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Been riding since I was 16 and I'm almost 64 now. Never anything serious. Did hit a couple of dogs along the way. Always watch the other driver and keep a lot of room to 'move around'. Seems to work for me. I've logged over 175,000 miles. Probably should quit but it's just too much fun.
1989 I was looking at a blonde in a Camaro and the guy in front of me slammed on the brakes for a light that turned yellow. I hit him at 55 mph. Broke my collar bone in 3 spots and lots of road rash.
That was my first lesson in why you need to pay attention. I almost never drive fast now and I'm super cautious. Pavement really hurts. NO accidents since then but quite a few close calls. I really pay attention now and I trust nobody.
Last edited by Totally Bored; Jul 19, 2011 at 05:45 PM.
man...how funny this topic now pops up, i have been riding for 4-5 years and was accident free up until a lil over 2 weeks ago, i was rear-ended at a stop sign, funny part is that it was a friend of mine following me. bike is still down and probably wont have it back for at least 2-3 more weeks. im just more than greatful not a scratch on me.
i thought the same,i am a very cautious rider,4th of july me and the wifey went down 15 mph on a oily wet corner,leaned into the corner nice and easy and the bike went straight into the dirt on its side,lucky for us just some road rash and scratched,,and yes,it hurts like hell when you hit the ground even at just 15 mph !!,,,i thought it would never happen to me,,,,
Been riding since I was 10 years old; on the street since around 14. I'll be turning 50 this year and have owned numerous bikes, three of them that I have put over 100K miles on. I probably have at least 500K miles in total. I learned to ride in the dirt and cannot count the number of times my bike passed by me or over my head unintentionally. But, I have never laid down a bike on the street in all these years.
Worst call I ever had was a rear blowout at 70mph at 11pm at night on the way to work on a three lane freeway just after passing a pile of cars and trucks. Bike was in all three lanes plus the two emergency lanes until I got it slowed down enough to get it in the median and lock 'em up. The rest of the close calls are people pulling out in front of me or changing lanes without looking.
I attribute my "luck" to riding while looking at every possible vehicle and thinking, that car is going to pull out, what will I do? When it happens, I'm ready and can act accordingly. It doesn't make it any less disturbing though. Hopefully my luck will continue. . .
I always thought I would be one of the lucky few who makes it without a major accident. When it happens, it happens fast and hard. The cager was sitting there in the road debating where he was going to park once he turned into his driveway. I figured he was waiting for me to pass. He turned left in front of me and there was no way to avoid it. Oh yea, he was my friend and he gave me my Gremlin Bell a few years before.
I had a little one on my Harley in 1984. Was just a bent exhaust pipe and I never went all the way down. On dirt bike, ATV's, and autos Is another story. Have had more than a couple surgeries from all the other vehicles.
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