what should i do?

[wkid_one]

I reckon there are two main causes for accidents - other factors (car/gravel etc) or confidence exceeding capacity.

Unfortunately, the nature of two wheels is that when something goes wrong - invariably you are going to fall off - it sucks - but it is motorcycling.
Yeah - racing is great - but show me a racer who has never fallen off...plus you still have to pay for the parts anyway.

Ultimately, you either live with the fact you may fall off or quit.  Or given most accidents happen within 1km of home - you could move?

The only real solution to reducing accidents is experience - knowing when to avoid certain 'hazards' etc - it is all about saddle time.  Knowing when to expect cars to pull out, knowing when to expect kids to run out etc.....is about experience. 

Track Time and Advanced training is great - but extremely contrived as you know a hazard is coming.  Yes - it will teach you to avoid hazards ONCE THEY HAVE HAPPENED - but you will never practice the skills enough for them to be second nature.  The idea is to avoid hazards BEFORE THEY HAPPEN - ie pre-empt them - and that like anything is experience of knowing where they are likely to occur.

Also - reaction times are important - something which has been demonstrated in scientific studies can only be marginally improved - you will be stunned to know - I have the same reaction times and Michael Schumacher (as most of you do) - what makes him better - he has experience behind a race wheel and the knowledge of the tracks etc....same as riding.

Unfortunately it is a case of taking the good with the bad - you may never have another accident the rest of your life (or you may have one tomorrow) - but who wants to live in cotton wool to avoid it! 

The other thing is trust you bike - if it is well serviced - you will usually chicken out well within the limits of the bike - a lot of accidents occur because the rider gave the bike incorrect inputs at the wrong time because of panic - eg sudden braking in a corner, rolling off throttle, or standing the bike up - where you should in fact be doing the opposite.

It is just that the cost of learning from these mistakes has a higher price on a bike.

 

[Kwaka-Kid]

nice1 750Y

dude i reckon keep riding! ive had my fair share i feel and am definatly going to keep on riding, and even if u think u shudnt, DO! :P we need all the riders we can get

i was told hte biggest cause of death of motorcyclists involved in accidents is a broken top leg part (fema? somtrhing like that) and the bone marrow leaking out.. :S

[Redstar]

Editied off potentiallly bad advise?

[bluninja]

On left handers you should be close to the centre line so that you have maximum visibility....ie you can see the gravel earlier...but you never sacrifice grip for a good vantage point.. The problem with left handers is that you have the camber in your favour until you cross the centre line and then it goes away from you....so if you screw up and cross the line then you suddenly have the road (comparitively) going away from you and it's much harder to get back. You're also into any oncoming traffic.I guess you are also more at risk on left handers of cars cutting the corner to your side of the road.

As for cause of death KK....well a fractured femur is going to lose you a couple of litres of blood from internal bleeding, which could easily kill you from medical shock without prompt attention.

WKID, only problem with experience is that you have to survive each new experience. With good training you can use other riders experience and tried and tested systems to avoid having to learn some things by yourself.....The CAVEAT of course is that you have to practice and practice and practice........maybe that's the real difference between you and Schumaker, not the reaction times.

TTFN

[Redstar]

shit I never did know my left from my right? anyway the above is right or left you know what I mean?

[Redstar]

Edited off bad advise.

[wkid_one]

The aim on any corner is to go through it with the minimal amount of lean at the maximum speed possible.  The more you lean - the slower you have to be travelling. 

ON public roads - Si is right - staying out and turning late is a good idea as it allows you time to 'see' the corner and make adjustments PRIOR to committing to your line.

Catch 22 tho Simon - is not riding a bike practicing?  Yes training is good - however it also creates a false sense of security.  Similarly - how many people have crashed on Puke - because they feel secure as they know the track and their bike and push too hard.  Most accidents are caused by rider capacity (if not by external influences).  Keith Code touches on the 7 adverse reactions riders have in TOTW2.  One day of rider training is not going to overcome this - but experience will.  Yes - rider training is good - however that in itself is not the answer - it is a very contrived situation through the nature of the teachings.  Does Defensive Driving courses make youngers drivers better??  I don't think so.

You have to make yourself let go of the brake in the corner and fight every instinct that is normal.  KK's crash (sorry Mate) was an example of this - had he stayed down and on the throttle he would have made the corner - but our brain is a powerful enemy on a bike.  We need to condition it to riding a bike.

We are no doubt saying the same point - experience is important - as is training - however training by itself will never be any good.  Experience will however.  How many people have you seen that make excellent riders but have never had a training course in their life?

You are never going to stop some accidents as their are idiots on the road.  Training shows you how to avoid accidents - but not how to spot them before they happen - which is my point.

I argue that in order to avoid car drivers - you need to be one.  By driving a car - you naturally position yourself and think like a car driver when in traffic.

[aff-man]

No serious accidents for me but went sliding down the road on my arse the first week riding, lucky no cars around just one mate who i was following saw me go sliding down the road in his rear views. Then i did it again a week later going around a corner all by myself almost landed under a car luckily just re-bloodied my legs. Some new tires and a few tips from more experienced riders and a havn't had any accidents in like the last year and a bit. The thing i found most usefull was to go for rides with more experienced riders and watch thier lines body positions ect.. and ask if you want to know there are always heaps of people willing to help!!

[bluninja]

Originally posted by Redstar

They reckon its better to throw a slide if the shit hits the fan have go full frontal into the rear of a truck.

What utter BOLLOCKSRedstar, I know you were only passing on advice, but if I had heeded this advice I would have been dead. I would hate for someone else to take on this advice and end up that way.

When you slide (uncontrolled) you have no control of the bike, you can't steer, you can't brake, and the friction generated by the side of your bike is about a tenth of what you get from your tyres. Sure you could get lucky and slide under the truck miss the wheels and come out the other side

More likely you hit the truck going faster than you would on the brakes. Depending on your level of skin protection, you could slide down the road abraded down to the bone....and then hit bike and truck with more force than if you stayed on the bike. If you reckon you could dive or slide out of the path of the truck, then you could certainly have steered out of the way.

Always brake until virtually the moment of impact trying to position the bike to go around the obstruction. If you can't miss it, try jumping over (cars not trucks or tractors) or using your arms and legs to slow down your impact whilst your front wheel crumples before you physically hit (at a reduced speed).

BTW WKID we are saying the same sort of thing.....training to learn skills and safe systems, riding specifically practicing them so they work for you and become part of your riding habits. But you have to want to do it....possibly why defensive driving doesn't work on teenagers. It's a shame I didn't read TOTW2 BEFORE my accident, I would have avoided it....and that would be training/learning over experience.

TTFN

 

[Marmoot]

Be careful.....
Good Judgements come from experience.
Unfortunately, experience most likely comes from bad judgements.

[Kwaka-Kid]

*reading posts/advice carefully to take in*  except on the gs1000 im on atm it doesnt matter about any of this advice etc :P its purely that you have to take it REALLY easy, because i can bruised fingures from ripping the front brake in so hard and it still stops 5x slower then any other car/bike out there, and is friggin sore! (its gotta VT250 brake level/resivoir) and its not big enuf i dont think to push the brake fuild needed, dunno, and also the throttle staying jammed slightly open never helps, it becomes like a 2 stroke, no engine brakeing.  and lastly having a square 20yo hard rear tyre, and a round but bald front tyre makes the bike feel very odd when hte front wants to lean but the rear gets about 20%lean and doesnt want to go any further,, and when u get it passed that point its all very very fast @ wanting to fall over or come back up to balance point.  ahahha the fun of it, about the only bike ill admit that scares me when i try to ride it the way id like to be able to.  Anyone want a ride on it to find out for themselves? Rear tyre has not gone visibly down in tread in over 10,000k's, and many unintentional burnouts @ 50-100kmph

[Dave]

sounds like we'll be reading about your crash next KK,
by the way-is that your new bike in the picture?

[bikerboy]

I hope the new bike has all the proper parts and decent tires KK.

If not I don't fancy my chances on the track with you around.

If you see me at the track in the future please give me a signal so I'll know when to panic!

[Kwaka-Kid]

well yes tahts my new bike (or an identical one) but im prolly modding a full race TZR250 fairing i have lieing around from the old days onto it, and selling all street gear as mike @ mt eden is very keen on it, pla yswapsies for ZXR400 parts.  um yeah this bikes alrite, atm it has less then legal front tread and 30% rear tread, i said id buy new tyres before i raced but im not sure now.. apparently they wear out after a race day or so? i cant afford that!

and dont worry BB, the signal is the loud scraping sound coming from behind as half the parts on the bike are hanging and touching the ground   - haha wont forget when i crashe my ZXR400 @ puke, the tank literally flew from corner 1 down to the start of the backstreight, like 100m :P with a FULL tank of gas! :P haha because i didnt have it bolted down, and as i was riding i noticed it was jumping around into my belly for the first 2 laps, hahah the rush jobs and most random things you forget to put on, oh yeh like last time i forgot to put the R clip in the rear wheel :P imagine the fun i woulda had if it hada come off :P haha!, oh and the time b4 that @ Tracktime 4,  i spose its long enuf away that i can mention, i rubbed dirt thick over some of tyre so when it got scrutineerd they wudnt see the galvanised flat head nail rammed into my rear tyre :P i only found it the night before! (or maybe 2 days before, but still wasnt prepared to fix it in that time) fuck imagine a 190kmph blowout :P damn i was pumping some adrenalene when thinking about that on the track made me feel good.

[SPman]