A new experience...

While riding home from work on the 305 today I had an unfortunate meeting with the side of a car. I was in the left lane of a four-lane road, and they pulled out from the right, stopping right in front of me. I sort of saw it coming - I suspect every car in a driveway is about to pull out - but hey, what are you gonna do.

It was raining so I locked up immediately, and just skidded straight into their door. I fell over, only took a bump on the elbow, no real harm. They took off, of course, so I figured I would just head home.

Unfortunately the bars were bent, and as I learned when I got home, the forks were too. Someone called the cops so I had to talk to them, and ended up getting my car to tow the bike home.

I guess with the cost of trailer rental and replacement forks it's a $75 incident - could be a lot worse. Think I might get some real tires for it soon.

 

That sucks. Glad you're not hurt. Could have been any one of us. It's  a good few years since I went down but the older I get the more paranoid I become. It only takes a half a second.

No eBay APP ID and/or Cert ID defined in Kunena configurationGlad you’re ok. I was just looking at bars. Emgo makes a super bike bar the are if I remember 32” wide, 4 3/4 rise, and 4 1/2 pull back for $28.00. Forks will be your most expensive. 

No eBay APP ID and/or Cert ID defined in Kunena configuration

Happy to hear you are OK.
I hate cars

I hope you put a nice crease in their door.

Thanks everyone. My shoulders were killing me until today, finally loosening up...I suppose I braced myself. New forks on, here are the old ones post-crash:

 

Still doesn't track perfectly straight, I think one or both of the triple clamps are a bit bent, but it's livable. Front wheel needs to be trued too, so I'll use the long weekend to work that out. 

Rode ~300 miles Wednesday on the 750, felt a lot less confident than I used to but it might be for the best. I had thought that crashing was something other people did, but now I know it's a real possibility for me.

wrote:

Thanks everyone. My shoulders were killing me until today, finally loosening up...I suppose I braced myself. New forks on, here are the old ones post-crash:


Still doesn't track perfectly straight, I think one or both of the triple clamps are a bit bent, but it's livable. Front wheel needs to be trued too, so I'll use the long weekend to work that out. 

Rode ~300 miles Wednesday on the 750, felt a lot less confident than I used to but it might be for the best. I had thought that crashing was something other people did, but now I know it's a real possibility for me.
 

An incident like that should always make us more cautious. your confidence will improve, but I bet you will be much more vigilant as you ride. I have had a few unexpected get-offs, but never a serious injury. I am much more attentive these days. I think most every motorcyclist thinks the same about crashing, until it happens. I believe there is some truth in the old adage that there are two kinds of motorcyclists; those who have crashed and those who will. I am glad you are not seriously damaged, though you may want to see a chiropractor to insure that you heal well.
One of the triples may indeed be bent, but I would also closely inspect the front of the frame for any signs that something is askew.

The good part is you were not seriously physically injured.  At the end of the day, you faced what could have been a life-threatening situation if a few tiny details & timing had been different.  It's a survival mechanism to be left leery after such an encounter.  Think our ancestors' experiences with large predators, poisonous snakes & such.

The illusion of control on the road ends at a Rider's head and extremities.  Beyond that, only the elusive, predictive sixth sense that a Rider develops over time and miles can be marginally relied upon to help keep one safe.

Confidence is likely to return given enough time.  We suspect that future rides will be influenced accordingly and, ultimately, subconsciously by surviving this encounter mostly unscathed.

Our best wishes as always,
Good Ridin'
slmjim & Z1BEBE

I am pleased that you suffered no serious injuries Ghostdive, but three things should be mentioned.  I assume the huge black box was on your bike at the time of the crash correct?  If so that loosely attached box will most assuredly have some negative handling issues in an emergency situation.  I won't go into details, but I hope it wasn't on your bike when your emergency situation came up.  The other point is that you said you slid/skidded into the car and were now going to get some real tires.  I am not sure what that meant exactly, but tires are one of the most important items on your bike besides a good working brake system.  Speaking of braking, once you go into a brake lockup all bets are off on surviving or avoiding a crash.  After you get your bike repaired and put good tires on it get to a clear parking lot and try to become very familiar with slowing your motorcycle down as quickly as you can.  Be careful doing this though as there is an element of danger involved.  The term we used in the past was "threshold braking" which takes place just before wheel lockup.  Threshold braking is what you want to work at obtaining, but it must be mentally adjusted for with regard to the prevailing pavement conditions.  Even newer bikes with ABS can't stop or slow down as quickly as a rider who knows his/her bike and utilizes threshold braking properly.

Please note, I am not picking on you in any way, shape, manner or form.  In all the motorcycle crashes I investigated I always tried to learn something from them and there almost always was something to learn.  I was always amazed at how neglected tires were on motorcycles.  Some people ride on them until the cords are showing and almost no heavy weight bike riders bother checking their tire pressures.  I learned quickly to check tire pressures on all involved vehicles at serious crashes and note them in my reports.  Rarely did I find tires were properly inflated be it cars, trucks or motorcycles.  You would like to think motorcycle riders are fanatics about their tires, but most aren't.  The standing joke became big bike riders only checked their tire pressures when they took their bike in for service work.  At least once a week in the riding season I would give some biker a ticket for running on defective tires and they just never understood why I was so picky about tires.  Their feeling was if the rim isn't on the pavement yet it's okay.  Being a motor officer helped make the point, but few completely understood my concern especially when they had passengers, like wives, girlfriends or their kid on board.  Hope you heal fast and get the bike repaired quickly.  

Rick H.

Don't forget "target fixation". That's when something happens and you lose precious seconds in disbelief something has moved into your path before you take evasive action to avoid it. That's what happened to me in 86 and the wreck. The other bike passed the stake bed truck on the right shoulder then the truck moved to the right as if to let me pass. I might have made it.. We were coming up to an intersection and I should have waited but I didn't. I rolled on the power but then the truck turned left in front of me. Rather than turning left to avoid him I hit the rear brake and put it down hitting the truck's rear tire with my shoulder and the bike slid under it. We both would up in a field. If I had taken evasive action I might have made it.
In 15 I was on my way to visit my daughter when 7 miles from home a woman in a white car was waiting to make a left turn. I was going about 55 and I knew she was going to try and beat me and turn anyway. I had just hit my high beam when she started moving. I decided to pass behind her as she was leaving her lane. In the seconds this all happened she put it in reverse and backed into me destroying my side box. I felt the thump but was committed to my move so I hit the paved left shoulder then the dirt and braked to a stop. There was a pickup behind her and he saw the whole thing. I put the side stand down and sat there in disbelief to what had just happened. The guy in the truck said "I thought you would go down for sure". She was standing next to her car crying "I didn't see you, I didn't see you". She was in the middle of the street and I noticed the gouge my box guard had made in the side of her car. I told her to move it out of the street and we will exchange information. We both had Geico and it worked out well for me but not for her. She said I hit her but the guy in the truck told them what really happened. 
   .  
The bottom line to the story is to keep scanning the surroundings and look for that "Hole Shot". It might save your life.
Steve
kzrider.com/forum/13-bike-related/599951-close-call?start=0

kzrider.com/forum/6-paint-a-bodywork/599985-hard-box-repair

Sometimes they really don't see us.

Motion-induced blindness.

The first link points to a full screen rendering of the .GIF below that is best observed on a reasonably large screen.  The Wikipedia article fills in the details.

Concentrate on the blinking dot in the center for ten seconds or so.  The moving image should fill much of your field of vision.

What happens to the yellow dots?



en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motion-induced_bli...MotionBlindnessf.gif

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motion-induced_blindness

Good Ridin'
slmjim & Z1BEBE