Be Careful Out There

[hemibee]

I just wanted to remind everyone to be careful while riding. We have had one fatality and one serious injury over the past two days within a few miles of my house.

The first one was a fatality on a popular road for area riders. A 28 year old was killed when his Honda sport bike left the road while trying to catch up with the group he was riding with. The bike hit a tree after it ejected him, he hit a highway sign sheering it off at ground level killing him on impact. His father saw the crash in his mirror. The father is an orthopedic surgeon and did all he could to revive his son but his efforts were unsuccessful. Father and son were from out of state and in the area for spring break. The rider's experience experience level unknown at this time.

The second was yesterday around 5:00 pm, new rider on a new bike he had just purchased. Witnesses, fellow riders, said it appeared the rider was taking a turn when he tried to steer it around the curve instead of leaning onto the turn. He then high sided and was thrown into the end of a crash barrier crushing his chest. He was riding a Yamaha sport bike.

New riders are hitting the streets (no pun intended) and could be riding above their skill level. This lack of experience could be dangerous to both them and other riders they may be riding with or others they are meeting on the roads.

In some areas riders that haven't been riding since last fall are out on the roads again and haven't shaken off the rust from their riding skills yet. Worse yet they haven't serviced the bikes and could be riding ticking time bombs.

KEEP YOUR EYES OPEN!!!




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[DaveM]

This is a huge problem with young guys getting these super bikes and trying to ride then beyond their limits. Always sad to hear of a rider down but people need to start realizing what they are doing and that you cannot go from nothing to one of these bikes and expect to keep up with more experienced riders

 

[Rocky]

It always saddens me to read stories like this - especially when it seems that they could have been prevented.

I just got home from our weekly Sunday breakfast gathering. It's a beautiful sunny day, but it's also -3C (27F) with a wind chill of -6C (21F). As we were leaving the restaurant a kid on a red Honda VFR went flying by. All I could think of was cold pavement and cold tires don't make a good combo.
I hope that fellow had some sense - but then maybe not. Who rides in -3C???

 

[CarlS]

Always ride your own ride. Most of us here have probably learned this lesson the hard way. When I started riding again, one of my first group excursions was with the NTBF folks in the North Carolina mountains, the Dragon. Since I had ridden very little in past eight years and definitely had not ridden twisties, I took my position near the back of the group and I rode my own ride. The next time through, I followed Keith Holt and he slowed down and paced me through the Dragon. By the end of that week I was at the rear of the well experienced and riders and setting the pace for other riders. My objective is to improve my own skills, not to keep up with the best riders out there.

 

[MaeLyneS]

I must confess that I am one of those riders that learned to ride my own ride the hard way. I was trying to keep up with with a friend of ours in some twisties with my rig and I took to the woods. Fortunately, I was not hurt and the rig was only slightly damaged. But I learned to ride my own ride at the level I am comforatble with!

 

[DaveM]

Good for you it is the only way to ride

 

[CarlS]

I was following her and she certainly scared me. It was a right hand curve and she ran off the road on the left side. Thankfully there was no oncoming traffic.

 

[DaveM]

Yes I remember you telling us about it

 

[hemibee]

I was following her and she certainly scared me. It was a right hand curve and she ran off the road on the left side. Thankfully there was no oncoming traffic.

Dang that would have been scary to see.


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[CarlS]

It certainly scared me!! I knew what was going to happen. I knew she was too fast for that curve with a rig and her experience level. And the worst of my fears were realized. I have since taken her rig on that same road and I can make the turn at her speed - after I practiced a couple of times. She had never been on that road before. If I had been ahead of her instead of behind her, I would have slowed down to a speed I knew she could handle. However, she was not hurt and there was limited damage to the rig, a bent axle where the car hit a culvert. A machine shop took care of that. And she learned an important lesson.