Close Call Thread

FZER

Avid Rider
I was thinking that if we post some of our "Close Calls" and what we did to avoid a wreck it might help others.

This morning me and one of my close co-workers both got an extra cup of coffee. I go to work at 6, so my morning commute is at 5:30, very dark. I got a green light at an intersection and being the perfect temp this morning to ride I was feeling a little froggy. I watched for yellow light runners but never really slowed down infact I was most likely accelerating through the right turn. Well a good friend of mine didn't see me because of a bush in the parking lot of a convince store and he started to pull out to the right as I was turning right towards him. Well we saw each other at the same time, he liked to broke his neck stopping and I about broke mine changing lanes and accelerating even more. I waited a little while for him to come over and let me have it at work and I guess he was thinking that I was going to let him have it so I decided I just go over to his area and make sure he didn't want to kill me. We both laughed about it, but in reality even though I didn't break any laws if something would have happened he probably would have gotten into trouble, but the whole situation could have been prevented by me if I hadn't been riding a little bit like an asre this morning. Watch those intersections.
 

beefcake morris

New member
I was thinking that if we post some of our "Close Calls" and what we did to avoid a wreck it might help others.

This morning me and one of my close co-workers both got an extra cup of coffee. I go to work at 6, so my morning commute is at 5:30, very dark. I got a green light at an intersection and being the perfect temp this morning to ride I was feeling a little froggy. I watched for yellow light runners but never really slowed down infact I was most likely accelerating through the right turn. Well a good friend of mine didn't see me because of a bush in the parking lot of a convince store and he started to pull out to the right as I was turning right towards him. Well we saw each other at the same time, he liked to broke his neck stopping and I about broke mine changing lanes and accelerating even more. I waited a little while for him to come over and let me have it at work and I guess he was thinking that I was going to let him have it so I decided I just go over to his area and make sure he didn't want to kill me. We both laughed about it, but in reality even though I didn't break any laws if something would have happened he probably would have gotten into trouble, but the whole situation could have been prevented by me if I hadn't been riding a little bit like an asre this morning. Watch those intersections.

They are one the most dangerous places for a person on a bike.
 

sinclap2

Lazy
Closely followed by round-abouts and the losers who do not know how use them properly. I have so many near misses on them on the bike, coz people just dont seem to look or they lose you for a split second. That's why I take my time thru them, to make sure I can stop or manuvure in time.

Round abouts are suppose to keep traffic flowing, but am sick of people coming to a complete stop when there is nothing coming! Jeepers-creepers! I just want reach thru the driver's window and give them a good Jethro Gibb's slap on the back of the head.

FZER, good to hear it was a close call and nothing worse.
 
C

Camo

Guest
Lol jethro gibbs :rof:
I love that show!

I had a near miss caused by my over confidence the other day... I was doing an after work run at my local twisty's (the OPH) as I do most nice days and had already gone the length of it and was on my way back out.
Nobody around, perfect day weather wise and I was riding pretty hard for me... I over shot my breaking zone into a fairly high speed right hander, got a split second of target fixation and almost a fist full of front brakes before I realised what I was doing lol.
I ran a little wide but got the bike on its side and manged to accelerate out of trouble...three corners later, had a truck cross the centre line on me mid corner. Corner was blind so i didnt see the damn thing till it was blowing past me at speed so i didn't even change my line as it happened so quickly, missed my head by about a foot.
Don't think I've cruised home so slowly, ever lol.
 

sinclap2

Lazy
NCIS and NCIS:LA are two of my favourite shows :D

That sounds close Camo, I can understand the slow ride home...

I think one of my issues on roundabouts, especially doing a 90 turn, is target fixation. That is, watching the cars to make sure they're not going to "just decide" to go. In this situations, "P Platers" can be so unpredictable at times.

[For those that don't know (and why they hell would you? :))"P Platers" are learner drivers in Australia who have passed their Learner licence and are allowed to drive by themselves, but they must display a P plate (I think it is for Probation or something?) for about three years, in NSW]
 
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DJK1505

Guest
This is a good idea for a thread. Most of my close calls are all from me acting like a jack, but I did have a lady pull out of a neighborhood as I came over a hill a bit too fast. I nailed my brakes, swerved into the center lane, then into oncoming traffic lane, swung around her and pulled into the next parking lot to let my heart settle down. I still ride like a jack most days, but am super cautious around corners, hills, stop lights, etc. No matter how much we practice or read about others close calls, if its your time its gonna happen.

I found getting a junk bike, and practice laying it down has helped me a bit. I used to take it out around the neighborhood and lock up the brakes, slide it, going off road with it. A few good bruises and scrapes, but I def learned a bit about how to take a bike down, or even how to hit the ditch with one.

Anyways good thread mate!!!!

Its like my buddy always says, its not a matter of if I go down, its just a matter of when.

DJ
 

FZER

Avid Rider
three corners later, had a truck cross the centre line on me mid corner. Corner was blind so i didnt see the damn thing till it was blowing past me at speed so i didn't even change my line as it happened so quickly, missed my head by about a foot.
Don't think I've cruised home so slowly, ever lol.[/QUOTE]

That's the biggest thing I'm scared up with my labor day weekend riding trip planned. I can completely see how it can happen. I know I've done it in my own truck.
 

compensation

New member
Hmmm nice thread.

Deer- If you see a deer and don't have time to think, lock your elbows and squeeze the tank as hard as you can with your legs. If you have a second to think about it, do the same and brake. Do not lean if all possible. Hit the damn thing if you have to. When you lean is when you hit the ground. Use your judgement on how to do this but swerving will only make you hit the deer or a tree. Sometimes its best to go straight and let fate work it out.

Sandy turn- If your know you are going to lay it down just look for the smoothest and least amount of obstacles and lean back as you go that way. You can still stop in someones yard.

Flat front tire- I could have made this worse by doing this but I kept the bike up. Anyways when I had a flat I was doing 45mph on a turn. I used only the back brake and when the handlebars were shaking I kept them from shaking. So much that my lower body was making the rear tire slide left to right. I just knew if I let the bars max out I would have went flying once it locked left or right.

Over wheeling- I saved a bike by kicking the ground when it was on its way over. That was like 30mph though with my feet on the back pegs.

More to tell with dirtbikes.
 

MotoRick

Motorcycle Fanatic
I think one of my issues on roundabouts, especially doing a 90 turn, is target fixation. That is, watching the cars to make sure they're not going to "just decide" to go. In this situations, "P Platers" can be so unpredictable at times.

[For those that don't know (and why they hell would you? :))"P Platers" are learner drivers in Australia who have passed their Learner licence and are allowed to drive by themselves, but they must display a P plate (I think it is for Probation or something?) for about three years, in NSW]

Hope this doesn't sound like a dumb question (there are no P or L plates in America), but what good does a P plate do for other drivers? Is it a warning? Is it a plea for patience? Seems like overkill to me.
 
C

Camo

Guest
P & L platers are speed restricted, helps police target them lol also lets other drivers know to be patient, go around or beware lol.
There is also 2 colours of P's, red being the first step up from L's meaning they are restricted to a max speed of 90k's and green P's allows them to do 100 I think?
There is some law about the amount of passengers they can carry, also certain vehicles are off limits like turbo's and V8's etc.
We do live in a nanny state by where they claim to have our best interests at heart and they may be trying to reduce road deaths somewhat, but for the main part it's all revenue raising to prop up the state government.
 

cpatt

New member
my buddies front tire fell off the bead last night at around 10:15 we were doin about 75 and i see him just go in to the center median on rt 101 in nh. he kept it up right and made it over to the other side of the highway... what a scarry thing tho. the tire just fell off.
 
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Vapordan

Guest
my buddies front tire fell off the bead last night at around 10:15 we were doin about 75 and i see him just go in to the center median on rt 101 in nh. he kept it up right and made it over to the other side of the highway... what a scarry thing tho. the tire just fell off.

What do you mean the tire just fell off? Did it blow out? pop? Rapid deflate? Catastrophic sidewall failure?
 
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DJK1505

Guest
my buddies front tire fell off the bead last night at around 10:15 we were doin about 75 and i see him just go in to the center median on rt 101 in nh. he kept it up right and made it over to the other side of the highway... what a scarry thing tho. the tire just fell off.

Thats some descent riding if he was going into a corner and his front tire bead came off and he kept it up, nice.

Yeah man, how did that happen? Over pressure? On a long, hard ride I will check my air pressure once or twice just to make sure.
 
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WARPTH

Guest
Hope this doesn't sound like a dumb question (there are no P or L plates in America), but what good does a P plate do for other drivers? Is it a warning? Is it a plea for patience? Seems like overkill to me.

Theyre to let our lovely police officers (sales people) know who to pick on for easy cash.
 

cpatt

New member
Thats some descent riding if he was going into a corner and his front tire bead came off and he kept it up, nice.

Yeah man, how did that happen? Over pressure? On a long, hard ride I will check my air pressure once or twice just to make sure.

yea it was pretty scarry to see him go to turn and just go straight in to the center and he just kept it goin threw the grass and almost hit a piller for a bridge... it hit me a few hours later that i could have just watched my best friend die. crazy stuff guys

were not rely sure why it happened.. we were about 10 miles in to are 50 mile ride home and it was a long like 1 mile slight curve and hit just fell off the bead. we mounted the tire about 2 weeks ago (tire is brand new)and i was inflated properly and it was holding up to speeds of almost 100 on are ride up there. who knows what would have happened if we wernt doing the speed limit when it happened.

were rely not sure why it happened we were just going over some grooved pavement in a construction zone. might have had something to do with it. and he did say he had a little wobble. so im thinking it might have been under inflated but who knows

oh and the tires fine.. we put it back on and aired it up high then let it out. its seated fine now. and we were doin 70+ yesterday testing it.
 

FZER

Avid Rider
yea it was pretty scarry to see him go to turn and just go straight in to the center and he just kept it goin threw the grass and almost hit a piller for a bridge... it hit me a few hours later that i could have just watched my best friend die. crazy stuff guys

were not rely sure why it happened.. we were about 10 miles in to are 50 mile ride home and it was a long like 1 mile slight curve and hit just fell off the bead. we mounted the tire about 2 weeks ago (tire is brand new)and i was inflated properly and it was holding up to speeds of almost 100 on are ride up there. who knows what would have happened if we wernt doing the speed limit when it happened.

were rely not sure why it happened we were just going over some grooved pavement in a construction zone. might have had something to do with it. and he did say he had a little wobble. so im thinking it might have been under inflated but who knows

oh and the tires fine.. we put it back on and aired it up high then let it out. its seated fine now. and we were doin 70+ yesterday testing it.

Now the real question, what kind of tires did you put on? So all of us can avoid them like the plage. yeah that word. spelling killing me today.
 
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WARPTH

Guest
yea it was pretty scarry to see him go to turn and just go straight in to the center and he just kept it goin threw the grass and almost hit a piller for a bridge... it hit me a few hours later that i could have just watched my best friend die. crazy stuff guys

were not rely sure why it happened.. we were about 10 miles in to are 50 mile ride home and it was a long like 1 mile slight curve and hit just fell off the bead. we mounted the tire about 2 weeks ago (tire is brand new)and i was inflated properly and it was holding up to speeds of almost 100 on are ride up there. who knows what would have happened if we wernt doing the speed limit when it happened.

were rely not sure why it happened we were just going over some grooved pavement in a construction zone. might have had something to do with it. and he did say he had a little wobble. so im thinking it might have been under inflated but who knows

oh and the tires fine.. we put it back on and aired it up high then let it out. its seated fine now. and we were doin 70+ yesterday testing it.

Absolote insanity putting that tyre back on. Obviously has a death wish.
With less than 5cm of tyre contacting the road and keeping you alive why would you risk it?
How did the tyre come off with out damaging the bead? or did you guys damage the bead when putting the tyre on?
Or was the valve faulty? Too many variables!
 

rajdR

New member
I did a stupid thing while doing another stupid thing.
Me and my friend were out and doing some twisties as u call it I think hehe, however my friend who has been driving a bit longer than me is always in front of me. Ofc it was ticket speeds and i've started to feel quite comfortable on my bike. All of a sudden he released the throttle and start rolling, guess he wanted to chill out for a second, so I put it down to 4th and full throttle to pass him. I did an awesome right turn, felt great and looked in my mirror when it was about to end, my friend was really close to me and I started to smile in my helmet and looked back and gave him the finger...
But when I looked forward again it was a left turn right after, omg I got so scared I almost "freezed up" but I put a foot out, used the rear brake slightly and turned as fast as I dared! Saw the edge of the road coming pretty fast, my heart litterally stopped...

That's my only "close call" so far, cause I was stupid. Never looked back since then :D
 

cpatt

New member
Absolote insanity putting that tyre back on. Obviously has a death wish.
With less than 5cm of tyre contacting the road and keeping you alive why would you risk it?
How did the tyre come off with out damaging the bead? or did you guys damage the bead when putting the tyre on?
Or was the valve faulty? Too many variables!

we took it to are local bike shop had them look it all over take the tire off put it back on they said all looks well. so they took the valve stem out. keep in mind there aluminum wheels on a 32 year old bike. and they said it was either crosthreaded or it had pitting in the threads. we never took the stem out of the rim so we dont no how it got cross threaded. but they tapped the thread and put it back in. when we go home (were plumbers) we pulled it back out and Teflon taped it and added a little pipe dope aired it up and then we went to leave the driveway and his clutch cable snapped hahaha. so its holding air sitting still so must be good.


oh and its not quite a death wish. its more of a if its my time to go its my time to go at least ill go out doing something fun. thats why we do everything we do. might as well have fun
 
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