How many have gone down on the road?

[jlutz91]

I've had my bike for a little over a month and I took my first wreck on it last week, on the road. Came through a turn and caught some stones, handguards really saved the bike on this one.

Just curious how many other dual sport riders have taken a spill on the road at a decent speed.

[millerjohn82]

Ohhh where to start...

+1 on that.

Dress for the ride not the beach, no exposed skin.

[runmikeyrun]

only went down once (so far) on the road- some clown rear ended me while I was stopped attempting to make a left hand turn. I had only a minor back injury due to the fact that I was wearing a leather jacket, gloves, and a helmet. I would have had road rash without the jacket and gloves and a concussion without the helmet. I still ended up taking an ambulance ride. This happened less than a mile from my home, putting to rest the excuse of "i'm only going 5 mins away". Always wear the right gear, no matter how hot you are in the summer and how much your "cool" friends make fun of you.

[SnowMule]

Cage made an oncoming-left turn right in front of me. Slammed on the brakes when he realized he screwed up - had he kept going I'd have squeezed right around his tail end.

But instead he stopped perpendicular to traffic, his jeep blocking the entire lane I was in... concrete curb-median to my left, minivan to my 5-o'clock... down I go, my front tire made contact with his passenger-side rear tire.

Handguard, footpeg, rear axle nut, front rim/spokes/axle, triple clamps, skinned up knee (cheap knee guard slid over to the side... had I been wearing my heavy ones they'd have stayed put) and a scraped up jacket. Armor did its job, and the dirt bike crashed pretty well considering.

Took the bike in for a repair estimate, first time around they completely missed the front rim being taco'd. Told them to take it back in there and do it right, I gave them a list of things I found that they had missed. When I was working on it (did all the repair myself) I still found more items that both the dealer and I had missed. A few orders from the TT store, couple of classified-ad purchases from ADV and KTMTalk, and a month or two of wrenching in the garage had the bike running like new again.

Fought with his insurance for a while before I threw in the towel and filed a claim with my insurance co. Got a check the next week, then my ins. fought with his for the reimbursement. They finally conceded he was at-fault and I got my deductible back over a year later.

[William1]

Ever fallen? When I was a bouncing baby boy, it was a weekly occurrence. But now that I am older and go not get up so fast, I slowed it down a notch and back off on aggressiveness. So my last fall was in '92

[i4bikes]

I lost control of my enduro bike, (full knobs,) on wet pavement and slid on my hind end. Burnt me through my riding pants. Like posted above always ware the correct gear.

[Yamaguy55]

Ever fallen? When I was a bouncing baby boy, it was a weekly occurrence. But now that I am older and go not get up so fast, I slowed it down a notch and back off on aggressiveness. So my last fall was in '92

Me too.....

I decided to stop the foolishness about 1978-79, after a series of road rash incidents. I've tipped over (tall bike, short me) recently, but no pavement-to-me interfaces. I hope it stays like that. I have still unused frame sliders on the road bike.

I don't care who digs scars. I don't like the lead-in.

[Yamaguy55]

And yes: the T-Shirt/flip-flops/no helmet crowd are their own reward.

I was lucky to be wearing gear every time. I won't leave home without it. They make enough nice stuff these days that you can ride in hot/nice/cold weather and still be reasonably comfortable. The excuses for not wearing it are at best lame, at worst downright stupid.

[mr_guns]

Went up to the Vstrom gathering in May. Rode the dragon and all the great roads in the area. However, I got stupid and rode for about 5 hours with no break other than gas. Just before finishing the Cherohala Skyway a turn came up to fast and surpised me...? As I was skidding towards the guardrail I laid it down at the last second. I was knocked silly but not hurt. Broke some plastic and a couple things on the bike but the Givi bags saved the bike (had to replace them $$$$). Wearing all the gear is the only way to ride. Oh yeah don't be stupid like me, take a break once in a while:banghead:

[54321]

I've had my bike for a little over a month and I took my first wreck on it last week, on the road. Came through a turn and caught some stones, handguards really saved the bike on this one.

Just curious how many other dual sport riders have taken a spill on the road at a decent speed.

Most experienced road riders have been down. If you haven't already ... get some training. MSF (motorcycle safety foundation) offer rider courses that are fun and very educational.

I took both the beginner and advanced course after riding for 30 years and learned a lot. Most new road riders have lots of bad habits. MSF course can help point those out.

After you take the MSF courses the next thing is get out and practice what you learned. Dirt riding is one of the best training areas ever. If you can ride a dirt bike well off road, you will have a great skill set to survive things like mid corner gravel and such.

Most novice riders target fixate and forget to LOOK WHERE THEY WANT TO GO. This is key. You saw that gravel and FOCUSED ON IT... right? Then you locked up and fell.

There are several techniques for dealing with such obstacles and only lots of experience and training will get you past these without incident.

Also, just really good defensive driving is critical for street survival. You really need eyes in the back of your head. Even with good dirt skills you can still get taken out by a thoughtless driver .... just assume you are invisible. ?

[Yamaguy55]

Always assume everything and everybody is out to get you, and you'll only be wrong when they don't....

[dscofever]

Never gone down on the road, my wife has though...:ride:

I acutally watched a guy almost get pushed off the road by some old lady that just changed lanes without looking (shocking I know). I was so pissed at her. Had the kids in the car so I could only use sign language on her. She had no clue what she had done.?

[grreatdog]

Sometime around 1980 I hit the pavement at 55 or 60 from being nailed in the chest by an owl. That was my first motorcycle crash on pavement. My skin was saved by a snowmobike suit because I got ragdolled and slid for a long time.

A front blowout in a high speed turn put me face down again a few years later. Pure dumb luck saved me that time because I was wearing jeans. Then again a couple of years ago I tucked the front braking in the rain and again saved by riding gear.

My two times being hit by cars don't count since I never technically hit the asphalt either time. One I ended up spread eagle on the hood of a Camry and the other smashed up against a gas pump. Both hurt but riding gear saved me both times.

So far the only road rash scars I have to show for my trouble came from a monster bicycle crash on a bridge. Wearing protective gear works.

[Goggles Pisano]

I acutally watched a guy almost get pushed off the road by some old lady that just changed lanes without looking (shocking I know). I was so pissed at her.

That happened to me just a couple of days ago. An old woman who could barely see over the dash of her mid-'80s Grand Marquis went straight through a right turn only lane then tried to force me into oncoming traffic when she realized she was running out of room. She now has a nice black scuff mark on her drivers door where I used my boot to wake her out of her stupor. At the next light I turned to give her a dirty look and she gave me the finger! Stupid old coont.

[dscofever]

That happened to me just a couple of days ago. An old woman who could barely see over the dash of her mid-'80s Grand Marquis went straight through a right turn only lane then tried to force me into oncoming traffic when she realized she was running out of room. She now has a nice black scuff mark on her drivers door where I used my boot to wake her out of her stupor. At the next light I turned to give her a dirty look and she gave me the finger! Stupid old coont.

A buddy did something very similar, except no black scuff mark. He kicked her side view off and yelled "ITS NOT LIKE YOU USE IT ANYWAY!!!!!"

?

[Bajatacoma]

Towards the end of last year the valve stem on the front tire of my DRZ400 separated from the tube and basically went immediately flat. I was doing about 45mph. Thank God no cars were coming as I went into the oncoming lane while trying to ride it out then the tire rolled on the rim and the bike slid out from under me. I tore up my pants (was wearing 5.11s instead of my riding pants ?), trashed a Firstgear Torrent mesh jacket (POS) and tore up a pair of Olympia gel gloves. My helmet never hit the ground. Compression fracture of the right humerus, broken small finger on right hand, bad burn on right elbow where the jacket wore through, several scrapes and bruises. Bike bent the handlebars and brake lever (didn't have the handguards on at the time as I'd been planning on changing bars), rubbed through the right side number plate and got some more scratches.

I've been riding on the road since 1988 and that was my first actual wipeout. I consider myself very lucky.

Incidentally I replaced the jacket with a new Scorpion Commander which is much heavier and seems to be much better made overall although it's hotter.

[54321]

Towards the end of last year the valve stem on the front tire of my DRZ400 separated from the tube and basically went immediately flat.

I wonder if your valve stem came out unprovoked, on it's own ... OR ... what really happened was you got a puncture, front went instantly flat and when the tire came off the rim it pulled out the valve stem out of the tube.

Some folks think I'm a Slime nut ... but your crash illustrates perfectly why Slime or other preventative anti-Flat Goo can save your life.

Many noobs or guys who only ever ride in the dirt don't know much about this, but Tube tires, when punctured CAN go flat nearly instantly When this happens on the front tire, at 70 mph on the highway in a corner, it can be a disaster. Your crash is perfect proof of what can happen.

While Slime is no miracle flat preventer, what it CAN do most times ... is to SLOW DOWN AIR LOSS. What this does is give the rider a chance to maintain control and get off the road safely.

Sure, I know you can't patch a tube with Slime in it. Also, some say it makes a mess. (it's water soluble).

I run Slime both front and rear just for this reason. My DR650 is ridden mostly on road. Since 2006 I've had about 5 flats on it in 40,000 miles. The one time I was not running Slime ... I got a rear flat that happened just pulling out of a gas station, only going about 30 mph and accelerating. The rear came right around on me ... I stayed on the power and straightened it out and pulled over safely. But I nearly shat myself from the surprise.

With Slime you usually get that slow, soft wiggle or movement that tips you off to a flat. Always carry spare tubes on board ... and use Slime. It may not 100% prevent a flat ... but usually turns INSTANT 100% Air loss into more like a slow leak. ?

[dscofever]

I nearly shat myself from the surprise.

Sorry, that made me laugh cause I'm sure I would have puckered up too.

Does the slime mess with tire balancing? And does it stay in liquid form while in the tire?

[bikeslut]

5th gear locked up on the output shaft at 75 mph

the black marks are from asphalt

the bruise the mext day

glove wore through in one spot

I took this picture right before I left... I was going to ride 15 miles of freeway to get to the trail wich is 40 miles or so of fire road and singletrack... sez me "DRZ better on the freeway, WR better on the dirt... meh... I'll take the WR"

"I chose poorly"

[Bajatacoma]

I wonder if your valve stem came out unprovoked, on it's own ... OR ... what really happened was you got a puncture, front went instantly flat and when the tire came off the rim it pulled out the valve stem out of the tube.

<snip>

It's possible and it makes perfectly good sense but I couldn't find any damage to the tube other than the valve stem separating from the tube. I also couldn't find any damage to the inside of the tire either visually or when I ran my hand in it so it's the only thing I could come up with. I hadn't changed the tires or tubes since I'd bought the bike but they were pretty close to new. I'd done my pre-ride check about fifteen minutes earlier where I'd checked tires/tire pressures amongst the other things. I was only about three miles from the house and had only been up to 45mph for a couple of minutes- I had been doing about 30mph before that.

I bought a bottle of slime with the intention of using it in the front at least but then I balked when I couldn't get a good answer to the balancing question. You don't have any issues with it?