[62822]

It's been 3 weeks since I rode the Ninja home. Working 6 days in a row as a regular schedule hasn't given me a lot of time to ride, so at present my little yellow pony has only come out of the garage, to explore the world, on Sundays, with one trip to work and back.
I have 450 miles of road time and yesterday, as I was coming down the long hill on Lower Saucon Road to where it intersects with Easton Avenue, to my shock, I came upon a huge bike laying on it's side, smack in the middle of the road.
There was a green mini van off to one side, behind the bike, with part of it's rear fender torn off.
A lone woman was on her cell phone calling, I imagined, the police, and the few other people on site had that confused, "what do we do now?" air about them.
The crash must have incurred mere moments before.
The rider, was up, shaken, but looked unharmed, much to my relief. He wore jeans, what looked like a leather jacket and no helmet.
I wasn't sure what to do myself coming upon an accident. The bike blocked the road and it felt horribly cold just to ride around it, yet I wasn't involved and it was obvious that my help wasn't needed.
So I sat at the stop sign and watched (there was no traffic behind me), as the owner of the bike and another man tried to right the beast of a machine and move it off to the shoulder.
Beasty didn't want to go forward once she was up and a struggle ensued between it and it's owner.
Was the clutch cable broken? Was she stuck in gear? Were the brakes locked up? I wondered all the above as he shoved against the bike whose wheels seemed to be stuck to the ground.
At last, perhaps by will power alone, he got her going, the intersection was clear and there was no reason for me not to continue on with my ride.
Sorta made the next few miles out of the 67 I put on that morning, tentative ones, but I was thankful no one was hurt, and that I hadn't chanced on a body in the road, along with a bike laid out, both broken..
It also made the reflective tape I put on my helmet (front, back and sides), and the yellow textile jacket I bought because it was more visible then my black one seem less dorky.
Accidents and incidents happen for all kinds of reasons.
I don't know how or why that bike went down, and I certainly don't know if or when I'll go down, or what the cause will be if I do, but if and when I do, I want a helmet on my head.
ATGATT took on new meaning for me yesterday.
The dude on that beasty bike yesterday, was a very lucky man..

 

[Kenneth_Moore]

Joie,

Guess it was going to happen sooner or later. I know the feeling of the dude who was trying to get his bike going. Right after my big wreck, I was trying to get my HD going, in spite of the fact the front forks were wrecked, and I had multiple fractures, dislocations, etc. I think there's some sort of instinctual mindset to "get back to the cave alive" that sets in and overrides common sense in the stressful situation.

The other "funny" part about that wreck was my refusal to get in the ambulance. The mechanic who helped me rebuild the bike told me to never let it be towed without my being there. He said the impound yards around here would strip the bike and tell you "that's how it was when we got it." So the EMTs made me sign a waiver refusing service. The bike was towed home, and as soon as it came off the truck, I basically went into shock...and my girlfriend took me to the ER.

 

[bbtowns]

Thank god the rider was OK. Take this as a warning to wear all the gear all the time, and ride defensively. While there will always be some risk, motorcycling can be safe if you make it that way. Ride safe!

 

[sarnali2]

It had more of an impact on you because you were on a bike and new at it. I'm sure you've seen dozens of car accidents before that didn't faze you but seeing a fellow rider down is closer to home.

Good for you on the reflective tape and yellow jacket, I also wear a HiViz lime yellow jacket with reflective stripes and I have lime yellow and reflective turn arrows on the back of my helmet.

When I pull into the parking lot at the Harley shop the newbies in their creaky new black leather moto wear don't know what to make of it... My fellow grey-beards just chuckle, a lot of them are wearing reflctive vests over their leathers these days. Seattle area drivers epitomize the asleep at the wheel cager with a cell phone in one hand and a Mocha in the other, serious riders all glow in the dark.

 

[55028]

It use to be...

It used to be dress for the slide not the ride. Now you've seen the light. Dress to avoid the slide, or whatever. I get this all the time. Why to wear all that stuff? Why do you wear the reflective strap? So I can ride tomorrow. Lifes all about choices. I support free choice. I chose AGATT.

ps I learned about debridement the hard way.

 

[trenttheuncatchable]

I was riding my little Ninja 250 home from my girlfriend's last week. She'd been riding it during the summer. It's about a half hour's distance. So I'm at a stoplight, in neutral, waiting for the light to change. I shift it into first, and the clutch cable breaks. Great. So I shift back to neutral and push it to the side of the road. This is on a main roadway, with shops everywhere, and I happen to be close to a Harley dealer. So I push it a ways and park in in the lot of the burrito shop next to the Harley dealer. It's about a half hour after the Harley dealer's been closed, but I knock on the door and a guy opens the door to talk to me. But, of course, I'm not on a Harley, and even though it's just a clutch cable, they only work on Harleys, blah blah blah. So I call my girlfriend and she comes and picks me up, and drives me home. And I have a friend come by in the next few days, and we load the bike into his van. Guess I should be glad it wasn't my girlfriend riding the bike, that I was stopped when the cable broke, and that it's a 300 lb. bike.

 

[Kenneth_Moore]

I have a friend come by in the next few days, and we load the bike into his van.

You left your bike in the parking lot for a few days and it was still there when you got back??? Damn, where do you live, Tahiti?

 

[longride]

It used to be dress for the slide not the ride. Now you've seen the light. Dress to avoid the slide, or whatever. I get this all the time. Why to wear all that stuff? Why do you wear the reflective strap? So I can ride tomorrow. Lifes all about choices. I support free choice. I chose AGATT.

ps I learned about debridement the hard way.

Today I chose a couple thousand pounds of steel, airbags, seatbelts, and four wheels. Beats the hell out of AGATT every day and twice on Sunday. If you really want to avoid the slide, debridement, and make a safe choice, I'd say take the car. Anything less than that is less safe. I guess you wouldn't want to hear about the multiple times a fire truck I was riding in was smashed into by some idiot. They never saw a 40 feet long 12 feet wide bright red vehicle with about 100 lights and a VERY loud siren. To me, it doesn't give a colored jacket and a reflective stripe much of a chance.

 

[The_AirHawk]

You left your bike in the parking lot for a few days and it was still there when you got back??? Damn, where do you live, Tahiti?

Obviously, you haven't seen that particular Ninja 250..........

 

[trenttheuncatchable]

You left your bike in the parking lot for a few days and it was still there when you got back??? Damn, where do you live, Tahiti?

Actually, my girlfriend was surprised some Harley guy hadn't come by and kicked it over. Or that the burrito shop's owner hadn't had it "towed."

 

[Kenneth_Moore]

Actually, my girlfriend was surprised some Harley guy hadn't come by and kicked it over. Or that the burrito shop's owner hadn't had it "towed."

It's sort of sad, but the condo complex I live in has a sportbike stolen about once a month. Meanwhile, a priceless, totally original 50's Panhead FLH has sat unmolested in the same spot for at least the year I've been living there. The owner Chuck didn't even lock the fork until I shamed him into buying a cable lock. Guess the theives have no taste.

 

[seruzawa]

You know....

It's sort of sad, but the condo complex I live in has a sportbike stolen about once a month. Meanwhile, a priceless, totally original 50's Panhead FLH has sat unmolested in the same spot for at least the year I've been living there. The owner Chuck didn't even lock the fork until I shamed him into buying a cable lock. Guess the theives have no taste.

.... you are living in the Bizarro Universe when thieves want a freaking CBR600 more than a Panhead. Maybe things will get so weird that we'll see something really really strange like a woman running for President with absolutely no record of accomplishment.

 

[pplassm]

I shift it into first, and the clutch cable breaks.

You still could have ridden it home. I've done that more than once.

 

[62822]

Today I chose a couple thousand pounds of steel, airbags, seatbelts, and four wheels. Beats the hell out of AGATT every day and twice on Sunday. If you really want to avoid the slide, debridement, and make a safe choice, I'd say take the car. Anything less than that is less safe. I guess you wouldn't want to hear about the multiple times a fire truck I was riding in was smashed into by some idiot. They never saw a 40 feet long 12 feet wide bright red vehicle with about 100 lights and a VERY loud siren. To me, it doesn't give a colored jacket and a reflective stripe much of a chance.

Yeah, **** does happen.
Life isn't safe.
People drive into fire trucks, other cars, other people and even crash into houses.
Then there are the ones who choke to death eating a steak dinner, have a body organ fail ahead of time or happen to be driving across a bridge when it collapses into a river along with tons of concrete and steel.
I know I'm not getting off the planet alive.
Yet I take precautions everyday. I don't dance in a slippery bathtub, I stay away from the red light district, and I don't intentionally drink poison.
When I decided to buy the Ninja, I decided to take on a certain amount of risk.
I also decided that I'd continue to use my car for my two hour a day commute to work, wouldn't do much city riding at night, I'd avoid riding at dusk and dawn during the rut season, and I'd ride ATGATT.
I'm I guaranteed a long life and happiness because I made those choices?
No.
The reflective tape on my helmet, and the bright jacket aren't a talisman, and don't offer much in the way of crash protection, but one day they just may catch the eye of an inattentive driver, and give me a second or two more than I would have had if they were totally blind to my presence.
In that brief amount of time, I may or may not be able make a positive difference in the situation.
I don't want to taunt death, or stack the odds against me, and I'd like to be around to hold my grandchildren. So I dress for the ride along with the slide, and assume everyone else on the road is trying to run me over.

 

[Kenneth_Moore]

. I don't dance in a slippery bathtub, I stay away from the red light district, and I don't intentionally drink poison.

So, I guess inviting you to Bike Week is out...

 

[62822]

LOL!
Is that what you do out there?

 

[Kenneth_Moore]

LOL!
Is that what you do out there?

Check the photos I posted from Biketoberfest...they give some sense of the event. It's a lot calmer for me these days than it was in previous years...

 

[longride]

In my view, safety isn't want you wear, it's between your ears. I figured all that out after 17 years of being a firefighter and 40 years of riding motorcycles and seeing more than a few people die up close and personal. Bad things happen to good people and good things happen to bad people. Skills will take you 95% there, but when you see a guy like Larry Grodsky die, you know trying to be safe doesn't always cut it. I doubt the tape or the gear will make much of a difference when the time comes, but people have to do what they have to do to feel they are 'safe'. I depend on my skills, experience, and sometimes dumb luck. I figure if I had to wear 40 lbs of gear and a safety vest with a flashing light on my helmet to feel 'safe', I might as well just stay in the car. Just my .02

 

[trenttheuncatchable]

You still could have ridden it home. I've done that more than once.

I thought about it, but I didn't want to possibly ruin the transmission on top of having a broken clutch cable. There were still quite a few additional stoplights on the way home.

 

[52944]

In my view, safety isn't want you wear, it's between your ears. I figured all that out after 17 years of being a firefighter and 40 years of riding motorcycles and seeing more than a few people die up close and personal. Bad things happen to good people and good things happen to bad people. Skills will take you 95% there, but when you see a guy like Larry Grodsky die, you know trying to be safe doesn't always cut it. I doubt the tape or the gear will make much of a difference when the time comes, but people have to do what they have to do to feel they are 'safe'. I depend on my skills, experience, and sometimes dumb luck. I figure if I had to wear 40 lbs of gear and a safety vest with a flashing light on my helmet to feel 'safe', I might as well just stay in the car. Just my .02

I put reflective tape all over the back of my jacket. It was really easy, really cheap and I don't notice it at all riding. Yea it might not do much, but you never know it might help. Wasn't there something in the hurt report about a reflective vest helping a lot? A white helmet is supposed to help quite a bit as well.

I haven't been able to bring myself to put reflective tape on my new bike though... or get a white helmet, I figure plaining light silver is close enough though.