Motorcycle Wrecks

DGS49

Diamond Member
Apr 12, 2012
15,662
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Pittsburgh
I bought my first bike in 1971, a Bridgestone 200. After selling that I bought a new Yamaha R5C 350 (not to be confused with the RD 350, which came out the following year). After that I bought a Kawasaki Mach 3 (500), which I kept for a few years, and when marriage responsibilities took over I sold it (1976). In Y2K I bought a Honda 700 sportbike, and I've had a collection of Honda touring bikes and cruisers since then. I sold my Goldwing in the Fall and will replace it with some sort of a cruiser within the next couple weeks. I am a neurotically safe rider, but I have no illusions; you can't be completely safe on a motorcycle. No matter how good you are, some asshole can kill you, one way or another.

I guess I've put about 100k miles on the various bikes over the years, and I've had a total of three minor accidents.

(1) Whilst riding my Yamaha 350 in a city neighborhood, I woman pulled out on me and knocked over the bike, doing maybe a thousand dollars in damage. I was scarred a little bit, but nothing to worry about. The woman paid for the repairs to the bike. While I didn't realize it until several years later, I was at fault in that accident. I was riding way too fast. She looked back to see if anyone was coming, but to have seen me she would have had to be looking much farther back than sanity would dictate. Had I been riding at a normal speed, there would have been no collision.

(2) Again on the Yamaha, I went around a bend and a construction vehicle had deposited a small load of sand and gravel on the road, which caused the bike to slide out from under me. Lots of cuts and bruises, nothing broken. BIke scuffed up, but ridable. Maybe a couple hundred dollars in damage. Again, in retrospect I would have to say that it was my fault. Part of riding is looking for crap on the road and allowing for it.

(3) One day a few (8) years ago, while riding my Kawasaki Nomad through a four-way intersection in the proper right hand lane, a car pulled out in front of me (he was making a right turn on a redlight). Making a split second decision, I dropped the bike to avoid a collision. In retrospect that was a stupid thing to do. It is better to stop the bike with two rubber tires on the pavement than sliding on metal parts. The collision never happened - the guy saw me at the last second and stopped - but it was still quite bothersome. Amazingly, the crash bars on the MC did their job, and only one accessory was broken (a mirror? I forget), and it was no real problem.

That's it.

Anyone else care to share their MC accident experiences - assuming you survived them?
 
Down in Daytona, during Bike Week and Biketoberfest, there are always a few fatalities.

Knock on wood, I've never wrecked...
 
Had a few close calls when I was living in Northern Virginia (DC Metro) but luckily never had to dump my bike and God willing I never will. I always ride like I'm invisible to every driver on the road and I always do right around the speed limit everywhere in town. I also wear a school bus yellow helmet and thinking about a yellow leather riding jacket.
 
I’ve never had an accident on a bike, but several close calls. I did lay my 1973 Honda 750 down as I exited a quarter car wash…yeah they were a quarter once. Tires were wet and as I leaned to make a right turn down I went. My head banged on the pavement, but the helmet saved me.

A buddy was behind me on his 1978 Suzuki GS 750 when he suddenly braked hard from 50mph, and down he went on a busy city street. Thankfully he didn’t slide into oncoming traffic. Crankcase was torn open, but otherwise minor damage. He was wearing a leather jacket, but the underside of his forearm get torn up pretty bad.

On a 1980 Suzuki RM 125, a buddy blew out his ankle. He was inexperienced in sand and took his feet off the pegs. He caught tree root against the peg. Nasty. Walked with a limp and always in pain, at the ripe old age of 22.

Riding my 1977 Suzuki GS 750 on the e-way with my very hot girl friend on the back, a wasp hit my chest and fell inside my shirt. Damn thing stung the shit out of me. I did all I could to come a stop without losing control. I initially thought it was a lite cigarette, as it had a powerful burning sensation.
 
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I bought my first bike in 1971, a Bridgestone 200. After selling that I bought a new Yamaha R5C 350 (not to be confused with the RD 350, which came out the following year). After that I bought a Kawasaki Mach 3 (500), which I kept for a few years, and when marriage responsibilities took over I sold it (1976). In Y2K I bought a Honda 700 sportbike, and I've had a collection of Honda touring bikes and cruisers since then. I sold my Goldwing in the Fall and will replace it with some sort of a cruiser within the next couple weeks. I am a neurotically safe rider, but I have no illusions; you can't be completely safe on a motorcycle. No matter how good you are, some asshole can kill you, one way or another.

I guess I've put about 100k miles on the various bikes over the years, and I've had a total of three minor accidents.

(1) Whilst riding my Yamaha 350 in a city neighborhood, I woman pulled out on me and knocked over the bike, doing maybe a thousand dollars in damage. I was scarred a little bit, but nothing to worry about. The woman paid for the repairs to the bike. While I didn't realize it until several years later, I was at fault in that accident. I was riding way too fast. She looked back to see if anyone was coming, but to have seen me she would have had to be looking much farther back than sanity would dictate. Had I been riding at a normal speed, there would have been no collision.

(2) Again on the Yamaha, I went around a bend and a construction vehicle had deposited a small load of sand and gravel on the road, which caused the bike to slide out from under me. Lots of cuts and bruises, nothing broken. BIke scuffed up, but ridable. Maybe a couple hundred dollars in damage. Again, in retrospect I would have to say that it was my fault. Part of riding is looking for crap on the road and allowing for it.

(3) One day a few (8) years ago, while riding my Kawasaki Nomad through a four-way intersection in the proper right hand lane, a car pulled out in front of me (he was making a right turn on a redlight). Making a split second decision, I dropped the bike to avoid a collision. In retrospect that was a stupid thing to do. It is better to stop the bike with two rubber tires on the pavement than sliding on metal parts. The collision never happened - the guy saw me at the last second and stopped - but it was still quite bothersome. Amazingly, the crash bars on the MC did their job, and only one accessory was broken (a mirror? I forget), and it was no real problem.

That's it.

Anyone else care to share their MC accident experiences - assuming you survived them?
About that gold wing, do you not like it, or is it just time for something diffrent? I habe been looking at a 1200 Tenere 2014.
 
I bought my first bike in 1971, a Bridgestone 200. After selling that I bought a new Yamaha R5C 350 (not to be confused with the RD 350, which came out the following year). After that I bought a Kawasaki Mach 3 (500), which I kept for a few years, and when marriage responsibilities took over I sold it (1976). In Y2K I bought a Honda 700 sportbike, and I've had a collection of Honda touring bikes and cruisers since then. I sold my Goldwing in the Fall and will replace it with some sort of a cruiser within the next couple weeks. I am a neurotically safe rider, but I have no illusions; you can't be completely safe on a motorcycle. No matter how good you are, some asshole can kill you, one way or another.

I guess I've put about 100k miles on the various bikes over the years, and I've had a total of three minor accidents.

(1) Whilst riding my Yamaha 350 in a city neighborhood, I woman pulled out on me and knocked over the bike, doing maybe a thousand dollars in damage. I was scarred a little bit, but nothing to worry about. The woman paid for the repairs to the bike. While I didn't realize it until several years later, I was at fault in that accident. I was riding way too fast. She looked back to see if anyone was coming, but to have seen me she would have had to be looking much farther back than sanity would dictate. Had I been riding at a normal speed, there would have been no collision.

(2) Again on the Yamaha, I went around a bend and a construction vehicle had deposited a small load of sand and gravel on the road, which caused the bike to slide out from under me. Lots of cuts and bruises, nothing broken. BIke scuffed up, but ridable. Maybe a couple hundred dollars in damage. Again, in retrospect I would have to say that it was my fault. Part of riding is looking for crap on the road and allowing for it.

(3) One day a few (8) years ago, while riding my Kawasaki Nomad through a four-way intersection in the proper right hand lane, a car pulled out in front of me (he was making a right turn on a redlight). Making a split second decision, I dropped the bike to avoid a collision. In retrospect that was a stupid thing to do. It is better to stop the bike with two rubber tires on the pavement than sliding on metal parts. The collision never happened - the guy saw me at the last second and stopped - but it was still quite bothersome. Amazingly, the crash bars on the MC did their job, and only one accessory was broken (a mirror? I forget), and it was no real problem.

That's it.

Anyone else care to share their MC accident experiences - assuming you survived them?
Bridgestone... My friends' Grandfather was a dealer. Brings back memories.
I have been down so many times. If you ride or race enough eventually you will have a get-off.

My 1st twin was a 1965 Yamaha YL1. I had a 1966 Suzuki X6. Wrecked both of them.

Have you ever rode a BMW RT? I have my eye on one. If I do buy it that will most likely be my last.
 
Totalled my first Sportster, run off the highway in Arkansas by an OTR truck. Went into the median, slid about 150'. In full gear, I had scrapes and bruises. Bike was totalled. Truck never stopped.
 
I wrecked my Kawi KH500 when I discovered (the hard way) that the torque was so powerful it would warp the frame. Ok in a right hand turn, but no bueno in a left.
 
This is a friend's wreck. He was riding his Victory during Daytona Bike Week in 2020. He had our friend Marie on the bike. He was stopped at a light. Never hitting the breaks, some meth-head chick slammed into them so hard that the car wrapped around the ass end of the bike. It never even fell down. The police estimated the car was traveling around 60mph when it struck the bike. My buddy Bryan was thrown from the motorcycle (dummy wasn't wearing a helmet) and received severe injuries.

Marie wasn't so lucky, as the car basically hit her. She was life-flighted from the scene with life threatening injuries, and is now paralyzed from the waist down:

bf01.jpg


Oh, and seeing as the woman was a meth-head, she also didn't have insurance. She pleaded guilty to felony DUI and was sentenced to eight years in prison...
 

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