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My 2c of objective, non-retard-bashing advice to you: 1. Put down your pride, take a concrete pill and accept that sheer manly bravado doesn't make you good at bikes and, indeed, has led you to understeering off the road on a really simple easy corner. 2. Sell your lovely old bike (you may like it and think it's great but it isn't, just sell) and buy a DRZ400 or similar, basically any kind of street legal enduro or motard will do. Take some classes or really apply yourself to riding better (read books, watch instructional videos etc). All of these resources can be found in the newbie thread. Again, put aside your pride and acknowledge that your riding skills are effectively those of a novice. 3. Wear your gear if you're reaching freeway speeds. I'll go for test rides around the block in a t-shirt but if I'm going *somewhere* or just for a fun ride it's all the gear.
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Aug 13, 2017 22:03
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nmagness posted:I guess I kinda came here for some advice, apologies if I came off wrong. "Learn to ride noob" isn't exactly helpful haha. Braking in the corner felt dumb even in the moment and I guess I don't really remember why I chose to brake. Actually, I think the advice was "stop riding noob".
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Aug 13, 2017 22:09
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Slavvy posted:My 2c of objective, non-retard-bashing advice to you: Much appreciated. I think #2 is going to be the hardest for me since I would hate to trash up something newer/more expensive. #3 still makes me kick myself. All the gear all the time from now on haha. Is being familiar with the road as big of a deal as I feel it is or am I deluding myself?
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Aug 13, 2017 22:25
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Ride slower
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Aug 13, 2017 22:42
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The idea is to not trash it. At least not unintentionally
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Aug 13, 2017 22:42
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nmagness posted:Much appreciated. I think #2 is going to be the hardest for me since I would hate to trash up something newer/more expensive. #3 still makes me kick myself. All the gear all the time from now on haha. The reason I told you to get a cheap enduro is because falling over goes from being a major financial tragedy to just a shrug and pick the bike up. They're also neither new nor expensive and will teach you a metric assload about riding that you'll never learn on a flogged out sportbike from the 80's. Being familiar with the road is effectively irrelevant. Familiar roads just let you go faster with the same degree of safety; if you don't know the road just don't out-ride your vision. So don't get on the gas until you can see the exit to the corner, assume every bend tightens and has an RV parked sideways across the road so leave yourself some lean angle in reserve etc. Practice braking and swerving and stopping and all those other things in a carpark or, better yet, at a riding school/with an instructor so it happens without thinking when you're on the bike. Always look where you want to go. Grip the bike with your legs and keep your weight off your hands/wrists with your core.
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Aug 14, 2017 00:30
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Be sure to get a tattoo of a panther on your front so we'll know how to tell you apart from back panther in due time.
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Aug 14, 2017 01:36
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gently caress a sport bike forever and get a DRZ400. Slap some case savers on the side and it will outlive your grandkids. Lmao @ buying plastics, especially for an increasingly rare and outclassed 80s / 90s rocket, when you can bounce a DRZ off a tree and it will increase in value. Revvik fucked around with this message at 01:42 on Aug 14, 2017 |
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Aug 14, 2017 01:40
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gently caress the haters man not everyone understands that every time you throw a leg over the bike, it's another day that might be your last. Your not truly alive if you can't just look at death every day and laugh in it's face. Knees in the breeze brother
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Aug 14, 2017 01:54
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Razzled posted:instead of 'making peace' with becoming dead why don't you learn how to ride first Also I've noticed how there are a decent number of people who post "I KNOW I hosed UP" yet cannot let a single negative response slide without hitting back. As if they didn't know they hosed up. Do they really know they hosed up or are they just saying that because that's the thing to say these days? Also I've noticed that the people who have "made peace with death" are usually the ones who don't wear gear and don't ride defensively and go off the road a lot. I guess that was also argumentative and Razzled already posted it. Sorry for not contributing substance to the thread.
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Aug 14, 2017 02:34
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I agree with this thread that everyone should get a DRZ
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Aug 14, 2017 02:39
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Take cornerspin or the California sumo school or literally any post MSF course. Then, go practice. That way, if you do die on a bike at least it won't be your fault. Definitely get a sumo.
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Aug 14, 2017 03:53
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Jim Silly-Balls posted:I agree with this thread that everyone should get a DRZ They are mediocre bikes that excel at nothing except being an excellent learner bike.
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Aug 14, 2017 04:10
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Slavvy posted:They are mediocre bikes that excel at nothing except being an excellent learner bike. This is correct. Get a DR650.
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Aug 14, 2017 04:29
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Coydog posted:This is correct. Get a DR650. They are mediocre bikes that excel at nothing except being an excellent post-apocalypse bike.
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Aug 14, 2017 05:00
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Slavvy posted:They are mediocre bikes that excel at nothing except being an excellent learner bike. The DRZ excels at nothing but is fairly good at everything except killing try hards because they're too busy buying whatever -R's they can afford to run on the street and then crash and lament the deadliness of the bike life. I wish I had bought one sooner.
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Aug 14, 2017 05:53
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slightly off topic but is it just the crashability that makes enduros so newbie friendly? I bought one mostly because I thought i'd hit fire roads with it but are there other aspects of riding dualsports that are particularly instructive? I ask because i've never really ridden on anything other than single cylinder 250cc dual sports.
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Aug 14, 2017 06:48
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Slavvy posted:They are mediocre bikes that excel at nothing except being an excellent post-apocalypse bike. In the apocalypse bigger is better, get a DR800.
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Aug 14, 2017 07:38
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Trambopaline posted:slightly off topic but is it just the crashability that makes enduros so newbie friendly? I bought one mostly because I thought i'd hit fire roads with it but are there other aspects of riding dualsports that are particularly instructive? I ask because i've never really ridden on anything other than single cylinder 250cc dual sports. Light, narrow, simple, not excessively powered and confidence inspiring. A 250 Ninja has all those qualities too, except when you drop them they gently caress up a bunch of plastics. DRZ, not so much. The only thing I'd say against a DRZ is that they can be intimidating for shorter riders/people who need to feel both feet down at a stop when they first start riding.
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Aug 14, 2017 08:01
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To be fair, DRZ's are the best mediocre bikes. Like buying the Rolex of synthetic handled garden spades under $20 at Lowes. (Noob who crashed: The get a DRZ and a GoPro advice is solid all around.)
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Aug 14, 2017 17:28
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Also, DRZ's are outstanding in a few areas: reliability, handling, and, as mentioned, crashability. Also resale.
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Aug 14, 2017 17:32
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Trambopaline posted:slightly off topic but is it just the crashability that makes enduros so newbie friendly? I bought one mostly because I thought i'd hit fire roads with it but are there other aspects of riding dualsports that are particularly instructive? I ask because i've never really ridden on anything other than single cylinder 250cc dual sports. Apparently it's the fact that you can hoon it while maintaining a holier thou you attitude. Whether getting on a bike or in a car, I think we can all agree that you should say a prayer for it may be your last minutes on earth.
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Aug 14, 2017 18:54
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It's been a year, but here is my crash report. Background I got my riding license in the summer of 2015. My bike was a 1998 Yamaha XJ600N (US name: Seca II). The crash occurred in the summer of 2016. All of this occurs in a European, right-hand drive country. Situation I went for a fun ride on a sunny, warm and dry day. The road is a two-lane, two-way road in good to excellent condition. I do not think the fact that it is right between a lake and some trees mattered.  I approach this site from the North. There is a sharp turn with a 40 kph (approx. 25 mph) speed limit, which is immediately followed by a lifting of that restriction (the general speed limit is 100 kph = approx. 62 mph). I keep to the 40 kph restriction and accelerate once I leave that zone. There is a very, very slight right-left-right combination of turns right where the small road from the northwest joins (the split in that small road is to facilitate joining the faster road). I was wearing my full gear - a full-face helmet, back protector, leather combination suit with armor, high boots and armored gloves. Crash At (I think) 55-60 kph (34-37 mph) and in the middle of the right-left-right combination, just where I think I should have initiated the final right turn, I somehow fail to do so and continue straight on. I try to brake as much as possible, but ride off the road to the right, hit a power distribution box on my right side, fly over my handlebars onto the sloped side of the road, and roll down onto the road. Immediate aftermath I stood up, took off my helmet, cursed, then sat down on the road again as I noticed the sharp pain in my right ankle and my right hand. I never got into the opposite lane. Motorcycle riders and car drivers behind me stopped, immediately attended to me and called the police (to secure traffic) and ambulance. They helped me take off my jacket, which is when I really noticed that my hand was not in good shape. I never lost consciousness. The ambulance arrived after some time and took me to the nearest hospital. I was happy to get some morphine on my way there. Damage report The second and third metacarpal bones in my right hand were badly broken, as was the base of my fifth finger:  They could not immediately operate on me at the first hospital because their operating room was closed for the day, so I was operated on three days later at a different hospital; now I have seventeen titanium screws in my hand:  My right foot was badly contused, but not broken. Nevertheless I could not stand on it for about four days. I got a cut on my right fourth finger, but nothing serious (there's a scar, though). Also, the left side of my knee was scraped, which I believe was due to the knee armor shifting and scraping it as I crashed. I spent the days between the crash and surgery at home in a strong bandage. I left the (second) hospital five days after surgery. As you can tell, I injured my right side, which resulted from hitting that power distribution box there. My bike had most of the accessories (turn indicators, mirrors, footpegs, etc.) torn off or bent beyond use. The handlebar was bent; the front fork was likely twisted/bent. I think the motor should be fine, though I did not test it. There was no visible damage to the frame, though I would not be surprised if it was bent as well. All in all, it was not worth it to repair it, in particular since I had planned to get a new bike in 2018 anyway. It is now sitting with a shop who agreed to take it in until it is sold. What went wrong and how can I avoid it in the future? Honestly, to this day I do not know. I am very sure that once the crash started (going straight instead of turning), I could have still saved it by looking sharply to the left and therefore turning sharply. Looking the wrong way way probably also the first cause. I know that learning to look the right way is very important and I will continue to make sure I do. Constructive advice Always wear all of your gear! Although I did not hit my head hard, hitting the dirt next to the road would have been bad™ without a helmet. Armored gloves could not guard against my hand braking, though I'm sure it also would have been a lot worse.
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Aug 18, 2017 15:07
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ouch, what did doc say about recovery time for the hand? are you gonna be able to use it 100% afterwards?
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Aug 18, 2017 16:57
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Jesus CHRIST man, there's just some things you don't talk about in public
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Aug 18, 2017 17:16
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Razzled posted:ouch, what did doc say about recovery time for the hand? are you gonna be able to use it 100% afterwards? This was exactly a year ago, so I can say for sure: My hand is 100% functional regarding both strength and dexterity. The surgeon did a fantastic job and the physiotherapist really helped, too. I have noticed the plates in my hand only in a few rare instances that do not matter, e.g. when I do pull-ups in a weird (wrong) way. The scar is pretty noticeable, though: 
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Aug 18, 2017 17:22
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That's some pretty sweet dino damage
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Aug 18, 2017 18:41
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Today I got into not one but TWO wrecks! Both on my morning commute. First one, I'm putting along in first gear on a freeway onramp, just shifting up to second, when all the cars in front of me panic stop. The car in front of me hits the car in front of him, and I get loose in some oil and lay it down gently into that guy's bumper. My helmet broke my windshield and I lost a barkbuster on the pavement, and my right wrist hurts like hell, but otherwise I'm cool. I got cited for failure to maintain, but I'll try to fight it. So, I get back on my now less symmetrical S10 and head to work. Down the freeway, up to Virginia City, down the other side avoiding wild horses in the road, and then into the dirt out to my job. I'm cruising in the rocks and gravel when I come around a blind corner to find the road flooded out (the farmer who owns the land on either side of the road right there had irrigated and his ditches backed up, putting about a foot of water on the road in a low spot, maybe 50 yards long). I tried to power through (cause I couldn't stop in time), but the slick mud underneath was too much for my Heidenaus and I went down just as I was out of the water. Mud all over everything, bent the shift lever up, tweaked the OTHER mudguard and clutch handle, etc. I bent the shifter back in place. Rode it the 10 more miles in to work and now I'm gonna do some work to ride the 80 miles back home tonight. Glad it's a tough bike.
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Aug 18, 2017 19:34
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Hahaha. What kind of moron crashes twice in the same day?! 
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Aug 19, 2017 06:22
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seriously what an idiot 
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Aug 19, 2017 17:00
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I used an angle grinder to trim the jagged windscreen down and tightened everything up. Rode it the 80 miles home with no problems except for my wrist hurting like hell. Good bike.
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Aug 19, 2017 17:29
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Confirming crashability of the drz... about a month ago I ate poo poo on a fire road in eastern Washington (doing the WABDR). Was blasting down a straight coming down off the back of Sugarloaf mountain. Still not sure what caused the bike to suddenly go sideways. The surface was gravel and dirt under loose dry sand and randomly deep silt, so it's possible I dropped a wheel into a hidden rut, but in any case my real mistake was riding too fast when I knew the trail conditions were lovely (had a couple of near wrecks earlier in the trip and everyone in the group had at least one lower speed drop.) Anyway what I remember is the front wheel sliding out from under me suddenly, me trying to steer and power out, but then the bike swapped sides, swapped again then high sided. I was in the air for a while, then hit the ground and bounced. Was in the air a second time long enough to think "at least I didn't hit my head" and then I came back down again helmet first. Bike came down on my legs and we both tumbled for a bit. I stayed down for a minute to take stock and make sure all the fingers and toes still wiggled. My left shoulder hurt like hell, but I was still able to get the bike back up on it's stand so at least I knew the shoulder wasn't completely hosed up. Fortunately we weren't far from the end of the trail, and it was all downhill so I was able to limp the bike back down to the next town riding with one arm at a snail's pace. That worked well enough that my plan went from "call AAA to get me home so I can go to a hospital asap" to "I'll stick to asphalt and ride the rest of the trip one-handed and meet up with my friends at the endpoint of each day". With the power of ibuprofen, I did get to finish out the last few days of the trip, even though it wasn't exactly via the route I'd wanted to take. Damage to the bike: ignition switch crushed, headlight assembly pushed over a few inches, shift lever wrecked, plastics pretty much all scratched, end cap torn off exhaust. Damage to me: separated shoulder (doing 3-6 months of physical therapy, but surgery is increasingly unlikely), nasty contusion on my shin that still hurts like hell a month later, expected amounts of general soreness. I was wearing my mesh old man touring suit, Arai xd3, gloves and motocross boots. Having to replace the helmet sucks but whatcha gonna do.
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Aug 22, 2017 02:56
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MonkeyHate posted:Having to replace the helmet sucks but whatcha gonna do. Crashing just means I get a cooler Icon graphic helmet than I did last time. 
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Aug 22, 2017 06:49
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Ayyyy I get to add to this thread now :/ Made it a solid 5 months of riding before finally eating it. So I came into a roundabout tonight, going a perfectly appropriate speed (maybe 20-25 and exiting a 45mph road), it's a rather large ring, it's night (about 9~ pm?). I see a car coming in towards the roundabout towards me a bit too quickly, I noticed him, but I (stupidly) figured he'd notice me, it got to the point where he was coming in at probably 40mph and is gonna hit me, and I grabbed the brakes hard. As another goon helpfully pointed out in another thread, roundabouts are full of gravel, and my front washed out and I came to a stop about 2 feet in front of the side of his quickly stopped car as he finally noticed me. All I could get out at him was "what the gently caress!?!?!" and I got out from under the bike, lifted it like a toy (adrenaline isn't a joke) and walked it onto the ring in the center. My Ex500 took a bit to start, but eventually started after a bit of revving (flooded? I'm new to knowing stuff about engines). Only damage are a pair of jeans (was not wearing kevlar jeans, just came from work and thought I didn't need them) a tiny scratch on me, a scuff on my jacket, general soreness, and an inch long corner ground down on the front fairing, but nothing big. I looked at it, the bike, and I just told him to look out next time and slow down and didn't even take insurance information. He was incredibly apologetic, said I "must've been hidden behind his A pillar or something" and kept asking if I was ok. I, in my amped up state, didn't even consider myself and was solely concerned with getting off the road and making sure the bike was ok. Didn't notice the pants being hosed up until I got to my destination. What I did right: 1. I saw him coming, I was watching, and felt it coming even if I didn't slow early to prevent it in the first place. 2. I did brake both brakes, and pull in the clutch, though poorly and too hard on the front. 3. I got out of the road quickly after the accident. What I did wrong: 1. I trusted him to see me. My big mistake. 2. I didn't brake properly, grabbed too hard on the front and it hosed me. Need more practice emergency braking in a turn, I'll do drills this weekend in a parking lot. 3. I was wearing all my gear but the pants, and they shredded. Now I know firsthand how useless they'll be in an off at 45mph, or god forbid 70 or more. 4. I didn't ask for insurance, and something could be wrong with the bike (other than the scratch) and I might not know about it yet. This was just because I was really, really amped up about having almost smacked face-first into a car, and I just wanted to get out of there. This was dumb and it won't happen again, I just haven't been in accident in 10 years, and in my state I thought "if I do insurance or call the cops for a report, they're just gonna cite me for not maintaining control of the vehicle". Bike is probably perfectly fine, I rode it to my Mom's house (my original destination) and then the half hour home after that and it felt perfectly normal after being a little rough at first (may have been me and nerves). I think my leg took the brunt of the damage, and an ibuprofein and some neosporin has handled that. But hey, now I know, and I'm definitely investing in some really solid kevlar jeans or overpants I can wear to work. Going over the bike with a fine toothed comb tomorrow for any damage I didn't catch. spouse fucked around with this message at 06:35 on Aug 25, 2017 |
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Aug 25, 2017 06:33
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Bike's fine. It was hard to start because carb bowls don't hold the petrol in if they're tilted sideways and it would've taken a few cranks for all the spilled petrol and low float levels to sort themselves out.
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Aug 25, 2017 06:46
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Slavvy posted:Bike's fine. It was hard to start because carb bowls don't hold the petrol in if they're tilted sideways and it would've taken a few cranks for all the spilled petrol and low float levels to sort themselves out. That's what I figured. It took about 3 or 4 times cranking it for a few seconds and some revving to get it going right. I'm just glad it was a small gently caress up and not something much worse. I got back on the road, and riding alone was fine, but man, I was jumpy around cars all the way home. I suspect that'll temper in time, but I definitely will be assuming i'm completely invisible from here on out. Haven't had an accident of any kind since 2007. Kinda shook me lol.
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Aug 25, 2017 06:54
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I once had a crash where a woman opened her door on me while I was splitting, timing it so precisely that the door's edge clipped my handlebar so that the bike went full lock and sent me flying into another car at 20km/h. For a good month or two afterwards I would sometimes get paralysed trying to cross the street in front of my job (on foot) because I kept expecting a car to come out of nowhere and take me out. It wasn't the crash that got to me (no injuries but a perfect precious bike written off) but the sheer unexpectedness of it and the fact that there was no possible way I could've prevented it. I got into the mindset that that door was destined to hit me since the beginning of spacetime because I couldn't work out how the timing could be so perfect because if I had shown up on the scene literally five seconds earlier or later, or the stupid cow had decided to play with her radio before opening the door or any number of things I never would've crashed. I think I got a minor glimpse of what actual non-internet PTSD is like and it sucks. Don't know what the moral of the story is here but whatever.
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Aug 25, 2017 07:36
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Some things that happen to you will change you quite a bit, even if they're seemingly minor or small at the time. I've had that in other events in my life and I dwell on them a lot. Now this was a small scuffle with physics instead of a stay in the hospital or worse, and sure, I'll miss those jeans, but I am not all PTSD'd. I'll definitely be staying the gently caress away from roundabouts for a while where I can, and use this as a tool to learn. Thanks as always for the posting Slavvy, you've been a big help in my riding on here 
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Aug 25, 2017 07:53
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Do the oppositte. Go hit as many roundabouts as you can. Make them your bitch. Avoiding the problem just makes it worse which is why I don't ride in the rain anymore.
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Aug 25, 2017 07:58
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If your kevlar jeans aren't for riding to/from work, around town etc. what are they for then?
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Aug 25, 2017 09:35
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