Accidents & Offs - What happened to you?

[Hondo]

Wow - glad you made it by ok!

[rotorhead]

Here's a pix of my my pant leg where I hit this thing. What I should add is that I was about 3 car lengths back when i saw it raise straight up and flip upside down. I knew that there was a car to my right so going right was a no go. After I hit it, it spun over to the right lane where the car had just passed.

[HiSide]

Hey All...
New to the forum, and a new NightHawk owner. It was a recent and lucky crash that has provided me with an opportunity to own a nighthawk (just bought a 84 700S) and come up with a clever handle for the forum.

about a month ago I was riding on a local TWISTY road with a new riding buddy. I was on my 99 CBR 600 following him on a Ducati 1100 Hyper motard. I had not ridden the CBR in months (been riding my NX 250 as it suits my route better and is MUCH more comfortable) while he is a regular hard rider with hours and hours on a track.

After riding 90 miles out this road (I was having so much fun my face hurt from smiling) we hit our turn around point. I did not heed my body's call for food, water, and rest, and instead turned around and headed for home. Within 10 minutes, I was lying face down 30 ft over an embankment, picking myself out of a bush.... WHAT HAPPENED!!???

As I came out of a corner, I accelerated to bring the bike back up and stabilize my line (I had been reading "A Twist of the Wrist II", a gift from the guy I was riding with!) but, the CBR being the beast that it was (I nick named it the "Black Death", just to remind myself what I was riding) was going too fast for the corner ahead of me (I thought). SO rather than lean deeper and roll on the throttle, i dipped my boot onto that fateful rear break pedal. I knew my mistake instantly.

The back tire went into a slide. I tried to bring the bike down, but as the inside foot peg hit the concrete, the locked up wheel grabbed traction, and the bike did a perfect catapult impression. I came up free of the bike, managed to get two steps in, then super manned into the gravel on the shoulder. I slid over 30ft through the shoulder gravel, up to the edge of the road, and another 30 ft down the embankment (it was more of a mountainside!) until a bush stopped me.

The bike was a goner -- all plastics destroyed, passenger footpeg through the exhaust, etc... but I pulled out of it with a bruised hip from my super man impression. THANK G** FOR LEATHERS AND OVERNIGHT DELIVERY!!!!

The moral of this particular story --- TAKE A REST!! :gerg:if you are covering ground quickly, you can afford a short break every few hours. drink some water, talk about your ride, enjoy the scenery. 

At any rate, I am glad to find you all and you enthusiasm for Nighthawks. I can't wait to get mine out of the shop for the once over its getting right now, and go put some miles on it.
 
HiSide 

[jerjohn]

 1st)I was moving from Austin to San Antonio, rented a uhaul big enough to fit all my stuff and the bike. It had been pretty humid the last week or so and I hadn't been riding for a few days. My carb was stallin out a bit, just a little condensation in the tank but no biggie I would just drop in some heet in once I got to S.A. , afterall I had two friends coming to help me move and its not like I was going to ride the thing up into the truck or anything...well my "buds" stood me up and I decided to ride it up the ramp(yea you know where its goin). Since I have loaded dirtbikes this same way I didn't feel my gear was necessary . Now keep in mind this is a BIG uhaul truck as I and my fiance have alot of crap and the top of the ramp was about 3 and half feet off the ground and added to the height of the bike I was riding and my height (5'9) you could say my face was about 7 feet off the ground...The bike stalled tipped and I face planted, thank jebus the bikes front wheel got caught and kept the bike from following. All in all pretty stupid, broke two ribs and was scuffed up a bit but the up shoot was we paid some movers to load everything and I watched with my hydrocodon and margarita induced grin.

2nd) The other day I was coming home from buying my books and took I take everyday and found a nice big puddle of oil and antifreeze mid lean. Had a nice lowside, scratched up the pavement, a mirror, a can, my arm and bruised the heck out of my ego but no big deal. The worst part was the cops who just happened to be there were more concerned with asking if I had been drinking at 1 in the afternoon than the blood slowly oozing down my arm. Well at least they didn't give me a ticket. As to the the oil and antifreeze I think there must have been a minor accident and the police were there to watch traffic...who knows, I should have been more aware.

[bbrovold]

Step one: adjust valves on DR650 to bring them back to spec
Step two: adjust air intake to match improved valve actuation
Step three: test ride
Step four: cover hole in air box to improve lean condition
Step five: haul out of garage, whack the throttle and watch the front end come waaay up, panic and grab the front brake on the way down and watch the front wash out and throw you to the pavement.

Neighbor said the bike cartwheeled and came down on top of me. Torn shoulder, knee, ankle. Couldn't do much with right arm for 3 months and limped for 4 months.

Step six: Buy a lower bike like a '92 Nighthawk and let son drive the too tall DR650 death machine

[happycommuter]

The worst part was the cops who just happened to be there were more concerned with asking if I had been drinking at 1 in the afternoon than the blood slowly oozing down my arm.

Also lucky they didn't insist on having you taken away by ambulance.  I've heard that if you are confident you have only superficial injuries that you should absolutely refuse medical assistance.  Paramedics will cut your clothes off, the hospital will insist on x-raying you, and then you have to go home and pick up your towed bike. 

[rhodyne]

This looks like an interesting thread for a new members first post.

I've ridden on and off for 30 years on more than a dozen different bikes. Street, dirt, euduro, tour, rat - tried most types and dropped almost every one at some point. Mostly just me doing something wrong; kick stand folding/sinking, or foot slipping...not normally major. But I do remember three different "offs" that each taught me something.

• '79 or '80, when I was still learning, I was playing on a old Harley SX175 (not mine) along Hwy 190 between Kempner and Lampasas. Usually in the ditches; no jacket, gloves, or helmet. I was lucky to be wearing long pants and shoes.
  
  Took a turn off the highway onto a dirt road at too high a speed and hit gravel. Bike refused to turn anymore. Continued the line it was going until we reached the barrier some thoughtful land owner had put around the turn to protect a tree. Bike stopped and I continued...right over the handlebars. Missed face planting the tree by the skin of my right elbow, landed on the gravel area behind on my hands, and slid to a bloody stop.
  
  - Learned that helmet and gloves would have been a good idea. Road rash is no fun and getting dead is too easy.
  

• In '88 I had a '81 (I think) Yamaha Maxim (650) with a plexi windshield. I was a truck driver based out of Dallas. When off, I commuted home to Lampasas - 160 miles one way.
  
  One night I got into the lot around 2am. Didn't feel like crashing in the truck so I got what I needed strapped to the Maxim and headed out. Started picking up speed going up the ramp onto I35 when I found myself rolling along the road then I heard the windshield shatter. That is the way I still remember it happening.
  
  Because the ramp had no streetlight, I didn't see the 4 inch gap between the concrete part of the ramp and the asphalt part. When the front wheel dropped into that gap it "tripped" the bike, ripping it straight out from under me. Bike lost the windshield, the ball off the end of the clutch lever, and gathered a few more scratches. I was wearing helmet, jacket, gloves, and boots and only bruised my left ankle and sprained my right wrist.
  
  - Learned that helmet and gloves are really good things. And to pay more attention to the road surface in tight areas.
  

• '95 or '96 I had a '74 Honda CB750-Four. I had had it for years and the fairing and bags where long gone. In fact the bike was kind of ratted at that point with some of the fixes I had done to keep her on the road.  The new wife hated it after I took some hard turns in Fort Worth with her on back. She is defiantly not a fan of peg-scraping.
  
  Because we couldn't trust our neighbors, we had stored it at her sisters place while we were out of town. It was drizzly and miserable but I finally had to move it home. I was coming up to a set of railroad tracks that cross Beach St in Haltom City when the car in front of me STOPPED before attempting the crossing. We were only doing about 30mph but I lost traction front and back and the bike went down. I kicked away and stayed on my backside until everything stopped. Then I got up, walked over to the bike, picked it up and walked it to the closest driveway. No damage to the bike or myself. The car in front didn't even notice anthing happened.
  
  Then I looked back at my wife and kid who were following me. She had white knuckles and huge eyes. He was already crying. As she put it later, all she could think of when I went down is "He's dead". I had to explain to her that with experience you learn to get away from a falling bike. And if you are dressed correctly, you don't have to get hurt. Almost 15 years later and she still has a hard time with how I reacted so calmly to that take-down. Sometimes I let myself believe that nonsense until I remember just how lucky I really was.
  
  - Learned that having your S/O see a take-down right in front of them can work both ways. They may trust your skill, but they'll never trust a bike again. 
  

[soyavenger]

my second day as a bike owner, third as a rider, i was cruising around st.augustine and figured the state park would be a good place for a slow ride. i meandered thru the campsite culdesacks for a little bit and eventually came to a stop sign. later, when i took the msf course, i already knew why they say to keep a low wrist on the throttle. coming out of the stop, turning left, i went wide and immediately prepared for impact, which unfortunately meant throttling the bike. luckily my head landed in the leaves, no helmet, and the bike in a ditch. i did everything i could to get it out of there before anyone saw me, but had to wait for a couple of retirees to help me pull it out. the husband said, "thats a funny place to park your bike."

the front end was all twisted up and i ended up riding 5 or 6 miles home with my wheel at 12 oclock and my bars at 1:30 or 2. the honda dealership was about .5 miles from my house, so i stopped by there and dropped the bike off. i told them i thought the front end needed alignment, 2nd day owning it whadu i know, the next day they told me i had a bent this and a snafuey that to the total of $2k. seein as how i only paid $800 for the whole bike i took it home and loosened the clamps on the trees and straightened it out. todays my 5th day as a bike owner and the rest is history.

someone posted never to try and pick up anything you drop while on the bike, been there also. i stopped by the handy way on the way home one day for a couple camos, they stick em in a paper bag, so i figure ill set em on the tank and hold em with my legs for the 200 yard ride to the house. backing out of the parking space they, of course fell, with me soon to follow. yet another reason i own an $800 bike. the embarrassing part is never the initial fall, but the minute or two it takes to unflood the carbs before you can take off with your tail between your legs

[mwallette]

Today's Monday; got my license last Tuesday, and I've already joined the "been there, done that" club.

I met my pastor for an early lunch today, and was on my way back to work.  I stopped behind a big equipment truck that had the rear windows covered with tools and stuff (see where it's going yet?) at a stoplight.  The driver of the truck saw construction on the other side of the intersection and decided to back up and pull into the right turn lane instead.  I'm about four feet behind him and backpedaling as fast as I can, but he's faster.  I see the 10:00 position of my tire go under his bumper, and next thing I know, I'm jumping off the bike as it goes over on the right side.

Thank You, God (!) for the guy in the next lane who was honking and screaming "You just about (expletive deleted) killed a guy!!!" to the driver of the truck    I was trying to find my horn before I bailed, but don't think I ever did, so if it wasn't for him, the bike -- and maybe even me, tough to say -- would be in far worse shape.

The take away: as pilots of tailwheel airplanes say, the flight ain't over 'till it's tied down.  Even when everyone is stopped at an intersection, you never know what squirrely thing someone in a cage is going to pull next.

[frmtexas]

Mine happened about a month ago on a slow, windy road. It was raining and a tight curve came up, but I had zero confidence in the bike (for no reason). I was afraid the front end would go out, so I stayed on the brake and rode onto the shoulder, where I went down. In hindsight, there was plenty of traction for me to turn, so I felt like an idiot. The ground was soft and I was moving pretty slowly, but the bike has some bumps and bruises on it now. That still bothers me and I've only been out a time or two since then, but I'm hanging in there because I don't want to take the loss of selling the bike. Plus, I'm afraid I'll just end up buying another one because that's when the bug will come roaring back.

[BCinMD]

"Hi, my name is Brian and I dropped my motorcycle in the garage."

Add this tip-over to the "don't try to pick something up while you are sitting on the bike."

I had my gloves resting on the speedo / tach, and as I was just walking the bike out of its parking spot in the garage, one of the gloves fell.  I had the handlebars turned left and reached with my left hand to try and catch the glove...um yeah, that was a mistake.  All it took was that little lean to the left and that was all she wrote.  I knew it was happening so let it go as gently as possible.  Fortunately it went over on a the same side the previous owner had dropped it, so no additional scrapes.  I did, however, split the seam on the sissy bar back rest.  D'OH!

Anyway, I quickly 'backed up' to the bike and got it upright without much difficulty.

Lesson learned.

[gammer]

I've never dropped any of the street bikes I've owned through the years...*knock on wood*. Been close though.

One early morning, I was warming up my CX500 in front of the garage, just before going to work. I had forgotten something and I stepped off the bike to go get it when my "spidy senses tingled" and I spun around to catch my bike just as it was about to fall. Yeah, I totally forgot to put my kick stand down before I got off the bike. Lucky catch.

I figured I did my fair share of wipe outs, crashes and drops when I had dirt bikes and when I raced moto-x.

[Laminar]

thank G_d!

THANK G**

Jewish?

[soyavenger]

"Hi, my name is Brian and I dropped my motorcycle in the garage."

thank you for sharing brian...

thank G_d!

THANK G**

Jewish?

just a respect thing, some people thinks its offensive to the omnipotent one to spell it out, some just try not to offend the people who think that

[Laminar]

just a respect thing, some people thinks its offensive to the omnipotent one to spell it out, some just try not to offend the people who think that

I've only ever seen Jewish people do that, which is why I asked the two posters.

[Custom82Hawk]

didn't our mothers teach us that by changing it around, it's still taking his name in vain?  like, didn't you get smacked for saying things like "jeebus christopher that hurt!" when you fell off the swing?  just my $.02.....

[mwallette]

didn't our mothers teach us that by changing it around, it's still taking his name in vain?  like, didn't you get smacked for saying things like "jeebus christopher that hurt!" when you fell off the swing?  just my $.02.....

Yeah, but it's not necessarily due to concern about taking His name in vain.  IIRC a lot of orthodox Jews believe (or at least used to believe) that writing or saying the Lord's name is disrespectful, even when you are talking about/to Him.  That's why in a lot of really old Hebrew texts, you see His name abbreviated rather than spelled out completely.  In this case, even if you literally mean to be saying "thank you" to Him (as I did in my post above -- sorry, I'm not Jewish and didn't think twice about writing His name in my post!) you still don't write out the name.

On an aside, it's really difficult to explain that clearly without writing His name, so my apologies if the above is clear as mud!

[Nitehock]

I had my first drop about 2 weeks ago. I was coming home from work, and at a 2-way stop: 2 side streets perfectly perpendicular to the main street, with a left turn lane leading to each side street from the main street. Hope I described that well, because there in is part of the problem.

I'm on my street, guy across from me is on his street. Clear both ways. I pull out to turn left onto the main street. I only get about 1 cycle length and see a newer Chevy Trailblazer has roared out of a convenience store pkg lot on the same side of the main street as my side street. It's coming from my left, to my right, and moving into his left turn lane to enter the street I'm facing. By the attitude of the SUV I can tell the driver has no intention of stopping before making his left turn. I've barely started my lean into my left turn. 2 thoughts flash through my head as to what my options are. 1- gun it and hope I get through the intersection and past him before he makes his left turn and 2- come back to a complete stop, even though I'm leaning left.

I chose 2. Lots of front brake, bike stopped, got my left leg out and tried to hold up the bike pulling right with my shoulders and arms but couldn't keep it upright. It went down very slowly, and me with it. After scooting my left leg out from under it (somehow, it had made it into just that little bit of clearance between the engine and footpeg) and brushing myself off, checking for sprains, breaks, etc (only a throbbing bruise from my left elbow striking squarely onto the asphalt), and being so mad that I 1- let this happen and 2- got to watch my left front turn signal crumble right in front of my eyes [see my previous posts about the dilemma I've had with turn signals and this bike] I was so ticked off and hopped up on adrenaline I just picked the bike up by the handlebars almost like a bicycle and walked it to the side of the road on the main street nearest me.

The car behind me yelled and asked if I was alright. I gave him a thumbs up. He then said, "your turn signal is in the road". I ran over, picked it up, gave him a nod thanks. He rolled up to the stop sign, and yelled again "that blue truck (the Trailblazer) never saw you. If you hadn't laid it down, he would have hit you."

I checked the bike for obvious leaks and damage, put my turn signal in my pocket, hopped on, fired it up and rode the rest of the way home, still pissed off.

I haven't had a chance to get back on since, but I will.

[mwallette]

I had my first drop about 2 weeks ago...(only a throbbing bruise from my left elbow striking squarely onto the asphalt)...I haven't had a chance to get back on since, but I will.

Sorry to hear about the accident, but glad you are okay!  I've only had my license for about three weeks now, but I'm already amazed at how oblivious a lot of people in cars can be    Hope you can get back on your bike soon -- summer's too short to be stuck driving a cage, lol!

Keep the rubber side down!

[Hangster]

As a noob i've only put a couple hundred miles on it since i finished the bike mainly riding the subdivided neighborhood for the first 100 miles then i got confident enough to take on main streets and the freeway , i've been fueling it up out of a gas can to this point and to get to a gas station i have to ride the main streets , i started this ride late at night when most of the heavy traffic was gone and headed to the gas station to fuel up only to find out the bike stalled just before taking a hard left turn throttling up to go (i thought to myself "glad i wasn't in the turn at the time" ) i set the petcock to reserve and she starts right up , when i get to the gas station i pull next to the pump and kick the side stand out without looking at it (after all i've done this enough times like clock work) and the stand didn't fully extend , as i was getting off the bike it rocked forward a bit and the bike went down , feeling like an idiot with people watching a hurried up to pick the bike up and so i horked it up with muster , a little too much muster cuz i tipped it too far and the bike went down on the other side  with everyone at the station google eyeing me i felt like i had to say something so i just yelled out "just trying to match the other side folks" , i fuel up and get the hell out of there quick and headed for home , when i got home i pulled up next to my pops car and it's dark i kick the side stand out i can't see it but i'm confident it's all the way out , i get off the bike and guess what , down goes the bike but his time the car broke it's fall while suffering some dents on the side door .
 Now every time i set it on the side stand  i make sure to look at it while leaning the bike on it slowly 

[rwilli1228]

A friend (who has a Triumph Sprint 955.  A truly powerful and fun bike!) and I were hauling ass down secluded back roads with little or no traffic.  Just going for that adrenaline rush... ya know?  We came across this huge sand patch on a tight curve at the bottom of a hill.  As soon as my front wheel hit the sand I almost lost it doing about 85.  Scared the living hell out of me!  What I learned from that incident was to know where all obstacles are by riding up and down it a couple of times at normal speeds.   

[LOKi]

thank G_d!

THANK G**

Jewish?

just a respect thing, some people thinks its offensive to the omnipotent one to spell it out, some just try not to offend the people who think that

GOD forbid we offend anyone.  

[LOKi]

As a noob i've only put a couple hundred miles on it since i finished the bike mainly riding the subdivided neighborhood for the first 100 miles then i got confident enough to take on main streets and the freeway , i've been fueling it up out of a gas can to this point and to get to a gas station i have to ride the main streets , i started this ride late at night when most of the heavy traffic was gone and headed to the gas station to fuel up only to find out the bike stalled just before taking a hard left turn throttling up to go (i thought to myself "glad i wasn't in the turn at the time" ) i set the petcock to reserve and she starts right up , when i get to the gas station i pull next to the pump and kick the side stand out without looking at it (after all i've done this enough times like clock work) and the stand didn't fully extend , as i was getting off the bike it rocked forward a bit and the bike went down , feeling like an idiot with people watching a hurried up to pick the bike up and so i horked it up with muster , a little too much muster cuz i tipped it too far and the bike went down on the other side   with everyone at the station google eyeing me i felt like i had to say something so i just yelled out "just trying to match the other side folks" , i fuel up and get the hell out of there quick and headed for home , when i got home i pulled up next to my pops car and it's dark i kick the side stand out i can't see it but i'm confident it's all the way out , i get off the bike and guess what , down goes the bike but his time the car broke it's fall while suffering some dents on the side door .
 Now every time i set it on the side stand  i make sure to look at it while leaning the bike on it slowly  

     

I'm sorry...that's        terrible...      

OK OK I'm done....  

sorry.

Everyone will drop their first bike. You just took care of all the parking drops in one night. One day you will look back and laugh.

[BeerGoggled]

When my son brought his Ninja home, I told him to go ahead and kick it over in the shop to get the demons out. He didn't. A few days later after leaving a friends house, he took off from a stop sign-making a left turn, caught some sand and lost the rear. Instant scuffage and exorcism.  

[LOKi]

Kids. They just don't listen.