How long had you ridden before you crashed.

[wrightme43]

Ok I am not talking about drops at 5 mph. I am talking I messed up and crashed my bike.

 

[jsteinb95]

I haven't (knock on wood)....I'm still in my first year. :thumbup:

 

[GastonJ]

28 years and so far so good :thumbup: (jinxed myself now for that). Done a few stupid things like sliding off on black ice at 5mph, or dropping a bike on me while wheeling it to park etc. Broke plenty of bones in my life, but none due to the bike.

 

[wrightme43]

I brought this up because Proficent Motorcycing said that the second year (sophmore year) of riding is the time most likely to crash due to overconfidence and pushing it.

I did this just a few short days before my third year of riding. In my second full year. Of course my dumba$$ picked the wrong response to my own poll. :wtf:

 

[grumpy1luvs2eat]

I was getting pretty ****y on my CB160 Honda back in '70. Thought that I could do anything on it. It had just rained and I was trying to get off the freeway(US 101) when I low sided at about 25 MPH. Wet road, with a film of oil. Just scabbed the bike, no real damage. But it took me quite a while to get over the shakes! I'm a LOT more careful in my "old age" now! GRUMPY

 

[CHEMIKER]

Owned bikes for a year and a half in the mid '90s and had the FZ6 for 4 months now and only had one low speed (0mph) drop, knock on wood.

How about you Steve, I didn't see your response. I know you had a low side recently but I don't know how long you've been riding and I don't know if that's your first crash.

 

[FZ1inNH]

It took a little over 4 years to crash for me. It was totally my own fault. I was a :squid: then.

It only took that once. Dad told me many times, "Experience is learning from your mistakes. Stupidity is making the same mistake twice." Wise man... :thumbup:

 

[DefyInertia]

I brought this up because Proficent Motorcycing said that the second year (sophmore year) of riding is the time most likely to crash due to overconfidence and pushing it.

I see that as very likely. The bahavior is key...when they behavior starts/stops will vary from person to person dependent on a million factors.

consider this, i had been riding about 4.5 years but only riding a modern sportbike "hard" for about 1 year...didn't quite realize I was riding over my head. then...SLAM! lowside

 

[reiobard]

no option for 4 years and no crashes yet...



Knock on wood...





Edit: I am shooting for the over 10 years and no crash, but not there yet...

 

[Denver_FZ6]

My MSF instructor has been riding for over 20 years, everything from choppers in high school to cruisers to sport bikes and no crashes. Obviously had some close calls through the years. The lesson I learned was not to push your limits on the street.

 

[dako81]

Umm, in my 3rd street year, no crashes/drops on the street. I crashed my dirtbike at about 4 years of experience. It was over a whoop right out of a tight, slower turn and the bike basically flew out from under me because I lost traction. Basically spinning the rear tire out of the turn kinda going sideways and it wouldn't straighten up and I "whooped" up sideways and there went the bike in a different direction than me.

 

[DefyInertia]

I crashed my dirtbike at about 4 years of experience.

I crashed my dirt bike 9 times the first day I had it...it was real sandy but the hills were very rutted, I was FULLY geared up (1pc track suit LOL), and I didn't hold back at all.

Bike was fine except for some tweaked bars...body was uber soar.

 

[VEGASRIDER]

Steve,

Not to sabatoge your post, I think it's a great poll. Howeverrrrr, wouldn't you think distance (miles or Kilometers) would be a better representation. There are many riders who will take a period of several years to ride over 12,000 - 15000 miles versus members such as you and me who ride over 12,000-15,000 miles in one year. Remember, the average rider has less than 3000 miles on their bike when they go down for the first time. From various crash posts that I have read in this forum, our average is much less than that figure. The likeliness of going down is much greater for a rider who rides every day versus a seosonal rider or weekend rider. Therefore, the amount of time spent on the saddle vs just overall dead time should be the factor. Just my opinion.

 

[jsteinb95]

Steve,

Not to sabatoge your post, I think it's a great poll. Howeverrrrr, wouldn't you think distance (miles or Kilometers) would be a better representation. There are many riders who will take a period of several years to ride over 12,000 - 15000 miles versus members such as you and me who ride over 12,000-15,000 miles in one year. Remember, the average rider has less than 3000 miles on their bike when they go down for the first time. From various crash posts that I have read in this forum, our average is much less than that figure. The likeliness of going down is much greater for a rider who rides every day versus a seosonal rider or weekend rider. Therefore, the amount of time spent on the saddle vs just overall dead time should be the factor. Just my opinion.

Good call Vegas! I've had my bike for a year and have only ridden around 1,300 miles.

 

[DefyInertia]

Steve,

Not to sabatoge your post, I think it's a great poll. Howeverrrrr, wouldn't you think distance (miles or Kilometers) would be a better representation. There are many riders who will take a period of several years to ride over 12,000 - 15000 miles versus members such as you and me who ride over 12,000-15,000 miles in one year. Remember, the average rider has less than 3000 miles on their bike when they go down for the first time. From various crash posts that I have read in this forum, our average is much less than that figure. The likeliness of going down is much greater for a rider who rides every day versus a seosonal rider or weekend rider. Therefore, the amount of time spent on the saddle vs just overall dead time should be the factor. Just my opinion.

There are flaws no matter how you measure it. To really get an idea you'd have to break it down by the type of riding and have all sorts of additional information such as weather...but then you'd ask yourself, what exactly am I trying to accomplish by analyzing all this?

 

[wrightme43]

I was just asking because it said in Proficient motorcycling. I probley skew the results all by myself. I meant I crashed with something like 27-28k miles experince.

 

[VEGASRIDER]

There are flaws no matter how you measure it. To really get an idea you'd have to break it down by the type of riding and have all sorts of additional information such as weather...but then you'd ask yourself, what exactly am I trying to accomplish by analyzing all this?

Well I think its a valid thread, just because the topic of a crash is in just about every riding book. I agree, there are many variables that will determine the likliness of a crash, like weather, racing, traffic, speed, or just riding style. But if you had to just pick only one, as somekind of barometer, I think distance is the best. Just like they use hours for flying, it's not how many years you've had your license.

 

[wrightme43]

The more I think on all that has been said this poll is a waste of time and doesnt matter. I will leave it up, and let it run just to see, but it really doesnt have much value.

 

[DefyInertia]

I'm with you Vegas, and im in no way challenging the validity of the thread. But even with an indepth study, all you end up with is some qualified generalization.

Tell you the truth though, I remember getting to the 6 month period (generally thought of as prime crashing territory) and making an extra effort to check myself.

 

[mikebike]

I have been riding the streets since I was 22 .....so .....that is 28 years and about 170,000 road miles---- never been down yet.

I had 17 years of dirt riding before that... yep started at about 5 years old on a mini bike

Now on the dirt --- I crashed a bunch... kind of on purpose.... you just keep going faster till ....ooops gues that was about as fast as that can be done for now.

THAT said... I do not ride very aggressively as the riders at the Gap Rally can attest to... maybe that has something to do with it