DGS49
Diamond Member
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?
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?
