WOW Damn the bad luck

[Reb]

Crazy Idiot+Motorcycle=Crash	powered by Aeva

[..]

That's a classic. Makes me smile every time I see it.

Because we all make mistakes at some point. Here's my first one.

BSA C15
249 cc.
Single cylinder, chain drive. First motorcycle ridden at the age of 13. Belonged to a Sixth Former (Senior) at boarding school. How he persuaded the authorities to let him have the bike on premises I don’t know. An older fellow student, Charlie, once tried to attack me with a brick whilst I was riding on the driveway towards the paddock. I let go of the clutch by mistake, did a wheelie and nearly flattened him. He left me alone after that not realizing that I had reared up by mistake.

[highcountry]

I have seen that before and don't know whether to laugh or cry.

[f6john]

     I've seen it before too, at least he never made out into traffic where even more people would have been in danger.

[Jess from VA]

Also seen it before.  Funny as hell... in the Three Stooges, personal injury sort of way.  (you hold the nail and I'll swing the sledge hammer)

I like how he actually moves the car sideways. 

[KW]

Will it be politically incorrect if I say; “What a retard!”  

[solo1]

He was simply looking where he was going, and the bike followed him.

Probably never took any kind of a course.  Glad it happened in a parking lot.

[czuch]

Somehow I dont think he has never ridden before. I think it just got away from him.
That happened to me one fine sunday. We were going on a ride and the 750 honda I owned at the time was given a little to much throttle on the way outta the driveway. I bounced off my car and figured everything was OK. The car moved a little and the bike was ok so off we went.
 My friends were amazed and saw it all. They also couldnt stop laughing.
I mean heck, $100 car,$100 bike, all mine whats the problem? I wasnt hurt and we had a great time.

[Chrisj CMA]

Yeah, I refrained from answering immediately......I would have said something worth erasing.  This was not bad luck.  This was a classic case of someone with more dollars than sense.  As was said...probably very little or no riding experience. 

[Jess from VA]

You can see him showing off for the camera, gunning the throttle, and he is in immediate trouble, so he guns it again..... right into the car.

All blow and no show. 

[KW]

Ok. . . . in all honesty, the same thing happened to me once also. I was 8 years old and the governer stuck on my 5hp mini-bkie. I crash the stinking thing into the garage wall.

[bigguy]

Somehow I dont think he has never ridden before. I think it just got away from him.
That happened to me one fine sunday. We were going on a ride and the 750 honda I owned at the time was given a little to much throttle on the way outta the driveway. I bounced off my car and figured everything was OK. The car moved a little and the bike was ok so off we went.
 My friends were amazed and saw it all. They also couldnt stop laughing.
I mean heck, $100 car,$100 bike, all mine whats the problem? I wasnt hurt and we had a great time.

Similar experience here. Truth be told, I know exactly when and what I did to start the ball rolling and will take responsibility for a poor decision, but I wouldn't characterize it as shear stupidity. It was an incorrect analysis of my capabilities, and the danger inherent in the maneuver I was attempting.
I was on my Victory 92TC Deluxe at the time. I was riding two up on this heavy, and top heavy bike. We had gassed up and were about to pull out of the service station. There were two ways out, with exits at opposite ends. The leader of the pack took the one behind me. This is the point where I should have had the wife dismount and duck walked the monster around. Instead I watch the nimble Valkyries easily loop around 180° and decided that I probably could too.
As I began the turn, the bike started to lean. I let off the clutch some to stand it back up, but the engine lugged for a second. Things started to happen very fast here, but I'm certain that I opened the throttle to get RPMs back up because the bike was really leaning now and threatening to go down. The engine caught, over revved, and stood the bike up completely, straightening the turn. It also threw me back some altering my grip on the bars and completely changing the dynamic between me and the bike. I've now turned 90°, the gas pumps are 10 feet straight in front of me, and the bike is moving too fast to make the turn. In that strange instant when time almost seems to stop, and ideas seem to come at lighting speed, I decided to try for the gap between the pump islands. I even remember noting that there was no traffic on the other side of the pumps.
While my mind was furiously working out escape routes and identifying potential obstacles, it completely miss the salient point that I was leaning back with such an awkward grip on the bars that I had very little control of the motorcycle. Whats more, as my hand was pulled back it had rolled on the throttle and I was actually accelerating toward the pumps. As the distance between me and the barrier decreased I began to realize that the machine simply was not going where I wanted it to. I was now too close and moving too fast for the gap between the island to be a viable option. At this point, my brain really did seem to be operating on two levels. Almost like two pilots in a cockpit. As one part was analyzing the new situational data, another part was thinking, "My God! I've GOT to get off the throttle."
These two mental operations reached a consensus on the best course remaining. I can't stop before I get there, even dumping the bike. I'm too close and moving too fast. If I continue to try for the gap, it means going left. There is still momentum from the bike righting itself leaning it to the right. Trying to go left means fighting that momentum and getting the bike leaning the other way. Failure to make the turn will result in, either a head-on into the pump, or a high-side lay down going  between them.
Going right requires a harder turn, but I've got the bikes momentum working with me. It is still in the process of a longitudinal rotation that leans it to the right. The point of failure here will be the tires losing grip. I remember noting the debris on the blacktop including pea gravel from the asphalt, and thinking, "The tires will never stick." But the aftermath of failing this turn is a low-side into the concrete pad of the pump island.
Let me be clear here that at no point did I decide to "Lay it down." But I did make the decision on which way to turn based on the probable aftermath of the turn's failure. I decided to go left.
It was, of course, inevitable that the tires lost grip and we went down. The bike rolled my right leg twisting my knee before striking the concrete pad, tires first. It felt to me that the impact must have carries roughly the same energy as the asteroid impact that created Meteor Crater in Arizona. The truth was, fortunately, less spectacular. I must have gone down at almost the moment of impact, because there was very little damage to the engine and bag guards on the bike. You had to look very close to see any scratches. If fact, the bike showed almost no damage at all.
Everybody in three counties was suddenly there showing concern and trying to see if I was alright or if they could help. These wonderful people were all very sincere, but I think I would have preferred death to the embarrassment.
I got off lucky. The wife and the bike were both undamaged. I had a sprained knee, and began shaking so violently that I couldn't hold a cup of coffee. Eventually I calmed down and we were able to get home, a MUCH wiser rider.
I'm not so quick to laugh at Youtube video of motorcycle wrecks now.

[Jess from VA]

I'm not so quick to laugh at Youtube video of motorcycle wrecks now.

Wow, what a story. 

Mine goes like this:  I turned into a pea-gravel driveway and dumped my bike (CB750 over 30 years ago).  No damage to me or the bike.

In your story, did you leave off the part where the wife was not amused and smacked you upside the head...... once she knew you were not hurt?   

[bigguy]

In your story, did you leave off the part where the wife was not amused and smacked you upside the head...... once she knew you were not hurt?   

Ha! You'd have though it would go that way. But the adrenaline had me shaking so bad it scared her. I'm not proud of it, but usually a situation like this will elicit a prodigious string of profanity from me.  Sharon said that when I got up and said only, "I think I've messed up my bike," it scared her. Then when the shakes hit me, she was too worried to let me have it.