on bike.. unscratched... pat myself down, move all muscle groups that spring to mind, decide I have bump on right shin from plastic bumper, no injuries. Car driver seems pretty happy I am unhurt, swap details, he seems pretty nervous, I try crackin jokes but he's not having it.. to ease the tension I admit fault as I hit him from behind, he seems happier after I do this, say our goodbyes, bike wont start... somehow I have managed to hit the "engine off" switch as well. I ride home and decide I'm still going to the gym anyway. Gym was great btw.

Lessons learnt today:

1. Following distances are really fuckin important even when its bone dry.
2. I will be practising brake & swerve till I run out of petrol money asafp.
3. I am lucky to be typing and every day's a gift.

I didn't post this looking for sympathy, I certainly expect the "slow down Rossi" etc comments I got when I posted about my tankslapper. I posted this because I was so happy with my riding, thought I was doing really well, got restricted recently and had not had any kind of incident for months, I was sure I was checking and processing everything that needed to be checked and processed and was undone because somebody did something I didn't expect them to do.... they waved.

i think that this illustrates that motorcycles are NOT manouverable.We tend to think we are cos we are narrow but in actual fact a car can perform manouvres that a bike can not.At higher speeds this is also true,maybe even more so.To swerve you need to apply some fairly serious contersteering pressure.Unless you have practised i dont think this is normal behaviour for any motorcyclist

[sinfull]

Yr still an egg for running up his rear , but "very low" sorta tells me the sylvia wont be up to warrant standard and shouldn't be on the road to start with, no wonder he was nervous !

[MSTRS]

I thought this was just another a thread about waving...
... until I concentrated and discovered that it is really about following distances, observation skills and luck of both sorts...

[nutjob]

:facepalm: lucky bastard!

[Murray]

Yr still an egg for running up his rear , but "very low" sorta tells me the sylvia wont be up to warrant standard and shouldn't be on the road to start with, no wonder he was nervous !

First thing I thought too

Glad your all OK and the bikes still going - May see you Sunday for a ride

[firefighter]

Hahahaha :facepalm:

Watch all the experts come along with hindsight advice even though it's obvious you learn't your lesson.......

Good attitude mate.

[FROSTY]

So dude seriously. What did you learn?
In your opinion what should you do differently in future?
Sometimes the best lessons are those learned the hard way.

Here's my take for what its worth.
In traffic you should "cover" the front brake lever.-Fingers resting on top of it
In traffic always be looking for an escape route -better still multiple escape routes.

[Ronin]

I'm waiting for someone to come in and tell you that somewhere, a puppy dies for your sins.

Target Fixation... 'Tis a bastard. Look at the back of the car and that's where you go.

Oh... and Rossi... slow down :yes:

Glad your all good.

[mikemike104]

So dude seriously. What did you learn?
In your opinion what should you do differently in future?
Sometimes the best lessons are those learned the hard way.

Here's my take for what its worth.
In traffic you should "cover" the front brake lever.-Fingers resting on top of it
In traffic always be looking for an escape route -better still multiple escape routes.

I learned that when it happens it happens fast.

Since I started riding in March this year I have often covered the front brake but not always, usually in heavy traffic / filtering (filtering I cover both brakes) not while out on the open road. So that will need to be changed to ALWAYS covering the front brake. I have more and more since the collision on Monday noticed that my right fingers ened up over that leaver anyway, so Its becoming more natural already. So point noted on that one, I accept it would have been a game changer had I been doing it on Monday.

Target fix has gotten me twice now. I'm unsure how to change this behaviour as obviously I need to change / learn how to react faster / develop better skills.
One of which is easily identifiable as brake & swerve, which I have practiced a few times since Monday.

A friend has sussed out a massive car park we can use as we wish, so I plan to get down there and pratice pratice pratice brake & swerve till I fall off or run outta petrol.

[mikemike104]

Good to hear you're OK. I was admiring your paint job down at unirec this evening. If you were following the car in the right wheel track, why did u decide to undertake the car on the left instead of overtake on the right?
You may or may not remember Peter Brock and his ad campaign "only a fool breaks the 2 second rule" though there's not a lot of that happening around Hamiltron

Be bloody honest mate, the paint job's shit, looks ok from afar tho :yes:

The 2 second rule I have been using constantly since Monday, wish I had used it on the day tho.


I thought this was just another a thread about waving...
... until I concentrated and discovered that it is really about following distances, observation skills and luck of both sorts...

I am often accused of owning some pretty good luck, I just hope I dont deplete my stock of it too fast. I was stoked that he waved tho, till I sussed out he had also stopped in front of me, that was a bummer.


Yr still an egg for running up his rear , but "very low" sorta tells me the sylvia wont be up to warrant standard and shouldn't be on the road to start with, no wonder he was nervous !

Agreed, I feel like an egg still, all spherical and delicate.


:facepalm: lucky bastard!

Thinking of getting that tattoo'd actually.


First thing I thought too

Glad your all OK and the bikes still going - May see you Sunday for a ride

Would be keen on a ride but we are floating from Grantham street to Ngaruawahia on a massive raft drinking beer, so another time, you guys enjoy.


Hahahaha :facepalm:

Watch all the experts come along with hindsight advice even though it's obvious you learn't your lesson.......

Good attitude mate.

I try learn from my mistakes cause making the same one's twice is more than disappointing.


I'm waiting for someone to come in and tell you that somewhere, a puppy dies for your sins.

Target Fixation... 'Tis a bastard. Look at the back of the car and that's where you go.

Oh... and Rossi... slow down :yes:

Glad your all good.

Funny you should mention this, I found an abandoned dog last night, had to call animal control...

[sil3nt]

Is this car park in Hamilton? Been trying to think of somewhere to practice.

[avgas]

Ride to survive, or die quietly please.
and keep off the lawn!!!

*gently rocks chair while holding both armrests*

[Latte]

There's probably a chance he's an unlicensed driver, driving an unwoffed unlicensed car (my 1st thought when you mentioned nervous). Let him make the 1st move :D Call the insurance company only if you have to.

Report to the police though, you can get in trouble for that.

[mikemike104]

Is this car park in Hamilton? Been trying to think of somewhere to practice.

Yep, he asked his boss and boss was happy.. unsure of the extent of that offer tho, will ask for you and let you know.


Ride to survive, or die quietly please.
and keep off the lawn!!!

*gently rocks chair while holding both armrests*

Surviving is the plan I assure you.


There's probably a chance he's an unlicensed driver, driving an unwoffed unlicensed car (my 1st thought when you mentioned nervous). Let him make the 1st move :D Call the insurance company only if you have to.

Report to the police though, you can get in trouble for that.

Good idea, due to my profession I was able to check on the car as soon as I got to work the next day as this was my thought also, has a wof and rego and is in the drivers name. Good on him for having a up to date car, unsure if he has a license as I didn't have those details..

I do wonder if he knows if there is money owing on the car from 3 owners ago... would be a shame if someone called the finance company in question and told them where to find the car wouldn't it? :innocent:

[FROSTY]

Mike. A bit of advice--perfecting the swerve thing yea maybee but I'd strongly suggest you at this stage of your riding need to be ALWAYS looking for escape routes.
If he pulls out of that driveway I will....
If he brakes hard I will....................
Ive been riding for 30 odd years and away in the back of my mind still I'm doing the same thing.

[mikemike104]

Mike. A bit of advice--perfecting the swerve thing yea maybee but I'd strongly suggest you at this stage of your riding need to be ALWAYS looking for escape routes.
If he pulls out of that driveway I will....
If he brakes hard I will....................
Ive been riding for 30 odd years and away in the back of my mind still I'm doing the same thing.

Alrite, to be truthful that's never been on the front of my mind these last 8 months... I will start to lead with that thought while riding from tomorrow on the way to work.

Cheers for the tip.

[Phreak]

Check the rego on carjam, if you got it. Just to be sure of whether or not the car is legally on the road. Glad you are okay though, be sure to rest your leg a bit because shock can hide the pain till the next day or so...

Sounds like you learnt the same lesson as me on my recent off - never assume what the cars around you are about to do!