Scene Posted July 27, 2015 Report Share Posted July 27, 2015 So, there's a first for everything... I bought my motorcycle last year in June, and have been riding as much as I can! Well, this past Saturday, I was heading to an MMA event that I was going to help film with my friends and I decided to take the bike out from Strongsville to Akron. Once in Akron, and near my destination, there's a road that had a few twisty turns. The first S turn was a breeze and it felt great after driving straight on the freeway for 40 minutes. Then, another bend comes up, and as I get closer, it was sharper than I thought! So, I lightweight panicked and hit the brakes then my back tire locked up and I went straight into the grass and eventually the bike slowly laid down and I started sliding in the grass down into a ditch. I was going about 30-35 mph and the moment I panicked, everything in my head started getting quiet. It was quite an experience. Anyway, I get up quick and check myself and surprisingly my jacket had no rips or scratches, my jeans were intact and my helmet never hit the ground. I definitely would have thought I would start to feel road rash or scratches on my left leg since that's the side I fell on. But, nothing. So as I look around in shock, a couple of cars stopped that saw it happen. One kid got out and helped me push my bike back up towards the street. I check the damage on my bike, and I got nothing but a few scratches on the left fairing and a bent left mirror. I bend it back and it looked like everything was good to go... I noticed that the bike was still in gear so I hold the clutch in and try to mess with the shifter and I had no luck in getting it in neutral to get it started! Eventually, another biker came by and checked out the situation. He then started moving the bike back and forth while trying to change gears and it worked! Got it into neutral and started the bike! The feeling of hearing the bike start back up was amazing because I was already calling 2-3 tow companies to see if I can get my bike transported back to Strongsville, and I had no luck. Anyway, I don't know if that biker is on this forum, but whoever has a GSXR750 and came to help me out in Akron this past Saturday... thank you! After the event, I rode back home 45 minutes and the bike was perfectly fine. I will still give it a thorough check up during the week as I also need to change the oil soon so it'll be a great time to do some maintenance and check-ups. Anyway, I'm glad I got to get up, walk & ride away from this accident. It was a blessing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScubaCinci Posted July 27, 2015 Report Share Posted July 27, 2015 Could hardly ask for a better outcome from a lowside wreck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MidgetTodd Posted July 27, 2015 Report Share Posted July 27, 2015 (edited) My first low side was around 115mph at Putnam. Good timesChasing a girl with a pony tail on a pink gixxer, my she had a nice tail section. Thought I could catch her, turns out I couldn't lol Edited July 27, 2015 by MidgetTodd 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scene Posted July 27, 2015 Author Report Share Posted July 27, 2015 Exactly what I was thinking. I usually wear my GoPro when I go out and ride and this is one of the times I didn't have it on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scene Posted July 27, 2015 Author Report Share Posted July 27, 2015 Todd, that had to be crazy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh1234 Posted July 27, 2015 Report Share Posted July 27, 2015 Holy cow, glad you're okay! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2talltim Posted July 27, 2015 Report Share Posted July 27, 2015 (edited) Glad you ok as others have said. They say is not "if"you go down is "when"Hopefully some lesson learned dust yourself off get back in the saddle Edited July 27, 2015 by 2talltim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolfman1 Posted July 27, 2015 Report Share Posted July 27, 2015 Good to hear everything is ok. Any time you put her down and are able to get up with minor damage to you and the bike is a good day in my book! Everyone goes down at some point. Best thing to do is get back on the horse and keep riding! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gixxus Christ! Posted July 27, 2015 Report Share Posted July 27, 2015 Glad you're ok. Now for the fatherly advice....Three worst things you can do going into a turn:Get off the throttleSlam the brakesFixate straight ahead.You'd be amazed what you and your bike are capable of. If you've never scraped the toes of your boots you're not getting close to the turning ability of your machine. Rolling on the throttle through the turns keeps the ass end planted as it shifts weight back where you need the traction. Chopping the gas or hitting the brake will do two things: stand the bike back up and straighten it out. Fixating on whatever is straight ahead will cause you to end up exactly there and before you know it, you're sliding into a ditch.Look where you want to be. Roll on the throttle. Push the inside bar. Body position helps a lot too but that's another topic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tonik Posted July 28, 2015 Report Share Posted July 28, 2015 Yep, when you think you are too hot you have to do the hardest thing you can imagine. Lean like hell and roll on a bit. It's all about traction. You need traction to keep the rear planted. Using up part of your traction to brake is counter productive. Roll on puts more weight to the rear.....more traction.Damn glad you are ok, but you owe your bike an apology. As you entered the corner it knew you could make it. It was screaming to itself....DONT BRAKE MAN AWWWWWW CRAP. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MichaelS Posted July 28, 2015 Report Share Posted July 28, 2015 Good outcome considering. Take the learnings with you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Butters Posted July 28, 2015 Report Share Posted July 28, 2015 Could be worse... My first lowside there was a police officer behind me... So on top of a busted up shoulder I also got to spend the night in jail and pay impound fees... Luckily it was rideable to get home since I was several hours away lolGlad you faired decently... Shit happens, just learn from the mistake that put you down and roll on man Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redkow97 Posted July 28, 2015 Report Share Posted July 28, 2015 Yep, when you think you are too hot you have to do the hardest thing you can imagine. Lean like hell and roll on a bit. It's all about traction. You need traction to keep the rear planted. Using up part of your traction to brake is counter productive. Roll on puts more weight to the rear.....more traction.Damn glad you are ok, but you owe your bike an apology. As you entered the corner it knew you could make it. It was screaming to itself....DONT BRAKE MAN AWWWWWW CRAP. I understand what you're trying to get at here, but I think you're over-simplifying it quite a bit. Plus there is a huge gap between knowing what to do, and being able to execute it. I've crashed 20 or 30 times probably, and I've never gotten up and not known what I should (or shouldn't) have done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tonik Posted July 28, 2015 Report Share Posted July 28, 2015 I've crashed 20 or 30 times probably I've never crashed a bike. So maybe I am on to something? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bark615 Posted July 28, 2015 Report Share Posted July 28, 2015 (edited) Three worst things you can do going into a turn:Fixate straight ahead. Fixating on whatever is straight ahead will cause you to end up exactly there and before you know it, you're sliding into a ditch.Look where you want to be. Glad it turned out ok for you! Can't agree more, look where you WANT to go.. this concept works on the street and track. Check out this photo, I am not done with the current turn but I am already eyeing up the next turn. The bike will follow, it is like walking up the stairs in the dark... your feet fall in the right spots! Edited July 28, 2015 by bark615 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gixxus Christ! Posted July 28, 2015 Report Share Posted July 28, 2015 I understand what you're trying to get at here, but I think you're over-simplifying it quite a bit.Plus there is a huge gap between knowing what to do, and being able to execute it. I've crashed 20 or 30 times probably, and I've never gotten up and not known what I should (or shouldn't) have done.Yes very true. There is a wide gap between knowledge and execution. It can only be bridged by experience. Hopefully it doesn't take you 30 crashes to get there lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redkow97 Posted July 28, 2015 Report Share Posted July 28, 2015 I've never crashed a bike. So maybe I am on to something? hahaha. all but 1 of my crashes were at the track, and the vast majority were on the 100. How often are you getting close to out-of-shape on the Vulcan? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tonik Posted July 28, 2015 Report Share Posted July 28, 2015 How often are you getting close to out-of-shape on the Vulcan? I guarantee you I am as close to the edge most of the time, in terms of that bikes limits, as most of the peeps here are on their sport bikes. It's all relative. I have witnesses, they will be along shortly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redkow97 Posted July 28, 2015 Report Share Posted July 28, 2015 I guarantee you I am as close to the edge most of the time, in terms of that bikes limits, as most of the peeps here are on their sport bikes. It's all relative. I have witnesses, they will be along shortly. I shouldn't have phrased it in a way that made it sound like a challenge. I'm not bragging about crashing - that's just something that happens when the stakes are high (as high as they can be in recreational racing anyway) and the risks are low (150 lbs. bike at 40 mph...). I think your advice to the OP was good - just not practical to implement without a place to safely practice it hundreds of times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimTheAzn Posted July 28, 2015 Report Share Posted July 28, 2015 Looking where I want to go has gotten me out of some situations where I've come in too hot. It also happens to be one of the hardest things to do. What usually gets me is when I am leaned over in a corner and a car comes the opposite way, I want to look but know I shouldnt and should keep looking through the turn. Glad you are ok!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scene Posted July 28, 2015 Author Report Share Posted July 28, 2015 I didn't realize there were so many replies on here. Sorry, I learned the hard way I guess and I got lucky! Definitely didn't let this incident scare me away from riding again as I was back on the road yesterday evening on a nice ride through the metroparks. Hit some turns to get more comfortable again and I know these roads well so I didn't have any surprise sharp turns ahead of me. My bike is vinyl wrapped and I had a buddy give me some of his wrap polish and it took away most of the scratches I got from having it slide in the grass. But, heres a picture of the bike after the accident happened. It actually doesn't look like anything happened. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blue-yamaR6s Posted July 28, 2015 Report Share Posted July 28, 2015 Glad you are ok. Target fixation is a scary thing. It happened to me once but I kept it on the road and no one was coming. Doing a track day will help you experience what street riding won't. I recommend it. Your bike is more capable than you think and learning where that limit is important and can save your butt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scene Posted July 29, 2015 Author Report Share Posted July 29, 2015 A track day would be something I would REALLY want to do... but do I have to prepare my bike in a certain way to have it on the track? Or can I just ride there, pay a fee and ride? I don't have a trailer to haul the bike so I'll just have to ride to the track. Also, I am in Cuyahoga county, is there something nearby that I can ride to? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redkow97 Posted July 29, 2015 Report Share Posted July 29, 2015 I have never ridden with any organization who requires any more than taping your lights and removing your plate for Beginner group. So that's basically no bike prep whatsoever. Nelson Ledges is the closest and cheapest track. Mid-Ohio is very nice, but also priced accordingly. It's garbage in the rain. PIRC is less than 2 hours from Cuyahoga County, and (in my opinion) the happy medium. It will cost less than Mid-Ohio, and you can ride it in the rain. The layout is also pretty awesome. You can ride to the track, but it's not the greatest idea. I could fit your bike on my trailer if I happen to be heading to PIRC on a day there is also a bike event on the big track. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scene Posted July 29, 2015 Author Report Share Posted July 29, 2015 Hmm... I may join you to PIRC! Another noob question, what does taping your lights do? Like taping off the headlights? I may have to check out Nelson Ledges soon! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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