Agree with that entirely. I remember speaking to a Police rider on one of those RideSafe days, and he said that unless a piano falls out of the sky onto you and your bike, you should never hear the word "suddenly" being used in an accident or near miss debrief. I freely admit that I saw the Audi approaching, recognised there was a chance it would turn across me without slowing or indicating, but decided that the fun I was having justified the risk I was taking. The fact that I had already anticipated the possibility of what actually then happened probably primed some circuits in my brain and spinal cord to take the evasive action that I did.
Ha bid looks like bike in front was miles away...it wasn’t..maybe 30ft.. I should have ran the guy over...I was already close to max lean so couldn’t turn tighter. Tbh bit of a school buy error, just started drizzling and track conditions changed a lot in half a lap Bike is still in garage 2 years later waiting to be finished off
Hi, I don't think they have rigs on them but these guys look to be ok - I have not used them personally but understand that they are pretty good. https://www.i2imca.com/MachineControl.asp
Well, you don’t learn by lying to yourself. I got into an argument with another biker the other day after we were swapping war stories who would not accept that he bore any responsibility for any of his accidents. I fully recognise that all of the offs I’ve had have been at least partly my own fault. Road - Came off on a patch of diesel (I should have been more aware of the risk as I was behind a petrol station). - Lost the front on a cold, wet, off camber road (Went in too hot, got target fixated and then touched the front brake). - Got clipped by a car which swerved within his lane as I overtook him (I should have given it more space to allow for a margin for error) - Went into some unlit unsigned road works on a country road (I shouldn’t have been riding at a speed where I couldn’t stop in the distance I could see was clear) - Lost the front on a wet road (Trials bike with concrete knobbly tyres and a 17 year old full of testosterone don’t mix well) Track - Lost the front at Paddock Hill (Pushing too hard while riding an unfamiliar bike on cold slicks). - Rammed from behind at the Brands hairpin (Ok. Probably not my fault but as one wag joked “If you’d been faster then you wouldn’t have been there”)
Regardless of what Andy says, sometimes there are accidents. Tuition can help with what hazards may be out there, and experience can help cement those hazards. But there are new and emerging hazards. The old adage ‘only go as fast as you can stop in the distance you can see’ is nonsense when you add a patch of gravel or oil or whatever on the road. You can see that far, but the road conditions have changed, and it wasn’t (often) predictable. Also looking miles up the road, which is best practice, and at speed you can often miss those close things, like a bit of gravel on a country road that’s on the edge (3ft) of the road. Even with scanning, unless its your day job and also your day job to teach and assess others (like `Andy) most will occasionally miss it. Knowing what we could do something about and noting or acting on it is the best we can do
That post has the makings of a good thread. ‘Detail Your Offs (and could they have been avoided)’. There’s one thing being honest to oneself and an entirely different thing being fully open in a public forum and admitting one’s mistakes. On my part, I had two ‘Think Bike’ accidents in my early days but with maturity, experience and proper training I now recognise they could both have been avoided. However, at the time ....’it wasn’t my fault, they didn’t see me and pulled out in front of me’. No. Truth is I saw them and should have anticipated (perhaps even expected) they would pull out. We live and learn.
If you look at the plethora of dash cam recording on the interweb thingy in the majority you can see the accident/ incident well in advance, we have to remember they ARE out to get us either in person or stelth ( potholes, oil, gravel etc).
All very well detailing how you were at fault as long as you didn’t get knocked out & suffer a memory wipe. 3 accidents in total. 19yr old on a GS550, ploughing into the back of a Land Rover while looking at a fantastic pair of legs in a very short skirt & heels (hey it was the 80s, you could do those things then ) Bike written off, me not a scratch despite catapulting over the Landy. This was on reflection, probably at least partly, my fault. 25yr old on a VFR750 rode over a wet drain in the road at very low speed, lost the back end. Bike a bit scratched, me a bruised shoulder. Not sure I could’ve avoided it & was riding within limits on a wet road but came off anyway. 52yr old. Ducati 1098 woke up with paramedics over me. Bike scratched & a few sticky out bits broken off. Me a broken collarbone, badly bruised lh side & 15 minutes of my life missing. Still no idea what happened & cannot for the life of me work out the physics of how all the damage was to the lh side of me & the bike, from a rh bend with no skid marks, no kerb marks & nothing in the road. It’s a mystery, might’ve been my fault, just couldn’t say.
Yes that is really disturbing - had a similar accident almost 10 years ago and still have no idea what happened. I had been out for several hours and stopped for a mug of tea before setting off again and was taking it reasonably steady as it was a fine sunny day and was just enjoying the ride. I remember exactly what I had to eat in cafe and where I was sitting and also remember the first few miles of the ride but nothing more till I found myself lying in the ditch and looking at my bike in the distance lying on its side. Like you I had a broken collarbone but also broke several ribs and punctured a lung. It was a reasonably straight bit of road and apparently no other vehicle was involved so no idea what happened - I requested a copy of the police report and it claimed that I highsided on a white line which was obviously nonsense as the bike had only had slide damage to one side and could have been ridden home if I was in a fit state. Have to admit that it took me a while to get over this accident as I could not explain it.
I had a recent near miss on my 2010 Street triple when a HGV was on the wrong side of the road coming the other way around a blind bend. I narrowly avoided it but I was definitely acutely aware of my lack of abs or more importantly cornering abs. Hence me coming into the Ducati fold and moving away from Triumph. I very much approve of Ducati having it standard across the range going forward.
