[ecenandu]

Originally Posted by ecenandu

Met with a small accident on my bike this Sunday morning. Low sided my bike on the Kathipara bridge. For some reason, for a moment I took my eyes of the road and was pondering on some thing, then I leaned in to the curve, all of a sudden I lost my front and was a passenger after that. The moment the bike crashed on the road, it got switched off. It is a safety feature, I think most fuel injected bikes have. I let go the bike, it started sliding towards the barrier but stopped just inches before it.

I don't know why I didn't share what happened after the accident before.

Here is what happened afterwards.

Right after I took the tumble, I remember saying to myself 'This isn't happening'. But there was I, with bike on the ground and myself few feet apart.

I got up, my gopro gear was all over the road. I really wished I was filming during the crash. At least then I would have able to find what did I do wrong.
Luckily the traffic was sparse and no vehicles were following me before the crash. I took the gopro gear from the road and went towards the bike to assess the damage.

The first thing I did was to check whether the engine is still running or not. It was not, I pressed the engine kill switch. I knew it was not wise to lift the bike my self. So I waited, few minutes later a share auto went past me. The driver was looking at me, like 'do you need help'. I nodded at him, he stopped the auto and all the passengers came rushing towards me for help.

Auto driver : Do you want help to lift the bike.
Me : Yes, Anna.
Auto driver : *Tries to lift the bike himself* Damn, this thing is heavy.

Few passengers helped him to lift the bike.

Me : Thanks, Anna.
Auto driver : Need any help? Are you okay?
Me : I'm good, luckily I was wearing the jacket so I was lucky to escape with few bruises.

Shows him the tear in the jacket. He shook his head in agreement and left the scene. I really appreciate the enthusiasm shown by them.

I went back to the bike, now I can assess the damage done due to the fall.
Fairing, hmm, seems like it has few scratches, nothing serious. Tried to shake it, yes it is shaking madly. Took a closer look, ah there, I can see the one mount is broken. Clutch lever, yes, has taken some beating.

What about the gear lever, damn, where is it. It has completely bend, the rubber beading has gone.

Can I shift the gear? Hmm, yes, it is possible but not easy.

I don't why after few minutes I started feeling dizzy. So I sat down on the road.
I could see almost all the drivers looking at the bike and my self. The bike was facing the traffic, you can see that in the picture I posted in the other thread.

Most of the drivers were shaking their head after seeing my situation. If i could read their mind, I think it would be something like this.
'This is what you deserve, if you ride like mad'.

I thought it would be nice to have some water. So I asked few drivers for water by hand gesture. Few of them shook their head and others didn't bother.

Then all of a sudden a empty MTC bus, most probably going to the depot stopped in front of me. The driver and the cleaner came down to help me. They gave me water to drink as well. The driver went and took the first aid box, he washed my wounds on my leg. Seeing the wound, he told me its better to go to the hospital and get it checked as it was bit deep and there is risk for infection.

I thanked them profusely. I went slowly to the nearest hospital and dressed my wound. Went home and updated my situation to my friends and to my mom. Few friends came home and we took the bike to the nearest workshop to temporarily fix the gear lever.

The following day, the actual pain kicked in. There was a small swelling near my elbow as well. I found it difficult to stand for long time at a stretch. The wound took a long time to heal than I thought. Still have the scar there on my knee.

Of all the people whom passed by the accident, it was the auto guy and MTC bus driver who stopped and helped me. Then I thought to myself, if I get a chance to help someone, I will definitely do so.

*Few months later*

During my usual ride around Chennai, near one traffic signal I found a driver pushing his Scorpio. I was wondering what happened to the Scorpio. There was passengers inside the Scorpio. As usual all the cars around where blazing their horn. The passengers seemed bit panicky. Luckily the traffic signal was red. I thought I could lend some help as no one was helping the poor fellow.

But my bike was on the right most lane. I parked it near the metro pillar, near the divider. I parked, so that it will cause little hindrance to the traffic. Went near the Scorpio and asked whether they need any help. I asked the driver to jump back in the driving seat so that he can steer the car properly. Before he was standing outside and steering the vehicle through the window.

Seeing me pushing the car by myself, a fellow rickshaw puller joined me. We both successfully pushed the car to side of the road. When I peeped in to the instrument cluster, I could see the fuel meter was at E. I told the same to the driver and showed him how to pump air out from the fuel line. But he already knew that, they thanked me and I left the scene.

Waited for the signal to turn red, crossed the road to get back to my bike.
Surprise, two police officers were waiting for me there. Explained the situation to them. They asked me to leave immediately. Left there with a grin on my face..

[shady_lawyer]

Mighty Joe Young dragging along Godzilla for an afternoon about town (sorry for the crappy pic, but i was a passenger in a fairly fast moving car).

[aviorp]

The following video was captured this afternoon, approx. 2PM, near Town Hall. Driver of the swift makes way for the ambulance by moving to the extreme right and in the next signal, I noticed the 'got bhp' sticker. Well done mate

https://youtu.be/3A40FEQsBvo

Now, if you havent noticed the Innova, watch the video again. Surely one of those real state moron.

[FuelInjector]

Wanted to share an incident that happened to me yesterday. Its also a note for all 2 wheeler riders.
My daily trip these days is 17kms one way. Takes me through fields and hilly terrain.
on my way back while i was passing a sugarcane field, all of a sudden the road was dark brown in front of me. Trust me - it was "all of a sudden". i had an encounter with a swarm of bees and locusts (i think as they were not stinging but just ramming onto my helmet visor) flying across the road. They were flying around 6ft - 10ft above the road and covered a transverse distance of ~40 ft. I was riding at ~50kmph. if i was in my car, i would not have experienced this.
What saved me:
1. My helmet with VISOR.
2. My balaclava that runs down my neck till the slit of the jacket.
3. My jacket - took most of the stings.
4. my riding gloves that cover till my wrist and sealed by the jackets cuffs.

As the swarms was above my torso, nothing stinging below the belt.

Lesson to all riders:
1. please do wear your helmet when riding.
2. try getting a good jacket if possible (if i was wearing a cotton shirt i must have had few sting on my arm for sure)
3. Do try getting a pair of gloves. i now realize that the fingers are easily on of the most important parts while riding (engaging the clutch, electric switches, horn, brake lever etc.) please do take care of your fingers.

Stopped 100 mts away to remove carcasses of insects from my gear. Said a silent prayer for the dead ones and rode on.

[DragonHawk]

This happened to me couple of weeks back and mom was in the co-passenger seat. I was on my way back to hometown via shiradi ghat and I was overtaking a lorry in an open stretch with a standstill mini truck off the road in the opposite side. With no incoming vehicle it should have been a clean maneuver. But to my utter shock, the driver of mini truck which was standstill thought its time to hit the road and without even checking for incoming vehicle, this guy almost occupied 3/4th of my side. Luckily for me there was enough gap to complete the overtaking but overall scene was enough to shift my mom to panic mode and out of fear she was holding the handbrake lever. That day I felt the importance of the button present in the handbrake lever, which one need to press inorder to pull the handbrake and without which I can`t imagine my situation at that point of time.

[mallumowgli]

Originally Posted by DragonHawk

That day I felt the importance of the button present in the handbrake lever, which one need to press inorder to pull the handbrake and without which I can`t imagine my situation at that point of time.

The button is needed only for releasing the handbrake. You can pull up the handbrake without the button. You were very lucky!!

[DragonHawk]

Originally Posted by mallumowgli

The button is needed only for releasing the handbrake. You can pull up the handbrake without the button. You were very lucky!!

Yes you are right, but at least in Figo pressing the button and pulling the lever will be a smooth affair unlike pulling the handbrake without the button which requires some effort to pull. To the matter of fact, I don`t want to debate if it is right or wrong because it is OT here but many including me who has learnt driving by seeing others has learnt this way of using handbrake. Now that you have mentioned I will correct it.

[mallumowgli]

Originally Posted by DragonHawk

Yes you are right, but at least in Figo pressing the button and pulling the lever will be a smooth affair unlike pulling the handbrake without the button which requires some effort to pull. To the matter of fact, I don`t want to debate if it is right or wrong because it is OT here but many including me who has learnt driving by seeing others has learnt this way of using handbrake. Now that you have mentioned I will correct it.

Pressing the button and pulling it up is the right way. But I just mentioned that it is possible to do it the 'wrong way' also

[aviorp]

This gentleman at the signal was curious about something mounted on the helmet and wanted to know its purpose. As I was explaining, this happens. Watch the guy on the white activa.

https://youtu.be/ehm5xIEghTQ

Turns at his will and has no clue what he just did, till the Auto driver indicated. Had this happened with high speed, that activa dude would have had a punctured nose.

[TheMariner]

I just came across this thread and read it from start to finish. It made me remember an incident which happened some time back.

Backdrop :
A few months after my marriage, I visited my in-laws and having nothing to do for the afternoon we (FIL and BIL) decided to go for a drive to get some fresh air. Dealing with visiting relatives and their demands can be quite tiring. My FIL was an auditor with WB Govt (now retired) and so knew quite a few local areas around and he decided to take me to see the river Hoogly from a village. I forgot now what it was named. I had some apprehension regarding the road but my FIL assured me it's a metalled road and remains quite empty.

Unfortunately, my FIL's memory was from 5 years back and the roads had deteriorated to such an extent that it could hardly be called a road. More like a never ending series of crater after crater. I was quite irritated to say the least. However, i kept calm and after about 10 kms i lost all patience. After driving at a steady 5-10km/hr i decided that my Vista can take a road like this on her stride. I pushed the car to a steady 40km/hr. Found that she can ride over bumps quite nicely now.

Back to the incident:

The roads was absolutely empty save for an OMNI which I encountered after sometime.
I thought, " WOW ! A localite, he must be knowing this roads like the back of his hand. I better follow him". However, after about an kilometer or so I saw the OMNI's puny tires were really not upto the task of the road. So at a relatively smooth section of the road, I passed him after alerting him and all. Soon I left him behind.

I was pottering along lost in my thoughts and the damage my car was sustaining when, I notice the Omni in my mirrors and surprisingly, she was trying to catch up with me.
I thought " well well. Even localites also loose their patience for this road it seems."

After some time, at a particularly bad stretch (I had slowed down to a crawl) the Omni came alongside and severed in front of me. I was like " Did he puncture his tyre or what ?"
The person down down and came to my window. I just opened it a crack to let him speak.The whole interaction was in bengali but i've translated to english.

Me: What happened brother ?

He : Why do you have both your mirrors out ? Don't you watch your Mirrors ?

Me: Huh ? What ?

He: Didn't you see me coming ?

Me: Yes! I saw you coming. I thought you're going the same way as I am.

He: How can to pass me and then go so fast ?

Me : What ? pass ? fast ? what are you saying ?

He explains.. You passed me in a "whoosh". Then when i was trying to overtake you you kept on going so fast. Do you think with your fancy cars we poor villagers can be left behind ? ( It was a Tata Indica Xeta)

Me:
(I'm at a loss for words. I look around at my passengers and they're equally shocked.)


Seeing my face the person elaborates, I saw you following me and i thought you were going to follow me for the complete stretch of the road. But No! You just zoomed ahead without giving a thought. You and your fancy cars.

Me : Did i hit you or something ? ( I was furiously trying to remember if I side swept-ed him or if he could've been hit by a loose stone on the road)

He : No ! But I could've overturned, following you so fast .

Me : (Thinking quite smartly) Sorry big brother ! I made a mistake. Next time I'll pass slowly !

He : Speechless.I think he's trying to determine if i'm making fun or i'm sincere. He tries to say something else but changes his mind and goes away.

After that I quickly overtook him and never slowed down until i reached my destination.Not to mention, We had an epic time remembering and discussing the incident.
And my FIL said don't worry we'll take a different route while returning. And I told him this is a fancy car so needs fancy roads.

[RJ411]

I had the most unforgettable experience in my life during the floods in Chennai.

Myself and my dad were travelling from Salem to Chennai by train on the evening of 1st December when it has pouring like hell in Chennai.My mom and wife who were in Chennai were constantly updating us telling that situation has gone very worse. We had planned our house warming ceremony for the next day ie on 2nd December, hence myself and my dad were carrying the stuff purchased for that.
The train which was supposed to reach chennai by 10 PM reached Central by 12 AM midnight with the tracks being completely submerged.
After reaching Central we tried all the call taxi's and none of them were available as expected. The taxi and auto stand in station was also closed as it was pouring very heavily.

We came to entrance of the station and tried to catch ny taxi/auto are available. We wanted to reach our home in Kamarajapuram,East Tambaram & none of the available drivers were ready to take us.
We were given the below options to reach our place :

1. Get a taxi/auto that can take us till Chrompet in GST road. Catch a boat there,cross to the other side and take an auto or taxi if available to reach our home.
Since Chromepet GST was flooded completely the transport was officially cut off, now Tamabaram is inaccessible from this side of GST.

2. We had one of our relative living in Ashok Nagar and we had an idea of going there for that night and get back to our home on next day morning.
Now I thank god that I have not taken that decision. They were completely flooded the next day and were able to come out of their house 4 days later.

3. Wait for the whole night in Central station and try to catch a local train to Tambaram by early morning.
But we were told that local train services were also stopped and services might not restore in morning as well.
As time went by we were enquiring several taxi's and none of them were ready for a trip to Tambaram. We were asked 1000 rupees for a drop in Chrompet which I refused straight away.
After an hour of so from no where an auto driver came and enquired us. Below is the conversation which we had (Translated in English)

Auto Driver (AD) : Where do you want to go sir ?
Me: Kamarajapuram in East Tamabaram.
AD: Okey sir. I will take you. How much you can give ?
I was pleasantly surprised that he accepted to take us.
My father: How much you want ?
AD : Ten thousand.
Me: Sorry I dont have cheque book with me (on fun note)
AD: Ha ha.. No problem sir..I will drop in your house sir then you give what ever you like sir, If not I dont want money at all.

Myself and my dad were taken aback by his confidence. We had some discussions on the route and finally it was decided as below.
Mount road-Saidapet-Velachery-Pallikaranai-KeelKattalai-Kovilambakkam-Kamarajapuram.
People who are familiar with Velachery and Pallikaranai's geography please dont ask why .

After praying to almighty we boarded the auto and we were on the move by 1:15 AM Wednesday the 2nd Dec.
We quickly reached mount road and there was not even a single soul present in there as it was raining heavily. With no further hiccups we quickly reached Saidapet bridge and noticed that water has already started flowing over the bridge.I asked the auto driver if they have opened any of the reservoirs (that feeds the Adayar river) if yes then its not safe to cross the bridge. He told no and normally they will open it during day time to avoid trouble at night.

With no other choice we crossed the bridge slowly and steadily with water entering inside the auto. After reaching the other side we stopped the auto and came out to have look. My god, I have never seen so much water in Adyar river in my life and I don't know if I will get a chance to see that again.

After crossing saidapet we reached Velachery Vijay Nagar junction to see the water levels upto 3 feet and increasing steadily. The wheels were already fully submerged but the auto driver was damn confident and waded through it comfortably without stopping and we quicky cross the Velachery railway bridge and now in front of Pallikaranai bridge.

Here the situation was very worse. Though water level was 3 feet only but the force of it was very scary. The water was gushing from right to Left to reach the Pallikaranai marsh lands. We had tried crossing the bridge and take an U turn so that we can catch the Pallikaranai-Tambaram 200ft road. But the bridge on the other side was partially submerged and so we took a small pit stop on top of the bridge to assess the situation. The clock showed 2:30 AM.The sight from that vantage point was something that I will never forget in my life. All the suburbs around were completely dark and are flooded. The only places with light were the CTS office & Kamatchi Hospital. In that silence we could here fury of nature underneath the bridge and we were shaking.

We came down the bridge and took the road underneath it so that we can make a right turn near kamatchi hospital and reach Medavakkam. By the time we reached that junction the auto gave up and got switched off.
I was scaring for the worst, but fortunately it started on the next ignition and were back in roads again. But the worst of journey was waiting for us ahead.

After crossing Kamatchi hospital we encountered 5 ft of water near the MPL Ford. The reason for that Narayanapuram lake has breached its borders and water flooded into this nearby suburb. (Marked as red cross in the image)
I asked the auto driver if both of us can go ahead,(leaving my father inside auto)inspect and if possible can comeback take the route.
He gave back a reply which stumbled me " Sir you are my passenger and I am responsible for your lives. Dont worry. I will take care ". He went ahead checked the road on foot and came back and told we cannot go further so we have to push the auto as he cannot run in 5 ft of water. Though he didn't wanted me to come out push along with him, I insisted in doing so and pushed the auto to safety ahead.

After crossing the stretch safely we planned to go further on the 200ft road and take the medavakkam connection road at a big junction further ahead (marked as black cross in the image)
But to our worse we saw a couple buses floating in that junction. When I mean floating they were really FLOATING and getting pushed in all directions by water.We could see this from the head light of lorry which stopped a couple of hundred meters from flood.

One of the buses floating there belongs to TCS I believe, which also had some passengers inside it crying for help. We were standing on this side with no way to help them and I felt tears rolling down my eyes.
We came back in the same route and took a small detour and reached my place safely at 4:00 AM in the morning. Phew..! (route shown in green)




As promised he dropped us in front of our house and we gave him 2000 which he took happily. To my shock he is from Royapuram,which is completely on the other side of Chennai and he has go through the same route again to reach his home. He asked for drinking water & we gave him a couple of 1 lt bottles and took his mobile number. Next day I was fortunately able to reach him through our landline and he safely reached his house.

This incident made me think how fragile we are in this planet and If we don't wake up now,even God cannot save us.

OT : Our suburb was completely safe with no water stagnation thanks to local authorities. With no mobile connectiviy the TataSky connection in our house was working fine and I was able to get the news of what is happening around our place.
The Ind SA test match was giving some respite,but the constant ad's that came in for the Swift Sports limited edition model & Alto K10 Urbano edition made the situation much worse . The bus stranded with passengers was rescued by fire fighters next day.The house warming planned on wednesday was postponed to Sunday 6th and was completed successfully.

[poised2drive]

Originally Posted by RJ411

I had the most unforgettable experience in my life during the floods in Chennai.

I am just reading and I realize I am trembling visualizing those gushing streams of Water !

Your experience is as scary as it can get

Happy to know that you guys reached safe but to speak candidly, you have taken a big Risk by venturing into that fateful night.

Its even frightening to look at that submerged Saidapet bridge but you people managed to cross it at midnight.

I agree if we mindlessly & greedily continue to trespass the Nature's boundaries, we are bound to doom and I think the reserve forest near your place acted like a buffer for the water.

Anyways, Congratulations for the new Home and thansk for sharing a first hand info !

[JonSnow]

Originally Posted by DragonHawk

Yes you are right, but at least in Figo pressing the button and pulling the lever will be a smooth affair unlike pulling the handbrake without the button which requires some effort to pull. To the matter of fact, I don`t want to debate if it is right or wrong because it is OT here but many including me who has learnt driving by seeing others has learnt this way of using handbrake. Now that you have mentioned I will correct it.

Originally Posted by mallumowgli

Pressing the button and pulling it up is the right way. But I just mentioned that it is possible to do it the 'wrong way' also

Actually, the button is supposed to be pressed only when releasing the brake. The manual specifically makes a note that "Do not press the release button when you apply the parking brake."

[motomaverick]

Here is a funny one from my side, happened today morning commute.

Story of a monkey on a bike! (no offence to fellow bikers) I am on the right lane with the right indicator about to turn right, this monkey comes on my right with his left indicator and since I did not let him go before me, he comments "Thoda signal dekh kar gaadi nahi chala saktay?" meaning "Cant you see my signal and drive" I was like

[NPV]

Last week, a friend was visiting Bangalore and wanted to visit JC Road to buy some spare parts for his Tata Safari. We decided to take the scooter as it would be easier to manage parking. I was riding pillion on the scooter and when we were on our way to JC Road, somewhere near Ulsoor lake, a person riding a Samurai motorcycle and a full face helmet comes up beside us and starts a conversation:

Him:Hi, how are you ?
Me:I'm fine, but I didn't recognise you!
Him:I'm <mumbles something that I can't hear in the traffic..and makes a gesture as if he's removing his helmet>

I was still wondering who this person is, maybe I'll recognise him when he removes the helmet so asked my friend to stop the scooter a little ahead, but the motorcyclist continues to talk

Him:How come you are in this side of town ?
Me:My friend is visiting <then I point towards my friend who is riding the scooter> and we're going towards the City Market
Him:<looks at my friend, smiles as if he recognised him, waves and zooms away!>Ok Bye, see you guys!

My friend stopped the scooter and asked who the guy was and I was as bewildered as him, we both had a good laugh and moved on

After 3 days, we're at a temple near our house and we meet a neighbour/family friend there and I tell him it's been a long time since we met and he says no, we just met a couple days ago near Ulsoor