Crash flashback

[Ender EnZed]

i tend to ride real slow around blind corners now fearing the (what if scenario)

Aside from the "fear", that's the only reasonable approach to a blind corner. Keep within your own, the motorcycle's and the road's capabilities and you will have a long and happy riding career.

[hayd3n]

Aside from the "fear", that's the only reasonable approach to a blind corner. Keep within your own, the motorcycle's and the road's capabilities and you will have a long and happy riding career.

yea the naked bike has taught me to slow down a lil + the last speeding ticket :P
its weird though coz it fully wasn't my fault at all, i was lucky to go where i went and not into a windscreen
kinda put me off riding for like 3-4hrs then i was riding around on my m8s bike trying to find someone to trailer mine lol

[Ender EnZed]

its weird though coz it fully wasn't my fault at all, i was lucky to go where i went and not into a windscreen

Without wanting to sound like Katman, it probably wasn't just luck that took you up a bank or whatever.

kinda put me off riding for like 3-4hrs then i was riding around on my m8s bike trying to find someone to trailer mine lol

As long as you learnt from it, you did as well as anyone could. Took me way longer to get my shit together after I last binned.

[hellokitty]

Hey guys. Thanks a lot for a warm welcome to KB.
Got a strange question. Every time i go for a ride, and approach a corner that will require decent leaning, i get a muz###king flashback of my crash, and it makes me drop down the speed almost to 10km/h. No jokes. How the hell do i get rid of it? More riding? done 2.5 - 3k since that time (2009). Suggestions?

Perhaps do some one on one rider training with a professional?
I did an awesome low side the second time I rode, but riding a road bike on loose gravel will do that to a newbie.
Perhaps you need to figure out what you did wrong and how to overcome that? Surely an experience trainer can help you - what about Karel (forgot the last name) but everyone raves about her and her training days

[Metastable]

Do a course with an instructor on a track, let them know the story, and they can concentrate on your cornering. It will give your confidence a good boost, a crash knocks your confidence in the bike, and a good advanced riding course will really help!

Exactly what she said. Counseling at the track. Also buy or rent Twist of the Wrist II the movie. Very good.

- let me say this bit. If you have stock pegs, they should touch down before the tires let go (if dry out).... so you have a whole lot of disposable lean angle. The problem with self practicing is that you could still be doing it all wrong. Also, please don't view the track as a place where one has to go as fast as possible. The track is a great tool for folks who just want to ride on the street, but they want to improve their riding skills. 1 day with proper coaching at the track can educate more than multiple years of street riding.

[Retroqueen]

Just trying to think of who would do the counseling for that sort of crap?
Mate (12 year riding experience) and a box of beer didnt work so far.

Had my off in December and ACC are paying for my counselling!!! Not so much afraid of the bike but I hate corners at the moment but more talking to her about the guilts I feel every time I go out. I never want to make that phone call to the kids again. Was the hardest call I've ever had to make. Doped up on a spinal board in the trauma unit after a helicopter flight and all I was worried about was how do I tell the kids I'm a bit munted up!!
They have been great and know mum needs her bike time so taking the new bike out today for a good day ride. Had bad tyres so didn't feel good about riding it till now.
So if you had an ACC claim at the time and are still struggling with it and need to sort it call them. All the best.

[racefactory]

Listen mate, the way to fix this problem is as follows. It worked for me back in the day and people I know who were afraid to lean. It is very dangerous to ride when you are afraid to lean because you can easily get into a decreasing radius corner or come in a little too fast, when that happens the instinct will be to brake and stand the bike up/lock front wheel (colliding with oncoming traffic or run off into the barrier) instead of lean it over and turn harder.

You've going to learn to get your knee down like a GP racer. You've got an RGV250, the bike is made for turning, the tyres will not skid out! Even Shinko tyres can do this.

Start by putting some good pressures in your tyres. 30psi front and back will do.

Go to a quiet unused roundabout or empty car park/asphalt expanse and go around in circles at 30kph or so. Get your body off of the bike slightly- half of your bum off of the seat, your head and shoulders in line with the mirror off to the side of bike, outer arm stretched out across the fuel tank.

Get comfortable with the bike circulating around and start upping the speed and increasing lean. Keep throttle partially open. Go at your own pace and you will quickly get used to it. Increase the lean and keep the throttle on steady. You will soon find yourself comfortable with the bike turning fast!

With that bike you should be able to scrape pegs before coming close to losing grip. When you are comfortable and feel like the bike is tilted very far over, extend your knee out perpendicular to the bike (feels unnatural at first) and you will eventually have it scraping along like a GP racer!

After this you should be buzzing with excitement knowing you can turn hard. To increase confidence now, with the knee dragging you can lean it even further to get comfortable with how it feels when the tyres start to lose grip. Remember to keep the throttle steady. As you bring the knee up and lean the bike further you will get to a point where the rear tyre starts to waver about and come off of it's line a little (rear tyre past maximum grip) or the bars start to feel light and rock slightly (front tyre sliding slightly); at this point you are at near maximum cornering speed, and know it is close to all the tyres can take.

After I did this and scraped the footpegs in half on my old VFR400, it did wonders for my riding and I felt so much safer on the road. Highly recommend it. Good luck.

This is a Honda NSR250 just like your bike, they are capable of excellent turning.

[Maki]

Do some bucket racing.

[Maki]

"This is a Honda NSR250 just like your bike, they are capable of excellent turning."

Sheesh, if your that serious about getting rid of your chicken strips I can do it for a buck with a grinder...

[onearmedbandit]

Do you know why you crashed originally?
Maybe it is you haven't come to grips with what happened the first time and are really worried it will happen again.

^^This^^

I've ridden the corner that took my left arm many times since, because I know what I did wrong that day. Never had a problem with it since. Try to understand what happened when you had the crash. Did you target fixate? Did you hit the rear brakes only? Did you lock the front? Tell us what happened.

[Grasshopperus]

Mate (12 year riding experience) and a box of beer didnt work so far.

Oh I see your problem; go riding between the talk and the beers

[mazz1972]

Perhaps do some one on one rider training with a professional?
I did an awesome low side the second time I rode, but riding a road bike on loose gravel will do that to a newbie.
Perhaps you need to figure out what you did wrong and how to overcome that? Surely an experience trainer can help you - what about Karel (forgot the last name) but everyone raves about her and her training days

I had an car accident many years ago. I t-boned a car that drove across the road in front of me from the left (my car written off, broken collarbone). After that whenever I ever approached a road on the left with a vehicle coming up to the intersection on that road, I would instantly (and involuntarily) get very anxious as if I got a big fright, and it would happen before I would have time to think about it. It took probably a couple of years for that the stop happening.

Getting some training is a fantastic suggestion. It will increase your skill level and might help you overcome your fear of the situation. Knowing why you crashed should also help, was it gravel, too much speed, etc.

[PrincessBandit]

Shit, I feel really lucky that I didn't go through that after my crash. In fact the first time I rode back down that part of the motorway I had wanted to look for the spot where my bike had been smeared down the road, and then completely forgot about it! Arrived at my destination and thought "oh bugger, I'd been going to look for the spot where I came off".

Some of it, I reckon, is mind over matter. I don't mean to sound trite when I say that, but I am a firm believer (after using this for many years as a performer) that most of what we worry about is in our head. Try thinking positively, but without forgetting anything you may have learnt from the experience, take each ride through the area on it's own merits. Even on familiar stretches or windies etc. we can pay the price if we are lulled into a (very) false sense of security or complacency. On top of that, ensure you are well protected by appropriate gear to try and minimise potential nasty results of an off.

[John_H]

Perhaps a track day? Or maybe a pro prider training day on the track?

[racefactory]

No need to book any fancy training or waiting to save for an expensive track day. First thing tomorrow find a quiet or deserted roundabout/asphalt area/car park and going in circles with the throttle steady, just lean it harder till your pegs scrape and knee down; fear cured. Been there done that. For a light bike like your RGV, just run late 20 psi in your tyres. Enjoy the new found confidence in turning .