Bonneville America Forums Forums Off Topic Discussion Forums Lounge Well that didnt take long, - CRASH -

Well, only had bike for 6 months and had accident. Woman tried to dart across 4 lanes of traffic from one parking lot to another...right in front of me. On one hand I braked enough to slow down and let her pass. On the other hand I broke loose the front wheel and went down. I am bruised but bike is a little too damaged to ride. Cop said her insurance should cover it though. Right on the edge of 6 months, I hate being a statistic. Anyway, for my next bike I'm thinking ABS since I apparently don’t know how to brake when it counts. Well, I am still alive so I guess I have learned a thing or two.

Be careful out there guys.

Brad

Main thing is you're still around to tell the tale and a bit smarter.

Good grief man!!!!

glad you are ok and able to talk about it.

At least you're ok. Could have done worse and pulled a Roethlisberger. At least you can still ride this time of year!

Dude! I feel your pain! I mean I really feel your pain. I totalled an 06 Speedmaster after only 6 mos. SUV cut across in front of me and I didn't have time or room to do much braking. Front brakes had that rotor issue so I relied on the rear more. The bike pitched sideways so rather than a direct T-bone, I hit him at an angle. Probably saved my life. totally bruised from the waste down. No broken bones Left leg and foot still has numb spot and pains that shoot through them for no apparent reason.

Giter fixed and keep on keepin on!

You did fine. Really! You braked, you lived, everything else is gravy! There is no such thing as having a "good" accident. Glad you're okay. Get back on and ride on!

Sorry to hear this Brad, but as Bedouin and arstaren said, also anybody including expert riders would have probably ended up the same way as you did. And as everybody else said here, be glad it wasn't worse and get back up on that horse ASAP.

Cheers!

Glad to hear your ok. You probably did everything you could considering the circumstances. You can always learn from something like this even if it's the other persons fault.

Now it's time to get the bike fixed and start riding.

glad to hear your ok and walked away

Yeah, don't let it scare you off like it did me...I had a similar accident in the mid 80's...a lady ran a stop sign, front tire into her front fender, over the hood, terrified. Took over 20 years for me to get another bike..Still terrified but terrified seems to keep me safe and more aware. I have avoided more accidents than I can count on both hands since then, just by being terrified. 23,000 miles now on my America...never dropped, or badly damaged (slightly "bumped" sitting in traffic). As we say in the airline industry...BEAWWWRITE (Be-all-right)...

Same thing happened to a friend of mine on a standard Bonneville 3 weeks ago.

He makes a left turn at a HUGE intersection only to find a car crossways and sitting in his lane after he makes the turn - teenage girl trying to merge into traffic going back to the same intersection he just came through, making a left turn from a parking lot. She should have gone down the parking lot a bit further away from the intersection before trying to make a left turn out of it into traffic backed up at the light....

Her GEICO INS. is paying off like a slot machine though. He chipped a bone in a finger on his right hand laying the bike down. Locked up the rear, he said.

Primary cover, muffler, various bits totalling over $2500.00 so far on the bike alone.

Just glad you are both all right.

Thanks for the encouragement guys. Man, I wish they made everybody ride a bike. : )

Take Care
Brad

Its easy to listen to an MSF expert tell us how to brake in an emergency situation but I agree with others here.

When you absolutely just have to stop or try to in a perceived live or die avoidance scenario the phsyics of motorcucle braking just dont support.

Even an expert would well end up on the ground.

Thats the difference between four wheels and two. We dont get the breaks (brakes).