Two close calls in two days

[BamaJohn]

On this past weekend's 3 day ride, I had two Karma alerts:  On Sunday, when starting off from a traffic light in Waynesville NC...boom!...hit from behind by a SUV. Knocked me about 6' forward, but fortunately, I didn't go down, and appears to be very minor damage to the bike (busted tail light assembly, and a couple of minor issues), and more damage to her SUV than my bike.  The brunt of the hit was taken by my rear tire, which melted the plastic on her spoiler, and she had some hood damage.  This one happened about 3 miles from the motel, after a 250 mile riding day.  One might say that was the best possible outcome from getting rear-ended.

 

Then, on Monday, near the Talladega Speedway on Hyw 77 (about 15 miles from home),  a Camaro decided that 2 lanes on his side weren't enough and pulled out from my right, across one lane on my side and head-on into my lane.  It's pretty amazing how quickly a wethead RT can drop from 60 to 0 mph!  I had just topped a hill and had a truck on my right, and swerving into the oncoming lanes was not an option, so no escape route.   At the last second, the Camaro swerved into his lane, and the Lexus behind me was able to stop too.  My trousers have been laundered and are ready to go again.

 

Think I'll go buy a lottery ticket......

[Rougarou]

Hmmm,.....something's trying to tell you something!!!

[mickeym3]

Thankful you escaped, hope the SUV owner was ticketed. BTW, if you buy a lottery ticket you’ve made bad become worse. 

[TEWKS]

Park the bike for a day, take a long walk and think about what makes you alive in life. Betting the first thing that comes to mind is “how much walking sucks”  Second will be, where’s my motorcycle! 
 

I say shake it off, have the bike looked at for damage and then find a quiet back road to recapture your mojo! 
 

Glad you’re ok! 

[AZgman]

Yep, take a time-out to reflect and decompress. Glad you are OK!

[roadscholar]

Bummer John but glad you’re ok, I hate being a sitting duck like that, at least if you’re moving you have half a chance. There are so many bozos on the road these days it requires constant vigilance. Visibility can help, maybe one of those strobe brake lights but heck I’ve heard of idiots running into police cars while the lights are flashing. Maybe a GS is in order and take up an interest in forestry : )

 

And in rear enders why does the hitter usually  take the brunt of the damage. When I was a teenager I was hit at a traffic light by a kid in an old full size Dodge, I was in a Corvette conv, punted me across the intersection but no visible damage, front of the Dodge was torn up, grill, radiator, hood buckled. What are the physics, kinetic energy, equal and opposite reaction, an object in motion?

[MikeB60]

Glad things turned out OK!

[Skywagon]

1 hour ago, roadscholar said:

What are the physics, kinetic energy, equal and opposite reaction, an object in motion?

Phone call for Mitch

[BamaJohn]

7 hours ago, mickeym3 said:

Thankful you escaped, hope the SUV owner was ticketed. BTW, if you buy a lottery ticket you’ve made bad become worse. 

(I've never actually bought a lottery ticket)

 

7 hours ago, TEWKS said:

Park the bike for a day, take a long walk and think about what makes you alive in life. Betting the first thing that comes to mind is “how much walking sucks”  Second will be, where’s my motorcycle! 
 

I say shake it off, have the bike looked at for damage and then find a quiet back road to recapture your mojo! 
 

Pat:  I rode the bike 311 miles back home the next day, so only shook it off overnight!  

 

And thanks, Jim, AZgman, Bill and Mike!  All's good!  

[BamaJohn]

8 hours ago, Rougarou said:

Hmmm,.....something's trying to tell you something!!!

 

I had that ghostly feeling, like the Rougaroux was stalking me, or the Banshee was tuning up...but I'm not quite ready for their visit!  

[wbw6cos]

John, I am glad you came out of those sitautions okay.   Stay safe.   

[TEWKS]

1 hour ago, BamaJohn said:

I had that ghostly feeling, like the Rougaroux was stalking me

Unrelated to close calls but a “ghostly feeling” story. Was really freaky, actually. My partner at work and I graduated HS together way back in 83. Anyhow, every now and again we play the “do you remember this guy or that girl name game.. So last week I mention this kid’s name I remembered well because he unfortunately got picked on. Ten minutes (10 minutes) after I mentioned this guys name we got a call for a 56 y/o male with arm pain. We get there and I walk through the door and who is the patient? The guy I just mentioned that I hadn’t seen or heard from in almost 40 years. 
 

Oh, have it on good authority that Rougarous’ only stalk bad guys with AK-47s.  

[RandyShields]

Wow, scary ride report!  Glad no injuries and no major bike damage.  They would surely have shaken me up.

 

[RandyShields]

And, technically, one close call and one contact experience.

[BamaJohn]

1 hour ago, RandyShields said:

And, technically, one close call and one contact experience.

Yessir, surely was...

[Rinkydink]

My father always told me...”son, it turns to shit real quick.” Glad you’re ok!!!

[TEWKS]

44 minutes ago, Rinkydink said:

My father always told me...”son, it turns to shit real quick.” 

Yeah, it’s never gradual. 

[Rob Nowell]

Good to hear you're alright.  I hope the Camaro gets sideswiped by a garbage truck in a hit & run.

[Red]

Glad to hear you made it through all that uninjured, even if you bike is not pristine anymore.  I am considering getting 'dash cams' front and rear for just such experiences.  In the rear ending case, you'd have good evidence in the event her insurance balks.  In the oncoming traffic situation, it might yield a legible license plate # so you could report it to police.

[MachineJoe]

Glad you’re ok John

[MichiganBob]

Wow ... your escape must be due to clean living -- no other possible explanation.

 

Not that anything might have helped what happened to you but this is my fourth RT but first with Denali Fours lights on the front forks, Admore lighting in the rear, and moto reflective decals on bags and rear fender. At 72, my reflexes are not as good as they were and I want to maximize probabilities that I will be seen. No guarantees, just playing the odds.

 

Stay safe John.

[BrianM]

On 6/1/2021 at 8:44 AM, roadscholar said:

And in rear enders why does the hitter usually  take the brunt of the damage. When I was a teenager I was hit at a traffic light by a kid in an old full size Dodge, I was in a Corvette conv, punted me across the intersection but no visible damage, front of the Dodge was torn up, grill, radiator, hood buckled. What are the physics, kinetic energy, equal and opposite reaction, an object in motion?

 

The physics?

BTW I am a physicist, so I will fill in for Mitch.

 

All collisions conserve (linear) momentum (mass times velocity).

Kinetic energy is only conserved in elastic collisions. Car collisions are not elastic, they are inelastic collisions - kinetic energy is lost in these collisions. The energy to damage the vehicles has to come from someplace - overall energy (all types including work done) is still conserved.

 The forces on both vehicles is the same - Newton's third law.

An object in motion - inertia really doesn't have much to do with collisions.

 

Not sure how often the hitter takes more damage. It is more a  matter of the vehicles involved. Perhaps the front of vehicles are "softer" than the rear.

[roadscholar]

1 hour ago, BrianM said:

 

Not sure how often the hitter takes more damage. It is more a  matter of the vehicles involved. Perhaps the front of vehicles are "softer" than the rear.

 

Thanks for the insight but it's why I used that example, it was an early 60's full size Dodge built like a tank with a huge front chrome/steel bumper. The Vette was fiberglass with puny bumperettes on each rear corner. No damage to the Vette, the Dodge took considerable damage to the front end. I saw it coming in the mirror but with no time to react. I'm sure the clutch was in and possibly brake off don't remember but might explain why I was catapulted across the intersection (btw it was at the entrance to the tunnel at Daytona Intnl Speedway headed west on US92). It was just a mystery why the heavy car took all the damage and the flimsy one had none. 

[BrianM]

18 minutes ago, roadscholar said:

 

Thanks for the insight but it's why I used that example, it was an early 60's full size Dodge built like a tank with a huge front chrome/steel bumper. The Vette was fiberglass with puny bumperettes on each rear corner. No damage to the Vette, the Dodge took considerable damage to the front end. I saw it coming in the mirror but with no time to react. I'm sure the clutch was in and possibly brake off don't remember but might explain why I was catapulted across the intersection (btw it was at the entrance to the tunnel at Daytona Intnl Speedway headed west on US92). It was just a mystery why the heavy car took all the damage and the flimsy one had none. 

Perhaps because the hitter is probably on the brakes, there is an additional force due to friction from the brakes (tires on ground - not free to roll) so the force is causing damage rather than accelerating the vehicle ( changing kinetic energy). Since the Vette shot across the intersection, the force went more towards changing kinetic energy (accelerating) rather than doing damage. If you had been hard on the brakes, the car probably would have had more damage.