Went down Sunday night

[AVGuy]

Me and my Grand Vista took an unexpected slide on the street Sunday night. It was close to sunset, but still light and I was riding on a two lane highway. There was a bicycle rider going the same direction riding next to the shoulder so I slowed down to about 30 mph and was preparing to pass him in my lane when he suddenly cut left right in front of me. All I could do was grab my brakes and the next thing I know I feel and hear a big thump when my helmet hit the street, a big crash of my bike hitting the street and the scraping sound of us sliding down the road. I had a low side crash on my left side.

When things stopped I immediately got up and out of the street because I knew there was a car behind me and I didn't want to get run over. My left shoe was laying next to my bike and my jeans were ripped up on the left leg. Thanks to my helmet and riding jacket my head and upper body were OK.

Somebody called 911 and since my head hit the pavement they put a collar on, strapped me to a board and took me to the ER to be checked out. X-rays and CT scan were negative so they cleaned up the scrapes a bit and sent me home.

Looks like cosmetic damage to the scoot - mirror knocked off and scrapes on the panels. I'll take it to the dealer for a thorough check and an estimate.

I'm now even more a firm believer in riding gear. I'm getting a new helmet, jacket and adding riding pants and boots to the attire. I have some heavy pants but it was pretty warm and I wasn't wearing them. I had just stopped at the gas station and didn't put my gloves back on, so I wound up with some scrapes on my hands.

I'll be sore a few more days but will be OK. Somebody asked if I'll ride my scooter again and I told them as soon as I can I'll be back on it!

So, if you think gear is not manly, too much trouble, too expensive, etc. think again and protect yourself.

[fshfindr]

I’m really glad that you’re OK.  It sounds really scarry.  I has a close one yesterday in Cherry Hill.  I took a curve too fast.  For some reason I was not on the inside of the curve where I belong.  At about 30 MPH, I was going too fast to make the curve with cars coming the opposite way.  If I straightened out I would go into the path of a car.  I touched both brakes twice and side slipped a little but stayed up.  My mistake almost got me.  I know I should and thought that I always stayed on the inside of a curve, I was wrong, hopefully a lesson learned.  I must stay on the inside of a curve so that I can get straight to use brakes.  I was wearing boots, gloves, jeans and my padded riding jacket.  I'm sorry for stealing the thread.  I thought it was an appropriate place for my experience.      

Richard L.

[AVGuy]

I'm glad you were able to compensate and make it through without going down. A friend told me about the time he went into a curve too fast and wound up going off the road, flying over the bike and laying unconscious for several minutes. He came to, picked up his dirt bike and rode home. He never did tell his mom what happened.

I'm not going to trust my jeans anymore. They shredded very quickly so I'll be getting some riding pants with armor.

I told someone I now know how long a split second is - the time it takes to go down on your bike.

[Hoolander2]

Sorry to hear about that, AVGuy.     Glad you're going to be ok.  Thanks for sharing those details.  It shows us all that even something as non-threatening as a bicycle is something to pay attention to and plan evasive action.  It sounds as though, in your situation, there wasn't anything more you could have done. 

[old geezer]

What happened to the bicycle rider that caused all this??

[AVGuy]

He stopped to check on me and moved my bike off the road for me. He was very apologetic and said he saw me but didn't realize I was that close to him. Of course my headlight was on and just a few weeks ago I started wearing a yellow motorcycle safety vest to stand out even more.

From what I understand, as I was being checked and transported, the officers who responded gave him a good talk about being a responsible rider. His mother brought him to the hospital to see how I was. A friend of mine who came down said the teenager asked to come back to see me. I said that's fine so my friend brought he and his mother back to the treatment room. He apologized again and said he was very sorry. I told him I'm glad I didn't hit you and that he needs to be more careful.

I really don't want to discuss other things publicly beyond that, as the insurance companies are getting involved. I actually go to church with this family so it's a little awkward.

[racewalker]

I can relate, I had my only one in 33 years of riding about 3 years ago with my people s 125 in the rain and had a bike going the wrong way in the dark cut me off. I do agree with your idea about more riding gear. I had leathers on with rain gear over them. No injuries just rain suet and helmet damage.   
Glad you are all right and soon to be back on the scoot again.
BTW after we met he almost got run over by a car coming the other way because she couldn't see him either.

[08087]

Newbie here so if the question sounds dumb please forgive. Once your head gear hits the pavement should you always replace it or does it depend on how hrad the hit was and if so how do you determin what is OK and what is too hard?

Thanks and glad your OK.

[AVGuy]

I've always heard that once your helmet takes a hit the foam & other materials lose their integrity, so the helmet should be replaced. Now my helmet has fallen off my seat to the garage floor a few times and I just kept using hit. But a 30 mph smack on the helmet means a new one.

All my Christmas presents this year will be riding gear   

[roboscoot]

you are one lucky dude av guy.......although i try to be thoughtful and courteous to other two wheel travelers....i am particularly disdainful of bicycle riders....and avoid them like the plague when ever possible...they will ride against the traffic, with the traffic ----shoulder ride and than hop back on the sidewalk and cut you off and think nothing of it.They are an abomination to the soul.....keep your distance and ride defensively.....

[courior]

Sorry to hear of your fall, and good that your ok and bike is not so bad... i know hindsight is great thing, but in that situation i would of just used the rear brake and kept the bike as verticle and straight as possible, i know it would of ment maybe (probably) hitting the cyclist but chances are your momentum would of kept u upright and then you could of pulled over, and he was at fault (sorry is not going to help if you had been hit by the car!).. like you said, there were cars following you, and say the car driver was changing radio station or something and didnt see you fall to stop in time, it sounds selfish/irrisponsible, but we bikers gotta look after number 1 and hitting a cyclist will hurt less than being run over by a car, this is from experience.. same applies if an animal runs out in front of you, best is not to brake to hard as the speed will keep u upright. there are many vids on youtube etc of sports bikes hitting large animals and their speed kept them upright.

At the end of the day tho everyone is ok and thats the main thing. Sorry for my little rant but angers me to see a fellow rider go down hard through no fault of his own!!

Ride safe all

Courior

[fshfindr]

When it happens that quickly, and I guess it is always that quick, thinking about which brake is not so easy.  I confess to being a newb, just since June.  But thinking about which brake and how hard to hit them and etc, etc.  Just think about what would have happened if your rear tire began a skid. 
That's why I got off the brakes as quickly as I could.  AVGuy probably didn't have any time at all.  I was dumb, but lucky.

Richard L.

[Portland Steve]

Glad you are ok.  Crashes really wake you up.
Helmets should always be replaced after a crash.  Your insurance company should include on in your compensation.
People on bicycles scare the crap out of me.  I road my bicycle to work for a year and got a love tap from a car.
Once I had the money to get back on a motorbike, I purchased the scooter.  I feel safer on my commute in the wet and dark.
The other day I had a bicycle rider turn left in front of me.  She gave a left turn signal when I was like 10' away at 25 mph and then she quickly turned into my path like she thought I was far off.
Very close one that was.  I was mad, but realized that I should have been more aware of the bicycle.
Maybe it is obvious, but assume that bicycles are going to make erratic moves, especially in wet weather.
If you think people in cars can't see you, people on bike really can't see you.

[AVGuy]

Yeah, not any time to think, just grabbed the brakes. I don't even remember the sensation of falling over, just the sudden thump against the pavement.

I think my new practice around bicycles, joggers, walkers, etc. is to give a couple of honks on the horn to let 'em know I'm around.

I did pickup new helmet, jacket & boots today, so I'm ready when my scoot gets back.

[nplenzick]

Just a few comments here. First I had the exact same thing happen to me when I was riding a BMW K1200LT a couple of years ago except I was doing about 55MPH when a cyclist turned right in front of me. Thanks to the BMW anti dive suspension, linked brakes, and ABS I never hit him and I never went down. I simply applied maxim braking. It's one of the reasons once my wife gets a little more experience with her Yeager that we may sell it and move to something that has a more sophisticated suspension and braking system.
Second, I had someone comment to me about why I wear all of my gear when riding her scooter, my reply was when you hit the pavement at whatever MPH your doing it doesn't matter whether I'm on her scooter or my BMW the results are the same.
Third, it sounds to me that the OP used to much rear brake, I suspect that a slight jerk o the handlebars to the left with too much rear brake caused the rider to go down.  With every new to me bike that I first get I ride to a empty parking lot or lonely road and practice threshold braking ( braking  to the point of almost locking up your brakes), I start at about 20 MPH and work up to 60MPH. I'm stunned as to how many riders don't know how fast their bike can stop and how much pressure you can really apply to those brakes.
Last, a poster above mentioned about how he normally takes a turn on the inside and when he didn't he had close call. Really the proper way to take a take a turn ( I call them corners) is to start on the outside and gradually head toward the inside until you hit the apex and just gradually head towards the outside after the apex. Braking is all done before the corner although racers use trail braking right up to the apex.
There are many great books out there like Total Controlrol by Lee Parks. Lee covers many of the things that riders can use to save our necks. I would suggest with the on set of winter for some of you pick up a copy, it would make some good reading over the non riding season and would also make a very good Christmas present.