Crashed bike

1olbull said:

Accepted. The alternate would be that the oil, which caused the wheel under acceleration to step out, ended.
While stepped, out the clear dry pavement provided a sudden increase in friction which allowed the tire(s) to regain traction, causing the top of your motor to pitch forward and you to be catapulted off.
Many, many issues were in play here - too many unknown to address regarding a definitive cause.

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this is what I think happened (or atleast it fits with what i felt) but again as it was soo fast its hard to know or even recall as it all happened in seconds. Is there anything i as a rider can do about handling a bike as it regains traction? if i had been braking would it have been better? i have read and been told conflicting accounts over the years about shutting off a throttle completely some say not to, some say to shut it off....

I guess the hard part is every situation is different and Im interested in how i train my automatic responses.... cause presumably whatever I'm going to do is not likely to be a thought out action, its going to be instinctive, so i'll do whatever I've trained. One thing I am going to do going forward is some extra advanced rider training on the rocket, if only to brush up skills and self-confidence as I haven't done any formal training in the last 3-4 years and even then they were smaller bikes that did handle differently.

out of interest, does the bike's ecu store any data about what was happening prior to tip over?

Rocket_Rider said:

this is what I think happened (or atleast it fits with what i felt) but again as it was soo fast its hard to know or even recall as it all happened in seconds. Is there anything i as a rider can do about handling a bike as it regains traction? if i had been braking would it have been better? i have read and been told conflicting accounts over the years about shutting off a throttle completely some say not to, some say to shut it off....

I guess the hard part is every situation is different and Im interested in how i train my automatic responses.... cause presumably whatever I'm going to do is not likely to be a thought out action, its going to be instinctive, so i'll do whatever I've trained. One thing I am going to do going forward is some extra advanced rider training on the rocket, if only to brush up skills and self-confidence as I haven't done any formal training in the last 3-4 years and even then they were smaller bikes that did handle differently.

out of interest, does the bike's ecu store any data about what was happening prior to tip over?

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Difficult to say, but depending on momentum and friction, rear wheel braking might have precipitated a low-slide, which would be much preferable to a hi-side that ejects and accelerates you off the motor.

OK you want an analysis.

First you were on a road you knew so you were somewhat at ease having traveled it many times.
You did not see the oil on the road and having just been accelerating still gaining momentum as your rear tire hit the slick.
It happened quickly which means you were surprised and had no time to react. It was an OH SH...... moment.

Your gear just saved your life.

You were in a no win situation. Since you have traveled this route many times you were programmed on how the ride it.

Something changed that you could not have been aware of. The fact that they put the sand down after your accident is an indication they know you were not at fault.

Glad you are still with us and praying for your recovery.

(I may not know what I am talking about, but it sounds good)

BillyIndiana said:

OK you want an analysis.

First you were on a road you knew so you were somewhat at ease having traveled it many times.
You did not see the oil on the road and having just been accelerating still gaining momentum as your rear tire hit the slick.
It happened quickly which means you were surprised and had no time to react. It was an OH SH...... moment.

Your gear just saved your life.

You were in a no win situation. Since you have traveled this route many times you were programmed on how the ride it.

Something changed that you could not have been aware of. The fact that they put the sand down after your accident is an indication they know you were not at fault.

Glad you are still with us and praying for your recovery.

(I may not know what I am talking about, but it sounds good)

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Yes I certainly have a different attitude towards gear... don’t think I will ever look at a price tag on gear again!

Here's the point where we begin to share our own experiences with similar situations.

It was raining hard and our group (12 riders) were accelerating slowly from a stop, all crossing a steel bridge over a creek in the city. I upshifted to 2nd early (usually do this in wet weather to help with traction) but as we hit the steel on the bridge, my rear end broke loose with no warning. I throttled back but not before the rear end swung to and fro. Never hit the brake and the bike righted itself as I throttled back. The fellow following me was amazed that I managed to keep upright. I guess what helped was the fact that we were crossing the bridge in a straight line with no turns otherwise I might have been on my side. What amazed me was how quickly the rear end broke loose. I was the only rider out of a dozen who had this problem crossing that steel bridge, mind you all the others had half the power of the Rocket. I have since learned to accelerate cautiously upshifting quickly in wet weather especially around steel roads, manhole covers, new pavement etc etc....

Glad you shared your experience with us. Hope you fully recover soon.

Mine was going from bright sunlight to shaded area on a narrow road, really one lane.
As my eyes adjusted I went to the middle of the road between two big trees.
Hit gravel.
Down I went.

Rocket_Rider said:

Roadway just before roundabout.... definitely something on road

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It looks like a motor oil recycler service truck or a tar truck did not close it's valve well and left a stripe of slick behind. Oil slicks in the city sit on every intersection as well as the dreaded pedestrian reflective paint.

I used to ride naked with a costume skull bucket. Now I wear some gear to save the skin if I slide and reduce the impact load to the skull if it hits.
Glad you can share this story. It has made me a better rider.

Thanks for the story! I'm glad you are okay, and at least was able to see your bike laying there, as painful as that sight must have been. Been there done that about 30 years ago.
The one thing I got from you is WEAR THE GEAR! I'm a slacker when it comes to that.
And really, you probably did not have time to do a thing. In my younger years I was dirt riding, not more that 15-20 MPH and the front brake locked. I was on the ground before I knew what happened. It amazed me that it could happen at such a low speed. But when I downed my 750K, it seemed all was in slow motion, till I blacked out and I don't even remember hitting.

Bottom line, better to fix metal that flesh and bone!!! The pictures of your bike look much better than I was expecting from your story.
Keep us updated!

my 2 cents
i live on a dirt road so when the tire wore down i would just give it a little blip on the throttle and the tire would spin but unlike other bikes that u could spin down the road the rocket goes side ways really quick and i would back off the throttle and it would straighten up.
if u r on oil u r going to kiss the ground pretty quick don't beat up on yourself
50 years ago the bike was sitting on an oil spot and when i let out the clutch i went down and was still in riding position.

Starmanut said:

Thanks for the story! I'm glad you are okay, and at least was able to see your bike laying there, as painful as that sight must have been. Been there done that about 30 years ago.
The one thing I got from you is WEAR THE GEAR! I'm a slacker when it comes to that.
And really, you probably did not have time to do a thing. In my younger years I was dirt riding, not more that 15-20 MPH and the front brake locked. I was on the ground before I knew what happened. It amazed me that it could happen at such a low speed. But when I downed my 750K, it seemed all was in slow motion, till I blacked out and I don't even remember hitting.

Bottom line, better to fix metal that flesh and bone!!! The pictures of your bike look much better than I was expecting from your story.
Keep us updated!

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Yes I am surprised, I expected the bike to be a real mess... thankfully the touring comes with crash bars... those things really work!