Crash - OPEN LETTER

Hey all,
Bigpops here.  I want to thank Blue Fox and Woody for sharing their crash experience.  Guys like you...and Meansrk, Rrasco, VPsoph, Hard Corp (and the Mrs Swt Poet), Don Collins... have all captured my attention since I have joined the forum.  Your input and advice has been unmeasurable.
 
I am a 42 year old retired Navy guy that made his carreer flying C-130's.  At some point you become "bullet proof" and feel it only happens to the "other guy", in this field.  We had a few sayings in the aviation community, such as "keep your head on a swivel" and "listen to the inner voice".   The latter being one of the smartest.
 
The other day, the young Motocrosser came out in me and I wanted to see what the new 07 CBR 600RR was made of.  Here in southern Maryland, we have many deer and other assorted wildlife to make things interesting, so I picked a unique and clear area and just plain old opened her up.  What a rush.......then the "voice started talking "...and I backed off.
 
Imagine my surprise as I rounded the turn to find an old farmer putzing along at 45mph.  Could have been very ugly.
 
My point???  PLEASE ....PLEASE...listen to that inner voice everyone.  If you get that feeling, back off.  If there is a shadow of a doubt, dont do it. Wear your GEAR!
 
I respect all of you and your experience and knowledge.  To see you crashing ( FOX, Woody, Hardcorp and Poet) has opened my eyes again.
 
Many of you have said it ..."way to many crashes this year"
 
Lets listen to that voice of reason.
 
Thanks,
I love reading your posts...and want to continue to...today and tomorrow!
 
Bigpops (Steve) 

Nice post BP.

Thanks Wild Cat!  I type like to old people having sex......slow and sloppy!  So it means alot.
 
Just hope everyone stays safe.

make that "two"

quote:

ORIGINAL: Bigpops
 I type like to old people having sex......slow and sloppy!  So it means alot.

that's disturbing lol.... great post though.

amen +1

good post

I thought you were talking to me....but nice post.  that little voice in your head is usually right.   The times I have ignored it, I have gone down

Yes, I should have listened that little voice that said don't ride when Hardcorp and I crashed. You better believe I'll listen next time.

rock on brother

Very good post. People will realize one day only fools think they wont go down. Its not a matter of if but of when. And we all need to be prepared just short of not making it fun. After all thats why we ride, its fun.

Everyone be careful out there.

Peace.

Very cool post... I'm happy to hear you were so fortunate.  

So...I rode my bike for my first commute to work on Wednesday. Preparing the night before the ride...I was looking for my clear visor. 20 minutes of looking for it in the most likely place that I would put it...couldn't figure it out...I remembered I started cleaning the garage on Sunday and decided to look up at my wire box that I had put away. Thinking...nah....can't be there...but then I looked closely at the shadow cast on the wall and low behold...there's the visor. The next morning, 4:55 AM, I'm already running late if I'm riding (10 minutes to get the bike started when it's cold). I can't find my damn keys. I thought about and said, where would I have put them...I moved the bike to the other bay...their not where they should be...maybe on top of the freezer. No...maybe in the pockets of the pants I was wearing....no.... Damn it...10 minutes rolls by and I'm thinking maybe this is a sign....Damn it...tore through the trash...nope...Damn it....look on the freezer for the 4th time. Hmmm...is it possible that it's under the ADC book map? Yup.

So by this point my inner voice is seeing...this is a sign....

I check the tank...hmmm..looks like it could be enough to make the 48 mile commute in. Start the 10 minute ritual of starting her up. Holy F! it's cold out here. Riding in...everytime I stop my visor fogs up...guess I need to find a different helmet. 23 miles later as I was coming to a stop, the oil light comes on. WTF! OK, now I need to pull over and check it.. Wait...the bike won't move. Oh snap...the engine is off... Maybe it wasn't enough gas. Switch to the reserve. Crank it. Nothing. Damn it...push to the left to the turning lane, crank it a couple times...ok. Rest of the trip uneventful, but 40 minutes late.  4 hours later, my thighs finally thaw out.

So for the trip hope...the worse part came... debilitating heart burn half way between home and work. I pull into the local convienence store (Wawa) and get some milk and wait 15 minutes to settle then hop on and ride the rest of the way home and end up calling out the next day (some bug going around).

I really don't like ignoring my inner voice, but in this case, it wasn't screaming at me like it usually does before a bad day. Overall not to bad. But about as much happened as expected from the way things felt they were going to go.

Excellent post BP.

i know exactly how you feel.  recently i was out riding on some clear roads in the country practicing wheelies, and i got this strange urge to back off, i had a weird feeling that something was about to go wrong.  about 30 seconds later, at a spot where i've done countless wheelies lately (you come around a turn and there's about 1/2 mile of straight, freshly paved road), there was a huge oil slick in the middle of my lane.  i was able to maneuver around it, but i can only imagine what kind of story i'd be posting right now if i had gone through it on one wheel going 60+ and lost control.

Amen to that. Too many people are hitting the asphalt lately. Wear the gear everytime you get on, no one is too good to crash.

Great post, but on the subject of that little voice only had that happen twice in my life. Once was to eat dirt and the second time was to turn around both times saved my life I truly wished it happened more often

 Bigpops...I love the C-130! Hurkey Bird is my favorite aircraft (I was just a passenger, but those things are tough!) Nice words, echoing my sentiments towards members. All the e-screaming about safety has kept me safe. My "Little Voice" is a committee. I count seven crash posts, so far today, and I'm only halfway through! At this rate, we won't have any members soon. God forbid anybody else gets hurt, just for one day, Lord! Amen.

Good point about the inner voice BP. When I went down a few weeks ago, I had a really bad feeling about it before I even started out. I kept envisioning myself going down all week (WTF!)... I knew that I was hitting roads that were too advanced to ride at high speed (and had high potential for gravel around turns), but decided to press my luck. Bad idea!

quote:

Too many people are hitting the asphalt lately. Wear the gear everytime you get on, no one is too good to crash.

 
Please do not take this post to be dis-respectful to those on the forum that have crashed recently. It just seems as though so many of us have got into SERIOUS accidents lately. And those that have crashed hard are not the noobs, but veterans. I know my small crash a few years ago was from riding dumb. It just seems as though we have forgotten that 90% of riding in in your head.
 
It seems as though most of these crashes are from errors in judgement, we have all crashed something (I crashed lots of stuff, bike, a few cars, etc) from an error in judgement. There are those case that riders are simply blindsided by cars, but it seems as though the vast majority of our forum accidents are from rider error.
 
Gear is all well and good, but the best gear is inside your head, not on the outside. I'd bet on the smart (and/or careful) rider before the geared up rider to survive the ride any day of the week. Just like the mind is the best weapon, it is also your greatest defense. Please ride smart everyone.

There is no such thing as too slow or too cautious. I'll go slow if it means my bike and my person are in one piece.

Thanks for posting this Poppa.  There are some great responses, too.  Frydaddy has got it nailed...riding is all about what's in your head.  Listen to that voice and don't ride when your mental state is compromised!  Most recently, Corp and Poet could have benefited from her "women's intuition" as a perfect example.  If I am not mistaken, she didn't want to ride on the day of their accident.  Be safe brethren...!

I took my bike out ther other day before i left on Wednesday to move here to sunny California....it seemd as tho my bike had a mind of its onw and was running rather strong ...i think it was the right mix of air temp and road temps...i was rippin up roads and was really enjoying my day.....then i got a gut and just went home...it was a perfect day and didnt want to get in over my head pushin the bar...so i get the inner voice...
 
Any one near Yorba Linda wanna get together and ride...send me a PM....im here now in Cali.....have a great day..

Good post, Pops. Funny how even at your age (not that I'm saying your old) you still have to use self-control. Years of experience can't give you psychic ability, but could help give you a much better ability to anticipate POSSIBILITES...i.e. WISDOM.
 
Just because you've been riding for years doesn't mean you're better than person A that's just getting into the sport. You have to actually use your noggin and think about each riding experience using "what if" ideas. I always do this: smooth ride today, but "What if that rust-bucket I came up behind lost its muffler in the road? I should ride further back and off to the (left/right) side next time." It's these ideas that will actually stick in your head and should almost come naturally next time your in a similar situation when riding. Like muscle memory. But if all else fails, make sure you ARE PREPARED FOR THE WORST. GEAR.  Nothing is automatic other than that we will die. <---Sorry, this might be the vicodin talking!!
 
Again ladies and gentleman, be safe. I love you all for putting in care to try and help fellow riders out here who just want to ride. Let's try for ZERO major-injury accidents for the rest of the season. It can be easily acheived by two simple things:
 
1) WEAR PROPER GEAR
2) WISE CHOICES -- Like Pops said, listen to the inner-voice. That's your heart saying "Don't kill us, dumbass."

I went out to run some errands just now. Was on the bike for a total of 30 minutes or so. Within that time, I had 2 people pull out in front of me.Both cars that pulled out were at a stop making a left. The first one, I was able to brake just in time. The second one I had to swerve to avoid. The right side of my bike got within about a foot of his front bumper.

Both drivers of course froze when they saw me coming.

The rest of the way home, I couldn't stop thinking about this post and these accidents that have been happening lately. It really made me slow down and think.

Every year, the fatality rate has increased with motorcycle riders. I think we should all make a commitment in 2008 to make the first decline in deaths and get a buddy system going.

I vote this post to be a sticky.

Great Post!!! ... +1