Crash Analysis: What did you learn?

[cdc]

recap:
on a two lane blacktop passing a car under hard acceleration to get back into lane before the solid yellow line as we approach a slight hill. I crest the hill and spot the road we need to turn left onto. I am on my brakes going downhill, going faster than I should. I check the mirror to see where the car I just passed is because I may be stopping faster than he can. No car behind me. when I check the intersection, there is a patch of sand/gravel at the end of the road on the left as it meets the road I am on. I brake harder to scrub off more speed and plan to turn in earlier to miss the debri but I hit it anyway and the front end tucks and the bike goes down. It drags maybe 2-3 feet. broken mirror, turn signal and scratches on the front fairing, side fairing and carbon muffler as well as bent centerstand. Bike damage is mostly cosmetic but my left little finger is broken and my right thumb is badly bruised. 5 months later and my fingers still hurt.

what I did right:
I had on protective gear. Helmet and faceshield are lightly scratched. leather pants and jacket are slightly scrathed. padded knees saved my knee, gloves saved me from road rash but not from broken and bruised fingers :'(.

what I did wrong:
I was the lead bike on a section of road I was unfamiliar with. The passing maneuver set me up for going too fast eventually going downhill with a hard left turn coming up. I decided to take a chance and take the turn hoping to avoid the debri on the road.

how it might have bee avoided:
I should have recognized that the debri would have been impossible for me to avoid. I should have not turned the bike in and just gone past the left turn, stop down the road and turned around.

If I had not overtaken the car, I would not have been at that speed and would not have to worry about whether the car was directly behind me. I would have had enough time to spot the left turn and slowed down with enough time to turn and avoid the debri.

[ducrider45]

Was taking a slow turn on my street and hit a sheet of plastic mid turn. Front slid out and I ended up in someones front yard. I was fine and the bike hit grass. So all is well that ends well. BUT I STILL FELT LIKE A REAL JACK A$$.
Look before you leap! Just because you know the road does not mean you don't have to look!

Going back a few years going to work in the morning on a CXh***a I hit a wallaby (midget kangaroo ) while cranked into a long right hander doing probably 65 to 70 mph .
Me
Broken left wrist skin off both elbows and right knee .
Bike
Right mirror- right header pipe- right foot peg- right front and back brake levers a ding in the back wheel from one white post and a large dent in the fuel tank from the next white post both front and rear blinkers .

What I did right
Passed a car full of railway workers just before it happened so I had somebody to pick me and the bike up off the road , and I was going fast enough to kill the little sucker.

What I did wrong
Didn't heed the wake up call from the previous week when on the same road same time of day but on a different section I went through a group of about 10 of the little critters but luckerly for me none were in a suicidel mood that morning .
Should have worn the leather jacket that went with my leather pants ( may have saved my elbows ) but the leather pants lasted about two nanoseconds after hitting the black stuff .

Thoughts on how it could have been avoided
Listen to the wild life maybe but there is not much you can do when committed to a corner and a kamikarzi hopper takes the front wheel out and you have only enough time to think this is gunna hurt .
My philosophy is if you do the miles it will happen from time to time , I try to make the intervals as long as possible .

Rabbit

-Brief recap of the crash
Yesterday afternoon. I was taking my bike to a temporary storage facility to clear the garage as we where doing some epoxi paint in the garage floor. As Im leaving my street I have to make a rigth turn, I look... no cars coming... gas.... clutch... then I saw a squirrel on a tree... I stared at the tree until I realized I was heading to it... I corrected direction very abruptly, then I saw some gravel on the road... next thing I see in the bike in the floor...
-What you did right
I was wearing Leather Jacket, thick jeans, leather gloves, steel toe boots. Helmet in mandatory for the military so that one is a given.
-What you did wrong
Many things - Got fixated in an object. Where you look is where you go. I was wearing the Jacket and gloves for the first time - It saved my sking but they made me feel awkward.
-Thoughts on how it might have been avoided
Im an inexperienced rider. I have been riding for about two weeks and the monster is my first bike ever. I should have waited for the MSF before jumping in the bike. I could have just made a little correction instead of a big one and I wouldnt have fallen (or It would have been in the grass)

Recap: Driving my BMW K75s at night at 115mph. Waking up in a lot of pain.

What I did Right: Administering anesthetic before the crash so as to remain loose and break fewer bones.

What I did Wrong: Administering anesthetic before the crash.

What I could have done to avoid the crash: See above.

Brief recap of [almost] crash
Coming up a hill adjacent to a gas station I felt the back end get really loose under me. I stayed on the throttle and managed to keep the bike upright. I pulled over and stopped to slow my heart rate and realized that there was a big puddle of oil or diesel - probably someone taking used motor oil or something and spilled some on the road.

What I did right:
Managed to not panic and ride through it. Pulled over to recover my composure.

What I did wrong:
Wasn't paying enough attention to the color / consistency of the road surface ahead of me.

How it might have been avoided:
Better awareness of the road surface, particularly around areas like gas stations.

i have two recent crashes i can tell you about, so here we go.

the first is the car door story

i stop behind a long line of cars and i want to turn right. i see that the right hand turn lane is open, all i need to do is shimmy down between the cars waiting to go straight and the cars that are parallel parked on the side of the road. so i start to go down the side of the cars and here's comes the car door. BAM!!! hit the car next to her trying to squeeze between the door and the stopped car.

i guess i didn't do anything right, except wear gear.

what i did wrong is tough. i did so many things wrong. one--i though that people might actually check their mirrors before opening a car door. when the woman (who left the scene to get her dog from the groomers) came back with her dog, i didn't do my impression of the invention of the catepolte (sp?) from history of the world part 1.

obey every stupid traffic law because people are ignorant and the laws are setup to protect stupid people.

rain racing:

i forgot to tape up the inside of my visor before hitting the track. at the end of the warm up lap i had to put my visor up to find my grid spot (mistake 1). at the end of the first lap of racing, and a good run down the front straight (mistake 2) and i started to be able to clearly see a narrow and unfocussed view of summit point (aka slippery point; aka the same place i nearly highsided my fzr earlier that same day in a drizzle (we'll call this mistake 2.5). i realized that i could see the guy one position up from next-to-last place and that if i got a good run into one and a nice drive out, i could catch him by turn 5 (mistake 3). so i hit my dry brake marker and then give it a good second and hit the brakes (mistake 4). did i mention that i have r1 calipers and kit pads on my 400, but not one set of rain tires? (mistake 4.5, the r1 calipers are awesome, but no rains--still a mistake i make). anyway, i apparantly locked up the brakes, but the front was just barely weaving back and forth. then it started going harder and harder. about that time i thought, maybe the front locked up, let go of the brake lever. i let go and next thing i know i'm on the ground sliding.

so, i'm sliding along, keeping relaxed and my hands are in front of my face so that way i don't break fingers and the like. i watch my bike slide, "look at the pretty sparks," i think to myself. then i go to look at the sky, because when you crash at the end of the front straight at summit, you have lots of time to think about things. funny, the sky isn't in front of me... instead, i'm face down and sliding on my elbows and knees. now, no matter what racedaydennis4r tells you, i don't spend a lot of time on my hands and knees.

so i think, "i should probably roll onto my back." (mistake 5) so i "roll" onto my back. actually, i more barrel-rolled down the front straight. i did tense up for a second (mistake 6), but the first impact with the ground taught me to loosen up (it hurts when your stiff). i also learned that with enough force, you probably could give yourself oral-pleasure, but i don't think it would be worth it. (mistake 7)

what i did right--i stayed relaxed most of the crash. worked the next day.

what i did wrong--tried to make up too much time on the brakes in the rain. if i was really faster, i had a lot more time to catch up. oh yeah, didn't figure out a more friendly way to get my crotch into my face.

how to avoid, don't race and never have fun.

[pitbullspit]

How it went:
A few years ago I entered a tightening-radius right-turn two weeks after I got my 01' M600D Well I entered the turn too fast, floated to the outside of the lane which still had a nice bit of sand/gravel from the winter. Bike went down on the right-side going about 15m.p.h. both tires butt up against the curb.

What I did right:
The only thing I did right was wear my helmet and gloves. My right knee hit down but not much damage there. My helmet touched down just enough to give it a tiny scuff on the right side, but my right-hand ring-finger must have gotten caught underneath. (Ultimately fingernail fell off.) One more thing I did right was take the MSF beginners course, I highly recommend it for beginners. I plan to take the advanced course soon.

What I did wrong:
I panicked, let off the throttle to slow down some I thought. Didn't apply breaks.

How I could have avoided:
I could have saved myself from going down if I had recalled the counter-steering lesson MSF teaches you. I could have simply pushed a little harder on the right-side. Also I wasn't wearing proper boots, pants or jacket and proper safety gear is the best way to save your skin.

Hey, I have all the gear with exception of leather pants. Should I not go out without wearing them?

[mmoore]

Hey, I have all the gear with exception of leather pants. Should I not go out without wearing them?

That's a personal decision, but if you read the posts in this thread so far you'll notice a trend...