How many accidents have you had and what caused it/them?

[nadroj]

With all due respect.

I don't think it's healthy focusing overtly on accidents, I prefer to dwell on the thousands and thousands of miles/kilometres that I have ridden without negative incident!

I have just been for a wee blatt to top up the tank on the bike, a couple of K's ended up being a ride from Otematata to Omarama and back, felt so good I then went around Lake Aviemore, then down to Kurow and back home, where it all ended too soon!

Why did I put myself in front of all that danger .... because there was no danger, simply a shit hot lovely ride on a nice day on a great bike!

With all due respect also, I feel an insight as to how people (riders) analyze the incident they were involved in can be an indication as to whether a lesson is learn, not as to what happened, but to how the incident may have been avoided.
Admitting fault is the the precurser to lesson learned!

[cold comfort]

With all due respect.

I don't think it's healthy focusing overtly on accidents, I prefer to dwell on the thousands and thousands of miles/kilometres that I have ridden without negative incident!

I have just been for a wee blatt to top up the tank on the bike, a couple of K's ended up being a ride from Otematata to Omarama and back, felt so good I then went around Lake Aviemore, then down to Kurow and back home, where it all ended too soon!

Why did I put myself in front of all that danger .... because there was no danger, simply a shit hot lovely ride on a nice day on a great bike!

Great to hear you are still taking advantage of having the Tiger in the shed. Hopefully with the "summer" coming up it may happen again soon!

[Grubber]

On almost every KB ride that I have attended where there has been 20 or more bikes, there has been an accident, and they have all been pilot error. Seems to me that the best thing that we could do to be safer when riding is pull our heads out.....

One thing i do is....not ride in large groups!
That way, the idiots that seem to think they are better n everyone else don't get the chance to try and prove it with me around.

Been riding for 40 years and I've had 2 road crashes. First one was trying to hill climb over a barb wire fence due to large animal on the road. The fence won.
2nd one was my fault, too quick into a corner with known gravel hazard that left me no where to go but down. Couple of broken ribs and bit of bike damage. That''s my lot. I do ride quick but tend to be very vigilant as to where i do it. comes with having eyes in the back of my head.
I spend a lot of time scouting the area as i ride. Seems to help a lot if you can see potential hazards before you end up hitting them.

[shrub]

One thing i do is....not ride in large groups!

Amen to that. I avoid riding with any more than 3 to 5 people i know and trust and I'd say 90% of my riding is either with my son or with a couple of other people that I have ridden many, many kilometers with. On the few occassions I have joined larger groups I have ended up either dropping out or regretting the decision because of idiotic behaviour. I have also found a few people I will never ride with because despite allegedly being experienced riders they do shit that scares me.

[onmybike]

For me, who is about to return to riding after 12 years away this a good way of remembering my history and the painful lessons. Not as many as others here but have had intervals between bikes. Buy one, break it, sell it, get a car, buy another one.

1st was at aged 7 at the Easter show on a Honda 50 (i think) got cut off, high-sided a parked truck next to the track-broken arm
2nd was on mates Gn250 at aged 16 with him on the back. Going too fast, braked too hard on bend-no real damage but got a smack in the guts from my mate (just a little one).
3rd was a 19ish talentless plonker (me) riding my near new Bol D'or over a rise in south Auckland at night, front wheel came up, i came off, bike hit a pole with a fullish tank of gas and BBQ'd itself when tank split, meanwhile i continued down the road and had bruising from the initial fall.
4th was 12 years ago (in my thirties by then) car turned into a driveway in front of me but stopped mid turn after seeing me, I managed to put the bike up the same driveway- a little paint on the exhaust and my boot but all good- the boss wasn't happy though.

So this helps me remember that it's mostly me doing this to myself, I've got better but not perfect (is anyone?). Helps to remeber these while riding so you don't forget what can happen.

[GSF]

aww I love swapping crash stories.

ill just pick my favourite one. I was riding down memorial ave in chch at say 60kph and an asian high school kid run across the rd infront of me with his mp3 player/earphones in. didnt even look left and right. tisk tisk.

anyway, I remember wondering why there was this kid infront of me.. then black out. then sorta came to and I was way further down the rd, the bike was under a parked car fairly mangled and the kid was further up the rd not moving :S

in the end he was ok, with internal bruising/bleeding and some sort of leg injury and I got a sweet neckbrace.

I'll prob pass the blame onto the kid if no body minds.

Jesus, hitting a pedestrian would be nasty. My dad saw a guy on Symonds Street get hit by a motorcycle some time in the 80s, think the pedestrian lost his leg.

The most terrifying moment of my life was when I was riding past MOTAT and a little three or four year old kid got loose from his parents and ran onto the road about 25-30m in front of me. I've never done a faster evasive maneouvre, just dropped a shoulder and swung into the next lane. I had barely even checked to see if that lane was occupied, I would've rather been hit from behind by a car than run over a toddler.

[G4L4XY]

ts185er = flipping it while 2 up going up a steep hill

vt250 = car driver doing uturn in front of me and taking me out

gsxr750 = write off due to speed on my part and car pulling out of drive way, both car and bike were writen off

gsxr1100 - write off due to low side while leaning over to far and giving it to much gas tryin to show off

yamaha r1 = write off due to bald tyre and to much gas while getting knee down on the road in front of mates

and im sure there have been a few others in there to, but they are the main ones..

What a bike recker!!

[G4L4XY]

I'll add mine, was riding in the rain and I remember when you first start riding and well I guess all throughout too they like to remind you to watchout for the painted lines on the road.
Well I was well aware of that but I found myself heading around a left hand bend, not sharp and I wasn't going too fast but I ended up on that line and suddenly the front wheel slipped out in front of me, tankslapped itself away across the centre line (lucky no oncoming cars else I wouldn't be here today), feet came off the footpegs, I have no idea how but the slapping came under control and I managed to stop it before the ditch on the other side of the road.
All the [then] oncoming cars were staring at me with my head on the gas tank, heart beating as fast as a rocket, wondering wtf I was doing.
I'm always careful in the wet but that line screwed me over.
Done around 40,000ks in two years now, and yeah my other post was my first real accident, dropped it a couple times but they dont count

[Asher]

I had my first crashon Anzac day coming back from the big ride out to Little River. Heading back near the top of Gebbies Pass a cement truck had spilt gravel on a corner, I spotted it coming up the hill and slowed to around 35kmh but even that speed combined with a bad line caused my back wheel to wash out and i lowsided off the road.
Caused minor damage to the bike and scuffed up my leathers and boots.
Sure I could try and blame it on an unmarked hazard but it really came down to me underestimating how slippery it was and not taking a cautious line.
And I've done around 11k km's

[Road kill]

I'm 53 and been riding since I was 16.
Had uncounted little off's,none of them count because they didn't hurt much.
The two that did hurt,,hurt a lot and I live in fear of doing it again,,,,third time an all aye
All of them have been my own fault for any number of reasons,,the two were both speed related.
Never been involved in a prang with another vehicle.
Touch wood.

[Tigadee]

What a bike recker!!

And a motorcycle dealer's wet dream!

[unstuck]

Last one was about 4 weeks ago when the front brake lever went through my leg.

[LBD]

3 accidents and 5 near misses in 40 years riding...in order...

1) A combination of loose gravel, youthful indestructibility and inexperience on a slow corner

2 and 3) Slow car turning left across my path without indicating.

The 5 near misses are similar to 2 and 3, or pulling onto road without looking for oncoming traffic

[darkwolf]

Haven't been riding long - 6,000KM - but before I was riding proper like a big boy, I was riding a friend CT110 around a lifestyle block driveway. Got a bit "comfortable" and thought I'd see what would happen if I wrung it out, found myself looking at the speedo and when I looked up my mates were standing on the corner I had planned to use as a run-off in case I couldn't stop it I put the front brake on, being the only brake I was aware of as I hadn't thought to ask and the front started to wash out so I got off the brakes and quickly assessed the situation:
gravel driveway,
left hander that I had no way of making it round,
mates standing like dear in headlights ahead,
tractor with bale forks to my slight right
electric fence hard right.

Decision: lay the bike on its side and hope for the best. Came to a remarkably fast stop by using my head as a brake with no helmet on. Got up, and saw only green from my right eye for about half an hour. Lesson well and truly learnt. Helmet always on, focus ahead, bikes have two brakes and importantly - don't be a dick!

[puddytat]

3....
My first accident was in a ford Anglia on Te Mata peak......my mate fucked up trying to impress a fat chick
2. Ford Falcon ute doing a Uey along from Manuels in Taupo......she fucked up cause she didnt see me
3 I fucked up in the Buller gorge once .

Been lucky with mostly scrapes & bumps.