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Old 15th June 2012, 15:50   #91
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re: Riders: When did you first kiss the tarmac?

1. Sangamner -

I was pillion on a bike without helmet(by me or the rider) No Papers, No numberplate No License.
The bike was CD100 SS (owner was a third person.)
We had gone to sangamner village from my College.
While on our way back it rained a little (enough to barely wet the road).

My over enthusuastic friend was wringing the accelerator. While @ 80 Kph he spotted a M80 trying to cross the road from our left and trying to go to the other lane but the M80 guy stopped mid wasy spotting a State Transport(ST) bus.

My Friend Shouted "ABBEY HAT JAAAA" and locked the brakes, the road was just about perfect for us to skim through and bang on the M80.

All 4 (2 CD100, 2 M80)of us were on the ground and the ST bus (now stopped) tyre was around 5 feet away from our heads (but we were not in its path, Still pretty intimidating)

I had a few bruises but the M80 Pillion went in to Seizure and had to be hospitalised and recovered after a few days. (my Rider paid the bills as we were not locals)

Lessons
1. HELMETS save life and prevent brain damage. (A friend once asked me will the fancy helmet save me if a truck tyre passed over my head, I never advised him again)
2. Do not at any costs ride pillion to IDIOTS.
3. Do not at any costs ride pillion to IDIOTS.
4. Do not at any costs ride pillion to IDIOTS.
3. A slight drizzle is more dangerous than heavy rains.
4. If you dont panic and lock brakes then you can actually slowdown and avoid such a situation.
5. Do not ride vehicles belonging to others whose mechanical condition you are unaware of.
6. Papers, papers, papers are very important.


2. Mumbai Bandra WE-

At a signal I (Rx100) was in a crowd of around 20 bikers (all convinced that their bike was the fastest, including me).

As the signal turned green all accelerated hard so did I following others (almost tailgating)

suddenly all the bikers gave way and I saw an old lady in the way (her mistake, she was in the middle of the road) I tried to avoid but ended up catching her with my mirror, handle-end, lost control and let the bike go, lady fell down, but she was OK, got up and boarded a bus -

Thanked GOD that she was fine, for hurting some one else is worse than getting yourself hurt. (I am sure she had horrible arm pain, where I hit here, the next day.)

I was unhurt, but shaken that on another day I could have banged straight in to her and probably killed her.


Lessons
1. Doesnt matter whose bike is fastest, Do not race on public roads.
2. Expect people to jump in the road - as if on purpose.
3. Dont ride in a crowd where you dont have space to improvise.


3. Mumbai Kanjusrmarg Under Gandhi nagar fly-over -

At a signal, I was riding my friends Rx100 (one of the fastest stock Rx100s I have seen, with horrible brakes)

He was leading the way on my Rx100, I was following (no intention to ride fast)

I had been bugged by a pulsar200 with a loud exhaust on our way till the signal he kept encouraging us to race.

Once the signal started I again heard the loud exhaust near me, to my rear left, on reflex I instinctively turned my head a little and on turning back to the front realised my friend had stopped.

Rear ended my own bike and had a fall, rolled and stood up immediately(like a footballer)
My friend still laughs at how quickly I stood up. Didnt get hurt but was very very embarrassing.

By the way we were on our way to see the newly launched Ninja250R at the Kanjurmarg probiking showroom.
To top up the experience the showroom guys were rude. So that day was quite memorable.

Lessons
1. Helmets not only protect your head they also save you from embarassment as no one knows who exactly you are.
2. Second time at a signal is not a co-incidence, I need to be more carefull at signals.
3. Ignore racers, if you cannot ignore then park your bike and let them pass.
4. Go to Bajaj showrooms wearing good clothes and riding expensive bikes or in a car.
(ok the last one was below the belt)


I have been really lucky to have been able to avoid situations where only luck could have saved me. I have gone from a road rager to a pretty sedate rider and plan to buy my next bike for touring and not street racing.
Still have my Rx100 though and hopefully she will remain.

Age and married life have worn me down ha ha ha ha.

That is my longest post on T-bhp
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Old 17th June 2012, 20:06   #92
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re: Riders: When did you first kiss the tarmac?

This is by far the best thread on Team BHP. It's not only entertaining, but really helpful to learn from other people's experiences. Let me add to this list my personal experience from my early biking days.

This was way back in 2009 or so when I was in Hyderabad. The traffic there is pretty unruly compared to Mumbai (sorry guys from Hyderabad). I had bought a 2nd hand Yamaha Gladiator. It was not maintained well, however it was equipped with a disc brake. The front tyre was completely worn, so I replaced it with a brand new tyre and rode it for a couple of days. I thought the new tyre was "run-in", so I began pushing the bike a little harder. I was not riding the bike rashly, but was just cocky or overconfident because of the new tyres

Then at a junction near my office, traffic suddenly came in front of me and I braked hard. The front tyre skidded and I fell down. Fortunately traffic behind me stopped. I pulled the bike to the side of the road. The bike had minor damage, however I was hurt badly on my hands - the skin over my knuckles was ripped apart, so was my left knee. I was experiencing minor shock and was feeling nausea and a bit of fainting. Fortunately I didn't faint, just relaxed at the side of the road, recuperated for 15 minutes and then slowly rode to office where I received medical treatment. The scars of the accident slowly wore away. For nearly 1 year I could not shake hands properly with people since everytime somebody shook hands, I would get a sharp pain.

What I learnt:
1. Never push your bike on a relatively new set of tires. Allow at least 300 kms before you push it. The top layer of any new tyre is very smooth and slippery. That's because of the manufacturing process when tyres are removed from the moulds.
2. Practice panic braking regularly in a controlled environment (open road, no traffic behind or in front, protective gear on and slow speeds). Learn the limits of yourself and that of the bike.
3. Always use both brakes simultaneously. That is the golden rule which every biker needs to learn.
4. Assume the road is full of idiots. Drive defensively.
5. Never be cocky on the road. When you are on a bike, if you fall, you shall get hurt, plain and simple, even if you are riding at a low speed. It's not like driving a car where if you meet in a accident, just your car shall get dented and you shall be safe...

Last edited by SAS : 17th June 2012 at 20:10.
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Old 18th June 2012, 13:24   #93
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re: Riders: When did you first kiss the tarmac?

This happened some time in mid-90s with my Hero Honda SS 100 and with my wife as pillion.

It was a rainy evening. The roads were wet, though not raining at that precise point of time. I was between two tram tracks and that part of the road was paved with shiny cobblestones. Nine out of ten riders would fall there in any case, at least once in life and it was my turn.

I skidded while trying to come out of the tracks. I was born and brought up in Calcutta and I have grown up on these streets with my bicycle first and then my motorcycle. I know more than a thing about how to cross a tram track on a rainy evening like any other good old Calcuttan.

Why did I skid? I think I was riding too slow to maintain a proper balance. There is a very thin line between a safe slow speed and dangerously slow speed. I crossed the line towards dangerously slow.
What did I learn from it?I realised for the first time that there indeed is a thing called "dangerously slow" style of riding. Never ride too slow even though it may seem that that's the most sensible thing to do. However, nothing happened to either of us because A. we were really really slow B. Both had our helmets on.
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Old 18th June 2012, 15:41   #94
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re: Riders: When did you first kiss the tarmac?

Vehicles were my passion. No amount of money would actually give you the satisfaction you get when you go on a ride with the wind blowing on your face and with just a twist of your wrist you can go faster. After waiting for almos

The day was 24th Feb, 2012.

After waiting for 11 years for my bike promptly named ‘RaVaN’, I took it out for the third time in my whole life. I went to my boss's place because I had always told him that I would visit him on my bike. I reached his place in good time and then decided to leave as it was late i.e.10.30 pm.

I came back to my bike, saw a couple of street dogs, I ignored them (BIG MISTAKE). An auto came dropped of somebody and was going back, the dogs chased it. Still ignored the signs (ANOTHER BIG MISTAKE).

I started my bike and was riding it... and then reached the dogs. crossed them. Though i got through [BIGGER MISTAKE] and then dogs chased me one from each side.

I thought I could out-run them.... that was the last and biggest mistake I could have made. I revved the big but forgot to look what was in front of me as my attention was diverted in ensuring that the dogs wouldn't bite me.

And there was a CRASH, and I was on the ground and my bike was 1/4 under an standing Omni. Thankfully the Omni suffered less damage, but my bike well . The owner of the Omni came up saw that his vehicle was ok plus he saw what had happened, so he just helped pick my vehicle, disconnected the bike horn as the wire was affected and the horn was blaring. I said sorry to the owner and he just told to "go ahead, he had seen what happened". All this while the culprit had gone to a guy who was feeding them biscuits. I shook my head and started my vehicle and looked one last time at the dogs, I can swear I saw them laughing like a devil, and drove off.

I went a little further.. away from the crime scene if i may say, parked my bike and just looked at what all was broken. I had forgotten to check on my bike and my mind was actually bent on killing those dogs.

Let's just say the destruction was too much for me,
a) the handle bars were bent to such an extent that every time i tried to turn them, the electric start button was touch the petrol tank.
b) the mirror and blinker on the rightside were history
c) the horn, let just say, please would have touch my bike was an ambulance in emergency if I had joined the wires together.
d) instrument cluster had gone kaput.
e) one of the left-side indicator on the rear had also broken and was hanging very close to the back tyre.

However there was a silver lining in all this, while I was checking the damage to the bike, I found that the number on my bike MH04 CV 4585 and my date of birth match i.e. 4th May, 1985. That made my day.

I was not able to give my bike for repairs due to my work, hence finally went and gave my bike to the Bajaj Service center in Thane. The service center guys told to come 2 days after I gave them the bike. The day finally arrived for me to take back my bike from the service center. I told a half-day and went to the service center, and my eyes scanned all the bikes in the service center. Finally found my RaVaN standing in the shade. The service center representative came and told me to go and pay the bill, that’s when the reality struck me.
2 dogs + 1 bike +1 novice rider + 1 crash = Rs 5900/-

I paid the amount, the service center guys gave a quick polish to the bike and I took possession and brought him home. Then noticed that although the bill exceeded my expectations, the final product standing before me was beautiful. The bike was gleaming in the sunlight and the sun rays were actually reflecting of it.

Moral of the story:-
a) 2 dogs + 1 bike +1 novice rider = STOP [Best option]
b) 2 dogs + 1 bike +1 novice rider + accelerator = light pocket
c) There always a silver lining in every accident. In my case, found my bike had my DoB as the number and got a gleaming bike back.



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Old 19th June 2012, 23:05   #95
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re: Riders: When did you first kiss the tarmac?

It was quite an uneventful day. 10k kms of spotless riding had come to a halt. I was returning home from my office on SP Road. I took my usual left turn from SP road, which comes back and joins the main road further down the line. I generally do this to avoid the traffic on the main road, though taking the lane is slightly more circuitous.

There was a car moving ahead of me, at probably, around 35 km/hr. There was a bike coming in the opposite direction. After having a pressure filled day at office, the slow movement of the car somehow got to me, and irritation got the better of me. I decided to wring the throttle, and snip across the car, even though my brain told me that the bike is too close to the car for comfort. With my bike already humming at 5k rpm (It was a 6 month old R15), a small twist of the throttle was all that was required for the overtake. However, there was some loose construction sand on the road, which I totally failed to notice.

The bike was already in her sweet spot, 5k RPM. A wring of the wrists got all that power unleashed, and it seemed that there wasn't enough friction between the rear wheel and the road. In a split second, I felt the bike moving in a direction I had no idea about. In another second, I was thrown off the bike, and both of us went skidding on the road for around 5 meters. Got my shirt and pant torn, and there were abrasive injuries. But the first thing on my mind was to check out the damage done to my first love. There were scratches on the left fairing, and parts of it were chipped off. The gear lever had been pushed in, and there were scratches on the side of the left handlebar.

All of this set me back by 9k at the service center, though he reassured me that the insurance company will credit the money to my account in a week.

This incident just made me realize the stupidity with which I was possessed on that day. One thing that I was firm on, after that day, was to have a completely different mindset whenever you ride/drive, irrespective of what happened just before that. That, obviously, will be difficult, considering the fact that we are, eventually, humans. Another thing that I am firm on now, is to ensure that I invest in a good pair of gloves, and a leather jacket. Now I see where they truly come in handy!
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Old 20th June 2012, 00:10   #96
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re: Riders: When did you first kiss the tarmac?

If Hero PUCH (Shakti 3G) qualifies to be a bike, here's my story:
15,000 kms done, summer of 2001 and newly upgraded Dunlop tyres - I take out my mo-bike and just after 200 meters, loose control at a turning where sand was strewn. Thanks to the folks who decided to dump sand (for construction purposes) and had overflown to cause this skid. I ended up with a hairline fracture on my right leg, and took 2 weeks just to heal the pain. Puch suffered minor damages to the foot rest on left side.

Few weeks later, this lesson was not enough for me. I was driving to my college and a milkman came towards me on his goldline atlas supreme (he's on the wrong side). There's a crash, and guess what. Both of us stop then and there and both of us fall. He had enough momentum to damage my puch to an extent that the fork holder broke. Also the chassis was damaged (full chassis costing 5000 was later replaced). This was a perfect G-CON experience for me. I hardly felt a thing. However, due to this sudden stop, I could not balance myself and fell again. This time, I fell and hit my lips (I have hated the half helmets since then). Bleeding from the lips, I stand helpless. Left the bike there and rushed to the hospital. Got a stitch done and for a week was an "Angelina Jolie". Friends used to visit me and crack jokes and I had to laugh and feel the tension in my lips.

Bottomline however is that I did not have any time to respond in both of these crashes, and there was no way I could avoid it. Puch is driven at sane speeds and you cannot go beyond control easily. It was all luck.
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Old 20th June 2012, 12:33   #97
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re: Riders: When did you first kiss the tarmac?

Quote:
Originally Posted by roshan_cruise View Post
Vehicles were my passion ....
Hi,
I think you typed your post on a formatted editor (eg MS WORD) and then copy pasted here, Its very difficult to read through because of all the tags. May be in the future you can just use the notepad.

Regards
Slick

PS: Dogs' interest generally dies down if you stop. A moving object generally accentuates their prey drive and hence they chase more if you run away.
If there is one or say two dogs, You can slow down and 'Shhhhhhh' them and they lose nerve to chase. You have to be assertive though.

I generally dont run away from dogs but then I am comfortable around dogs.

'By the way' The 'Shhh' that I have suggested didnt work when I was chased by around 10 Dogs at 2am in the night. I revved and tried to run (Similar reflex to you), to my luck I was riding my Rx100 and the loud exhaust un-nerved them and they gave up the chase as the animal (rx100) barked louder in return.

Last edited by Slick : 20th June 2012 at 12:41.
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Old 20th June 2012, 13:06   #98
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re: Riders: When did you first kiss the tarmac?

Had my first crash on the Dio(was the 25th crash free month/14K Km), a few weeks ago.
I was heading home at around 6 in the morning on a very familiar road(5+ years on it;although on my bicycle) I had to take the second exit at a turnaround,I entered it slowly(very slowly!) and as usual leaned a bit but I over steered and the Dio high-sided,It happened so slowly that I was standing as the Dio slid away!
Fortunately for me, there were no vehicles trailing me.
It was the most embarrassing moment for me(Our milkman was right there too!)
I ran towards my Dio and turned it off;pushed it to the road's end and checked briefly for any leaks,broken levers etc. But, I did not see any of those so I started it and went home!
I then realized that, It was Drizzling just before I started the journey towards home!
Lesson Learnt:Reduce speeds while riding on a patch of road with water residues, As this is more difficult than when it is raining!
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Old 20th June 2012, 13:31   #99
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re: Riders: When did you first kiss the tarmac?

My stories.

May 2002. Vacations time and with it comes cricket matches all day long. It was getting dark and was drizzling slightly.
I was driving my dad's 1995 Bajaj Chetak. My friend was riding pillion. We were a set of 8 guys in 4 scooters (scooters were the IN thing then). We were all trying to overtake each other on the narrow road. Then suddenly a young lady oblivious to the racing frenzy, started crossing the road. My friend in another scooter on my left barely managed to avoid hitting her. But since I was little behind him, I could not spot the lady on time and ended up crashing into her.
The impact was such that she fell down and rolled over atleast 15 feet while my scooter with the two riders on, fell down along with the scooter. We had injuries all over our knees and elbows. The lady was the lucky one. She had no visible injury, but due to shock, she fainted.
It was then that we noticed that the young lady had suddenly turned old. All this while, she was wearing a wig to conceal her graying hair. The impact threw the wig off her hair and we noticed that she was quite old. More than the shock of the accident, we were amused by the sudden change in the lady's appearance.
Had to pay close to 500 bucks for her hospital expenses while also hearing songs of praise from my dad for this heroic act of ours. Lesson learnt: Looks can be deceptive albeit in a bitter way.

Oct 2010: Chennai: Me and another friend were returning from dinner on my Unicorn Dazzler. It was dark and was drizzling. (same deadly combination again). The road was narrow and we were at speeds of 30-35kmph. Suddenly out of nowehere a buffalo charged towards the bike from the right. Before I could realise, we had a collision and a resultant fall. My bikes front right wing bore the direct impact but amazingly it did not even crack a bit. Later too, there was no sign of rattling from that part. Honda buid quality I suppose. I fell on the road with my friend crash landing on me. Luckily no injuries except minor bruises and a torn levi's . Lesson learnt: Learn to share spaces with other species of this planet.
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Old 20th June 2012, 18:35   #100
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re: Riders: When did you first kiss the tarmac?

Yup Slick, That's exactly what happend.
A copy pasting from MS Word and processing a big program causing the PC to hang.

Posting the same with an addition.

Vehicles were my passion. No amount of money would actually give you the satisfaction you get when you go on a ride with the wind blowing on your face and with just a twist of your wrist you can go faster.

The day was 24th Feb, 2012.

After waiting for 11 years for my bike promptly named ‘RaVaN’, I took it out for the third time in my whole life. I went to my boss's place because I had always told him that I would visit him on my bike. I reached his place in good time and then decided to leave as it was late i.e.10.30 pm.

I came back to my bike, saw a couple of street dogs, I ignored them (BIG MISTAKE). An auto came dropped of somebody and was going back, the dogs chased it. Still ignored the signs (ANOTHER BIG MISTAKE).
I started my bike and was riding it... and then reached the dogs. crossed them. Though i got through [BIGGER MISTAKE] and then dogs chased me one from each side.

I thought I could out-run them.... that was the last and biggest mistake I could have made. I revved the big but forgot to look what was in front of me as my attention was diverted in ensuring that the dogs wouldn't bite me.

And there was a CRASH, and I was on the ground and my bike was 1/4 under an standing Omni. Thankfully the Omni suffered less damage, but my bike well . The owner of the Omni came up saw that his vehicle was ok plus he saw what had happened, so he just helped pick my vehicle, disconnected the bike horn as the wire was affected and the horn was blaring. I said sorry to the owner and he just told to "go ahead, he had seen what happened". All this while the culprit had gone to a guy who was feeding them biscuits. I shook my head and started my vehicle and looked one last time at the dogs, I can swear I saw them laughing like a devil, and drove off.

I went a little further.. away from the crime scene if i may say, parked my bike and just looked at what all was broken. I had forgotten to check on my bike and my mind was actually bent on killing those dogs.
Let's just say the destruction was too much for me,
a) the handle bars were bent to such an extent that every time i tried to turn them, the electric start button was touch the petrol tank.
b) the mirror and blinker on the rightside were history
c) the horn, let just say, please would have touch my bike was an ambulance in emergency if I had joined the wires together.
d) instrument cluster had gone kaput.
e) one of the left-side indicator on the rear had also broken and was hanging very close to the back tyre.

However there was a silver lining in all this, while I was checking the damage to the bike, I found that the number on my bike MH04 CV 4585 and my date of birth match i.e. 4th May, 1985. That made my day.

I was not able to give my bike for repairs due to my work, hence finally went and gave my bike to the Bajaj Service center in Thane. The service center guys told to come 2 days after I gave them the bike. The day finally arrived for me to take back my bike from the service center. I told a half-day and went to the service center, and my eyes scanned all the bikes in the service center. Finally found my RaVaN standing in the shade. The service center representative came and told me to go and pay the bill, that’s when the reality struck me.
2 dogs + 1 bike +1 novice rider + 1 crash = Rs 5900/-

I paid the amount, the service center guys gave a quick polish to the bike and I took possession and brought him home. Then noticed that although the bill exceeded my expectations, the final product standing before me was beautiful. The bike was gleaming in the sunlight and the sun rays were actually reflecting of it.

Moral of the story:-
a) 2 dogs + 1 bike +1 novice rider = STOP [Best option]
b) 2 dogs + 1 bike +1 novice rider + accelerator = light pocket
c) There always a silver lining in every accident. In my case, found my bike had my DoB as the number and got a gleaming bike back.

And the worst piece as yet...after waiting 11 years, spent in buttering Mom and Dad to allow me to get me a bike, and finally getting the bike, having a crash and spending Rs 6000/- in repairs, I had to leave my bike, one month after I bought it, in India and fly to Dubai for employment purpose.

Now I only have the bike photo in front of me while my bike rests at home.
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Old 23rd June 2012, 00:46   #101
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re: Riders: When did you first kiss the tarmac?

Thanks for starting a nice thread! Some incidents nearly pulled my veins...

Encountered a very few incidents, but these nothing in front of some major ones listed here..
1. Parked the bike without checking surface. Result, both bike and me fell down.
2. One day while riding in rain, I accidentally locked front break and hit a Scorpio. Luckily, I was at a very low speed (around 10-20 kmph). Nothing happened, just the head lamp glass broke.

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Old 23rd June 2012, 16:34   #102
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re: Riders: When did you first kiss the tarmac?

My first accident was on a friend's bike. I was just learning to ride and I tried to lean into a corner but the road was broken just at the apex of the corner so the bike slid on its side. The side panels, crash guard, clutch lever, foot peg and gear rod all had to bereplaced. My denims were shredded and I suffered only abrasions thankfully.

Lesson learnt: Never try to lean on unfamiliar roads and unfamiliar bikes.
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Old 27th June 2012, 16:53   #103
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re: Riders: When did you first kiss the tarmac?

Really frightening stories in this thread. I am glad each and every poster in this thread came out well enough from the crash to come here and and to share the story. And my thoughts are with thousands who didn't.

I ride daily here in Europe. I do approximately 100 kms every day here. Weather varies between hazy sunshine in summer with temperatures around 20-24 degrees, to really low and blinding sun in spring and autumn. It rains for 10 months of a year. There could be lose leaves on the road road in autumn as trees start shedding leaves just ahead of winter. Temperatures hover around 5-14 for most of the year, except for late autumn, winter and early spring where temperatures around around 0-5 degrees. In Winter there's the occasional snow, but there's constant danger of frost and black ice. You hit a patch of frost, you would feel your bike stepping to a side. If you hit black ice - you won't know it, you will be on a ditch or under a truck before you know what happened. In winter, even with well padded glows and a lining inside the glows, temperatures below 6 degrees will absolutely and totally kill your fingers if you ride any longer than 20 minutes. And unfortunately my ride to work is 40 mins. I can not explain how sore my hands get by the time I get to work in winter - I would be frantically trying to get some heat back into them by holding them under hot water tap, hot air blower, massaging them etc - all the while resisting the urge to chop them off - they hurt so much as if they are on fire. Temperatures below 10 also makes your visor fog up. So it's always a delicate balance of keeping the visor open a tiny bit to keep the fog away, but not too much so that you don't freeze. About 60% of my commute is on motorway - speeds around 120 - 140 kmph, and sometimes filtering between two lanes of fast moving traffic. Rest is slower country roads, or filtering in congested city lanes.

Despite all this - despite the dozens of dangers the environment and elements present to you - THE SINGLE MOST important message all all the bikers here is to "RIDE LIKE YOU ARE INVISIBLE". Always remember no one can see you. That means that pedestrians will walk in front of you. Cars will cut across you, brake hard in front of you, run into you. Trucks will creep into your lane etc etc. So we say to each other here, always ride like others are out there to kill you. This might sound alarmist, but it's true - you have to watch your back when you are on a bike, because it doesn't matter if a dog jumps in front of you, or a car brakes hard - you will come out worse than the car or the dog even.

So to all my TeamBHP brethren - ride like you are invisible, and remember, everyone out there is out to get you. Ride safe!
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Old 27th June 2012, 18:03   #104
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re: Riders: When did you first kiss the tarmac?

I have been banned from biking since I got married, and now it seems quite obvious why that happened.
Some 10 years ago, I was riding with GF, now wife, and was crossing the rajnagar intersection after hyatt on the ring road.
This moronic auto walla jumped the red light perpendicular to me in grand fashion.
And by grand i mean he he came through perpendicular to my direction and hung a 90 degree turn at about 50kmph.
I am on my RX100, at about 70, and slam on the brakes, practically coming to about 25-30.
Next thing I know, my head has poked through the rear of the auto, through the yellow tarp thing, my girlfriend is lying next to the bike, and the bike is pulling full 360s on its foot peg!!
Good gents came by and helped my GF to the curb, she was alright.
As I pulled my head out, somehow the helmet came off and dropped inside the auto, which had promptly scooted off by now.
There was lady in a matiz, who's way was blocked by my revolving bike, and she was HONKING away.One old uncleji who helped us went and took out her keys and threw them in the back seat!!

No one was damaged at all in this incident, except for my lost helmet.



Another biggie i remember is on my P180(phirsht batch, as I proudly tell people )
I came off the safdurjang aerodrome side towards lodhi garden, and this guy just started playing frogger with the traffic.
Unfortunately, he became the deer in my headlight.
He was looking at my bike, and in my mind I decided to go left, and saw him flinching towards his right, I changed my mind to go right, he flinched to his left.
Now were close enough that I had to commit.
So i flicked to the right, and he jumped to his left, then froze and twisted at the final moment.
The handle bar weight caught hi stomach and ribs in a glancing blow, and went into an 80kmph tankslapper.
Then the bars locked in full right, and threw me over, and I landed on back.
This was when those checked flannels were the "in" thing for shirts, and mine were rolled up to just below the elbow.
Boy did that fold get shredded!!
the back of the helmet had major scrapes, and the backpack I was wearing looked like it had melted!!

Nothing on the bike though, except for some scratches, a half a centimeter dent on one side caused by the handlebar, and a bent lever.
There have been other incidents with these two, plus my brother's rx100, and his bullet, and our tenants cd100, so you can understand my family's trepidation.
but hey, young and carefree, yeah?
Cant even imagine riding now like i did in college.


I still have that bike, but have had neither the time, nor the opportunity to ride her...
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Old 27th June 2012, 19:18   #105
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re: Riders: When did you first kiss the tarmac?

It was in 2003 when I had my major crash with my HH Splendor at Chennai. Helmets were not keenly observed by motorists that time, and I was just one among the folks!

After a lunch-meeting with a friend, I was returning from Anna Nagar tank towards Guindy on the 2nd Avenue main road.

We had a green signal near Ayyappa temple and My speed must have been around 50 to 60 with an average traffic flow on the road.

From the perpendicular road, a gray color HM Ambassador appeared suddenly - trying to cross the road. He didnot seem to be over-speeding, but for sure it must have been a "Red-Signal Jump" from his side. In less than a second, the car hit my Splendor on the Crash-Guard & Fuel-Tank area and I was just thrown over - up in the air.

Before the next second, I landed with my head on the road on the other side of the road - Just in front of the Ayyappa temple. Lucky me, there was less traffic on the other side of the road, else it would have been a tragedy. Till date I beleive it is a heavenly moment, else I could have been run over by some bus on such a busy road! I had deep bruises on my face, hand and knee which I didnot realise when I stood up by myself. There was soon a small crowd and they were yelling at the car driver. Before someone could act, the scared car driver rushed out and dismissed himself from the scene. I was on all my senses and slowly started realising pain. One person gave me the car's regn. number scribbled on a Bus-Ticket and people helped me to bring my badly damaged Splendor to the side.

The accident scene was so well-made for me: Ayyappa temple on the side where I fell and the KM hospital just on the other side. Said thanks to people who helped me around, locked my Splendor's head (which was parked in front of the hospital) and walked into the hospital for first-aid. Made an SOS to my friend from my Mobile and he arrived within 45 mins from Guindy. He was really angry that the car-guy has "Hit" and "Run". To our bad-fortune, I had misplaced the Bus-Ticket on which the Car's registration number.

However cautious we are, road accidents do happen! Fortunately, no stitches were required and nothing fatal happened! I recovered in a couple of weeks and the first next thing was to buy a helmet before touching the repaired bike again (My Learning: Better Late Than Never).
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