first crash

[techierob]

came off my bike for the first time yesterday. It was on mile end road during evening rush hour. It was dark and hosing down with rain. The bus lanes had stopped for about 100 metres, so there was stationary traffic in the right hand lane and a completely clear left lane. I was pootling down at a steady 30 when a car suddenly pulls out of the right-hand lane to turn into a building on the left of the road.

The fellow had indicated, but not in time for me to have stopped, and the turning wasn't signposted, so I'd guessed his intention was to pull into my lane which would have still left me enough space to undertake if I couldn't stop in time.
Instead I ended up with a car stopped vertically across the lane with about 15 metres to try and stop from 30mph. I tried an emergency stop but the rear wheel locked, so I steered it hard left, stood on the footpegs and leaned the bike over.

I managed to avoid hitting the car, and the bike came off surprisingly lightly. The left footpeg got a bit scratched, and the clutch lever got seriously bent and snapped off when I tried to ease it back into a usable position, but there literally wasn't a single scratch other than that. Fortunately, my left leg had got between the bike and the road, so most of the bike was well cushioned

The car driver was rather apologetic and friendly, and I couldn't find any particularly expensive damage on the bike, so we did a quick exchange of details and left it at that.

I'm really not sure what I could have done to avoid the accident, but I've still learned a few lessons:

1. get a decent pair of armoured jeans
2. go very slowly when undertaking stationary traffic in wet conditions
3. don't keep keys your trouser pockets

[Annabella]

Sounds like you did a good job of avoiding what could have been a nasty accident


I am assuming you won't be contacting your insurance as there was no damage to the car and very little to your bike. If it was me I would just fix the bike, let the driver know it's ok and thank him for stopping...
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[m0l0t0v]

You seemed to handle that nicely. I doubt I could have done that. It really sucks about what happened though.

I stopped putting keys in my trouser pockets too. I keep 'em on my bike jacket now. After the first time I came off last December whne a car came out of a blind corner with high beams and blinded me. Smacked the left side of the country road. Nothing much though. Only a slight dent on the tank. Which I didn't notice till 3 months later...

I don't have armoured trousers but I will get some when I get on a bigger bike as I'd feel like a twat/uncomfortable with armoured trouers on a 125.

I usually only go like 20mph more than the cars in the trafic queue. Even in good conditions.

[techierob]

[Jebus]

well think of it this way, falling of a 125 gonna hurt just as much as it would of a hayabusa, only will start to hurt more when speeds go right up but in town it dont matter what your riding speeds be similar. go for the hein gericke jeans you wont look a prat.
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2nd time around CBT: 8/9/11
125 Varadero

[Annabella]

[KTM Gordo]

It doesn't matter what you ride, falling off at 30 hurts.

I wore leathers on the RX-S100 I had for a while, and whilst some might think it's overkill, it could do 70...!

I'm guilty of carrying stuff in my pockets when I know I shouldn't, but keys, coins, mobile phones etc. all hurt when you land on them. (and if you've squashed your mobile, how are you going to call for help...?)

HTH
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Change is inevitable - except from a vending machine.

KTM 990 Adventure | KTM EXC 250 Racing | Land Rover Freelander SE Td4

[Stiffler]

The jeans look good to me! I just got some textile trousers from Hein Gericke and I'm really happy with them. Been warm and dry on the coldest days we've had so far... Although they've not really been tested by the weather yet.

When I was a kid some lad at school told me how his dad had got stabbed in his leg by a key after falling off a bike with them in his pocket... I'm not sure if I've ever believed the story or not but it's stuck with me and I always try and avoid putting keys in my pocket if I can

Tim
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Current Bikes - Kawasaki ZX-6R (636) | BMW G650GS

[techierob]

[mchaggis]

The very first time I fell off a bike, I had keys in my pocket. They ground straight through the textile and made a hole in the outside. I got a nasty funny shaped bruise on my thigh for my trouble too. That wasn't much of a concern though, considering the state of the rest of me (broken bones, unconciousness etc).

Heine Gericke armoured textile trousers are what I'd recommend, having withstood all this pair have. They've started to leak in the crotch though, after two and a half years of fairly heavy use and far too much falling off in the first few months.
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[Bishbash]

[KTM Gordo]

There's another side to this carrying stuff in pockets thing - metal objects (keys, coins etc.) can damage the waterproof membrane in jackets and trousers (as can belt buckles).

HTH
____________________
Change is inevitable - except from a vending machine.

KTM 990 Adventure | KTM EXC 250 Racing | Land Rover Freelander SE Td4

[Superlight]

Shame you binned it, glad it wasn't too bad.

I'd go along with a couple comments here:

1. Don't do more than 15-20 past stationary traffic - nobody expects there to be a bike passing the queue. (Might not have made a difference in this case, but always best to be careful)

2. Get something with a bit of protection. I used to wear leathers on my 125, people took the piss but I pointed out that it's the tarmac that does the damage, not the bike.

[Louise]

[metallninja]

Too many people worried about looking a twat in leathers,

i ride a sports bike and the only time i think others are twats is when i see them wearing jeans on a bike.

You`ll look more of a tit with skin grafts than leathers.

[AJ]

I always wear full gear ok takes me 10 mins to get it all on but the bike warms up whilst I get it on, safety first you just dont know when something is going to happen. This time of year the roads get even busier and the amount of drivers cutting me up has really increased so my advice on avoiding a crash is ride defensively if the wheels lock release and re apply I know its happened to me bombing around a country lane only to meet a big yellow JCB coming the other way and hidden by the height of the bushes I hit the brakes front wheel locked I released and reapplied much to the relief of the JCB driver I stopped what could have been a nasty outcome.

[The_Long_Distance_Runner]

Sounds like you came off that very stealithily. Well done.
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Too damn French.

[carlmalibu]

I like the concept of a stealthy spill...
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