No one is pretending that you can really cover this huge subject in just a short article, or even that there are definitive right and wrong answers...:wink: But Tony Carter is an ex-police accident investigator and he has written the following piece for us at Bigbikemad which I found interesting.:upyeah: Common Crashes - Big Bike Mad Of course some crash because they just like it! Well you'd think so anyway..:biggrin:
In 16 years I'm very luck to say that I have not had a bike or car accident and I really hope I keep being lucky because really that is all it comes down to. No one crashes on purpose unless you live in Russia but that's another story...... I've always said to new riders "imagine your a Rabbit in a field full of Fox's and everyone is out to GET YOU! As a bike rider you have to have common sense and know that round every corner could be anything. If your reckless then you will get hurt or worse. Also just to add that the most accidents happen close to home as you lose concentration and begin to think of other things like a nice warm bath, roast dinner etc. Stay safe guys and I hope you all ride safe in 2014 and forever. CC
I agree good article :upyeah: get as much extra training as you can, especially improving observation skills. Move your head or your dead.
A very good article. I like Tony's final paragraph in particular. A far wiser biker than I once said; "There's no point being in the right if you're in the ambulance". Bikers need to learn to take responsibility for their own safety AND for their own accidents. SMIDSY isn't the cause of an accident. Normally it's a biker's excuse for not being sufficiently well trained and alert. Learning to ride better is a never ending journey. It's a process that involves critically reviewing every ride you make and adopting the lessons that you find for your next ride. That's how we all learn and how we improve. Another wise biker told me. "The day that I honestly believe that I've achieved the perfect ride, is the day I will retire." He explained that this isn't because he will have achieved some Zen like state of nirvana, but because he will have lost his sense of objectivity and will become a danger to himself and to others.
Thanks - he's a good chap is our Tony - we have some more from his queued up and will be publishing one every week or so for the foreseeable. HH
If it is the same Tony Carter as I remember, I had the total pleasure of doing an advanced riding weekend with him about 15...maybe 18 years ago near Reading when he had what looked like an evil GSXR1100. I learnt more in two days of riding with Tony and his supporting instructors than I had in the few years riding before. If it is, one of them used to fly for Mr Walkenshaw. He had one of the first Honda VTRs in the country and said to me,' you would suit a VTR for your style of road riding, no the CBR you are on.' I listened, bought one and had the best 5 years riding I can remember. Sold it for an R1, and regretted it ever since. I'm not a GP or racetrack god, but enjoy using a bike on the road and the occasional track session. Could you ask him if it was him, and if he still runs the courses? I would sign up for another tomorrow if it is. To refresh some of what what I learnt back then, now I have come back to having a bike again.
Many thanks - we'd like to make the site look better but we've all got day jobs, so for the time being we're concentrating on content. Ride safe! HH
