Crashes

[Gweiloman]

Was just watching some YouTube videos of bike crashes and it seems to me that most of them were actually due to rider error / judgement and therefore avoidable.

Have any of you been involved in or witnessed any accidents first hand? If so, in retrospect, were they avoidable?

I have had a few falls, totally my own fault - once, taking a U turn a lot quicker than my little PCX tyres were happy with, another time squeezing the front brake a bit too hard in a garage. At the same time, I've managed to avoid quite a few crashes thanks to defensive riding, being able to anticipate the idiotic actions of some other motorist. One time, I even managed to predict that a dog was going to run out in front of me and I actually slowed down sufficiently that when it did run out on the road, I was far back enough to just throttle down without needing to touch the brake. A chicken unfortunately suffered a different fate - Versys vs chicken, chicken loses.

Feel free to share your stories of crashes and near misses so that we can all learn from it.

Cheers!

[dave_boo]

The times I've gone down have been solely my fault. Always slow speed around a corner and not trusting the bike. Never allow myself to get in a situation on the highway that would put me in a place that would endanger me.

[eisfeld]

Breaking distances can be surprisingly long with the bad asphalt on thai roads. I had some near crashes because of this even though I knew some car would pull out from the side from the road from quite some distance but breaking hard with less than optimal tires on a less than optimal road with a pillion behind still doesn't do all too much.

Best ist to try to drive around the object than to try breaking before it.

That said I have never dropped or really crashed my bike. I did get a 2 touchups with cars and one with a bike. They were always though at slower speeds in tight traffic.

The two times with cars, the car was suddenly stopping abruptly and the one time with a motorbike, I was coming between stopped cars waiting at a traffic light to switch the lane when another falang came too fast on the side of the road to see me even though I was doing walking speed.

I also nearly low-sided once because of sand in a corner that I didn't see coming into it. I hate this stuff.

I don't enjoy driving at high speeds (say above 150km/h), I went up to 180 two times and it's more frightening than enjoyable to me. Not the kinda "kick" I seek.

Most accidents in the area where I live are because of motorbikes or cars trying to cross the road with traffic on both sides because shops are set up on the side of the road and cars park right on the street blocking one or sometimes even two lanes! Traffic law enforcement is nonexistant. But at least they're starting to build small dividers between both directions so you cannot cross anywhere you want.

[Gweiloman]

I remember a near miss once, on a decreasing radius turn. Gravel in front, guard barrier beyond that. Luckily for me, for some funny reason, Keith Code's words on target fixation flashed in my mind and I was able to countersteer aggressively through the turn, though not without some front end wobbles and heart in throat. I had to pull over to calm down after.

On another occasion, my pillion put her feet down because she thought we were going to low side. I had to remind her that the bike (and tyres) are twice as capable as most riders.

Trust in the equipment (excepting rubbish OEM tyres of course). Nine times out of ten, our own limits are reached way before the equipment gives way. Best way to get used to this is on the track.

[wantan]

^

- Twist of the Wrist video

- countersteering

- track days

I knew it wouldnt take long and we will recieve a free lesson from one of our track racing evangelists. Such nice people, always willing to share their wisdom. Or maybe they repeat it endlessly to not forget it?

Once a Airblade scooter crashed in my back while i was going walking speed with my Tiger Boxer. Guess the Airblade had a speed of 50-60kmh. The moment i flew through the air, over the two bikes, i thought my end had come, or at least i will never walk again. Then i got up from the street and couldnt believe i not even had a scratch. Front of the Airblade was pretty much messed up. Tiger needed a new swingarm, rear shocks and some other things. I was very lucky that the scooter wasnt exactly in one line with my bike, but maybe 30cm to the left of center line.

Could this be avoided? Of course, never go walking speed on the side lane and if stopping try to get completely away from the street. Since this day i rarely stop at red lights. If i do i try to hide in front of cars

[bramds]

My last crash was totally unavoidable.

Pick-up came from around a corner in my lane, probably doing 70 and I was doing about the same.

Never thought I would see the top of a pick-up from that perspective.

Don't know if it is worth mentioning, but the driver was female.

[moe666]

Last year I hit a very deep rut in Highway outside of Uthai Thani. I was moving from the right lane to the left at a red light, when I spotted the rut I knew I was going down, it was about 8indeep from the trucks stopping at the light. Hit my shoulder, knees, left elbow. Helmet and riding jacket and pants kept the damage to a min.. Avoidable defiantly.

[apetley]

My last crash was caused by some unfashionable jeans, the hem of which got caught up around the left footpeg as I came to a halt causing a fall. Fortunately damage was limited to pride only.

[yankee99]

Trying to remember all my crashes i had 2 on dirt one resulting in a broken ankle and one a broken foot. My belief they were caused by lack of skill and being physically unfit.

Two on the street one where a car just pulled in front of me not my fault. And one driving in snow 100% my fault.

Two lowsides on the track. Still not sure the cause but i think my suspension was frucked up!

[Gweiloman]

My last crash was caused by some unfashionable jeans, the hem of which got caught up around the left footpeg as I came to a halt causing a fall. Fortunately damage was limited to pride only.

That's why I turn up the jeans on the inside nowadays 5555. This way, they don't catch on the footpegs.

[Gweiloman]

^

- Twist of the Wrist video

- countersteering

- track days

I knew it wouldnt take long and we will recieve a free lesson from one of our track racing evangelists. Such nice people, always willing to share their wisdom. Or maybe they repeat it endlessly to not forget it?

Once a Airblade scooter crashed in my back while i was going walking speed with my Tiger Boxer. Guess the Airblade had a speed of 50-60kmh. The moment i flew through the air, over the two bikes, i thought my end had come, or at least i will never walk again. Then i got up from the street and couldnt believe i not even had a scratch. Front of the Airblade was pretty much messed up. Tiger needed a new swingarm, rear shocks and some other things. I was very lucky that the scooter wasnt exactly in one line with my bike, but maybe 30cm to the left of center line.

Could this be avoided? Of course, never go walking speed on the side lane and if stopping try to get completely away from the street. Since this day i rarely stop at red lights. If i do i try to hide in front of cars

You really need help wantan. You need someone to have a look at that chip on your shoulder.

This is a biking forum, for like minded people to share thoughts, opinions, jokes, comments, experiences etc etc. Safety is paramount in riding and lessons learnt bear repeating till the day we die, hopefully not on a bike. Dave mentioned about not trusting the bike - how else and where else can and should someone go to learn more about a bike capabilities or even about riding in general? On the public roads?

Experts all over the world recommend track days for riders of all levels, not for racing but to learn and experiment in a safe environment. You can go to a school to learn something, but you will need to practice it in order to master it. You never know - it could be the one thing that might save your life. Just look at YouTube and you will see that a lot of the crashes could have been avoided if the rider was a little bit more skilled or had learnt a little bit more about how to ride safely.

[seedy]

Ides of March 1972. Kawasaki H1. Sweeping LH corner, riding 2-up.

Rear tire blew. I stood the bike up, crashed thru some trees, and down a cliff about 70 feet.

Broke left leg in 3 places, split my fibreglass helmet right down the middle from forehead to neck.

Cast from my waist to the tips of my toes for 6 months, and from below the knee to my toes for 3 more.

Speedo stopped at 75 mph.

[Gweiloman]

Ides of March 1972. Kawasaki H1. Sweeping LH corner, riding 2-up.

Rear tire blew. I stood the bike up, crashed thru some trees, and down a cliff about 70 feet.

Broke left leg in 3 places, split my fibreglass helmet right down the middle from forehead to neck.

Cast from my waist to the tips of my toes for 6 months, and from below the knee to my toes for 3 more.

Speedo stopped at 75 mph.

Blimey. That must have been a heart stopping moment.

How did the pillion fare?

[ttakata]

I have had countless crashes pocketbike racing and off road adventuring due to tires slipping and rebounds throwing me off the bike.

Lamest drop was in a parking garage when my front tire slipped out under me because it slid on a tiny piece of paper or maybe it was a spot of oil.

[SumetCycle]

Both of my crashes have been on small bikes. I think I get a false sense of security on them and get a bit cocky. Once on an Airblade and another time on an MSX. I don't think I could have avoided the Airblade crash. I was riding along when all of a sudden the handlebars started shaking violently. I didn't think tank slap could happen on small bikes, but I guess it can. It was night time in the middle of nowhere and my mobile was dead. I had to ride home with a torn ligament in my ankle. Every part of my body ached. It was a long, slow and painful ride home. A bit of protective gear and a charged mobile would have mitigated things significantly. The MSX crash was totally my fault. I was zooming in and out of traffic like a dek wan, hit a patch of oil, and low sided it. I bruised and tore muscles in my shoulder and chest. I couldn't lay flat for a week and had to sleep in a reclining chair. Again, if I had been geared up, I would have been much better off. AGATT now, regardless of the bike's size.

[wantan]

^

- Twist of the Wrist video

- countersteering

- track days

I knew it wouldnt take long and we will recieve a free lesson from one of our track racing evangelists. Such nice people, always willing to share their wisdom. Or maybe they repeat it endlessly to not forget it?

Once a Airblade scooter crashed in my back while i was going walking speed with my Tiger Boxer. Guess the Airblade had a speed of 50-60kmh. The moment i flew through the air, over the two bikes, i thought my end had come, or at least i will never walk again. Then i got up from the street and couldnt believe i not even had a scratch. Front of the Airblade was pretty much messed up. Tiger needed a new swingarm, rear shocks and some other things. I was very lucky that the scooter wasnt exactly in one line with my bike, but maybe 30cm to the left of center line.

Could this be avoided? Of course, never go walking speed on the side lane and if stopping try to get completely away from the street. Since this day i rarely stop at red lights. If i do i try to hide in front of cars

You really need help wantan. You need someone to have a look at that chip on your shoulder.

This is a biking forum, for like minded people to share thoughts, opinions, jokes, comments, experiences etc etc. Safety is paramount in riding and lessons learnt bear repeating till the day we die, hopefully not on a bike. Dave mentioned about not trusting the bike - how else and where else can and should someone go to learn more about a bike capabilities or even about riding in general? On the public roads?

Experts all over the world recommend track days for riders of all levels, not for racing but to learn and experiment in a safe environment. You can go to a school to learn something, but you will need to practice it in order to master it. You never know - it could be the one thing that might save your life. Just look at YouTube and you will see that a lot of the crashes could have been avoided if the rider was a little bit more skilled or had learnt a little bit more about how to ride safely.

In the moment i pushed the "add reply" button i knew it was a mistake. You track racing evangelists really are not able to take a bit fun.

> Experts all over the world recommend track days for riders of all levels, not for racing but to learn and experiment in a safe environment.

Such nonsense. Real safety experts recommend joining riding schools, not track days. If you read the reports of the track days here in Thailand you read about a lot of accidents, even bad ones. No safety at all.

You remind me of jehovas witnesses, always knocking at my door and trying to convince me i am doing it wrong and should join them. But i am pretty happy riding my bike at resonable speeds without pushing it to the limit. If i am not sure about the corner in front of me i just slow down. Never had a problem with this, because there is no ego involved that has to be pushed. Million riders in this world ride lots of safe miles without ever having done track days.

Real safety training on the track - absolutely recommended

Track days in Thailand - from what i saw in most of the videos here very dangerous because lots of wannabe racers there trying to push it to the limit

Gweiloman, you want to tell me all visitors of track days are doing it to improve their safety? Most do it to learn to go around corners as fast as possible. Thats the purpose of a race track. And thats 100% opposing to increasing safety on public streets imo. But you can have a different oppinion of course. Thats what a forum is for, to share oppinions.

Even you dont join the "races" at the end of track days because they can be dangerous. But these races are part of the track day. So how can a track day be a safe environment?

[lust]

When I had my cbr400 I was making a uturn at night and didnt notice that there must have been a car sitting in the same spot leaking oil. I was only going around 20km/h but my back tire slid out and luckily the car behind me stopped in time before running me over. I just had some cuts and bruising. Mostly to my ego.

The 2nd time I was riding and some lady on her scooter was riding beside me and tried to make a right turn. I don't know what she was thinking but she sideswiped me. Neither of us fell but I was like <deleted> lol.

The 3rd time I was riding my vfr400 and riding behind a car and a taxi bike. The car was going too slow so I went to pass the car and the taxi bike but the bike decided to make a right turn with no signal. My rear peg caught his bike and his slid on the ground while mine was fine.

[ll2]

my last crash was on my old carbed honda cbr150 looong time ago losing the front end magically on a very slippery road due a <deleted>...king car driven by a shaky new female driver that decided to take my lane suddenly under hard rain without any notice.

Luckily it was a 50 kph crash so no problems apart from some scratches.

can i prevent it? maybe if my bike was in good condition - it was old, old tires, front fork spring sucks so very less mechanical grip etc -

but front end in motorcycling is a mystery still. even for motogp racers. sometime you lose the front end with a slight touch to brakes and sometime same place same road same brake pressure or more but nothing happens.

[wantan]

Last year I hit a very deep rut in Highway outside of Uthai Thani. I was moving from the right lane to the left at a red light, when I spotted the rut I knew I was going down, it was about 8indeep from the trucks stopping at the light. Hit my shoulder, knees, left elbow. Helmet and riding jacket and pants kept the damage to a min.. Avoidable defiantly.

The tarmac an the left lanes in front of red lights on the highway is definitely something to be aware of. Slow down if you see a red light or stay on the right lane if possible without danger.

[H1w4yR1da]

i was going walking speed with my Tiger Boxer.

You were on a Nouvo on the other thread and here it's a Tiger Boxer. Now I understand why you hate big bikes.

[wantan]

i was going walking speed with my Tiger Boxer.

You were on a Nouvo on the other thread and here it's a Tiger Boxer. Now I understand why you hate big bikes.

You were trolling on the other threads so i am not suprised you troll here too. Of course you never had the slightest accident as you are a real superbike hero?

My Tiger Boxer 250 RS was a nice bike, only downside was it was made by Tiger

Here some pictures of the accident. Looks like minor damage, but was a real scaring impact from behind, without any warning, as i didnt look at the mirror of course and my Tigers exhaust was pretty loud. The guy standing in front of the Tiger was the riding the Airblade. His plastic bucket helmet was thrown 10m down into the klong, as he did not close the straps. And he lost some teeths and had some bruises. My only injury was big pain at the tailbone after a while. But i didnt notice it that day. My tailbone still hurts after 3 years if i sit for long or have a long ride.

[ATF]

My tailbone still hurts after 3 years if i sit for long or have a long ride.

So you still have a busted ass?

[wantan]

My tailbone still hurts after 3 years if i sit for long or have a long ride.

So you still have a busted ass?

Not sure what you mean.

In case it is a serious question: Guess it was a bad tailbone contusion or bruised tailbone. No suprise as i was thrown up in the air in a slit second at the impact. Like a bucking horse, but much faster.

[Ridercnx808]

Just saw an accident today at the Doi Suthep biker meeting point.

Yamaha Spark comes flying downhill in the wrong lane while an oncoming van surprises him, skinny tires lose grip and the guy tumbles, roll, skips and slides right into the ditch.

I kept waiting for him to stop tumbling, but he just kept going and going and going.

Worst part was he wrecked in front of about 20 people, every single person saw it unfold, it was like watching an action movie. Beginning to end was about 100+ feet. Strawberry patch totally covered both arms, atleast he had jeans on (didnt rip)

[Gweiloman]

^

- Twist of the Wrist video

- countersteering

- track days

I knew it wouldnt take long and we will recieve a free lesson from one of our track racing evangelists. Such nice people, always willing to share their wisdom. Or maybe they repeat it endlessly to not forget it?

Once a Airblade scooter crashed in my back while i was going walking speed with my Tiger Boxer. Guess the Airblade had a speed of 50-60kmh. The moment i flew through the air, over the two bikes, i thought my end had come, or at least i will never walk again. Then i got up from the street and couldnt believe i not even had a scratch. Front of the Airblade was pretty much messed up. Tiger needed a new swingarm, rear shocks and some other things. I was very lucky that the scooter wasnt exactly in one line with my bike, but maybe 30cm to the left of center line.

Could this be avoided? Of course, never go walking speed on the side lane and if stopping try to get completely away from the street. Since this day i rarely stop at red lights. If i do i try to hide in front of cars

You really need help wantan. You need someone to have a look at that chip on your shoulder.

This is a biking forum, for like minded people to share thoughts, opinions, jokes, comments, experiences etc etc. Safety is paramount in riding and lessons learnt bear repeating till the day we die, hopefully not on a bike. Dave mentioned about not trusting the bike - how else and where else can and should someone go to learn more about a bike capabilities or even about riding in general? On the public roads?

Experts all over the world recommend track days for riders of all levels, not for racing but to learn and experiment in a safe environment. You can go to a school to learn something, but you will need to practice it in order to master it. You never know - it could be the one thing that might save your life. Just look at YouTube and you will see that a lot of the crashes could have been avoided if the rider was a little bit more skilled or had learnt a little bit more about how to ride safely.

In the moment i pushed the "add reply" button i knew it was a mistake. You track racing evangelists really are not able to take a bit fun.

> Experts all over the world recommend track days for riders of all levels, not for racing but to learn and experiment in a safe environment.

Such nonsense. Real safety experts recommend joining riding schools, not track days. If you read the reports of the track days here in Thailand you read about a lot of accidents, even bad ones. No safety at all.

You remind me of jehovas witnesses, always knocking at my door and trying to convince me i am doing it wrong and should join them. But i am pretty happy riding my bike at resonable speeds without pushing it to the limit. If i am not sure about the corner in front of me i just slow down. Never had a problem with this, because there is no ego involved that has to be pushed. Million riders in this world ride lots of safe miles without ever having done track days.

Real safety training on the track - absolutely recommended

Track days in Thailand - from what i saw in most of the videos here very dangerous because lots of wannabe racers there trying to push it to the limit

Gweiloman, you want to tell me all visitors of track days are doing it to improve their safety? Most do it to learn to go around corners as fast as possible. Thats the purpose of a race track. And thats 100% opposing to increasing safety on public streets imo. But you can have a different oppinion of course. Thats what a forum is for, to share oppinions.

Even you dont join the "races" at the end of track days because they can be dangerous. But these races are part of the track day. So how can a track day be a safe environment?

Really is a waste of time talking to you wantan. You've never watched a race, never attended a track day yet you claim to know all about what transpires during a session.

You are perfectly right of course. If you only ever take your bike up to 60/70 kph, you don't need to know very much about advanced riding. Millions of other riders have no idea about advanced skills and yet they are still alive. It all depends on what you want to get out of this activity. Not dissimilar to golf. Some golfers are happy to go round shooting 140 whilst some others aspire to break 90. You have clearly shown which group you belong to. Respect.

[wantan]

You really need help wantan. You need someone to have a look at that chip on your shoulder.

This is a biking forum, for like minded people to share thoughts, opinions, jokes, comments, experiences etc etc. Safety is paramount in riding and lessons learnt bear repeating till the day we die, hopefully not on a bike. Dave mentioned about not trusting the bike - how else and where else can and should someone go to learn more about a bike capabilities or even about riding in general? On the public roads?

Experts all over the world recommend track days for riders of all levels, not for racing but to learn and experiment in a safe environment. You can go to a school to learn something, but you will need to practice it in order to master it. You never know - it could be the one thing that might save your life. Just look at YouTube and you will see that a lot of the crashes could have been avoided if the rider was a little bit more skilled or had learnt a little bit more about how to ride safely.

In the moment i pushed the "add reply" button i knew it was a mistake. You track racing evangelists really are not able to take a bit fun.

> Experts all over the world recommend track days for riders of all levels, not for racing but to learn and experiment in a safe environment.

Such nonsense. Real safety experts recommend joining riding schools, not track days. If you read the reports of the track days here in Thailand you read about a lot of accidents, even bad ones. No safety at all.

You remind me of jehovas witnesses, always knocking at my door and trying to convince me i am doing it wrong and should join them. But i am pretty happy riding my bike at resonable speeds without pushing it to the limit. If i am not sure about the corner in front of me i just slow down. Never had a problem with this, because there is no ego involved that has to be pushed. Million riders in this world ride lots of safe miles without ever having done track days.

Real safety training on the track - absolutely recommended

Track days in Thailand - from what i saw in most of the videos here very dangerous because lots of wannabe racers there trying to push it to the limit

Gweiloman, you want to tell me all visitors of track days are doing it to improve their safety? Most do it to learn to go around corners as fast as possible. Thats the purpose of a race track. And thats 100% opposing to increasing safety on public streets imo. But you can have a different oppinion of course. Thats what a forum is for, to share oppinions.

Even you dont join the "races" at the end of track days because they can be dangerous. But these races are part of the track day. So how can a track day be a safe environment?

Really is a waste of time talking to you wantan. You've never watched a race, never attended a track day yet you claim to know all about what transpires during a session.

You are perfectly right of course. If you only ever take your bike up to 60/70 kph, you don't need to know very much about advanced riding. Millions of other riders have no idea about advanced skills and yet they are still alive. It all depends on what you want to get out of this activity. Not dissimilar to golf. Some golfers are happy to go round shooting 140 whilst some others aspire to break 90. You have clearly shown which group you belong to. Respect.

Yep, you are a real rider and i am not. Didnt we know this before?

[ll2]

^

- Twist of the Wrist video

- countersteering

- track days

I knew it wouldnt take long and we will recieve a free lesson from one of our track racing evangelists. Such nice people, always willing to share their wisdom. Or maybe they repeat it endlessly to not forget it?

Once a Airblade scooter crashed in my back while i was going walking speed with my Tiger Boxer. Guess the Airblade had a speed of 50-60kmh. The moment i flew through the air, over the two bikes, i thought my end had come, or at least i will never walk again. Then i got up from the street and couldnt believe i not even had a scratch. Front of the Airblade was pretty much messed up. Tiger needed a new swingarm, rear shocks and some other things. I was very lucky that the scooter wasnt exactly in one line with my bike, but maybe 30cm to the left of center line.

Could this be avoided? Of course, never go walking speed on the side lane and if stopping try to get completely away from the street. Since this day i rarely stop at red lights. If i do i try to hide in front of cars

You really need help wantan. You need someone to have a look at that chip on your shoulder.

This is a biking forum, for like minded people to share thoughts, opinions, jokes, comments, experiences etc etc. Safety is paramount in riding and lessons learnt bear repeating till the day we die, hopefully not on a bike. Dave mentioned about not trusting the bike - how else and where else can and should someone go to learn more about a bike capabilities or even about riding in general? On the public roads?

Experts all over the world recommend track days for riders of all levels, not for racing but to learn and experiment in a safe environment. You can go to a school to learn something, but you will need to practice it in order to master it. You never know - it could be the one thing that might save your life. Just look at YouTube and you will see that a lot of the crashes could have been avoided if the rider was a little bit more skilled or had learnt a little bit more about how to ride safely.

In the moment i pushed the "add reply" button i knew it was a mistake. You track racing evangelists really are not able to take a bit fun.

> Experts all over the world recommend track days for riders of all levels, not for racing but to learn and experiment in a safe environment.

Such nonsense. Real safety experts recommend joining riding schools, not track days. If you read the reports of the track days here in Thailand you read about a lot of accidents, even bad ones. No safety at all.

You remind me of jehovas witnesses, always knocking at my door and trying to convince me i am doing it wrong and should join them. But i am pretty happy riding my bike at resonable speeds without pushing it to the limit. If i am not sure about the corner in front of me i just slow down. Never had a problem with this, because there is no ego involved that has to be pushed. Million riders in this world ride lots of safe miles without ever having done track days.

Real safety training on the track - absolutely recommended

Track days in Thailand - from what i saw in most of the videos here very dangerous because lots of wannabe racers there trying to push it to the limit

Gweiloman, you want to tell me all visitors of track days are doing it to improve their safety? Most do it to learn to go around corners as fast as possible. Thats the purpose of a race track. And thats 100% opposing to increasing safety on public streets imo. But you can have a different oppinion of course. Thats what a forum is for, to share oppinions.

Even you dont join the "races" at the end of track days because they can be dangerous. But these races are part of the track day. So how can a track day be a safe environment?

Really is a waste of time talking to you wantan. You've never watched a race, never attended a track day yet you claim to know all about what transpires during a session.

You are perfectly right of course. If you only ever take your bike up to 60/70 kph, you don't need to know very much about advanced riding. Millions of other riders have no idea about advanced skills and yet they are still alive. It all depends on what you want to get out of this activity. Not dissimilar to golf. Some golfers are happy to go round shooting 140 whilst some others aspire to break 90. You have clearly shown which group you belong to. Respect.

yes, some motorsai guys at my soi are riding for 30 years and they are still alive but they just go straight back and forth soi only!

tracks are more controlled and safer than normal roads.

[seedy]

Blimey. That must have been a heart stopping moment.

How did the pillion fare?

Couple bruised ribs. He rode ME down the cliff !!!

[KamalaRider]

You really need help wantan. You need someone to have a look at that chip on your shoulder.

This is a biking forum, for like minded people to share thoughts, opinions, jokes, comments, experiences etc etc. Safety is paramount in riding and lessons learnt bear repeating till the day we die, hopefully not on a bike. Dave mentioned about not trusting the bike - how else and where else can and should someone go to learn more about a bike capabilities or even about riding in general? On the public roads?

Experts all over the world recommend track days for riders of all levels, not for racing but to learn and experiment in a safe environment. You can go to a school to learn something, but you will need to practice it in order to master it. You never know - it could be the one thing that might save your life. Just look at YouTube and you will see that a lot of the crashes could have been avoided if the rider was a little bit more skilled or had learnt a little bit more about how to ride safely.

In the moment i pushed the "add reply" button i knew it was a mistake. You track racing evangelists really are not able to take a bit fun.

> Experts all over the world recommend track days for riders of all levels, not for racing but to learn and experiment in a safe environment.

Such nonsense. Real safety experts recommend joining riding schools, not track days. If you read the reports of the track days here in Thailand you read about a lot of accidents, even bad ones. No safety at all.

You remind me of jehovas witnesses, always knocking at my door and trying to convince me i am doing it wrong and should join them. But i am pretty happy riding my bike at resonable speeds without pushing it to the limit. If i am not sure about the corner in front of me i just slow down. Never had a problem with this, because there is no ego involved that has to be pushed. Million riders in this world ride lots of safe miles without ever having done track days.

Real safety training on the track - absolutely recommended

Track days in Thailand - from what i saw in most of the videos here very dangerous because lots of wannabe racers there trying to push it to the limit

Gweiloman, you want to tell me all visitors of track days are doing it to improve their safety? Most do it to learn to go around corners as fast as possible. Thats the purpose of a race track. And thats 100% opposing to increasing safety on public streets imo. But you can have a different oppinion of course. Thats what a forum is for, to share oppinions.

Even you dont join the "races" at the end of track days because they can be dangerous. But these races are part of the track day. So how can a track day be a safe environment?

Really is a waste of time talking to you wantan. You've never watched a race, never attended a track day yet you claim to know all about what transpires during a session.

You are perfectly right of course. If you only ever take your bike up to 60/70 kph, you don't need to know very much about advanced riding. Millions of other riders have no idea about advanced skills and yet they are still alive. It all depends on what you want to get out of this activity. Not dissimilar to golf. Some golfers are happy to go round shooting 140 whilst some others aspire to break 90. You have clearly shown which group you belong to. Respect.

Yep, you are a real rider and i am not. Didnt we know this before?

Do I qualify as a real rider? 53 years old, have been driving MC since I was 10, the largest one I've had was a 1200cc, the smallest 119cc(husqvarna silverpil-silver arrow) apart from the bikes here in Thailand, 3 clicks and now a Forza.

Does it really matter?

IMO, as soon as anyone is riding a bike, he or she is a biker.

Never had a serious accident here in Thailand but the last 4 months or so, I praise my Forza as it probably have saved me from 2 or 3 crashes. My Forza have wonderful ABS brakes, that's why.

I was riding home from dropping off my daughter at school, stopped at a red light and when it turned green I was the one away first and "floored" the throttle. On my left, a Thai guy turned in to the inner lane, I was heading in the outer, He was far away from me and it is a big intersection, I was probably doing 75Kmp when they guy on my left made a sharp turn towards my lane, I hit both brakes as I didn't have anywhere else to go, cars in the opposite direction. I slammed into his motorbike but my Forza had slowed down to maybe 30 when I hit him on his left side. He was almost thrown off whilst my bike only shook a bit and surprisingly, only a small scratch on my bike while his was not straight anymore. I stopped for a second but had to floor it again when the traffic caught up with me but I got a glimpse of the guys shocked face and his damaged bike before I left. I wasn't prepared to pay for that dimwits actions.

[seedy]

Road to Pai. Rental Versys - trying one out to see if I like it enuf to buy it.

Come around the corner, heading uphill ...

Black Vigo passing silver minibus. Flashing their headlights for me to move out of the way.

Right hand side - hill, no ditch.

Left hand side - LOTS of ditch.

Slowed down as much as I could, and rode into the ditch. Just kind of rode off the pavement onto the gravel enuf to flop the bike over. Had my speed bled down to about 10-15 kph.

I came away allright, but the rad was bent and various plastics scratched. Carried on the MHS and Doi Inthanon, return CNX.

Happened so fast that all reaction was pure instinct. If I had to have thought about it, I would be a Vigo hood ornament.