enzed_viffer

In chronological order:

1. Dropping the CB175 I was test-riding, in the owner's rose garden.

2. Swerving around some pedestrians walking across the road, then dropping the bike in a patch of gravel behind them.

3. (Not a bike one, but probably the most embarrassing) Crashing my car into a tractor parked on the side of the road, as I turned to wave at my girlfriend as I exited from the driveway to her university residence, at 2:00 AM...

4. Dropping my VTR1000 and landing on my head, while hamfistedly bedding in the front brake pads that had just been fitted, just around the corner. What made it worse was it was right in front of some road workers.

5. I was headed home recently, after working late. My "mind-altering meds" had worn off, and traffic was heavy. I was lanesplitting up the inside of the traffic, when I came up to a large truck that was a bit close to the curb, and moving. I figured it was not safe to cut up the inside, in case I ended up squished against the curb, so in a flash of brilliance I shot up onto the verge, intending to detour along the footpath. Unfortunately, when the front wheel hit the damp grass, I detoured into the footpath, head-first. Luckily, I was not going very fast when I went down, so damage was limited to scrapes and scratches on the VFR and on my helmet. It was SO embrrassing picking my bike up though, and straightening the levers and cleaning the mud and grass off.

Interesting read, Dude!

I found especially interesting what you said about your bike being bouncy and that softening up the rear suspension helped. I think a lot of bikers have this weird "go along with the herd" mentality, and that the closer they get to having their bike setup like a racer's, the better it will be. In my experience I've found that running super tight suspension and really low tyre pressures just doesn't work well on the street, unless you've got smooth streets with no potholes, bumps and ripples, and you're running race tyres at race pace.