Motorcycle Crashes...

I've come off twice on the road and dumped it innumerable times in the dirt so in my experience coming off on dirt is pretty much a given eventually but coming off on the road isn't.
My get offs on the road were both my fault, the first was out and out lack of experience. I lowsided after a summer rain shower which freed the oil on the roadsurface, went around a corner and simply lost grip = splat. No major damage to me or the bike though riding it home with no clutch since the lever broke wasn't fun. The second was a reduction in the paranoia required when riding, I simply assumed that others would follow the rules and didn't bother to check if the gate at work which was entry only was clear, it wasn't. There was a 4WD coming out of it and I dropped the bike trying to brake on the centerline gravel in the driveway, in some respects going down was helpful I slid into a nice soft gardenbed rather than ending up under the fourby which would've happened had I remained upright. Minimal damage to me or the bike, I was a bit bruised up and it actually cost me less to fix the bike this time than it did when I dropped it in a carpark through forgetting to put the stand down

I know several people that have come off on the road and of those I only know of 2 that were unavoidable mostly they were due to either shitty conditions, lack of attention or the wrong mindset (do not ride angry). The unavoidable ones were my old man hitting a crow, the beak went through the visor of his helmet and his vision was a bit reduced by it's wings flapping around his head the other unavoidable one was due to a plastic bag, sure you could argue that my mate should have noticed it and tried to avoid it but it was stuck in grass on the side of the freeway, the wash of a semi sucked it out into his path no friggen way to see that coming. He was geared up so wasn't a bad off bike got a severe case of gravel rash and ended up naked rather than replace the plastics and he had a bit of bruising\soreness.

Basically my point is that your level of attention\care\experience has a large impact on your chances of not becoming a statistic but that you should also be prepared for the off through gear. At least on the road, in the dirt you are gunna eat it at times

Here's my words of wisdom, for whatever they're worth.

The main thing to understand about riding is that it is not a variation of driving. Driving gets you from point "A" to point "B" but riding brings you into an altered state of consciousness which yields pleasures and sensations unknown to most of the world.

Having said that, riding is less forgiving because any loss of traction or control usually results in an "accident" (ie a get off). It also raises the stakes dramatically for any type of mishap because you are so vulnerable. Having the right gear helps but it is designed mostly to protect against impact with the road/ground. Against stationary objects, not so much.

So accept the probability that you're going to go down at some point. Don't obsess about it, but be realistic. If you're not willing to accept it, don't ride. If you do accept that, the risk becomes part of the appeal and managing it becomes your central challenge. 99% of the risk in motorcycling can be controlled at some level. If you rock climb you know what that's about.

The challenge enters in because the risk management is so open ended - there is always something more to learn but you know that whatever you do you can never completely nail that last 1%. There's always a proverbial golden B.B. out there which can bypass your defenses, no matter how advanced they are. But even that golden B.B. can be avoided if you only know how.

But the essential ingredient is focus, because once you get to the competent stage riding safety is mostly a mind game.

So dress for the occasion, and always be focused.

Don't ride if you're not focused.

If the odds of not crashing on any given day are 99%, then the odds of putting a full week of crash free riding are 99% x 99% X 99% X 99% X 99% X 99% x 99% or roughly 93%...i.e. while the odds of a crash free day at the beginning of the day are (assumed) always the same, the odds of putting in a specific string of consecutive days crash free is the odds of a crash free day raised to the power of the number of days i.e. 99%^n.

The odds of putting in a lifetime of crash free riding are definitely not the same as the odds of putting in a day of crash free riding.

So, when did you last lay 'er down?

You're gonna DIE. It's just a matter how and when.

>> There are 10 types of riders. Those who understand binary and those who don't.

Maybe, this was obvious, but just in case this statement looks odd: the number 2 is written as 10, when written in base 2. I.e. 10 (in binary) = 2 (in decimal)

In other words, the previous statement meant that there are only two kinds of riders....

That's 20 seconds of my life I'm never getting back.

WHEN.

abe

it is a when not an if. it happens to all of us at some time or another. embrace it. if it is your time then it is your time.

Not True!

It is only about 60% of riders that crash... That leaves 40% that don't.

Of course if you are really riding and pushing things a bit it would and should be closer to 100%

I believe that this statement is relatively easy to justify, by computing the probability to not go down. For instance, assuming that not crashing in a day is an independent event of what happened before and we call its probability p, then the probability to not crash in n years, riding m days *from this moment on* is: P = p^(n*m).

To take a few examples:
- if p=99.9%, n=10years, m=100, the probability to not crash from now on is: P=.999^(10*100)=36.7%
- if p=99.9, n=20years, m=200days, the probability to not crash from now on is: P=.999^(20*200)=1.8%
- same as above, but ride 30 years for 200 days: P=.999^(30*200)=.02%, i.e. virtually sure that you will crash.

You can try your own, by putting the probability expression in the google address and it will compute it. I took 99.9% out of thin air. If you try using 99.99, your odds will improve greatly: P=.9999^(30*200)=54.8%

crap, I crashed last week for the first time. Waiting to hear if my bike it totalled or not. I wasn't injured since I'm really into All the Gear all the time (ATTGAT). I grabbed a handful of front brake on a gravel road doing about 35mph. So first off DON'T USE YOUR FRONT BRAKE ON A GRAVEL ROAD. Which I knew and had practiced but did anyway to avoid a pothole. Crap.

I rode dirt bikes as a kid, mountain bikes now but this was my first real bike bought this August. I really didn't want to crash in the first year since that seems to be the norm and I'm an over achiever. I'm actually a pretty good rider, still have lots to learn but I feel natural on the bike and love to ride.

The MSF course will prepare you to ride in a parking lot. After that you're on your own so use the resources available to learn all you can. I spend way too much time on this site but have learned so much from all the veterans....thanks.

Gear is overwhelming. There are so many options, so many brands, so many different types for different climates, etc. It almost seems par for the course that you have to buy all the wrong stuff first before you can start buying the right stuff. That's why there's a lot for sale on craigslist. And there's no right answer. Everyone has what works for them. So you won't be able to pick the right gear because you probably don't know how or where you're even going to ride. At least that was how I felt. But get the best you can afford because it makes a big difference and now that I'm not hurt I can get back out there and try not to crash again.

Good insurance!! Be sure to get good insurance.

You can use the front brake in the gravel, you just have to know when to let go of it, practice practice and them some!

I meant it more as a joke than an absolute.
Actually slow down on gravel is probably better advice.

Next time when you see a pothole instead of hitting the brake. PIN THE THROTTLE!!!
(This is of course assuming that you were in the proper gear)

On gravel keep the revs and ellbows UP!

.

Pushed the odds today myself. Some cager started coming over into my lane really fast. Guy spotted his error. Not sure if I could have avoided him, but I want to use this example to reiterate that to some extent it was my fault. I try at all times to avoid being right beside a car, and when I am I am usually very focused on it and ready to move quickly to avoid collision. This time I was thinking about something else until he started to move.

So that means that as I have already been down, I am no longer in the "going down" class.
Great, I can ride flat out everywhere now, without fear of going down.

Video camera... Buy one.

Well, I did it, I took the MSF course and got my license. Now it's just a waiting game of getting a job and buying a bike. I can't decide what I want, but I also am pretty sure that it's going to come home and get signed up for another MSF course so I can practice with it (the courses are cheap around here, $25 for any course). I also intend to be practicing at the local parking lot. I'm between a DR-Z400s, or sm, or an SV650 or something similar. Def, don't want a cruiser. Any suggestions? The most frustrating thing for me is that there's not really any opportunity to try anything out for a test drive and nobody will let a new rider rent anything. They guy at the dealer said "oh we have a honda 230cc, an R1" and some other cruiser for demo. Well I'm not setting foot on an R1, at least not now, I will take the Honda out and I don't care much about the cruiser. As far as my original concern about crashing... I learned a lot about that as well and I guess it's just one of those things. You do everything you can to avoid it like practicing SEE, being alert and vigilant, keeping your distance, being noticiable and being a defensive driver and if something still happens, then I'll be wearing my gear and hoping for the best. I guess the other thing is actually riding as often as possible, it's a different perspective to realize that you're learning how to drive a vehicle all over again and that it takes lots and lots of practice to gain the experience and proficiency.

On a somewhat bragging note I got a 98% on the written test and didn't lose a single point on the driving part of the MSF course I also aced the SOS test when I went to get my license. Woot. Can't wait to start riding...whenever that happens. Right now I'm just stealing my friends bikes' for parking lot jaunts.