rnickymouse failure Mulholland fest

Most roads (and 99% of Mulholland) don't have paparazzi. There's another spot a little before this place where a lone photographer sits in the bushes on the left-hand side taking photos for his website. Sometimes the first thing you notice is the glare or reflection on his lens. He can startle you as well.

15 years ago it wasn't uncommon for photographers to be on the straightaways waiting for a cool car or Jay Leno to drive by (also in cool cars). On the straightaways at least there weren't any surprises. Obviously, based on the YouTube craze, these photographers realize the fame is in the crashes and/or poor cornering habits of riders/drivers.

I've been watching rnickeymouse's videos for a long time. Paraphrasing something he wrote in the comments a long time ago, that is more than a "small bump." There is a big heave there that loads/unloads/loads the suspension when you cross it.

Ouch! What's interesting is that given the way things went down (pun intended) his open face was all the protection his head needed.

(I am not advocating anything about helmets here. Just making an observation.)

But there are other things that can startle or distract you. People can be on the sidewalk. Cars change lanes into you. Buses are pulled over. Pedestrians cross the street. In rural areas, deer can bound out of the bushes.

I have trouble seeing the difference.

Thank you. That explains a lot.

Thats Paul. I was the first person to buy a shot from him when he started. He used to be much further down the hill.
He sometimes sits a few turns down in the morning then moves up to that switchback later in the day.

I have ridden that road hundreds of times in the last 10 years - there is no small bump anywhere in there. Many of the guys that crash are showing off for the crowd of people up there on sundays and riding above their abilities.
You can see lots of other video of people going through there much faster without issue.

The full blown asshattery that goes on up there on the weekends (as well as Ageles Crest) has prompted substantial police presence increase and as a result of all of the above I rarely go up there anymore....

oh and......

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here is one of me and my room mate on a normal day out there. Nobody rides out there from sept - may but all of a sudden in June, everyone in the world has a motorcycle it seems.

Room mate on the 599 - me on the SV1000..... im not much of a sportbike rider, I sold that gorgeous SV not long after this. Still miss it and the way it sounded....



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....one more. You guys will like this one....

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Speaking of skateboarding...

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Note to self: Don't ride on the street like it's a smooth racetrack.

Finding that a camera is trained on you is not only a distraction but can make some people self-conscious as well knowing that their picture is being taken.

I feel self-concious when people in bus in the next lane are looking at me.

They stare at my R12GS. So? Would you rather be riding into a low-angle sun or have a camera on the side of the road? Would you rather have a driver texting or a camera on the side of the road?

I was just pointing out that for some people having a camera pointed at them can be more of a distraction than some other types of distractions. If a grizzly bear started chasing me through Glacier then I would find that more distracting than having a camera pointed at me. Wouldn't you?

I love how people who have never been there are arguing about this.

Often times you will have up to a dozen people hanging out on the side of the road with the photographer. Generally there will be several cars and bikes parked there too, often right on the edge. People often run from one side of the road to the other. If you watch enough of the videos, it's obvious that the whole situation is very unpredictable and can be very distracting. Hell, I've seen a photog lying in a middle of a lane trying to get that awesome action shot.
Personally, I don't mind the photographer. But the fact any given time you have a dozen idiots who might step out in front of you, or pull out in front of you is very fucking annoying. Not what I want to think about as I am lining the bike up for the apex.

As with all distractions, they can increase the likelyhood of a crash occuring.
Does everyone who rides by rnickeymouse crash? No.
Do a higher percentage of riders crash here than on other roads? Yes.

Also, keep in mind that hundreds, if not thousands, of riders take that corner every Saturday & Sunday. Film long enough and odds are that you will end up with some good footage for us to argue over.

here is an old ass video of me on my Blue R1 my Buddy Sonic was filming from his tank ZX10 and Swazimot on his red R6

, all the good stuff is toward the end of the tape, this was shot in So Cal Local mountains and I wont say the road in the end becasue it gets too crowded lol and I like it for myself and my Sumo now :)

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7937590840286348944&hl=en

oh and cant forget cal speedway lol

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6595728919208542547&hl=en

and lets not forget that there are 17 Million people in Los Angeles - a city filled to the brim with people who KNOW they are cooler than everyone else in the world. Douchebaggery at a biblical level!
Let's just say .1% of them are the kind of douchebags that buy a motorcycle one day and decide that they know how to ride...that's 170,000 douchebags on motorcycles. To be fair, Im surprised that place isnt littered with bikes!

Thank the Lord he had a helmet on or he'd probably be dead the way his melon thumped off that guardrail.

For sure. You see how dazed he was trying to stand up? Dude almost falls over the gaurdrail!

That's what you get for wearing crocs....

Jeez, OF COURSE the camera and onlookers are a distraction.

You know why? Because they hang out in the spot that apparently causes fun accidents worth photographing!

Cameras alone may not be a distraction. Knowing that they're all setup there to catch you failing, I don't care how experienced you are, that's not a fun spot to be riding into.

I watched the high side vid several times and there is no big suspension movement front or rear before the traction is lost. It looks like really slippery pavement at that one spot about 100' past the guard rail. There are many tire marks on the road right where he loses it. If it is all squids screwing up while showing off, they are all grabbing too much throttle at the exact same spot. Not too likely.