Rule #5 (10 things I've Learned from 10 Crashes)

I understand you completely, I'm just being stupid.......... intentionally. It helps me fit in.

:d

Myth. You must be surrounded by a lot of clumsy riders.

I can say with absolute certainty that this attitude is simply trying to make one feel better for having sub-par riding skills. Case in point: My father returned from World War II and promptly bought bikes. He and his brother (also a WWII vet) rode literally hundreds of thousands of miles on the road and neither one of them ever dropped a bike, on the road. My Dad rode until about a month before his death in 1998. I have his old bike in the garage. Now I will say this, when Dad first got into riding he started riding off road, which was tricky in the 40's. But him and his buddies did all kinds of stuff and learned to ride.

Fast forward to when I was 5, Dad brought me home a mini-bike, when I outgrew that (about 6th grade) Dad brought me home an Aeromacchi Harley to thrash in the woods behind the house, after that a big single Triumph. I logged thousands of hours off road riding and the skills I learned (and yes I crashed my fair share) have saved my bacon many, many times on the road. I have well over 200,000 miles of documented miles under my belt at the age of 49, and I have never crashed on the road. I have had a couple of close calls, yes, but never has the bike gone down.

Whenever an acquaintance asks me how they should get into riding I tell them to get a dirt bike and learn to ride off road. At the very minimum they should get a dual sport bike and log hours in off road, but those skills playing at the edge of traction are invaluable in riding on the road. When slipping happens on the road you recognize it and respond instantaneously. Nothing can replace experience.

+1

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I think good riders do that all the time but sometimes doo doo just happens and there isn't anything you can do about it except not get on your bike.

I've had two accidents in almost 40 years of riding that I feel I had no way to avoid. One was a head on collision where a motorhome came around a hairpin corner completely in my lane. I had nothing to do but hit him. I taught him a lesson too. I dented his bumper real good. The other was when the local street department put this new "reflective" powder stuff on a left turn arrow they painted in the middle of the lane and then left. No warning signs, no nothing. It was slicker than snot and you couldn't see it. I sure found it though. Neither of those times was I speeding or riding in an unsafe matter at all and I like to think I have a little above average bike handling skills having years of experience both on and off-road and having raced professionally for several years.

If you or anyone else has ridden as many years and miles as me and never been down I'd say go buy a lottery ticket because you are one lucky sob.

I used to subscribe to the theory that there are two kinds of riders, those who have crashed and those who will. After 20 years of riding I can say that if you stop paying attention, if you get complacent, if you ride beyond your skill level, if you forget that you are on a bike and not in a cage, then yes you will crash.

I'm not challenging your post, I'd just like to know exactly how this happened and if you were watching your mirrors? Had you positioned yourself so that you could move in-between rows of stopped cars?, etc. Again, no offense intended, but I see soooo many riders who stop at traffic lights put it in neutral and start spacing out.

The arrow they painted on the road covered almost the entire lane, I was going 20mph max in 80degree weather with top of the line Michelin tires. I've raced over painted surfaces before let alone 20mph. Plus the city admitted they screwed up and paid to have my bike fixed.

I don't think that just that act of riding more makes anyone a better rider. If you don't work on becoming a better rider you are doomed to make the same mistakes over and over again. Some people I know are just as bad of riders now as they were the day they started.

Here we go again with the macho thing

Dumping a bike is not crashing it, even if it sounds tougher when you can say you had a crash. If you hit your car door on a post when getting out, do you count this as a crash as well?

Or if you stub your toe when getting out of bed, is that an injury?

Ok, I am exaggerating, but you get my point I hope.

In the end, even if you count these mishaps as crashes, I am sure there are people who never did even that. Guess they are not serious enough about it.

I agree with everything the OP posted except for this rear-ending thing. I hope many people can post their experiencers and prove me wrong, but I don't buy the whole mirror watching thing will save you from being rear ended. As many people speed from light to light and wait until the last second to brake, it's extremely difficult to tell the difference from an impending collision vs someone that's just braking late. At work we teach pilots about reaction time regarding the decision to eject. The time it takes to recognize the need to egress, make the decision, then actually pull handles is quite a lot. If I gunned it or pulled in between cars everytime I saw lights in my mirror coming up fast, I'd be pulling that stuff all the time.
Not to mention while you're watching your mirror, the light changes and the guy behind you sees the green light, THEN runs you over because you're busy watching him watch the light.
There's a reason most states automatically place fault on the rear-ender.

Let me elaborate a bit: When I come to a stoplight I position my bike toward the right or left side of my lane, whichever offers me the widest escape route should a driver fail to stop behind me. I watch my mirrors until at least one or two vehicles have stopped behind me and I keep my bike in gear. Because my bike is aimed toward the opening it might also keep me from becoming the meat in a steel sandwich should some rear-end me. I could care less that insurance co's and the law lay blame on the one who does the rear-ending....doesn't help me if I'm dead. Two Summers ago here in the Phoenix area, a group of firemen and LEOs who ride were stopped at a light. They were rear ended by a dump truck, driven by a guy on drugs. Several killed, others very badly injured. Not one of them got out of the way. Had they been watching their mirrors and had their bikes in gear some of them might have survived. You do it your way, I'll do it mine.

. +1

I understand that positioning the bike is a good idea. I saw a video awhile back of a rider that stopped for construction, or backed up traffic or something and pretty much stopped right on the white line. A car behind him wasn't paying attention and rear ended the car ahead of him, all captured on go-pro right beside the rider.

What I don't buy is this:

I believe at least 95% of riders don't have the skills/ability/brainpower/spidey-sense (whatever you want to call it) to accomplish all of the following in enough time to avoid a legitimate rear ender headed their way.

a) determine if the car behind them is actually going to hit them or not
b) look ahead and choose an escape route (what if you're first in line? just ride out into cross traffic?)
c) move the bike to the intended route fast enough to avoid collision

All the above needs to happen very quickly if a car really is barrelling down on you. I understand no two situations are alike, but I think most of the time, there isn't enough time, for someone to do all of that. Of course motorcyclists should have a high level of situational awareness, but step A above isn't as cut and dry as "well if you just watch your mirrors you'll see if you're gonna get rear-ended"

My main point is that blame shouldn't be placed on the rider for most rear endings, which is in opposition to the original post. Like I said, I'd like someone that has actually done this to post their story and prove me wrong. I will have the utmost respect for your superhero skills. My 2 cents, YMMV, etc....

Always learn from other's mistakes...you'll never live long enough to make them all yourself.

He (and I) are not suggesting that it is/was the riders fault. We are suggesting that it really doesn't matter who's fault it is and that at times there is indeed a way to escape and evade a crash instead of sitting there and letting it take place.

PAY ATTENTION.. And be proactive in your safety.

I have avoided more than a few over the years by paying attention, staying in gear and being positioned in such a way that allowed me to effectively split lanes instead of simply sitting there and getting hit. Two of those times the car I was sitting behind was hit. (which would have been bad for me) The rest the offending vehicle stopped short of the car I was behind but would definitely have made contact with me had I stayed sitting there.

MOST can and should be avoided by the rider. Or not.

Paying attention is NOT a "superhero skill"

Sure. I get all of my advice on marriage from divorced men.

I have pulled to the shoulder a few times only to have the car behind me stop with enough space. It never bothered me, I'd rather look foolish than get hit.

And maybe that sent a message to the person behind you, "hmm I should re-evaluate how late I brake, if this guy thought I was going to hit him" :huh

Well, we can all hope they thought that.