Which SMC club members have and haven't crashed?

[klyong82]

dont worry hanne stephen tells us waaaay more exotic stories bout you hehehe good on ya steve

Yeah Hanne.......Stephen tells us so many mouth watering exotic stories about you...... especially when it comes to coookies.....mmmmmmmmmhhhh

[smoky]

I was messing about in a quarry we rode in a lot – I went flat out up this dirt face about 10 meters high – leapt into the air at the top, only to find out that the platform at the top had been dug away and it was 10 meters, plus my jump height, down; did a bit of damage.
Another time we were setting up hay bale ramps to jump 5 wire fences, unfortunately the bale gave up on the third jump and I ended up in the fence.
Once I was cruising out to a party in the back of Waingaro with a crate of Waikato on the tank, pegged out in a corner and high sided – glass everywhere.
Some mates and I were ripping around an open cast mine when two of us got too close to another bike – clipped, unfortunately I went over the edge and took a tumble down the mine face – bike was unfixable and I had a few broken ribs, 21 stitches to my knee – and surgery a few years later to try to fix it.
Going flat out on my new’ish Katana 650 trying to take a long sweeping corner as fast as I could, on state 27, a tractor and trailer pulled out of a farm gate in front of me, truck coming the other way – I ended up going off road into a 7 foot deep drain full of blackberry, tore my riding gear to pieces and ripped a bit of skin off – pulling stuff out of my body for weeks – bike was scratched but in one piece.
Riding my customised chopped tiger (stupid ape hangers) when I got my scalf caught in the back wheel – ripped off the back of the bike and dragged along the road on my knees.
Visit to the hospital, 6 weeks off work healing, inch deep groove cut into my neck made for some interesting conversations for a few years.
T boned a Holden – he was indicating to turn right, I went to his left, unfortunately so did he?

I’m not going to post anymore or you will all think I’m a loose unit or something.
I must point out it has been over 20 years since I came off.
I have stacked a couple of cages as well, when I was a teenager – actually I fell off a car once!!!
I am grateful I am still here, I am extra grateful I never injured anyone else, as a dumb arse young fella.

[motorbyclist]

T boned a Holden – he was indicating to turn right, I went to his left, unfortunately so did he

same thing happened to my dad when he was my age (guy indicates and moves right, then dives left into driveway)

[Macstar]

I’m not going to post anymore or you will all think I’m a loose unit or something.
I must point out it has been over 20 years since I came off.
I have stacked a couple of cages as well, when I was a teenager – actually I fell off a car once!!!
I am grateful I am still here, I am extra grateful I never injured anyone else, as a dumb arse young fella.

Jeeeeeez mate! I bet your accidents didn't start there though? Your first pushchair ride, tricycle, 1st skateboard, bicycle etc etc.

[bomma]

lol shot smoky glad to still have you round and good to know that you've wisened up a lil since then

[Macstar]

I was a stupid (but young) boy racer in my teens and early 20s. I had four car crashes that totalled 2 cars. I lost my license 3 times and clocked up close to $5000 in court fines and speeding tickets. What it took for me to smarten up was my last crash / loss of license when I lost control and nearly hit a bunch of pedestrians. Could have killed a kid or someone that day.

The positive from this was that I didn't get into motorbikes until my mid-20s, once I had 'woken up' and since 2001 have not had a single accident or speeding ticket. I can confidently say that I woudn't be here today if I had of been riding bikes (instead of cars) during my boyracer phase.

It was only from 2006 that I could finally get vehicle insurance again too (a consequence of repeated crashes and losses of license).

I think my other saving grace of today when it comes to avoiding crashes is the 5 years I rode a bicycle around Akl city. You develop a sixth sense on a bicycle as every other motorist IS THE ENEMY and they will kill you if you give them the chance. If a car looks like it might pull out in front of you... IT WILL. You search the drivers' seat of parked cars to see if they're going to open the door in front of you, you learn to look through the rear window of the driver in front of you to see what way their head is looking incase they decide to radically change lanes, you constantly look over your shoulder for who's behind you and you wisen up to the common scenarios where drivers are likely to cut you off etc etc.

Taking these cycling skills with me to my motorbike helps me to prevent 50k zone crashes almost daily when I'm commuting in Akl.

Anyway, bit of a diversion from the thread - but maybe this rant could help other hoons or commuters.

[klyong82]

Macstar, what a history!! Lost of licence 3 times...great to hear you have wisen up and as they always say we all learn from our mistakes. I bet the other saving grace was Mei. Like to say that I have been on many rides with Macstar and he is a safe and careful rider so don't be afraid to ride with him.

cheers bro

[bomma]

i never understood the thrill dat boy racers got out of driving their insanely soupped up cars up and down queen st makin a ton of noise and wasting a TON of gas....guess ther are a few of em looking out for the drag train...but even then its bloody pointless.....think 0-100 in 5secs is quick?? jump on a k7 gixxer thou and you'll be crappin your pants while you're flying off the back...dumshits

[Hanne]

......Stephen tells us so many mouth watering exotic stories about you......

??!

Ok, changing the topic! Isaac, I am glad you are still around because I got to meet you and you are really quite nice :P Actually I would let my sister ride pillion with you, and I wouldn't trust many people to do that. So it is good you got sensible!

[Macstar]

Oh shucks fellas! Cheers, I still have a bit of an andrenalin seeking streak in me but yeah, plan to reach an old age.

I hope this thread (accidents) will be useful for our club members and other readers, cause as it has demonstrated, many of us crash. Riding bikes aint all glory and sometimes a bit of respectful fear is a good thing to keep you in check.

But having said that, most of our members (that I have ridden with) have good protective gear and ride quite safely so I think the club in general is doing a good job. Be good to aim for zero bins on our rides, errr, maybe from now on....!

[bomma]

But having said that, most of our members.....ride quite safely

hafnt you ridden with chris yet?!?!

Be good to aim for zero bins on our rides, errr, maybe from now on....!

well if that's our aim then ehab's not gonna b allowed on anymore rides

[Hemz]

No bins in 1 year of riding, pretty much every day to uni and the occasional weekened ride. Not too many close shaves either, much better than I expected when comtemplating buying a bike..

[motorbyclist]

alot of it has to do with your riding style and riding skill

if you're patient/defensive, with years of experience, there's not much that'll stuff you up,

whereas if you're a nutter who's only been riding for a month you're another statistic

[bomma]

No bins in 1 year of riding, pretty much every day to uni and the occasional weekened ride. Not too many close shaves either, much better than I expected when comtemplating buying a bike..

congrats man!! and lets hope it keeps going that way

alot of it has to do with your riding style and riding skill

if you're patient/defensive, with years of experience, there's not much that'll stuff you up,

whereas if you're a nutter who's only been riding for a month you're another statistic

umm last i checked experience doesnt stop cars pulling out of side-streets erratically or doing the other million dumb things that cagers do every single day....specially around town....

but yea in general riding wise helps!! read macstars post about things to look out for and stuff if you want anymore tips....its further up from this post on this page

[motorbyclist]

umm last i checked experience doesnt stop cars pulling out of side-streets erratically or doing the other million dumb things that cagers do every single day....specially around town....

experience helps you better predict random things like that (there are many signs you should be aware of), and experience helps you better avoid it (even if it's a matter of stopping/swerving without locking/sliding) and again alot comes back to your riding style - ie keeping out of trouble in the first place, not undertaking/overtaking slow vehicles unless they are definetley not turning etc etc

myself i'm no stranger to using my horn to get attention, and always have my fingers hovering over the brake/clutch. both are things every rider should be doing.
also, how many of you feel confident in emergency stopping? i know just to get my learners i had to ride at a brick wall waiting for the instructors signal to stop - on a dodgy cb100 - and he never gave it until the absolute last moment - which i suspect is why the cb100 was so dodgy - and it was bloody scary, so the first 2 times i stopped early but the third i used my balls rather than my brain and got it