WetLeather Motorcycle Rider Information

The accounts already given of the crash square with what I remember. Steve, who was following me, has the most accurate awareness of what actually happened, so he can answer questions better than I can. From my own perspective, I think several factors contributed to the crash, of which inexperience is probably the key. Add to that: several miles of freshly oiled road immediately preceeding the crash site (increasing my tension, if nothing else), fatigue, and confusing light conditions. I went into the curve too fast. While my head was reciting "look into the curve," "roll on," my body was hitting the brakes--both of them, thank heaven--and my eyes were grimly focused on the volcanic boulders I soon got to meet close up and personal. I remember my glasses _not_ breaking against the face shield of my helmet. Judging from nasty bruises where I straddled the bike, I must have impacted, initially, while still firmly attached to the bike, and then been thrown over the handlebars into the boulders. Steve couldn't tell, because after I went over the embankment, he couldn't see me until he arrived at the edge of it. I believe I landed face down, and turned myself over (probably with help). Checked out the digits on all four extremities--yes, they worked. Pain in the left arm. Augghhh, yes! Head seemed clear. Lucky. Very lucky.

Braking Task Analysis
Group Riding - Bill Andrews (AMA site)
Modifications (FJR1300.info)
Oil and motorcycle maintenance (from Shell and Ducati)
Shipping a Motorcycle to Europe - H Marc Lewis
Spark plug reading
Spark plug reading and selection
Torque and Power (fjr1300.info)

Date: Sat, 30 Aug 2003 17:38:42 -0700
From: Bud
Subject: One more time, ABS vs non-ABS

This is from Jeff Bertrand, a contributing writer at MCN, posted on the
ST list:

As another point of interest, even expert riders like Walt Fulton and Lee Parks rarely achieve the short stopping distances published in the Cycle Stats page on their first try. They usually take several runs at the Stalker, sometimes more than a dozen tries to get those distances. After a while most bike's brakes start getting too hot and the distances start to increase again. How many times do you even get a second try, let alone a dozen, when grandma Whiteknuckle BlueHair pulls out in front of you at a greasy intersection in the rain?

I thought this was an interesting snapshot...

Who is most likely to be involved in a motorcycle accident?

Statists show that, overwhelmingly, it is young, inexperienced males who are most likely to be involved in a motorcycle accident:

• 93% of riders involved in injury accidents are male
• the peak age for being killed on a motorbike is 17
• comparing riders aged 20 and riders aged 30 with the same riding experience, the 20 year olds have three times the accident risk of the 30 year olds
• comparing riders of the same age, those in their first year of riding have a three times greater risk of accident than those in tehir sixth year of riding
• the average rider starting at 17 will have had more than eight accidents by the age of 35

-Motorcycle ROADCRAFT, the police rider's hadnbook to better motorcycling

This is a list of rider safety books- or at least, books on riding skill, which is mostly the same thing- that I have floating around the house. If I'm waiting for a phone call, or otherwise have a few minutes to fill, I pick one up and flip it to a random page.

In no particular order:

• Proficient Motorcycling, David Hough
  
• More Proficient Motorcycling, David Hough
• The MSF's guide to Motorcycling Excellence
• Sport Riding Techniques, Nick Ienatsch
• Ride Hard, Ride Smart, Pat Hahn
• Total Control, Lee Parks
• Twist of the Wrist, Keith Code
• Twist of the Wrist II, Keith Code
• Soft Science of RoadRacing Motorcycles, Keith Code
• Motorcycle Roadcraft: The Police Rider's Handbook (UK)

The first three are basic and follow the safety "party line" in the US fairly closely.

In 11 years of motorcycle safety instruction, I've never before had a student arrive at the range reeking of alcohol. I don't think he was actually intoxicated but a long history of abuse had left him with that smell. It had also destroyed a lot of brain cells, his strength, and his balance. I dismissed him from class very early in the range day with the admonition that motorcycling was not for him.

The rest of the weekend more than made up for that event. I taught in Astoria and we hold the range sessions there at one end of an unused runway at the airport. It's quiet (except for the Coast Guard helicopters coming and going), it's open, and there is a lot of avian wildlife. I had an adult Bald Eagle circling overhead for a long time and a juvenile Golden Eagle swooping the perimeter of the range at hedge level for most of the day.

[This has been floating around in my head for a few days; figure I better spit it out somewhere.]

July 1, Team Oregon lost an instructor in a motorcycle accident.

His death was a shock to everyone, and has left a hole in many people's lives- not the least of which are his fiance and daughters. One daughter is herself a Team Oregon instructor; the first class I taught with him, one of the students was the woman who would become his fiance. I worked with him several times after that, and saw him numerous times. He always had a smile and you could expect some good natured ribbing, and some good-natured carping about his sore feet. He earned those, having been involved in enough classes to help almost 1000 new riders in a little over five years... twelve at a time. That adds up to a lot of weekends chasing students around a parking lot. He wasn't a person to lament or dwell on the downturns of life. He was one to howl at the moon, or dress up in an Easter bunny costume and ride around the campground on a children's retreat.

Just so's ya know:

I was traveling east on WA 14. I had made the decision at the last minute as I cruised south on I-205. I immediately regretted it. The traffic on this road is terrible between Vancouver and the Biggs Junction. Right out of Camas, I was stuck in a line of traffic behind a slow-moving truck. I was like fifth or sixth. This continued for about 10 miles through winding, hilly roads entering the Columbia River Gorge.

During this whole time, the truck never used the turnouts. We finally came to a point where there was an open stretch, with no on-coming traffic. I was anticipating that there would be a passing zone, and I saw a car head pull out and pass the truck. All the vehicles ahead of me were hugging the center-line and I didn't immediately see that it was still double-yellow. I also didn't see that there was an intersection (T-type) ahead, that was a left turn from my lane. The intersection was obscured by vegitation until I got out in the left lane and could see it.