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Riding Again After An Accident


Ryanme17

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As many of you know, I recently totalled my beloved 2003 VFR, and replaced her with a clean 2002 ABS model. Now that I'm riding again, I'm a little jumpy, I almost feel nervous back in the saddle. Part of it could be the worn and cupping D208's making the bike feel twitchy in corners, but it's probably mostly me. I've only done about 350 miles on the new bike, but I had thought that would be enough to get back into the swing of things. Anyone ever experience anything similar or have any advice?

yes i went through same thing- i think every car is gonna cut me off- run a red light and stopsign--- :unsure:

- do a early morning ride with no traffic-- get back to your basics and then it will all come back to ya-practice your stops , turns a few small wheelies etc get back to how you know how to ride---- :cool:

but i will say this these 4 wheelers really drive like crap with these dangum cell phones-- :mad: welcome back i left for a while and now enjoy every chance i get to ride :beer:

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Using a cellphone in The Netherlands, without handsfree kit kosts 350 euro, at current rates about 470 dollar. And still every day you see people using them while driving. They are talking, reading email, sending sms, using whatsapp and drive the same way as a drunk driver. Killing about 60 people in the busy Dutch traffic every year.

The best thing after a accident is driving as soon as possible again. After my last accident i was on a motorcycle one day later. But it cost me nearly a year before i rode on my old level.

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Using a cellphone in The Netherlands, without handsfree kit kosts 350 euro, at current rates about 470 dollar. And still every day you see people using them while driving. They are talking, reading email, sending sms, using whatsapp and drive the same way as a drunk driver. Killing about 60 people in the busy Dutch traffic every year.

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That isn't a Dutch problem. It's everywhere. I'm in Texas, in the city, and it's the same shit here. People texting, surfing, emailing, eating, ladies putting on makeup. My bikes are 90% twisty machines but 2 weeks ago I decided to ride to a mates to go see a film. On the way there, on a tollroad highway, a lady was putting on makeup, in the fast lane, doing 80-85 MPH, drifting in and out of her lane. I thought she was drunk at first and sped to get away from her. As I passed her I looked over and she had her visor flipped down, with the light on, applying her makeup. Crazy!

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Yeah, sad to say but due to phones and the overall rush to get there a lot of people's driving habits have erroded to the point where you have to look at everyone as a potential road zombie who could do the unexpected at any time. After an accident you just become more acutely aware of this. But with time you will regain the confidence that by being alert you will minimize the odds in your favor. Wear your gear, trust your instincts and remember that being alert while relaxed will put you in the best position to react quickly and accordingly.

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Best riding advice I ever got was from a late friend whose polio was so bad he could barely walk but the man was easily the best rider I've ever had the pleasure of being behind......."look where you're goin and go where you're lookin." RIP Jake Jacobs

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Worst crash I had was actually the day of my license training. So literally the first day I had ridden, passed all the initial skill training such as slalom, slow speed balance, emergency stops, figure 8's etc without issue. Crashed right near the end on the road due to loose gravel, poor visibility, trying to remember a set of 20 instructions for where to go and just inexperience.. not knowing what dangers to look for.

Basically locked the front on the little bit of gravel and once it gripped the front wheel tucked under and the whole bike did a front flip (instructor was right behind me watching this take place.. apparently it was an impressive flip :goofy: )

Anyways, I broke the fall with my right knee and left palm, had gloves on but only denim jeans so fractured the kneecap. Before I even stopped rolling I was on my feet and back to the bike to hit the killswitch since the throttle jammed against the road and it started revving up. I sat down for a minute before starting to seize up a little and noticing the blood on my leg.

The bike was ok, more dents and scratches and both brake levers had snapped. I could still walk though, albeit painfully and it was a country town so the instructor argued with me for 10 mins until I agreed to swap bikes and ride back with him. After that fall I was really nervous about stepping up onto a shiny new red VTR250.. but got back fine.

Obviously this is a pretty tame injury compared to those listed in this thread but for my first day I was still kinda shaken about it. 2 weeks later I limped back into the training centre, went back out for a half hour ride and got my restricted license.

That was 4 years and about 55,000kms on two wheels ago, so I've learnt a lot more and had plenty of experience since.. but something tells me I'll always come back until the day I'm physically incapable of sitting on one.

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When my confidence is shaken I kept on riding at a reduce pace and

treated my condition as a barrier to overcome...

First signs to watch for are my vision... when it starts to narrow and

hunt frantically for my awareness I start to make mistakes... so I

check that by concentrating on pushing my field of vision back to

wide... only with wide vision will I see enough space to stay calm and

begin make accurate decisions that will definitely boost confidence...

Next is breathing... I monitor for first signs of panicky short and

rapid rates and then concentrate on calming it down with long slow

breaths...

Finally I busy my thoughts with the 3 basic tools of cornering more effectively...

1 How quickly do I steer the bike???

2 How much lean angle do I use???

3 Where do I begin my turn in point???

And finally I grade my performance after each corner and assign a number from 1 to 100...

1 did I rolling off the gas to early???

2 did i tighten on the bars???

3 did I narrow my vision???

4 did I fix my attention too long on something???

5 did I steer too early or not quick enough???

6 did I brake when it wasn't necessary???

If I start receiving grades in the 75% range do I begin feeling a real rise in

my level of confidence...

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I had a low speed low-side early this summer on my now gone VFR. It was on some switchback (10 mph hairpin) corners on a moderate hill in the Ozark Mtns. My mistake was getting too far to the right side of the pavement in a left hander. Left over from the spring thaw along the road edge, there was some chat (finely crushed rock) that the Arkansas highway department uses during the winter for traction. While I was leaned over I cracked open the throttle to exit the corner and exceeded my traction limit in the chat. Before I could say "Oh $4it" I was down. Personally the only thing hurt was my pride and ego, the bike however was a total loss.

I did not hesitate to get back riding as soon as I found a replacement bike and my insurance settled. For a while I was somewhat less confident in leaning the bike over in moderately severe lean angles, but that has disappeared. Now I tend to make assessments of the road surface more frequently and stay away from the road edge in corners. This has been a new challenge for me as I was in a bad habit of "trusting" the road surface and looking as far ahead as I could generally. My new mission is to increase the speed of my road surface scanning so I can do it more frequently without losing my "big picture" for maximum reaction time. I think if my crash had been not due to a mistake on my part (like a deer coming out of nowhere at speed), I wouldn't have been so able to recover so quickly.

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Keith Code does have some good instructions, I agree him but a lot of his points are for the track. However couple weeks back when riding with the boys(KB,Matt,Steve and the Grif) I F'up and slid hard in a 25mph curve BUT took a page out of Keith's book and reverse lean the bike then apply brake and re-point the old girl leaned'er down and hit the throttle again. And cleaned my draws ...

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  • 8 months later...

I had only one major crash outside of track, but it was a fun one... I needed my tires changed, so I rode my bike to a dealer 20+ miles away, and my best friend drove my truck with the tires in the back. About 3-4 miles from dealership, I pulled over to wait for him to catch up (I was on my Kawi 9R, a "little" faster than my Isuzu Trooper at the time...). Few minutes later, I see him coming, I start getting ready to get in front of him, when I feel a rush of air. I turn my head just enough to see a mass coming towards me....... A minivan mom decided to pass a car in front of her on a shoulder, driving straight into me at 60mph. I broke most of my ribs, lost my spleen, lost my left ankle, and almost died. In irony of ironies, she swerved to avoid driving over me, and hit my truck head-on. In one moment, I totaled my bike, my car, and almost my life. I spent months in rehab, but wanting to get back on the bike is what made it all possible. I now have a fused ankle and live without a spleen... For a while, I thought all was good, but then I noticed that I rode a lot more conservatively on the street. It took a while before I realized that no matter how good I can ride, it's the cage drivers that can decide my fate.

I gave up riding when my wife got pregnant. I thought I was done. Little did I know how much I would miss it! 4 years later, I realized - once a biker, always a biker. There is no quitting, only giving up for a while. Well, I'm back, happy, and ready!

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