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Old 17th November 2009, 18:36   #16
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haha... just the thread i've been waiting for...
i've had 2 100 km/hr + accidents and one at around 80....
all the others were just minor incidents...

accident 1> Was riding on my bajaj caliber from marine drive to mantralaya [the air India building turn]

Just at the start of Mantralaya building, a cab came screeching to a halt. I was behind that clown. swerved to avoid, leg guard nicked the cab and i went for a toss.... luckily no serious damage, landed on my foot [which god swollen], but i got up and rode away.

accident 2> Had just brought a second hand pulsar 180 classic.
Decided to do a speed test.
Touched around 110 - 120 [according to the speedo] at bachelors [on marine drive]
Then decided to slow down, unfortunately my mechanic had not serviced the disc brakes which had rusted a bit, the brakes locked and i went for a toss....
i landed between the foot over bridge and the signal.. bike went ahead.
got a concussion, was out for about 45 minutes, before the cops came and took me a hospital for a check up.
again no serious injuries [thank fully]

accident 3> Was riding back from goa.
had just crossed Mangaon.
Again, i was riding like a jack**s
There was a cyclist, waiting to cross the road.
I slowed down, he made no move to cross the road.
so i thought to my self, he's seen me, now he won't try to cross.
I accelerated.
Fool tried to cross when i was about 15 feet away & doing well over 100 [on the speedo].
I turned to avoid, but hit his front tyre.
the cyclist got catapulted off the road and landed square on his face [broke his nose].
I flew off the bike straight into one of those white and black stones on the side of the road.
bent my right rotator cuff [something in the shoulder]
skinned my left leg [and a bit of my bum] was wearing football shorts & a thick military jacket


Things i have learnt:
1> The other guy on the road is an idiot. Its the best way to be safe.
2> Pedestrians are cattle. They'll learn once they've been hit. otherwise they have the philosophy "if i can't see it, it ain't there"
3> Pedestrians like to dance in front of moving vehicles. [that is when they do see it]
4> Use the horn extensively, atleast people will know you are there.
5> Always wear a helmet.
6> Wear gloves.
7> Wear a Jacket
8> Wear Jeans
9> Use a combination of engine braking & front brake [I rarely use the back brake]
10> When in doubt slow down.
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Old 17th November 2009, 18:58   #17
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There was a turn on the road I used to take coming back from college and used to corner the bike and leaning it to the max , hoping to scrap the footpeg. Once somebody had dropped a bit of sand on the corner and I didn't see it, the bike fell taking me with it skidding , ended with 5 inch bruise on my left arm , was wearing sandals, my foot got bruised. Was wearing a helmet , but had no impact. The jeans which I was wearing protected my legs.But have learnt my lesson not to rip the bike in the city. And no Show Off.

I've had a few small accidents on my bike luckily nothing major.The only serious accident I had was in a car, ended with 3 stitches on my eyes.

I have many close shaves , mainly because i get distracted by cars or other such beauties, trying to check the "ride" out.

One needs to be very alert
Wear adequate protective gear when riding fast
A helmet ALWAYS
when passing through villages lying adjacent to National Highways SLOW DOWN , lost a friend when he crashed his baleno into a bus.

Cheers
MP
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Old 17th November 2009, 20:02   #18
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Hey Motorpsycho, that is pretty similar to my experiences..read on.
Everytime you fall off a bike you learn somthing new, at least i did. The first crashes i remember are on the bicycles. I crashed in an open drain with my BMX cycle, i was so small that my legs wouldnt reach the ground when was seated on the cycle. It so happended that i stopped next to the drain, and when tried to keep my foot down, i went in to the drain with the cycle. I broke a tooth and suffered ome bruises. The next major one i remember was i was riding a cycle down a steep slope of Kharghar hills, i was coming coming down at the max speed the cycle could go and i braked late just before an hairpin turn..the brake cable snapped in a flash and the next thing in knew was that I crashed in to some rocks and thorny bushes, dont exactly remember what i broke. The rear brake was not present at all

The next bad one was when i started to ride two wheelers, it was a scooter this time, i dont remember the reason but i went inside a dry drain this time, i suffered minor bruises but cant say the same about the scooter . The next fall taught me a lot about braking. I was doing round 100 on a Fiero and an auto suddenly veered in to my lane. I slammed the rear brakes, The bike fishtailed a bit and when i managed to get it in the straight line, it threw me off. I suffered a swollen ankle and bruised palms, the bike saumersalted a couple of times and came to an halt. I learnt a lot to modulate my brakes after this one, and i rarely use the rear brakes now. The next fall made me pay a close attention to the road surface. There is turn near my house which i am pretty familiar with and i enjoyed leaning into the turn on my CBZ everytime i rode on that road. One night there was lot of gravel on it and my bike paid the price for my stupidity again!! luckly no major crashes after this one. Then there are numerous near misses which can run in to pages.
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Old 17th November 2009, 21:09   #19
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I still remember this, as it resulted in my wife banning me from riding a bike - despite the fact that I had ridden a Harley 883 Sportster for 22K kms in Australia ( we were not married then )

Dec 2005 I returned to India and decided to get myself an avenger, as it was (I guess still is) the only real Indian cruiser available. Fast forward Sept 2007

I had to go to Trichy in the weekend to meet my mother. I thought of this as a great oppurtunity to do a weekend ride.

So I set off on my Avenger from Bangalore, with great plans of going for a swim in Cauvery (The river flows hardly 100 mts from my home near Trichy) and getting some nice pictures of the Srirangam Temple.

40 Kms to reach Salem the road was very bad. I was ahead of a truck, doing a sedate 30KMPH. A Ford Ikon was trying to overtake another truck approaching us, some 500 mts away and was flashing his headlights.

Out of the blue, a Tata Sumo decided to overtake the truck behind me and realised my presence only when he was alongside the truck. Instead of reducing speed and falling back, the driver of the Sumo decided to shoot past and get ahead of me, only to come face to face with the Ikon. So, he just veered more to the left and squeezed past the Ikon.

In the process, he forced me off the road. My avenger brushed against a boulder lying there and I fell. Thanks to the AGV full face helmet, Harley leather jacket and gloves, there were no injuries to the upper part of my body. My jeans were not as protective, so minor bruises on my knee. But the worst was that my right foot was crushed by the bike, resulting in a fracture to my foot (The Third Metatarsal Bone, says the doctor), despite wearing Lee Cooper military style boots with ankle protection.

Cast for 3 weeks and I was back on my foot - but sadly, the bike was gone. Wife decided that I am safer in a car and too old for a bike. I am still trying to convince her, so I can get another bike - half way there - hopefully will be able to fully convince her by the time we have some nice Cruisers in India.

Cheers,

Rajan

Last edited by PatchyBoy : 17th November 2009 at 21:19. Reason: Corrected Typo
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Old 17th November 2009, 21:23   #20
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My experience...rather, my friends

A friend "borrowed" my bike without my knowledge and banged it against an oncoming Sumo - this was just months after I bought the bike. I am sure he could not handle the bike and it was his mistake. I was heart-broken but he paid for the damages. Had to replace the handlebar, footrest and rear-signal light. Thankfully, nothing happened to him.

Lesson learnt - never loan your vehicle to friends. Especially those who cannot really ride/drive well.
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Old 17th November 2009, 21:31   #21
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Been riding for just over six months and luckily, haven't had a fall yet. But I have had some heart stopping moments on wet roads. Now, I'm really really careful when it rains. Its so easy to overestimate your grip levels in the wet.
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Old 17th November 2009, 21:47   #22
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Quote:
Originally Posted by shishir_bn View Post
....
and be careful near the signals and if you are the last one passing the signal it is better to stop rather than to cross in a hurry(if the light is about to turn into yellow)
I guess that we must read that as "turn into red" . yeah! i fully agree with you that there are missiles opposite you but keep in mind to ALWAYS look at your rear before stopping.

i'm scared after an incident many years ago near the junction of Outer Ring Road opp CMTI on Tumkur road.

At about 9pm, travelling from Peenya, the light turned Yellow and then Red. I slowed down on the left of the road and stopped. A mad ambassador driver with someone in the rear seat at ~60 kmph chickend out and screeched for 3 seconds to a stop past the line. A LPG tanker in the same lane after "5 seconds" also at the same speed screeched past, veered right to avoid the car, "scratched" the right rear indicator, right tyres of the tanker got airborn across the 1 feet high divider, tilted left and crashed landed on it's wheels in the middle of the signal. No one injured!

The guys in the car were very very lucky that day.
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Old 17th November 2009, 22:00   #23
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I do not know whether bicycles will qualify but neverthless since they are two wheels too here goes.
Incident 1: I got the front tyre replaced .I came back home .It was a Atlas ATB .I used to have fun getting airborne with the help of speedbreakers .But that day i truly went airborne .The front tyre came out and i fell down and slipped on my chest/stomach in a dirty puddle of water .The bikes front forks were in opposite directions.

Incident 2 : After many years i decided to test ride a friends Hercules MTB with gears . And instantly i decided to get airborne .But i forgot the strength i gained in the few ears and the bike went for a toss .It took few turns in the air before slamming on the ground and twisting its rims.I fell and went sliding on the cement road and the hip portion if my 2 days old killer jeans was gone .

But i had fun .
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Old 18th November 2009, 12:18   #24
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Sprucegoose View Post
haha... just the thread i've been waiting for...
i've had 2 100 km/hr + accidents and one at around 80....
all the others were just minor incidents...

....................
Things i have learnt:
.3> Pedestrians like to dance in front of moving vehicles. [that is when ..................
Dude i couldn't stop laughing when i saw the 3rd point.......... Man so many accidents and leaving to say this is a great thing..........be careful..........

Quote:
Originally Posted by PatchyBoy View Post
I still remember this, as it resulted in my wife banning me from riding a bike - despite the fact that I had ridden a Harley 883 Sportster for 22K kms in Australia ( we were not married then )

.............................Wife decided that I am safer in a car and too old for a bike. I am still trying to convince her, so I can get another bike - half way there - hopefully will be able to fully convince her by the time we have some nice Cruisers in India.
This is not possible. You cannot convince her. I can bet on this
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Old 18th November 2009, 12:42   #25
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Even i have story of crashing in bike.This happened in year 2000 in Chennai

there was a friend of mine bought a new yamaha RX135 and all of my friends had a small round trip within our locality.it was my turn and my friend(bike owner) sitting behind me.
i was riding bit faster and my friend is asking me to slow down continuously,as this is a prestige issue i told him i have totla control over the bike and next minute there is a sharp right turn and total panick and i hit the front brake next moment we are skidiing in the road in one direction and the bike in the other directon.

lessons learnt: speed thrills but ......
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Old 18th November 2009, 15:25   #26
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Quote:
Originally Posted by heavy_foot View Post
Hey Motorpsycho, that is pretty similar to my experiences..read on.
The first crashes i remember are on the bicycles. I crashed in an open drain with my BMX cycle, i was so small that my legs wouldnt reach the ground when was seated on the cycle. It so happended that i stopped next to the drain, and when tried to keep my foot down, i went in to the drain with the cycle...
.
Hi Heavy_foot

I too had a similar crash on my bike, There was a small slab of cement on a gutter near my place ,trying to ride over it ,i slipped and fell with the bike dangling off the slab . Luckily I did not get much hurt.
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Old 18th November 2009, 19:03   #27
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Another incident. I was on my first long (200km+) ride and was passing through a village at around 25kmph. I approached a culvert (a small bridge across a nullah) near the centre of the village, where some people had gathered. As I crossed the culvert I was looking at the people --- when WHAM I was on the muddy ground with the bike on top of me. I hadn't a clue to what happened till the villagers pulled the bike off me and I saw that I had hit a HUMONGOUS speed-breaker just 5 meters from the culvert. The raised culvert had prevented me from seeing it from the other side. I had just 1/2 seconds to see it after I reached the crest of the culvert... and I was distracted during that 1/2 second, looking around.

The crash-guard prevented the bike from falling fully on me, but I badly sprained my ankle where my bike fell on it. After 15 minutes and a wash-up the villagers helped get up on my bike, and I rode 150km back home. By the time I reached, my foot had swollen to a point I could barely walk.

The next week, I hobbled over to my neighbourhood mochi and had extra thick leather ankle protection sewed onto my military boots.

After that occasion I started looking out for speed-breakers wherever I went.

Lessons learned :
1. Look at every patch of ground your bike is going to go over!
2.Expect speed-breakers and proceed cautiously near railway crossings, culverts, bridges, in military areas, near any habitation and public places and on road/highways passing through small towns and villages.
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Old 30th October 2011, 21:49   #28
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re: Riders: When did you first kiss the tarmac?

I have been riding for almost 5 years now, and in the initial 2 years, I had a major disregard about wearing a helmet, especially in the city.
One fine day, I was riding at around 11 in the morning, a Honda Dio, with a pillion rider. As you all must be knowing, the automatic transmission bikes have really small tyres. The road curved right, and it is a road of daily commute for me, and I was in the habit of taking that turn by tilting my bike a lot to the ride. On a Pulsar or something similar that's another thing, but on a Dio, tilting is a really bad mistake to make. Speed was around 35 kmph. I was immersed in conversation with the guy behind, and didn't notice a generous amount of oil spilled on the road. As you must have guessed by now, I had a really bad skid, landed on my right, and went skidding along with the bike for about 10 metres. The guy behind me had already gotten off at the point of impact with the road, and escaped with minor injuries. However, I had a very bad bruise on my right hand, and a sore right shoulder for the next one week. The biggest escape I had that day was that I was luckily wearing a helmet, since I had just come off a highway, and got away unhurt on the head.

That day I learnt 2 things.
1. Never disregard the road conditions, especially in India, and always be cautious about the road ahead of you. Talking too much with the pillion could be very dangerous as it distracts you.
2. Helmet is something that you should never part with while on the bike, even if you are the pillion. Post that incident, I have never left my house without the helmet, and force everyone else in the family to wear it all the time too, even for very short distances. Many of my friends make fun of me because of this attitude. All I tell them is, I have learnt my lesson the hard way, and they should learn from my experience as well. I would be better off not getting affected by whatever they talk, since in the event of a crash, it's me who will have to bear the impact.

Hope this drives a little bit of sense into all those people who drive without a helmet, please learn a very important lesson, helmet is a MUST..!!!!
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Old 30th October 2011, 22:58   #29
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re: Riders: When did you first kiss the tarmac?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Sprucegoose View Post
haha... just the thread i've been waiting for...
i've had 2 100 km/hr + accidents and one at around 80....
all the others were just minor incidents...

accident 1> Was riding on my bajaj caliber from marine drive to mantralaya [the air India building turn]

Just at the start of Mantralaya building, a cab came screeching to a halt. I was behind that clown. swerved to avoid, leg guard nicked the cab and i went for a toss.... luckily no serious damage, landed on my foot [which god swollen], but i got up and rode away.

accident 2> Had just brought a second hand pulsar 180 classic.
Decided to do a speed test.
Touched around 110 - 120 [according to the speedo] at bachelors [on marine drive]
Then decided to slow down, unfortunately my mechanic had not serviced the disc brakes which had rusted a bit, the brakes locked and i went for a toss....
i landed between the foot over bridge and the signal.. bike went ahead.
got a concussion, was out for about 45 minutes, before the cops came and took me a hospital for a check up.
again no serious injuries [thank fully]

accident 3> Was riding back from goa.
had just crossed Mangaon.
Again, i was riding like a jack**s
There was a cyclist, waiting to cross the road.
I slowed down, he made no move to cross the road.
so i thought to my self, he's seen me, now he won't try to cross.
I accelerated.
Fool tried to cross when i was about 15 feet away & doing well over 100 [on the speedo].
I turned to avoid, but hit his front tyre.
the cyclist got catapulted off the road and landed square on his face [broke his nose].
I flew off the bike straight into one of those white and black stones on the side of the road.
bent my right rotator cuff [something in the shoulder]
skinned my left leg [and a bit of my bum] was wearing football shorts & a thick military jacket


Things i have learnt:
1> The other guy on the road is an idiot. Its the best way to be safe.
2> Pedestrians are cattle. They'll learn once they've been hit. otherwise they have the philosophy "if i can't see it, it ain't there"
3> Pedestrians like to dance in front of moving vehicles. [that is when they do see it]
4> Use the horn extensively, atleast people will know you are there.
5> Always wear a helmet.
6> Wear gloves.
7> Wear a Jacket
8> Wear Jeans
9> Use a combination of engine braking & front brake [I rarely use the back brake]
10> When in doubt slow down.
The kid that lives opposite my house, an eighteen year old, didn't live to tell the tale: day before Diwali he rode out crashed into a car, headlong, and passed away on Saturday (after a hard fought battle in hospital), his parents were inconsolable it was a very sad and moving sight and worst situation any parent can be in. Ride safe and have pic of all the family members stuck to the speedo so that every time you glance there you'll be reminded of the souls waiting for you at home.

Last edited by Durango Dude : 30th October 2011 at 23:01.
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Old 31st October 2011, 09:34   #30
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re: Riders: When did you first kiss the tarmac?

1. date: 10/1/2007; Place: Mangalore; Bike: RD

Was riding fast(~100kph) on NH17 and an *** from the opposite side decided to take a sudden turn right in front of me. I t-boned the car and flew off.

Damages: The bike front end was SMASHED! My riding jacket tore and i got slight bruises on my arm. helmet was damaged badly but i was fine and managed to run after the driver on foot and catch him. LOL

Lesson learnt: The road is filled with idiots!!

2. date: 10/1/2008; Place: madikeri; Bike: karizma
I was taking a turn and was greeted by some gravel. Skidded and hit the tarmac

Damages: The bike had just a few scratches. Rest was saved thanks to the crashguard. I on the other hand wasnt so lucky. I landed on my knee at the corner of a pothole. it ripped all the flesh off my knee. I also managed to dislocate my right shoulder. Had to lift the bike and ride for about 8kms to a dhaba with a landline and call mr friends/family. Jacket saved my upper body from bruises and helmet took a beating.

Lesson learnt: Expect the unexpected and stop riding like an idiot!!!

P.S. the accident date isnt a typo!

Last edited by james : 31st October 2011 at 09:36.
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