Had My First Crash Sunday Afternoon

Well, they say there are only two kinds of riders, those that have crashed and those that are going to. I am now the former. I've been riding for two years and have been lucky to have made it so long without a crash I think. At least I have a somewhat cooler story to tell about my first crash. My first crash was on the Tail of the Dragon and not the first time I rode it and not in my neighborhood coming home from work when I locked up the front tire dodging my neighbors dog and not falling over at a stop sign on a hill. :biggrin:

I was riding with my friend Matt, a USAF captain, who was on his Bandit 600. It was his first time riding in the area so I was leading. We had rode up TN-68 from McCaysville, GA to Tellico Plains and then rode the Cherohala Skyway over to Deals Gap.

We were running a pretty good pace through most of the dragon. Going pretty fast, having fun, but not dragging knee or taking risks. We caught up to a slow as molasses Jeep Wrangler so we stopped at a pull off for about 5-10 minutes and then got back on. Probably less than a mile later I highsided on a lefthander. I estimate we were about 8-9 miles through the Dragon from Deals Gap. It was right after you passed the second scenic over look where the photographers hangout (they did not distract me or anything). I think it is the one that overlooks the dam. I came through the righthander past the overlook ok, but took a bad line through the following lefthander. I got concerned about going wide, of course made the noob mistake of looking over at the edge of the road instead of through the corner, and then at the end when it really seemed like I was not going to make it rolled off the throttle (I don't think I pulled any brake). I of course went wide into a ditch and highsided. I was probably doing 35-40mph through the apex and maybe 25mph when I went into the ditch since I had let off the gas and it was an uphill corner.

I am completely ok. The gear I always wear did it's job. (Thank you, Teknic and Icon) Not a mark on me, just a little soreness in my right elbow and shoulder. God was watching out for me yesterday. I'm feeling it a little more today with more soreness in the shoulder and soreness and stiffness in the back and base of my neck. I've taken spills snow skiing that did worse. I'm glad I had the sense to kind of roll with the bike and did not try to stick out a hand or leg. My Teknic Supervent Pro jacket is still in great shape and just needs a washing. My Icon Airframe helmet has some light scrapes on the right side and a broken rear airfoil but that is designed to break off. Structurally the helmet looks ok but I will be replacing it as a precaution.

The VFR (6th gen) suffered some damage, I actually cracked the crankcase cover (which caused a slow oil leak), broke off my windscreen, cracked my tach cover, and bent my key (I think I did all that with my head), plus some cosmetic damage to the upper front cowling (small crack and scrapes) and right side fairing (all scratches and scrapes). I will also need to replace both the front brake lever and rear brake pedal (they both got bent but are still useable since I bent them back some) and the right side frame slider. The case cover and frame slider took most of the impact and everything else was in pretty good shape. (Thank you Motovation)

After we got the bike back up on the road and moved it to a safer spot I took about a 10 minute break to let the adrenaline subside and let the light shakes go away. The engine started right up and sounded good and there was no damage to the front forks or anything else. I was not nervous at all about getting back on and riding back. I just took it real easy since I knew my small oil leak was dripping oil onto the right side of my rear tire and I was not 100% sure if there was any other damage that might affect performance. Mentally this crash hasn't shaken my desire to ride at all. Half way back to Deals Gap I was wishing there was no oil leak and I found myself wanting to go fast again.

I was able to nurse it back to Deals Gap where some super glue (no joke, thank you Krazy Glue) and some redneck engineering fixed my cracked crankcase cover/oil leak and I was able to ride the bike the 100 miles back to the cabin near McCaysville (we were staying with some friends there for the weekend). I did leave my destroyed wind screen on the Tree of Shame.

Lessons Learned:

1. ATGATT - The armored gear and quality helmet saved me from any significant injury.

2. Even if you have been riding curvy roads all day, if you stop to take a break, even a short 5 minute break where you don't shut off the engine or get off the bike, take it easy getting back into the corners. It takes a few minutes/miles to "dial yourself back in", "get back in the groove", "find your rhythm", etc. The corner that got me was not all that tricky and I had run many like it at faster speeds just 15 minutes before. Taking that short break and then jumping right back onto the Dragon at the same pace that we were using before with no "warm up" time is why I believed I crashed. I had taken some less than perfect lines through previous corners and never felt comfortable at all in the corner where I crashed.

All in all, I still had a blast yesterday. It really was a great day of riding. I'm ok and the bike is operable and repairable without needing major work. I have some pictures that I will post tomorrow. If anyone has a 6th gen rightside crankcase cover, rear brake pedal, or windscreen for sale, please PM me. I think I make go with some aftermarket clutch and front brake leversand replacement Motovation frame sliders. I am going to try to repair the damage to the fairings myself.

glad you are ok...definitely could have been worse. my first one was at the Gap....and i was too dense to quite too :biggrin:

take it slow the next time out....the mind has a way of not letting go of these things and it might take a month or two of riding before you find yourself back to full relaxed. maybe follow Bent around for a while...that should be a slow enough pace to get you back in the groove.... :laughing6-hehe:

I got about 100 miles of riding in, going back to our cabin. I didn't feel any nervousness or uncomfortability. We rode US129 South and US74 West back though so not too many tight corners.

Best part of the story was your not hurt, I always in a strange way smile when I read a crash story & read those words. Always doing the right thing on a motorbike when you start a scenario wrong is the hardest thing about riding because you truly have to fight natural instinct like rolling off the throttle & target fixation. Even the best of the best get it wrong at times because doesn't matter how good a rider you are the human condition can still get the better of you.
My most simple rule I use on any ride is if I run a little wide just once I slow down & work harder on the fundamentals of cornering until the next rest stop to make sure my brain is in aline with my throttle hand & if it happens one more time after that then I call it quits for the day.

This thread is useless without highside pics from Killboy :biggrin:

Glad you are ok dude. At that speed on a highside you could have easily gotten injured much worst. Is the bike fully insured? Any pics showing the damage?

Rollin

Sorry to hear about the crash, but glad you are OK and that the bike is not too badly damaged. :smile:

I hit some terrific twisties last weekend, but wasn't riding well the first day, and I could easily tell I didn't have my "A" game so I backed off. A couple days later I was riding much better, but there were still times I had to tell myself to 'look where you want to go'.

I am a huge believer in riding gear. My VFR and I fell over while I was getting on it Saturday night. I hit the ground pretty hard but suffered no injuries, mostly thanks to armor in my jacket, and tho I was wearing my helmet I don't think my head actually hit the pavement. But without the shoulder armor I suspect I might have broken a collarbone. Thank God for gear! :fing02:

[image: View Post]RollinAgain, on 12 October 2010 - 08:31 AM, said:

This thread is useless without highside pics from Killboy :biggrin:

Glad you are ok dude. At that speed on a highside you could have easily gotten injured much worst. Is the bike fully insured? Any pics showing the damage?

Rollin


The bike is fully insured, but I'm pretty handy and I can fix all the damage myself and buy the parts for less than my deductible so I am not going to make a claim.

I have pictures of the ride and the damage that I plan on posting tonight after work. There won't be any Killboy pics of the highside, I was just around the corner and out of sight for that. But I bet there will be a pic of my going around the previous corner about 3-5 seconds before my crash and perhaps some pics of my all tore up after my crash on the way back. I'm betting I look a little lame and possibly out of sorts on that pic. We'll see.

Glad to hear that you are ok. let me know if you need any help.

keith

Glad you are ok. :fing02: One thing though......... knowingly riding with an oil leak (that may get bigger as you go) on a windy road is NOT cool imho, leaving oil for others to crash on.... Just ask Colin Edwards how he felt at WSBk Nurburgring 1999

[image: View Post]zRoYz, on 12 October 2010 - 08:10 AM, said:

Best part of the story was your not hurt, I always in a strange way smile when I read a crash story & read those words. Always doing the right thing on a motorbike when you start a scenario wrong is the hardest thing about riding because you truly have to fight natural instinct like rolling off the throttle & target fixation. Even the best of the best get it wrong at times because doesn't matter how good a rider you are the human condition can still get the better of you.
My most simple rule I use on any ride is if I run a little wide just once I slow down & work harder on the fundamentals of cornering until the next rest stop to make sure my brain is in aline with my throttle hand & if it happens one more time after that then I call it quits for the day.


:+1:
Glad your OK!

Dutchy, on 12 October 2010 - 02:58 PM, said: Glad you are ok. :fing02: One thing though......... knowingly riding with an oil leak (that may get bigger as you go) on a windy road is NOT cool imho, leaving oil for others to crash on.... Just ask Colin Edwards how he felt at WSBk Nurburgring 1999 We considered that. After starting the engine up, I timed the drips. It was pretty slow, the crack was not very wide. It was weaping, pooling, and then dripping more than straight dripping. Most of it was also burning up on the exhaust. I believe that I actually left very little on the Dragon. Another much older rider and motorcycle mechanic that we had met at Deals Gap and chatted with for a while stopped to check on us. He thought the drip was pretty slow and would not leave much at all on the road. I told my friend Matt to follow me and to signal me if it got any worse or started leaving any visible lines or spots on the road. He said he saw blue smoke off the exhaust but nothing visible on the road. My tire was "damp" on the ride side when we got back, but not "wet" with oil. I did my best to stay out of the "fast lines" through all the corners. After we got the crack sealed up and the leak stopped we checked the oil level and not enough came out to where the level was outside of the normal range, so I didn't even have to add any oil.

[image: View Post]cornercarver, on 12 October 2010 - 02:45 PM, said:

Glad to hear that you are ok. let me know if you need any help.

keith


You got any duck tape I can use to put my windscreen back on? :biggrin:

VFRBulldawg, on 12 October 2010 - 03:38 PM, said: Dutchy, on 12 October 2010 - 02:58 PM, said: Glad you are ok. :fing02: One thing though......... knowingly riding with an oil leak (that may get bigger as you go) on a windy road is NOT cool imho, leaving oil for others to crash on.... Just ask Colin Edwards how he felt at WSBk Nurburgring 1999 We considered that. After starting the engine up, I timed the drips. It was pretty slow, the crack was not very wide. It was weaping, pooling, and then dripping more than straight dripping. Most of it was also burning up on the exhaust. I believe that I actually left very little on the Dragon. Another much older rider and motorcycle mechanic that we had met at Deals Gap and chatted with for a while stopped to check on us. He thought the drip was pretty slow and would not leave much at all on the road. I told my friend Matt to follow me and to signal me if it got any worse or started leaving any visible lines or spots on the road. He said he saw blue smoke off the exhaust but nothing visible on the road. My tire was "damp" on the ride side when we got back, but not "wet" with oil. I did my best to stay out of the "fast lines" through all the corners. After we got the crack sealed up and the leak stopped we checked the oil level and not enough came out to where the level was outside of the normal range, so I didn't even have to add any oil. Good luck in fixing your bike :fing02:

Glad you're ok............

[image: View Post]VFRBulldawg, on 12 October 2010 - 12:08 AM, said:

Well, they say there are only two kinds of riders, those that have crashed and those that are going to. I am now the former. I've been riding for two years and have been lucky to have made it so long without a crash I think. At least I have a somewhat cooler story to tell about my first crash. My first crash was on the Tail of the Dragon and not the first time I rode it and not in my neighborhood coming home from work when I locked up the front tire dodging my neighbors dog and not falling over at a stop sign on a hill. :biggrin:

I was riding with my friend Matt, a USAF captain, who was on his Bandit 600. It was his first time riding in the area so I was leading. We had rode up TN-68 from McCaysville, GA to Tellico Plains and then rode the Cherohala Skyway over to Deals Gap.

We were running a pretty good pace through most of the dragon. Going pretty fast, having fun, but not dragging knee or taking risks. We caught up to a slow as molasses Jeep Wrangler so we stopped at a pull off for about 5-10 minutes and then got back on. Probably less than a mile later I highsided on a lefthander. I estimate we were about 8-9 miles through the Dragon from Deals Gap. It was right after you passed the second scenic over look where the photographers hangout (they did not distract me or anything). I think it is the one that overlooks the dam. I came through the righthander past the overlook ok, but took a bad line through the following lefthander. I got concerned about going wide, of course made the noob mistake of looking over at the edge of the road instead of through the corner, and then at the end when it really seemed like I was not going to make it rolled off the throttle (I don't think I pulled any brake). I of course went wide into a ditch and highsided. I was probably doing 35-40mph through the apex and maybe 25mph when I went into the ditch since I had let off the gas and it was an uphill corner.

I am completely ok. The gear I always wear did it's job. (Thank you, Teknic and Icon) Not a mark on me, just a little soreness in my right elbow and shoulder. God was watching out for me yesterday. I'm feeling it a little more today with more soreness in the shoulder and soreness and stiffness in the back and base of my neck. I've taken spills snow skiing that did worse. I'm glad I had the sense to kind of roll with the bike and did not try to stick out a hand or leg. My Teknic Supervent Pro jacket is still in great shape and just needs a washing. My Icon Airframe helmet has some light scrapes on the right side and a broken rear airfoil but that is designed to break off. Structurally the helmet looks ok but I will be replacing it as a precaution.

The VFR (6th gen) suffered some damage, I actually cracked the crankcase cover (which caused a slow oil leak), broke off my windscreen, cracked my tach cover, and bent my key (I think I did all that with my head), plus some cosmetic damage to the upper front cowling (small crack and scrapes) and right side fairing (all scratches and scrapes). I will also need to replace both the front brake lever and rear brake pedal (they both got bent but are still useable since I bent them back some) and the right side frame slider. The case cover and frame slider took most of the impact and everything else was in pretty good shape. (Thank you Motovation)

After we got the bike back up on the road and moved it to a safer spot I took about a 10 minute break to let the adrenaline subside and let the light shakes go away. The engine started right up and sounded good and there was no damage to the front forks or anything else. I was not nervous at all about getting back on and riding back. I just took it real easy since I knew my small oil leak was dripping oil onto the right side of my rear tire and I was not 100% sure if there was any other damage that might affect performance. Mentally this crash hasn't shaken my desire to ride at all. Half way back to Deals Gap I was wishing there was no oil leak and I found myself wanting to go fast again.

I was able to nurse it back to Deals Gap where some super glue (no joke, thank you Krazy Glue) and some redneck engineering fixed my cracked crankcase cover/oil leak and I was able to ride the bike the 100 miles back to the cabin near McCaysville (we were staying with some friends there for the weekend). I did leave my destroyed wind screen on the Tree of Shame.

Lessons Learned:

1. ATGATT - The armored gear and quality helmet saved me from any significant injury.

2. Even if you have been riding curvy roads all day, if you stop to take a break, even a short 5 minute break where you don't shut off the engine or get off the bike, take it easy getting back into the corners. It takes a few minutes/miles to "dial yourself back in", "get back in the groove", "find your rhythm", etc. The corner that got me was not all that tricky and I had run many like it at faster speeds just 15 minutes before. Taking that short break and then jumping right back onto the Dragon at the same pace that we were using before with no "warm up" time is why I believed I crashed. I had taken some less than perfect lines through previous corners and never felt comfortable at all in the corner where I crashed.

All in all, I still had a blast yesterday. It really was a great day of riding. I'm ok and the bike is operable and repairable without needing major work. I have some pictures that I will post tomorrow. If anyone has a 6th gen rightside crankcase cover, rear brake pedal, or windscreen for sale, please PM me. I think I make go with some aftermarket clutch and front brake leversand replacement Motovation frame sliders. I am going to try to repair the damage to the fairings myself.


WOW, Brian. I don't know how I missed this thread over the last few days. I am so glad you are OK. Thanks for the post mortum.
I'm really glad you had your gear in order. Glad you could put some evidence on digital pic. I'll be in touch.