Almost-Rider Down

[crazy steve]

Well, sad news. My next door neighbor who 'always' wanted a bike and who I helped find a cherry Buell Blast as a nice 'starter' bike, crashed, and rather badly.

Late yesterday afternoon she went out for a practice ride, and managed to go down on a gentle curve. The bad injury is her left knee; she opened that up all the way across to the bone. The rest were the usual road rash scrapes.

Her boyfriend was following her in a car, and said she was doing fine until all of a sudden she was down. I talked to her very briefly before the ambulance took her away and she said 'the handlebars started wobbling'; sounds like she had a tank-slapper. The only thing I can figure is she still didn't get the 'steering' vs 'leaning' thing and tried 'steering' at 40 mph. She had just finished the MSF course, but failed the riding test because of the 'steering' issue; the instructor told her she needed to practice that... oops. They were getting ready to do surgery on her knee last last night was the last I heard.

The bike didn't fare much better; I rode it back to their house, but I suspect it will cost about half as much to fix it as it's worth. Cleaned off the front lights (both turns and the headlight), the mini-fairing, both mirrors, beat the speedo up pretty good, sheared off the shifter, scuffed up the plastic tank cover and front fender, and the forks are badly mis-aligned, possibly bent. To it's credit, it did start right up, and after we put some vice-grips on the shifter shaft nub and found 2nd gear, it rode fine. Given the damage to the bike, her injuries could have been much worse.

She'll have a fairly long recovery time (BTDT), so we'll see if she still wants to 'get on the horse'; I suspect not...

[bikerphil]

That sucks, I wish her the best in a fast recovery.

[CatatonicBug]

Wow... That sucks, especially for a new rider. She didn't get a chance to really feel the freedom of riding before she got knocked off. Although, if she managed to fail the test at the MSF course, she must have been having a really tough time grasping the concept. They are always REALLY patient and walk you through everything until you get it. I hope she heals fast, and that she is able to try again if she wants to.

[blkryno]

Always bad to hear this kinda thing. Hope she turns out ok and has speedy recovery. When things are a little better for her maybe you can tell her she's a real biker now and she's got the chops to prove it. Hope she gets back on it cause now she knows what not to do. I really do mean that in a good way. Tell her there's more people out here wishing her well than she even knows about.

blkryno

81 11 SH
79 11 SF

Semper Fi

[crazy steve]

Well, I told her at the start of the 'I want a bike' discussion that there's only two kinds of bikers; those that have gone down, and those that will go down. Then I showed her my scars...

So maybe she's got that part out of the way, but we'll see if she still has the desire.

[Shacknasty]

Did they teach her "counter-steering" as a part of that class? Sorry yer friend had to take a tumble and got hurt. Wotta drag.

[mack]

Still alive

Well what can you say. She didn't quite walk away from it but she's alive and thats whats important. Besides the knee will heal, scars add character and I'm sure you'll deal with the bike. Not familiar with the ride she had but you know, it's almost harder to handle a ride at low speeds than cruise speeds. Best of luck to her.

[b.walker5]

Man, that sucks. Hate to hear of new riders doing that stuff, but hey, she's alive. Thats gotta be a bonus. We all know the saying, "there's two kinds of riders, those who've been down and those who are gonna be" maybe she's getting in early. Hopefully it hasn't wrecked her confidence, just dented it a little and maybe next time she get on something a little more suited to a learner than a Blast Line her up with a nice little cruiser style GN250 or something just as easy to ride and start again, once she's healed of course.

[crazy steve]

...maybe next time she get on something a little more suited to a learner than a Blast

Up until HD shut down Buell, that's the bike the MSF courses here used to teach the class, because of it's great handling. The other reason we settled on the Blast is the main road into town is a 50 mph limit with lots of hills and blind corners, and the smaller 250cc bikes just don't have enough poop to stay out of everybodys way... you'll get ran over if you can't make the speed!

Did get an update on her condition; she also broke her left thumb, and they think she punctured a lung, although they couldn't find a broken rib on the xrays. Not sure when she's going to get released.

Going to go visit her tomorrow...

[bikerphil]

Yep, if it was lack of countersteering, BTDT on my "first day". Didn't crash but had an "aha" moment when I learned what that meant at the last moment avoiding a phone pole.

[b.walker5]

Up until HD shut down Buell, that's the bike the MSF courses here used to teach the class, because of it's great handling.

A few of them showed up over here, but for the most part they were laughed at and considered crap. Our graduated licence system only allows for up to 250cc on a learners licence and for most people its more than enough, and if the rider isnt competent enough to be out in traffic then, and i'm sorry if my strong views on this offend anyone, they shouldn't damn well be there! Just because the bikes got enough power to be out there doesn't mean the rider should be, and if she failed the MSF course what the hell was she doing on the road in the first place??

No offence Steve, I'm not getting at you and I have sympathy for her predicament but it does sound a little like it was a disaster waiting to happen.

Our system, which iv'e outlined before on here, may seem a little archaic and restrictive to you freedom loving folk but it's designed to keep people alive and get good riders on the road, and it works. The vast majority of our bike accidents involve full licence riders who've been on the road for years, very few of them are learners on bikes too big or powerful for their abilities. Not to say that there aren't any because there are, just not many, and they are mostly the victim of some clown in a car who claims not to have seen them.

Oh, I almost forgot, one of my objections the 'Blast' (pile of crap) is the high centre of gravity for a learner to get used too. In my view the cruiser style of bike with a low centre of gravity is much easier for a learner, especially a light one, to control and remain upright. That and the fact that single cylinders belong in Trail bikes, chainsaws and lawnmowers, and for Fred, a Matchless.

Tell you what i wouldn't mind though, is a Crushed Blast Cube. Best thing that ever happened to them in my view.

Question; did it have the standard or the low profile seat ?

[g15usmc]

Buells aren't necessarily bad to learn on...not a heavy bike and well balanced as well as having a good handling aspect, the biggest downside is that when going into a corner they can feel the right speed and once your in the corner you can feel quite the opposite...the one thing i dont like about the BRC is that they dont teach a rider how to slow down in a corner...they teach how using the back break can help make tight corners at low speeds but they dont teach how to trail break, which is a very integral part of making it through a corner you accidentally when to fast into...overall a good course, but i suggest anyone who rides a rocket or even sport touring go to the SRC - Sportbike riders course, and cruisers to the ERC, do to them teaching key elements to being a better/safer rider, and some of the things you learn will save your @$$...and they are things you just dont learn in the basic riders course...or things that many of us have learned through trial and error...which HURTS!

[DGXSER]

Umm, I think that counts as more than almost...She went down and hard! Very sorry for her injuries. I certainly hope she has a full recovery and a quick one. I hurt just thinkin about it.

G15, yu had a bad instructor. I know mine went over and over the need to slow down BEFORE the curve to a speed to match your abilities, and then slowly power through the curve. Counter steering and leaning is something alot of people in that course struggle with. that one exercise ( making a tight curve at speed so you have to counter steer and lean) was the one that took the most work to get everyone through. It was also the skill that cost the most points deducted from the most people. But then, I had a perfect score, and last spring proved that is no guarantee.

[g15usmc]

Umm, I think that counts as more than almost...She went down and hard! Very sorry for her injuries. I certainly hope she has a full recovery and a quick one. I hurt just thinkin about it.

G15, yu had a bad instructor. I know mine went over and over the need to slow down BEFORE the curve to a speed to match your abilities, and then slowly power through the curve. Counter steering and leaning is something alot of people in that course struggle with. that one exercise ( making a tight curve at speed so you have to counter steer and lean) was the one that took the most work to get everyone through. It was also the skill that cost the most points deducted from the most people. But then, I had a perfect score, and last spring proved that is no guarantee.

I'm not saying that they tell you to just go into the corner at whatever speed...of course they tell you to go in slow and then power out, the problem is, they DON'T teach what to do when you do accidentally go into a corner too fast!...they only teach the basics, so they dont teach how to correct going into a corner with too much speed...

I hope she gets back on the horse!

[Wildkat]

oh maaaan... sorry to hear about this.
Our wishes for a speedy and full recovery

I hope she gets back on the horse!

+1 on that