Our Mortality (part two)

[beyond]

Part 2.... See part 1 first: http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/showthread.php?t=39808

The T250 Hustler was running well. You're up to your old
tricks and it's slightly quicker with the straight bars
you bought with all the other new bits to repair what would
have been a writeoff.

Time to break my older brothers record around Opahake Roundabout
in Papakura. The right angle part of the roundabout can
be taken at 90kmh. That's the record set by my brother and his mates.
I come towards the roundabout at 95kmh and get ready to drop her
over and around and a car pops out of nowhere right where I need to go.
I have to gun the bike and enter at 105kmh to get in front of
the car. No one's going to beat this speed, I think to myself as
the bike is thrown over into the tight right hander. I'm going to
make it,sweet. The right peg is biting hard and all's going well,
the rear twitches slightly as the weight goes on the older bikes,
fixed peg and then it's all over as the right handlbar digs into
the asphalt. A couple of 360's later, see's me nearly through
the door of the corner dairy.

I feel like a dick, kick the bike into life and head up the road
to survey the damage at my mates house, leaving several concerned
motorists standing in the middle of the roundabout. The sleeves
gone off my dad's rugby jacket, my right boot is paper thin, the
helmets got a few more gouges and the bikes got bent levers and
pegs and oh well. Out with the crowbar and I'm away again.

I finish work one Friday at the Papakura Courthouse and head down
the road to the Papakura tavern to have a few drinks before riding home
down Willis Road. A couple of hours later you decide you better
stop drinking and head home. It's August, cold and wet and
now dark. Get home before the plonk really hits home. Well,
I made it.

An hour later my older brother rings and asks me to pick him up
from town as it's wet and he doesn't want to walk home. I tell him
no way, I've been drinking but older brothers have a way of getting
what they want.

He told me later that after he jumped on the back, he knew we would crash
as I left the kerb with the back end spinning, motocross style down
the road. Entering Willis Road, the throttle was pinned. The T250 could do
140kmh two up with the throttle jammed wide and that was what we were
doing. A few hundred metres before our house a white Ford Falcon
pulls out of a side road from the right. I go to slow down but realise
I'll miss him anyway so pin the throttle again and plough into the unlit
trailer he was towing at 140kmh. The trailer is totalled and it spins
on the towball, writing off an Austin A40 waiting to pull out of
the opposite side road.

It was too dark to see the sky beneath my feet this time. Streetlights
seem to flash after that horrendous noise and I felt like I was flying
endlessly until I hit the ground harder than I ever have before, some 50 metres
away from the intersection. I had just missed a pole several metres back.

I must have been out for a long time. Shock is a weird thing. I didn't know
where I was but lots of people were milling around and shouting including our
parents who heard the smash over the TV hundreds of metres away. A siren could
be heard approaching. I hurt all over, badly and it seemed to be getting worse.
It was then I heard the screaming. It was my brother. They had to shoot him
up with drugs while they carted us off to Middlemore. It was a long night before
they got to me, but once again, I was lucky. Smashed collarbone, mangled left foot
with broken bones and numerous deep bruising. The chin bar on my helmet was gone.

My brothers leg had hit the side of the trailer and it had nearly been
guillotined off. He was in hospital for nearly 10 months while they managed to
save his leg. It's two inches shorter than the other but at the time,
it was real touch and go as the doctors were not sure they could save it.

The bike was sold as a wreck and the motor used in cart racing for several years
before eventually popping.

It was a while before I had another bike. In fact, I was married to that same
girlfriend at 21 and needed a cheap commuter. A Suzuki T350 became my ride for
a few years and at one stage, our only transport was a Honda SL125. But that's another
story......


Part three:
http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/showthread.php?t=40711

[Brett]

That is a bloody good write up mate, bling duly awarded! It is good to hear the experiences of someone who has been riding since before i was anything. Seems boys will always be boys, and for all of our yapping on about good safety gear, you did survive quite a few smashes:innocent: - not saying that good gear isn't vital mind you.

[terbang]

A great story there Paul. Your voice also has a heavy message that we should all have a think about.

[gijoe1313]

:gob: :shit: ... gibber ... urble ... gleep! Does your brother still talk to you? Crikey - serious need for speed there, amazing you're still here able to get this down :sick: good read! Keep 'em coming!

[MattRSK]

and people complain about the youth of today...

Thanks for that Beyond a great read.

[Ixion]

Well hang on, there were extenuating circumstances. Remember, the T250 was a two stroke.

[Mr. Peanut]

Anyone else feel sorry for the Austins?

[yungatart]

What's taking so long... where is part three?

[beyond]

:) LOL

Part three will be another night, another time, sometime soon :)

This fellow needs some sleep so I can work all day tomorrow and ride all weekend. Opps, better not let the missus see that. :)

[yungatart]

bugger! I guess I'll just be taking my ball and going home then
Good night!

[erik]

A great story there Paul. Your voice also has a heavy message that we should all have a think about.
Yeah, this post and part 1 were both good reading. (I'm not being sarcastic, I enjoyed them).

I'm not sure what the message is though. That you can do stupid stuff and get away with it?

I'm a complete wuss, I've become even more of a nana after my last off, which was minor but caught me by surprise (I'm still not totally sure what caused it) and has left me with a sore right hand still 2 and a half months after the accident.
Not to mention the serious accidents that have happened lately to forum members.

If anything, the message I get from this post is just what I mentioned before: that you can do dangerous stuff and get away with it.
From reading your (beyond's) other posts about the coro loop, and other riders' praise of your riding, it sounds like you still enjoy pushiing the limits on the road.

There's not many people you hear about riding naked bikes that get praised by sportsbike riders. I look up to that.

It's late and I'm not really sure where I'm going with this. I guess all I've got to say is it's a good read, but I don't see a clear message in it.

[beyond]

Thanks Erik,

Some good comments. I did buy a naked at 48 years old cos I was an old bugger and I felt that the speed and limit thing would be well out of my system. Well, people are right. My mind is still very young and I've aged reasonably well but once you have the taste for power, speed and the thrill, it never leaves you. It is an awesome feeling running a big sports tourer to the edge but recently I leave a lot of room for other drivers errors and also because all of those that I ride with regularly have had a bin of some sort, two of them quite bad involving writeoffs.

The point of my story is to share my experiences and show that we aren't really invincible but some of us are extremely lucky or have a divinebeing looking out for us. Back in those days there were very little in the way of protective clothing and even helmets weren't compulsory for some time. Yet, we had some horrendous crashes and mostly walked away. BUT, the point is, every one of those incidents could have ended my life because of my stupidity and the feeling of invincibility many of us believe we have at younger ages.

I remember a friend at school riding a kawasaki Mach 3 500 who was riding at 50kmh without a helmet (legal then). He went to pull a wheelie, the chain snapped, wrapped around his leg, pulled him off his bike, head hit the curb and cracked his nut and three days later he was six feet under. :(

Even with all the right gear, some die at ridiculously low speeds and others wearing hardly anything survive 200kmh offs. Work that one out, it's real common.

In my experience, it's up to the individual to realise what is not a good move and what not to do if you want to live long and healthy. i.e. as in my escapades; don't overtake cars approaching an intersection, don't drink and ride, don't try and break records etc.

I will share more of my experiences over the next week or so and in each story, there will be points to be made, lessons to be learnt, but most of all a warning about our own mortality. It is a thin thread that keeps our mortal bodies in touch with this physical world.

[terbang]

I'm not sure what the message is though. That you can do stupid stuff and get away with it?


I was wondering what makes you think he got away with it? He wrecked his bike twice and damn near killed his brother. Hardly getting away with it I reckon. The message as I see it is don't push your luck because it is not a matter of IF but more definatly WHEN you take a bin if you ride hard out all the time. I suspect, very much the reason Paul is sharing his experience, is in the hope that those that think they are getting away with it will take heed. What happens to you when you Bin, on the road at high speed, becomes pot luck ranging from a few bruises to a complete splatter. Believe me no matter what you are wearing won't make much difference if you hit something at high speed.
I am a similar vintage to Beyond and his recollections parallel many of my own. I have had a lifetime of the revhead affliction myself, riding motorbikes and flying jet aircraft. Its not that things were too much different then as they are now with regard to the allure of power and speed. Its just that he's been there for a while and has witnessed more of the consequences of our chosen pastime. Basicly its a hell of a lot easier to kill oneself riding a motorcycle than perhaps reading a good novel or watching TV. Be carefull the revhead stuff is like an addiction that needs to be managed with a lot of self control.

[terbang]

Well hang on, there were extenuating circumstances. Remember, the T250 was a two stroke.

Hah you are right they were a wild ride..!

[MSTRS]

It is a thin thread that keeps our mortal bodies in touch with this physical world.

How right you are...about all of it actually. So much of what we do is governed by dumb luck. Here's to all of us being lucky - otherwise :buggerd:

[erik]

Cheers beyond for your reply.


I was wondering what makes you think he got away with it? He wrecked his bike twice and damn near killed his brother. Hardly getting away with it I reckon.
Because he lived to tell the tale and ride again. He didn't get away scot free, but he got off relatively light by the sounds of things.

[vifferman]

Why does there need to be any message(s)? Read the story, draw your own conclusions.
If someone has to be told something (like, "it's stupid to ride without protective clothing"), they're never going to believe the message or live by it anyway.
Are we so used to the Gubmint/FacelessGreyBureaucrats making rules for us and/or telling us what to think, what to do, that we can no longer be personally responsible/accountable for our own actions?

Oh shit - I'm raving again... :whocares: :rockon: :done:
[/rant mode off]
[resumption of normal transmission]

By the way - good story, Paul. :niceone: It was almost enough to get me out of my apathetic state to write summat myself.

[90s]

Better to lay out the narrative (very good text ... "nearly guillotined off ..." ugh!) and let people draw there own conclusions than start with "today's lesson on safety is NEVER ride fast" with the reader knowing full well that the writer probably dropped and few bikes and did a few stupid things.

[90s]

Hey, 'stories of our own younger foolishness' like this reminds me of a great story a friend told me recently about when she lived in Japan in the 90s. Seems she had some 'bad' musrooms for dinner (wink) and decided to head to the supermarket on her scooter. Loosing control of the brakes coming up to the store she avioded entering through the plate-glass window by riding IN through the door, skidded the bike but held it by the throttle and hung on for grim death. As she stood holding the bike it ran circles around her causing general destruction and toppling two aisles before she let go and it bought down another isle on her. She remembers clearing tins of her face and bemused seeing people looking down at her covered in grocery as the bike still screemed away on the floor.

She assures me the whole incidenet was not a mushroom-fueled fantasy.
Apparently the Japanese were not amused and it cost her a fortune.

[Mr. Peanut]

As a younger rider, I can identify with a lot of the things you said. Many of us younger ones know that we should ride slower, but dont understand why older bikers do, perhaps we think you're just losing your reflexes or sight...

Stories like this make us reflect on our own attitudes and how it could all go very wrong for us. There is no need for us to learn the hard way if we understand the reasons why you have made the decision to slow down and take a more responisble approach to riding.

I do think that I have a responsible attitude, always ride in full leathers, take extra caution around blind corners 50km/h zones and so forth.

Despite the fact that you were irresponsible, you did for a long time get away with it. When you did come to grief, it was due to the actions of other motorists. So, regardless of how invincible I think I am, or how well I know the road/my bike, there are more motorists out there than ever, driving faster, more accessable cars ( much cheaper).

Sorry about the obvious lack of structure, but I think I get my point across :mellow:

[Motu]

The point of my story is to share my experiences and show that we aren't really invincible but some of us are extremely lucky or have a divinebeing looking out for us.


I have shared some of my early experiances on this site - I don't think they really believe me....''Oh,it's just Motu with his opposing views again''.But I really have survived major get offs with minimal protection...I certainly don't advocate riding with no protection and I have no scars or broken bones to show off.....each day is a gift.

One of the most experianced riders I have ever known was killed in a low speed spill a few years ago,he lowsided his bike to avoid a head on,he should of just been able to pick his bike up and carry on.But a small screwdriver he had in his breast pocket went up under his helmet and behind his ear into the brain.An early life of unbeleivable danger and doing the Pan American Highway from South to North America on a 1961 Bonnie in the late '70's...to lie dead on the road without a mark on him.Do as much as you can in this life so you don't have to come back and do it again....

[Mr. Peanut]

I make a special note of removing nasty metal things from my pocket before I ride... ouch :sick:

[vifferman]

I make a special note of removing nasty metal things from my pocket before I ride... ouch :sick:
Me too.

No, not really. I usually ADD things, in case I need them.

My pockets when I'm riding typically contain:
- Sundry loose change (if I'm lucky)
- Cellphone
- Three sets of keys
- A tyre-pressure gauge
- An allen key (in case I feel the need to de-spud the Satantune)
- A soft cloth for my visor
- Digital camera
- Spare earploooogs (in plastic case)
- A hanky
- A ballpoint pen (large, so it can be operated with glubs on)
- Wallet

The keychains are interesting (and could make fascinating bruises) - one is a knobbly hard plastic Mickey Mouse; one is a Ducati keyring, with an aluminium LED torch on the same ring; the other is a hard plastic orange label thing.

I used to also have a Merlin gargre-door opener, in my left lower pocket (one of seven (7) pockets), but it's now velcroed inside the fairing somewhere.

[Deviant Esq]

Good read there beyond, have some green :niceone:
Glad you're still around to recount the events that helped shape you into who you are. Sounds as though those memories are clear as a bell even though they were several years ago.

In a way I'm glad I was past my teenage lunacy when I got into motorbikes. Having saved other motorists from themselves driving my cage, I knew that if they could miss my big ugly green car, then they sure as hell couldn't see me on a motorbike, so I try my best to stay well clear for the most part.

Still, plenty of messages to be taken out of that for younger riders. If you feel invinceable, some plonker's just waiting to pull out in front of you. Oh, and the "oh fuck, he's towing a trailer!"... I've come across that one before and was fairly lucky to keep the bike upright as I swerved around it!

[gijoe1313]

No, not really. I usually ADD things, in case I need them.

My pockets when I'm riding typically contain:
- Sundry loose change (if I'm lucky)
- Cellphone
- Three sets of keys
- A tyre-pressure gauge
- An allen key (in case I feel the need to de-spud the Satantune)
- A soft cloth for my visor
- Digital camera
- Spare earploooogs (in plastic case)
- A hanky
- A ballpoint pen (large, so it can be operated with glubs on)
- Wallet


:lol: I know exactly what you are on about ... I worry about the impact they might have ... :shit:

-Digital camera
-$20 tucked away (fer emergencies!)
-Multi-tool
-LED blinking gadget
-LED handsfree light
-Digital airpressure gauge
-Swiss army knife
-Ipod
-Spray n'wipe bottle for visor
-Notebook
-Pen
-Sunglasses
-Housekeys
-One hand opening lockblade
-Balaclava
-Kiwibiker patches (which still haven't been sewn on yet!)
-Cellphone
-Disc lock and pouch
-Reminder cable for disc lock

Sheesh, now that I've listed my contents ... I've still got room for others! Whee! Sorry for the threadjack, but it's an important point that was brought up...having sharp, puncturing type items is a no-no :sick: I would hate to be explaining myself in a line somewhere ..

"So, I bought it when my microlights wings folded on me..."
"Er, um, yes...I got it 'cause my Visor spray n'clean bottle got rammed up my nose in a minor bin..." :doh:

[kiwifruit]

You have a great way of writing Beyond. I still think you should write a book.... "How to have fun and stay alive on a motorcycle in NZ".

Cheers, Allan.

[terbang]

''Oh,it's just Motu with his opposing views again''.But I really have survived major get offs with minimal protection...I certainly don't advocate riding with no protection and I have no scars or broken bones to show off.....each day is a gift.


You subversive old dirt bike rider! However I know what you say about the gear. My worst offs have been in my younger years when I was wearing swandri and jeans. Luck was on my side and thats all. We have real nice gear now readily available so we can be proactive, at a reasonable price, towards mitigating our personal injury. However if I read Beyond right, even a titanium armoured suit is no substitute for using our noggin when it comes down avoiding injury or worse.

[beyond]

However if I read Beyond right, even a titanium armoured suit is no substitute for using our noggin when it comes down avoiding injury or worse.

Yep, there's nothing in this whole wide world that is going to help you when your numbers up. It would be fantastic if you could buy Motorcycle Insurance that would guarantee your survival in any crash, but then I suppose we would all have to win the lotto to keep ourselves in bikes as we would be riding harder and faster than we do now.

The other thing that has changed since my younger days, is the potency of the our bikes. The fastest bike I could buy in my day, was a Yamaha RD350
which topped out at 112mph (180kmh) The biggest bike you could buy was a Honda CB750 which topped out at 105 mph.

Those speeds have my 14 virtually at idle and the same goes for many of todays bikes, big and small. It's just as well the gears got better but our levels of invincibility or lack thereof, remains the same.

[Motu]

I've had far more near misses where I should of been killed or horribly injured.For me what impresses is how much we pull out of nowhere to survive....until you have been to the point where you know you surely are going to die in a bad way,you don't know what you are really capable of,kind of a battlefield thing....the closest us civilians can get.It comes out of thin air,you don't have those skills...but it's the only option and you pull it off like you know what you are doing.Thing is...now you do know what you are doing,because you've done it.

I recomend strongly that you don't learn this way....

[EZAS]

Having lived on Kind Edward Ave for 6 years (in the mid-80's) I honestly think your f*cking stupid for having tried 90k let alont 95kmh around that round about. I'm guessing this was when it was a single lane too, which makes the senario even more stupid. Having ended up near the Dairy, I believe you would have been heading up round Butterworth, which is where the camber on the round about increases (not in a good way).

There is a very fine line between Big Balls and stupidity, as soon as the bike low sides or you crash, your balls shrivel up and your left having to live with the consequences. I hate having to sit on the side of the road with a smashed up bike, its demoralising and having read your post It opened the flood gates of all the crashes where I've been left in the same situation.

I'm really glad to see that your back in the saddle, very glad to read that your brother kept the leg too :) :rockon:

[Ixion]

I've had far more near misses where I should of been killed or horribly injured.For me what impresses is how much we pull out of nowhere to survive....until you have been to the point where you know you surely are going to die in a bad way,you don't know what you are really capable of,kind of a battlefield thing....the closest us civilians can get.It comes out of thin air,you don't have those skills...but it's the only option and you pull it off like you know what you are doing.Thing is...now you do know what you are doing,because you've done it.

I recomend strongly that you don't learn this way....

Ah, well, if we're talking near misses ----. At the end of the day an awful lot of it is just luck, or fate or karma, or whatever you want to call it. I've had far more than my share of "by rights should have crashed horribly, but somehow scraped through" experiences. Without a scratch. And seen others, far far better riders than I, crash, often at low speeds when riding quite sensibly, and be badly injured or killed. There's no rhyme or reason in it.

The odd thing is, that when I've gotten into real trouble on the road, I've always found as you say, that somehow I manage to pull off stuff that I would have thought I could never do, and escape.

But when I used to ride off road, it didn't work. I'd crash. On road, in a crisis, everything slows down, the brain switches into a sort of non verbal overdrive , and everything gets very calm and quiet and focused. Never happened off road.

Only reason I could ascribe to it is that on road, I have never expected to crash. I don't mean being complacent , "can't happen to me" - more that on road I REFUSE to crash . I *WILL NOT* allow myself to crash on the road.

Off road, I , not exactly expected to crash , didn't happen everytime by any means, and I didn't want it to, but when things went jelly shaped it was a sort of "oh shit oh shit here we go again", it was a part and parcel of rough riding. On road when the same sort of thing happened it was different, sort of " NO. NOT ACCEPTABLE. Engage emergency systems"

I do think that mental attitude is extraordinarily important in these things.

[Edbear]

:lol: I know exactly what you are on about ... I worry about the impact they might have ... :shit:

-Digital camera
-$20 tucked away (fer emergencies!)
-Multi-tool
-LED blinking gadget
-LED handsfree light
-Digital airpressure gauge
-Swiss army knife
-Ipod
-Spray n'wipe bottle for visor
-Notebook
-Pen
-Sunglasses
-Housekeys
-One hand opening lockblade
-Balaclava
-Kiwibiker patches (which still haven't been sewn on yet!)
-Cellphone
-Disc lock and pouch
-Reminder cable for disc lock

Sheesh, now that I've listed my contents ... I've still got room for others! Whee! Sorry for the threadjack, but it's an important point that was brought up...having sharp, puncturing type items is a no-no :sick: I would hate to be explaining myself in a line somewhere ..

"So, I bought it when my microlights wings folded on me..."
"Er, um, yes...I got it 'cause my Visor spray n'clean bottle got rammed up my nose in a minor bin..." :doh:



Just when you thought you couldn't outdo a woman's handbag...!:done:

Excellent write-ups, Beyond! Good lessons for all. I'm much more circumspect about my riding now, too. Notice my sig?

[Motu]

But when I used to ride off road, it didn't work. I'd crash. On road, in a crisis, everything slows down, the brain switches into a sort of non verbal overdrive , and everything gets very calm and quiet and focused. Never happened off road.

I do think that mental attitude is extraordinarily important in these things.

I've only had it happen when going at a fast pace off road...like road speeds.Once on a wide fire break honking along in 5th,so maybe about 70kph or so,maybe more....I got my front wheel caught in a hidden cow trail rut.The front wheel wouldn't climb out,I was flapping the wheel side to side but it was washout out city.I was standing on the pegs,as you have to at that speed,and knew I was in serious trouble...the bike was taking me where I didn't want to go,my choices were a high speed tangle with the trees,a nasty slingshot highside into said trees,or an even worse front wheel dump involving handlebars and the ground.

I wanted out of there,and figured the best thing would be to bail now,just step off the bike.The act of shifting all my weight to the inside peg must of been enough to sort out the rut and the bike was under control again.I inadvertently pulled something unknown out of my bag of tricks,kind of a lucky dip,but it did what was needed.I think we need the time to think,even if the thinking is at light speed it's not fast enough for low speed off road.

Kenny Roberts talks about bags on a wall - in each bag is what you need to do in that particular situation.What he does is look on his wall an choose the appropriate bag.Visualisation - the most important tool to survival on a motorcycle....or in life itself.Visualise your goal,live your goal....as you see in your mind so will appear in your life.

[Clivoris]

Nice, thought provoking writing mate. Put me right there.
Sometimes we're lucky and sometimes we aren't. The ones that meet their maker aren't going to be able to post their stories here without the help of Shirley Maclean. None of us get on our bikes seriously thinking that we might not make it home. A bit of thought can improve our chances. I'm glad it gets easier as I get older.

[BarBender]

Another good read Beyond.:yeah:
Thanks for putting out the stuff that matters.
Would love to have a ride and a beer with you one day.

You've officially been blinged!

[sugilite]

Only reason I could ascribe to it is that on road, I have never expected to crash. I don't mean being complacent , "can't happen to me" - more that on road I REFUSE to crash . I *WILL NOT* allow myself to crash on the road.

I do think that mental attitude is extraordinarily important in these things.

Well written Ixion, I could not agree more. Though our experiences are vastly different, our attitudes to crashing are somewhat similar. I too have a crashing is not an option, not part of my reality mindset. I believe many riders talk them selves into crashing with out really needing too. It goes along the lines of "ARGGGG I'm going to crash", then they proceed to do just that! Life has a habit of meeting ones expectations. I never give up hope until I'm lying on the ground and the wheels have stopped turning, witness my avatar!

When I was learning on dirt bikes I crashed nearly every day, and indeed would tell myself off for being soft if I did not. When I migrated to road bikes, some bikes I crashed, others not, I sure did notice the harsher penalties crashing road bikes, both for the body and long suffering wallet!
Then it was off to the track and my crashing career was reignited somewhat:yes:
As a racer who wanted to succeed, limits had to be found and importantly lessons retained for future reference. Later in my race career I raced a ZX9R superbike for 4 years and crashed it only once, and that was on a track that resembled a river and I went down on mud that had been ground into the track by those bloody fu&$#^g drifters doing donuts to clean their tyres after off track excursions. I've crashed the ZX10R once and luckily with minimal damage, to me it has been a good thing, she was just to damn perfect, now I've popped her cherry. I feel I can ride the bitch hard and fast now :lol:

Thanks for the very cool thread Beyond, I've thoroughly enjoyed reading it and your impressive bling stats are well earned! RESPECT! :yes:

[hitch]

What a brilliant read. Always good to here others stories. :niceone:

[SpinFx]

Interesting reading both from your story and others replies, reminds me of the night I drunk and rode ( the one and only - never ever again ) when I was drunk and was takin out by another drunk driver ( how ironic ). Lost my first real bike ( the 84 shovel in my profile ) cost me a gammy wrist and 8000 bucks. Learnt real fast. Thanks for reminding me how vulnerable we all are.

[beyond]

Cheers mate.

There's another two parts and two finals to that story :)