down for the count!

[bilyum]

Fell today! Was riding home from groc store and in the neighborhood. From a stop making a left turn  on loose asphalt  gravel. I don't know why but I fell to the right side . Maybe I felt it going and over reacted but it seems to me the fall should have been to the left. My super 8 hardly shows any damage from the fall. I have a Givi and it had some groceries in it maybe making it top heavy or placing too much weight on rear wheel. I wasn't driving radical at all.Well as I have read , the majority of all accidents happen within a five mile radius of home. I was less than a mile.
 Hey! There is loose gravel on all corners in my neighborhood. I guess I should wear full body armor?
By the way asphalt is HARD!  Oh! It was embarrassing too!
No injuries other than light road rash and slight ache on right foot that got caught under  scoot.
I forgot to mention that my Givi held up and also may have saved some cowling damage by elevating bike on fall. Stronger than I would have thought!

[MaryK]

Yes, All the Safety Gear; All of the Time!

Glad you didn't suffer any major injuries.

Also surprised at the right side down....Have to guess you stood the scooter up and over corrected.

Scoot safely and wear your gear.

[tortoise]

as I have read , the majority of all accidents happen within a five mile radius of home. I was less than a mile . . . No injuries other than light road rash

Sounds like the typical "safety gear was too much of hassle to put on for nearby errands" scenario.

These 1-strap knee pads from Lowe's garden department are definitely better than none.

[streido]

A good armoured leather jacket is usefull, i know from sliding along the road at 20mph on my back and getting up without a scratch.....
Well no scratches on me anyway, scoot was a different story 

Sounds like you got off pretty lightly, amd luckily. That loose gravel is a real danger, knce the front goes its very hard to not go over. I dont lean on any bends if i see the road is like that. A tip i use is to brake more heavily on the rear if i suddenly see some ahead that i cant avoid on a bend, that way theres less chance of the front locking on the gravel.

[ScooterWolf]

Glad to hear you're okay. Crashes and falls suck. The physics of the crash sound weird, almost like a high slide where the rear tire is not behind the front, but has slide to your right of the rider with the wheel pointing left. Generally a high slide will result in an ejection of the rider -- both violent and painful with the bike cartwheeling over and on top of them when they hit the ground.

I tend to watch corners and intersections especially a few days after a storm where debris runoff accumulates in the road. If it remains there it will dry to become sand like. Like the kneepad idea. I have an armored jacket, and full face helmet, but nothing below the belt (armor-wise) except my riding boots/shoes.

Thanks for sharing.

-Wolf

[hippiebrian]

I've crashed twice, once 800 miles from home and once right around the corner.  The one 800 miles away (in the middle or nowhere nothern california) my head went through the back window of a car.  Both times I was wearing an armored jacket (one leather, one cordura) and a full face helmet with boots and gloves, and both times I walked away without even a scratch.  All my gear, all the time.

[MikeKymco]

Most likely you had a wheel slide out from under you and then when it regained traction, the bike's momentum wasn't pointed in the same direction as the wheels.  This usually causes a "high-side".  They can be caused by sand, oil, excessive power, excessive braking.  You get the picture.  If you do a google video search you can watch lots of idiots, and a few unlucky people, wreck motorcycles and get a feel for what can go wrong.  High siding is bad because it tosses the rider over the bike and then dumps him out hard, as you now know.

Always wear all the gear, and never ride on sand.  If you have to ride on sand, do it like it's ice.  Glad you came out pretty close to OK.

[Vivo]

Oh! It was embarrassing too!


Yes, this is the primary purpose of a full-face tinted helmet. Nobody can see your face!....


Anyway, I had a fall about last week also. No gravel or sand by the way.... I was a plastic bag with old wet bread inside... wierd..

[ScooterWolf]

Road hazards are the main reason to follow the two second rule. I have a mental list of the most dangerous ones I've seen:

An old mattress -- Center City Philadelphia right outside city hall

Meter size square of wet cardboard -- on a curve after a rain storm

Hubcap -- in the middle of a lane on a 45 mph highway on my commute to work

I would have hit all three had I been riding closer to the car ahead of me.

I once almost crashed taking a ninety degree turn when I rollED over a tree branch as thick as a broom handle. Luckily I was going under 10 mph and my foot shoot out to break my fall (not a smart thing to do with a 300 lb scooter).

-Wolf