[HaleyMorganVII]

Well...
I crashed her.
I went for a ride yesterday on The Devil's Triangle. The ride was going great, until I came up on a sharp right hand turn full of gravel. I didn't have ample time to slow down (I was doing maybe 45 - 50mph I think?), and if I had hit the breaks it would have stood me up and thrown me into the mountainside. So I rode it out best I could. I loss traction, and slid up the mountain road. My husband was behind me thankfully. The damage is mostly cosmetic - pics at the end of the thread. Though I did jack up the handle bars, they now turn to the right slightly, but my husband believes we can fix that easily (fingers crossed). I'm not using my insurance since it's minimal damage, and I don't want a rate increase. I did go to the hospital, and have a severe thumb sprain, and am in a splint for a week. My gear, of course, saved me. My pants are trashed (unwearable), my right boot shredded pretty good, my leather jacket only had some light abrasions on the forearm, and the visor of my helmet trashed. The bike actually landed on my ankle, but because it's so light I just pulled it out from underneath it with no injury. Then via adrenaline I rode it all the way home (30 some miles) with a sprain thumb, and goofed up handlebars. Let's just say clutching was excruciating.

So, I'm going to learn from this, and not let it get me down. Lessons learned? Keep those eyes ahead especially on funky ass roads like The Triangle, and expect the unexpected! I wasn't driving beyond my capabilities, but my eyes weren't as far ahead as they should have been. I'm also grateful I didn't slam on the breaks, and eat a mountain. There's always something to be grateful for.

 

[nick]

that sucks, glad nothing major happen to you. would like to see what happen to the riding gear too

 

[HaleyMorganVII]

Thanks. I am glad as well. Still pretty shook up though - I'm told that will pass.

 

[FZ074Me]

Damn! That's shitty. Nice driving though, sounds like you did the right things in a bad situation. Glad you walked away from it. Tough girl to climb back on and wheel it home. Can't say many other people would have done the same. Your husband must have been beaming with pride. Again, glad you're ok and wish you and your bike a swift recovery.

 

[nick]

I asked to see your riding gear because im using Kevlar jeans im not sure how they would hold up in a situation like yours. how can anyone ride with open face helmets just look how it saved you. I cant believe your boots how much they got rashed up, I wear steal toe work boots maybe I should look into real riding boots. haley, after your accident what would you recommend people to buy for protection.

 

[HaleyMorganVII]

Damn! That's shitty. Nice driving though, sounds like you did the right things in a bad situation. Glad you walked away from it. Tough girl to climb back on and wheel it home. Can't say many other people would have done the same. Your husband must have been beaming with pride. Again, glad you're ok and wish you and your bike a swift recovery.

Thanks man! I should have been looking further ahead, but I did what I could with my own fuck up (pardon the language if you're easily offended. ) I rode home with tears running down my face, but I rode home none the less, LOL. My husband was panicked at first - once I pushed the bike off me I saw him stopped behind me just staring. I screamed "Get out of the road!" After that though he kinda "woke up", and we got situated best we could. He was proud though that I didn't panic, and make things worse.Thanks again!

 

[HaleyMorganVII]

I asked to see your riding gear because im using Kevlar jeans im not sure how they would hold up in a situation like yours. how can anyone ride with open face helmets just look how it saved you. I cant believe your boots how much they got rashed up, I wear steal toe work boots maybe I should look into real riding boots. haley, after your accident what would you recommend people to buy for protection.

I recommend all the riding gear I owned or anything that's made for riding, and you don't have to pay a fortune either. My boots and pants were Sedici brand from CycleGear, they were very well priced (both below $150), and they held up awesome! My helmet was Icon, and it kept my face from being rubbed off. I neither understand how people do an open face helmet, but to each his own. Now my jacket on the other hand is expensive at $500, an Alpinestars racing jacket, but it held up like a champ, and keeps your head from snapping back. But you don't have to pay that much to get a good jacket, and I do think textile would have held up the same. My gloves were also Icon womens touchscreen gloves which are practically unharmed.

My advice is buy gear that's made for riding, spend a little, but not a fortune unless you just absolutely want to (like I did with my jacket), and wear it every single time you ride. I'll be getting new pants and boots, but my jacket is solid, my helmet took scrapes not an impact so I'll keep wearing it, and my gloves were barely touch so I'll keep those as well.

 

[HaleyMorganVII]

Hey, if anyone has advice on how I could have handled it better, please let me know. What can one do when they come up to gravel in a sharp turn?

 

[nick]

gravel is like ice , only thing you can do is slow down and don't brake hard. I think cause of you im going to buy better pants and riding boots.

 

[FZ074Me]

If it makes you feel any better... Well probably not, but I laid mine down today. Though not as dramatically as you. My dumbass forgot to put the stand down and climbed off. Before I knew she was on the ground. Did a quick head swivel to make sure no one saw and hurried up and picked my pride and bike up off the ground.
The engine guards did their job and took most of the scuffing. The mirror is the only other thing that got a like scraped. Damn I felt stupid though.

 

[doublethreat]

Haley.......first and foremost, glad you aren't hurt too bad.....I've been on the Triangle quite a few times myself and it could have been much worse. One thing I learned a long time ago, that most of the time (most being the operative word here), most of the time there is a line that you can take through the gravel. Most folks, when they see gravel, target fixate on the "gravel", and then don't try to find that little opening or line that will get them through it unscathed. Of course, this requires looking far enough ahead, staying calm, and not fixating on the entire gravel area, just the area that has a line through it. Having said that, I'm certainly NOT saying anything at all negative about what happened or how you handled it.....I wasn't there and didn't see it, and may not have been able to do anything different than what you did. Just some food for thought though.....always try to find a line through something like that.....it's saved my bacon many times.

About the only other thing that I can think of off the top of my head, and again, since I wasn't there, it may not have been possible, given the speed, the sharpness of the turn, etc.....but I have been able to stand a bike up sometimes and jump on the brakes pretty hard and scrub off some speed. Of course, when you do this, there goes your line through the corner as you are running in deeper than planned. Then it's decision time again......keep it stood up and try to brake hard enough to get stopped before you go over or into the mountain, .....OR....as soon as you have scrubbed off some speed and gotten through the gravel, quickly bend it back over and try to complete the turn. Lot's of factors here like.....am I going over the mountain, into the mountain, into the path of an oncoming car/truck! All this has to be decided in less than a heartbeat. Hang in there kid, you and the bike will both be OK

 

[HaleyMorganVII]

If it makes you feel any better... Well probably not, but I laid mine down today. Though not as dramatically as you. My dumbass forgot to put the stand down and climbed off. Before I knew she was on the ground. Did a quick head swivel to make sure no one saw and hurried up and picked my pride and bike up off the ground.
The engine guards did their job and took most of the scuffing. The mirror is the only other thing that got a like scraped. Damn I felt stupid though.

Oh man! I'm sorry! My friend just did this the other day, and he's rode his whole life. Some times our heads are else where, and we forget the small stuff. Lesson learned I'm sure.

 

[HaleyMorganVII]

Haley.......first and foremost, glad you aren't hurt too bad.....I've been on the Triangle quite a few times myself and it could have been much worse. One thing I learned a long time ago, that most of the time (most being the operative word here), most of the time there is a line that you can take through the gravel. Most folks, when they see gravel, target fixate on the "gravel", and then don't try to find that little opening or line that will get them through it unscathed. Of course, this requires looking far enough ahead, staying calm, and not fixating on the entire gravel area, just the area that has a line through it. Having said that, I'm certainly NOT saying anything at all negative about what happened or how you handled it.....I wasn't there and didn't see it, and may not have been able to do anything different than what you did. Just some food for thought though.....always try to find a line through something like that.....it's saved my bacon many times.

About the only other thing that I can think of off the top of my head, and again, since I wasn't there, it may not have been possible, given the speed, the sharpness of the turn, etc.....but I have been able to stand a bike up sometimes and jump on the brakes pretty hard and scrub off some speed. Of course, when you do this, there goes your line through the corner as you are running in deeper than planned. Then it's decision time again......keep it stood up and try to brake hard enough to get stopped before you go over or into the mountain, .....OR....as soon as you have scrubbed off some speed and gotten through the gravel, quickly bend it back over and try to complete the turn. Lot's of factors here like.....am I going over the mountain, into the mountain, into the path of an oncoming car/truck! All this has to be decided in less than a heartbeat. Hang in there kid, you and the bike will both be OK

Thanks so much!
Funny you should mention a line, because I did indeed look for one in that split second. The only one I saw was the yellow line, and in the split second with another blind turn after the one I wreck in, I decided to not take the chance of another vehicle coming at me. But your point is superb! While I'm riding normally I try to avert my eyes to things in the road that grab my attention, and stick to a safe line. This is for practice for situations like the one I wrecked in. The corner was literally saturated in gravel. It was from the white line to the yellow one - honestly, like someone had dumped it there - not saying that someone did, but it's a possibility from the rednecks that don't like motorcyclist in that area. I will from now on though practice while riding keeping my lines through debris.

I really didn't feel safe braking. I was going too fast, the corner too sharp, and the mountainsides too close, for a safe brake I figured. It would have stood me up, and I think I would have highside crashed, which I'm sure you know is way worse than a lowside crash. I may need to start practicing 'hard braking' while riding as well, to get the feel of this bike in a hard braking situation. Just a lot to learn from, and take in. I may have rode it home, but I am a bit nervous to get back on. When I do I'm just going to pretend it's my first time riding again, take it slow, stay present, and keep breathing - then I hope it will come back to me as it was before. Thanks again for all the tips, I truly do appreciate them!

 

[doublethreat]

One thing I'd like to offer is a comment about braking. Lot's of folks think that braking while leaned over will make the bike stand up.....simply not true. I trail brake on the track at almost every corner entry that I can and believe me, the bike isn't trying to stand up. In fact, if I find myself in a corner a bit hot, I will use the rear brake (applied very gently and not rolling off the throttle at all) to help tighten up my line. Some of this stuff is considered advanced techniques and probably best learned on a track, rather than on the street where you never know what kind of debris you are going to encounter. Turn 2 at Nashville Super Speedway was a very hard left-hander and was way easy to overcook it coming in. The choice then, if you overcook it was to run off track or tighten up your line with the rear brake. It's never a good idea to roll off the throttle once you've set it to maintenance throttle.....it upsets the suspension and ruins your line way too much.

 

[HaleyMorganVII]

One thing I'd like to offer is a comment about braking. Lot's of folks think that braking while leaned over will make the bike stand up.....simply not true. I trail brake on the track at almost every corner entry that I can and believe me, the bike isn't trying to stand up. In fact, if I find myself in a corner a bit hot, I will use the rear brake (applied very gently and not rolling off the throttle at all) to help tighten up my line. Some of this stuff is considered advanced techniques and probably best learned on a track, rather than on the street where you never know what kind of debris you are going to encounter. Turn 2 at Nashville Super Speedway was a very hard left-hander and was way easy to overcook it coming in. The choice then, if you overcook it was to run off track or tighten up your line with the rear brake. It's never a good idea to roll off the throttle once you've set it to maintenance throttle.....it upsets the suspension and ruins your line way too much.

So...
Have you heard of the "brake light initiative"? I was reading a motorcycle magazine not to long ago, and they mentioned the 'brake light initiative'. Something along the lines of in EVERY blind situation you should have the brake pulled in enough where the light comes on. This prevents over braking or grabbing, brakes you faster if you need it, and instills some other good traits. It seemed like a good idea, but I couldn't get into the habit for some reason - probably not enough dedication on my part.

I've actually used the back brake it such situations, but I was too scared to that day for some reason. I think the amount of gravel freaked me out a bit, and I just stuck to what I knew.

I'm going to definitely start practicing braking in corners. And read up on the"brake light initiative" again. It seems like a smart habit to create.

 

[HaleyMorganVII]

Yes! I'm going to start implementing the "Brake Light Initiative". It's an excellent habit to implement I do believe.

Here's the link:
http://www.cycleworld.com/2014/05/28/the-brake-light-initiative-treatise-on-motorcycle-control-using-your-braking-skills/

 

[doublethreat]

I haven't heard of it, but then again, the only magazine that I subscribe to is Sport Rider. Most of the time my right index and middle finger are covering the brake at a minimum when on corner entry and when necessary or needed, I'm trail braking in. Have you ever thought about doing some track days Haley? Lots and lots of good instruction with us and all of it is done in a safe environment.....at least safer than the street!

 

[HaleyMorganVII]

I haven't heard of it, but then again, the only magazine that I subscribe to is Sport Rider. Most of the time my right index and middle finger are covering the brake at a minimum when on corner entry and when necessary or needed, I'm trail braking in. Have you ever thought about doing some track days Haley? Lots and lots of good instruction with us and all of it is done in a safe environment.....at least safer than the street!

Isn't the closest track Nashville? And I'd have to purchase track appoved gear as well - I think my all would pass but my pants, but I just had to buy new gear from what I trashed. Its just not feasible at the moment, but maybe one day.

 

[april]

I think Road Atlanta may be the closest track down there, but I am not sure. Regardless, track days are worth the commute!
Sorry about your mishap, hope your hand fells better soon.
I am pretty hardcore about ATGATT! It will save your ass- you just proved it

 

[HaleyMorganVII]

I think Road Atlanta may be the closest track down there, but I am not sure. Regardless, track days are worth the commute!
Sorry about your mishap, hope your hand fells better soon.
I am pretty hardcore about ATGATT! It will save your ass- you just proved it

Thanks so much for the info, and the well wishes.