Slow Learner on Board

[MrHondamatic]

We took our second Friday Off Work ride of '06 last week. Participating was the basic group of four, including myself, and one new to our group rider. Wouldn't you know it, the fifth rider of the group, the new guy with a fair amount of experience, goes off roading. Wiped out the bike pretty good as well as his shoulder. We spent time with the county LEO's, EMT's, roll back driver, and finally ER staff. An ACE tear is all the damage done, but he will need corrective surgery. Low speed, lots of grass and soft dirt/mud, makes for a softer landing.

 

It was at this point, the rest of us start discussing limiting who will be riding with us. I suppose we should have done this sooner, like the spring of '05 when we had a Wing rider hit the dirt, but we were hesitant to exclude anyone. Out of four rides, we have two crashes too many, so the four of us who have made up the core group pulled the plug on the open invitation.

 

We have decided to include one other rider who rode with us this spring, since he has proven capable. We may include others from time to time, but only after one of the five can vouch for them. We do not ride hard or take chances, but a few riders are giving the group a bad name. Since we all work at the same place, we really don't need the bad press, but most of all we don't want to see folks getting hurt.

 

Some of you suggested this in the past, and now we have done it. Slow learners indeed.

[Huzband]

I'm always sorry to hear of a rider going down, no matter how experienced, or not, the person is.

 

But I understand the dilema your group has faced. I think, in this day & age, sometimes we're just a little too PC minded for our own good.

 

Kudos for having the guts to do what you need to, for your own sake, & that of others.

[WayneM]

As you pointed out, sometimes 'experienced' riders go down.

 

Before banning this rider to the hell of 'he'll never rider with us again', I would have a closer look at what went wrong to cause the accident.

 

Was it due to rider ineptitude, a 'brain fart', or an unanticipated factor beyond his control.

 

If he trully is an 'experienced rider', a closer look at his riding habits and attitudes is in order before jumping to conclusions he is too much of a risk.

 

Wayne

[MrHondamatic]

The rider in question claims to have ridden for many years. Although after working at the same company with him for 20 years, this is the first summer we have seen him on a bike. Maybe he just didn't ride to work before, or maybe he is full of... Don't know, so I won't say.

 

He did take the outside line in a left hander and may have wandered too far outside that line where a road crossed at the start of the sweeping turn, only to find himself riding the stripe at the edge, with no room to spare. When he saw he was in trouble, he straightened up the bike and attempted to ride it off the edge of the road and onto the shoulder, where he planned to gather it up and ride back onto the road. (his explanation) Definitely the wrong spot to be in, regardless of experience level. There was a good drop from the pavement to the shoulder of 4-5 inches that had a fresh gouge in it, heading straight to the scuff marks in the grass that his bike made. It appears that something on his cruiser dug in and caused the bike to flip over. Luckily he was only going about 50 or less, in a spot that I had just rode through at 60. He was bringing up the rear and was puposely slowing down for corners.

 

We may let him ride with us again, but it will be a group decision. I'm not opposed to giving him a second chance, but I want the rest of the riders to feel the same. We will cross that bridge when we come to it next season.

 

From now on, anyone riding with us will have to have the blessing of one of the group. No more, come one come all open invitation.

[WeirdHarold]

A suggestion:

 

Perhaps your group should plan the next ride in a parking lot, and make a rule that no one may join the group until he/she has been on a "parking lot ride". This will

• give the whole group a chance to refresh their skills
• Promote the idea that your group is serious about safety
• Give the core group a relatively safe way to evaluate potential new members
• Give the core group an excuse to reject potential members who do not possess basic slow-speed manoevering skills, or who not think that parking lot practice is important.

Perhaps a half-hour in the parking lot should be planned at the beginning of EVERY group ride.

 

 

Don

[Paul De]

Years of riding does not always equal extensive riding skills. I have observed plenty of "been riding for 20 years" riders who basically went into arrested development after they figured out how to use the clutch, shifter and rear break. I'm always skeptical until I ride behind them for a while and let them lead.

[rocks]

Luckily he was only going about 50

 

That's a low speed get off?

Maybe on the track it is but in street conditions 50 will hurt ya...

[MrHondamatic]

Luckily he was only going about 50

 

That's a low speed get off?

Maybe on the track it is but in street conditions 50 will hurt ya...

 

60, 70, or faster might have sent him flying much further, so 50 was OK in this case.

 

Where he went off was more like a track turn than a typical street/road. It was a very large ditch with gently sloping sides, lots of grass, and soft earth from the recent rains. The only obstacle was a few well spaced signs on steel posts indicating a curve. He missed the signs and landed in the grass and mud. If you had to get off, this was the place to do it. Further down the road it would have been trees, rocks, fences, etc, and gotten real ugly in a hurry.

[MrHondamatic]

Here is the place it happened. Coming from the upper right on IN 44 and heading west/southwest, he went off the the road just past the intersection of Hospital drive. You can see from this, that it is a decreasing radius turn, so that may have come into play as well.

[ShovelStrokeEd]

Jeebus, That ain't much of a curve.

 

Betcha target fixation and fear of lean both played a role in that crash. Wouldn't be at all surprised if tight arms didn't have something to say as well. I hate the thought of anyone biting it but, from what I see there, 45 mph should have been no problem, nor should twice that on a bike with decent ground clearance and a rider who knows how to manage weight distribution.

[MrHondamatic]

And it's banked pretty nice too, which requires less lean angle. My 30 year old Honda rolled through at 60, so any other modern bike should have done as well, if not better. Definitely rider error.

[AviP]

I'm usually the group leader (because I do all the planning, maps, blah) when I go riding but I'm the worst because while I expect others to stay in line behind me, I can't seem to control my testosterone when I see the twisties, gravel roads or rain. So I ride at hair-raising speeds and then wait for the rest to show up. This sometimes forces the inexperienced behind me to speed up and create a dangerous situation.

 

I'm going back to solo riding which I'm quite comfortable with having done it for most of 20 years.

[redryder]

"Most" of my riding buddies are experienced and capable, and my favorite riding buddy is also an RT owner and we match each other move for move when we ride. I don't mind him tucking up into fingertip position when we hit the twisties. One of my newer riding buddies is an old friend who is just getting into bike riding. He did take the MSF course and got his license from their program. He is also a hard core "Harley only" rider. And since he doesn't have his own bike yet he has to rent a bike each time we ride. So far, since getting his license, he has a grand total of 9 days riding experience, all on rented machines and almost a different bike each day we ride. Because of this, when I ride with him, I change my mindset considerably, yet happily. I don't want him to get hurt, but he needs to get the experience. We don't ride nearly as hard as I would like to, but we ride as hard as HE wants to. When I see a potential hazard coming up (like rain, heavy traffic, challenging road, gravel, sand, etc.) I try to stop and let him know what we're about to get into. I also try to take the time to give him pointers and advice on how to handle the situation. But I never, and I mean NEVER place him in a position where I think he may get in over his abilities. We stop and talk often, and I always keep his limited skill in mind. We don't ride hard, but we do ride long. We have logged 300 miles in one day before; not a bad day on an RT, but a pretty good days ride on a rented Harley with little experience.

 

All that being said, I'm always willing to ride with my Harley buddy and we always have a good time. But I'm not sure I'd invite him to ride with a more aggresive group.