Close calls

[chunkygoat]

I've had my bike for a couple of months now and had no serious incidents YET. I've had quite a few "oh crap" moments though.

I used too much back break once and skidded on wet pavement trying to slow to make a turn I was about to pass. Luckily i let off and straightened the bars and recovered. I've also slid on wet paint once, and gravel another time, but luckily pulled out both of those times too. I always encounter oblivious drives that cut me off. I've been driven off the road now, pushed onto the shoulder, and had to accelerate and decelerate to avoid crappy drivers moving into my lane or pulling out in front.

I like to think i'm a good rider. But i've had a number close calls now within just a few months and its kinda freaking me out.



But i love it.

[YamahaMAXdRPMs]

i had a couple close calls once, but one of the funnier ones, (not really funny but not as dangerous as it could have been) was riding with a buddy of mine, coming up on a light that was turning yellow, we were at that point where its do or die, either gas it or slam the brakes, so i look at him to see if he is going to stop and has not hit his brakes yet, so i keep going, within a second i see his brake lights come on. so i slammed it, locked the back up and started to fishtale, right away i eased off the back and went through the freshly changed red, luckily there were no cars around and i just waited for the light to change for my buddy to come. usually i would have just gone and let him catch up, or stopped and caught up to him depending on if he would have gone or not, but i guess it was just (i thought) easier to stop this time. oh well. Emergency stopping practice

[Ozfazer6]

I had a close call looking at 2 nice looking girls on the side of the road without looking to see if the traffic light was green or red ......................it was red

[Wolfman]

I had a close call about two weeks ago.....hit gravel, braking for a corner, on a downhill corner, at about 75km/h. Both wheels let go..somehow managed to keep bike upright, and push off a cliff face, and get myself back out into the middle of the road!

[DefyInertia]

Chunky, you have to pretend that you're invisible. I was pretty young/immature when I started riding on the street and it took me a while to wrap my head around the fact even though the other driver was usually in the wrong, if I failed to anticipate/avoid other peoples' bad moves, I would be the one in the ER, not them. Riding on the street is not easy...I'm much more apprehensive about riding across town than I am about doing doing 250 miles at the track on a Saturday.

Basically there is an endless amount of ways to improve your riding. I often hear people say that when it comes to riding on the street, you start with a full bag of luck and an empty bag of experience...the key is to sufficiently fill the experience/skill bag before the luck bag runs out.

Defensive driving FTW! The amount of jerks on the road will probably only increase...it's up to you and only you to decrease the "oh ****" moments. Sounds obvious but it remains an every-ride challenge for even the most experienced out there.

[necrotimus]

I've had three and they all invlve back tire lock-ups...

The first was shortly after I started riding as I was slowing to a turn and I downshifted and let the clutch out without getting on the throttle. The downshift spiked the rpms to high and the gear change loked the rear wheel. Kept my balance and rode it out.

The second time was because I trusted my wife too much. She was driving in front of me in a turn where you can't see the stop light. She ran it and I realized I wouldn't make it before the cross traffic was moving. I probably would have been fine but alot of oil colelcts at that intersection. Back end got loose and came to a stop mostly sideways.

The third time had multiple causes. Light turned yellow and I got on the brakes and had time to stop. Heard SUV lock tires behind me. Let off brakes too create distance and should have just run the light at this point but instead after opening some distance I applied the brakes again. Too much rear and it got loose on me. Stopped past the line but in no danger. The dick SUV passed me illegally on the shoulder after I stalled because I thought I had downshifted all the way to first.

I need to practice my rear braking more but its tough when your adrenalin gets going in a real situation not to apply too much. I'm debating just never using it but I keep practicing.

[CanadianFZ6]

Originally Posted by chunkygoat

I've had my bike for a couple of months now and had no serious incidents YET. I've had quite a few \"oh crap\" moments though.

I like to think i'm a good rider. But i've had a number close calls now within just a few months and its kinda freaking me out.



But i love it.

I wouldn't exactly call that being a good rider..... I have only one or two close calls within the last 5 years!.... Slow down, maybe take a course before you run out of luck....

[04fizzer]

I've had close calls of both my own doing, and not, though it's all related back to the rider (choices of line, speed, etc.).

I've hit road snakes (crack filler) at about 30mph on a decent lean and almost lost it. I've hydroplaned in a corner, as well as hitting wet leaves/rocks in corners that unsettle the bike.

One morning, on my way into work, I was impatient and shot past a line of cars heading to an on-ramp. I got into it too hot, and almost missed the on-ramp, and nearly clipped the curb on the outside of it (it's a 270-degree on-ramp, so it had a decent radius. It'd be more fun if they hadn't used so much crack filler on it).

[chunkygoat]

Originally Posted by DefyInertia

Chunky, you have to pretend that you're invisible. I was pretty young/immature when I started riding on the street and it took me a while to wrap my head around the fact even though the other driver was usually in the wrong, if I failed to anticipate/avoid other peoples' bad moves, I would be the one in the ER, not them. Riding on the street is not easy...I'm much more apprehensive about riding across town than I am about doing doing 250 miles at the track on a Saturday.

Basically there is an endless amount of ways to improve your riding. I often hear people say that when it comes to riding on the street, you start with a full bag of luck and an empty bag of experience...the key is to sufficiently fill the experience/skill bag before the luck bag runs out.

Defensive driving FTW! The amount of jerks on the road will probably only increase...it's up to you and only you to decrease the \"oh ****\" moments. Sounds obvious but it remains an every-ride challenge for even the most experienced out there.

Thanks man, that sounds like a good mindset to try to keep. And most of the time it feels like i am invisible on the road.

and to Canadian, quit the nay'sayin', I'm already freaked out. i'm still new and am learning my limits as far as how quickly i can brake, how far i can lean, etc. All of my close calls though ended in my favor SO FAR. so i'm doing something right - and i haven't made the same mistake twice yet.

[MarinaFazer]

i've had a some close calls, but nothing beats day 2 on my second bike, a Suzuki SV650, which was upgrading from the Rebel 250. I craved the torque and did 90mph on an offramp. Thought I'd make the light but couldn't. Came skidding through the intersection, front chattering & rear skidding. That probably emptied about half my luck bag LOL

slowed down and learned since then taking it easy. no biggies besides the usual cutting off from cars and such. I like to think nothing has been my fault since that one experience that could easily have made me a statistic...

ps: i pulled over to check the pants

pps: if you think dragging knee makes you good, go to a parking lots, go in circles faster and faster until you do. There...you've touched knee. now go ride safe. LOL