Dumping a motorcycle?

Question

I dumped my 1998 Suzuki Marauder 800 yesterday... Scraped chrome, broken headlamp and mirror, bruised knee, road rash... Not to mention a bruised ego. I was not driving like an idiot; I'm a relatively new rider. I just took a sharp turn too fast and ended up in the gutter on the other side of the road (I learned my lesson). I'm sore, but mainly angry that my bike is all scraped up. Any advice on how to deal with dumping your bike?

I took a rider safety course last summer...

I wore a leather jacket, but not any chaps. And yes, I had a helmet on as well.

Answer 1

One of the most common single vehicle accidents on a motorcyle is taking a turn too fast and going wide. Period!

A few things have to happen here if you are going to continue to pursue your riding experience safely. You will need more experience to determine your approach and entry speed. This takes time, you cannot rush this one. ALWAYS err on the side of reduced speed if unsure.

One of the ways to help determine your approach and entry speed is to look FAR into the turn.
Next, once you have commited to making the turn, do NOT fixate on any one object (the curb on the opposing side of the street?). If you feel you have entered the turn at too high of a speed, have some confidence in you and the machine. Look at it this way, you have told us you are a relatively new rider, I will guess at this point you have not had a lean angle that has scraped your pegs or your pipe. Just look and press harder, no more throttle, no less throttle, you might be surprized.

By trying to adjust your speed slower while making the turn has an adverse effect on your bikes stability. As you slow, the natural tendancy for the bike is to STRAIGHTEN up, something that will cause the turn to inevitably go wide.

I'm glad to hear that it's only some scrapes and bruises and some needed repairs on your bike. On coming traffic would have been another story all together.

Fixing your bike is a bonding experience, take your time, heal up (both of you) and ride another day!

Take it slower, seat time will give you experience and help you relax a bit. Remember, where ever you look; is where you will go.

Answer 2

1

Answer 3

If it rides, get your butt back on it. Then take a riders course. I've taken two. After that if you like, keep going.
We've all done it. I ran smack into the "Welcome to West Bloomfield" sign when I was 17.
I hope you were wearing a helmet.
This is not supposed to be offensive, just practical. I wish to god I had the cash to take the road racing and experienced riders course. I try to take a safety refresher every 5 years or so. I work with a guy who is an instructor.
Replace the headlamp, get the fairings repainted, and keep riding. If you stop, you will regret it forever.

If you read the responses, you will notice that we all have an ego deflater once in awhile. Keeps you sharp. You are not alone. That's the reason that my daily commute is an XS400. I park next to bikes worth 5000 more and looking every penny. Take a deep breath and remember you'll have something cool to talk about on dates.

Answer 4

Riders will tell you. There are two kinds of riders; ones who have dropped their bikes and those who are going to drop their bikes. If you ride, it will happen. Don't let anyone tell you that they've never dropped their bike; they are either lying or they've only ridden 500 ft....The main thing is A) Take a riding course. They give you information you just don't learn on your own, even people who have been riding for a long time, and B) wear the proper gear. We watched a motorcyclist in Florida (driving too fast for conditions) run into the back of a mini-van. Because he was wearing a helmet, when he whacked his head on the mini-van he got up and shook it off instead of sustaining a brain injury.

Answer 5

The best way to deal with it is chalk it up as a lesson learned. You'll know better next time you go into a sharp turn. You learned you're lesson and walked away from it. Your bike can be fixed, a loss of life can't be. So I know you're p.o.'d about the bike, I've been their myself. But you walked so, so just be happy with that. Be careful next time you ride, you'll be a little gun shy. Go for an easy, short ride until that feeling goes away. Ride confident but not cocky.

Answer 6

I've been riding for over 40 years. I tell everyone who ever asks, if you ride long enough you're going down. In 40 years, I've been down about 5 times. The key is I walked away from every one of them. I agree with Brandon, take a motorcycle safety course ASAP. They even have advanced courses that help with advanced riding. Enjoy yourself, be safe and keep the rubber side down.

Answer 7

You survived, and didn't break any bones. Things like this have happened to me too, and will happen again (so my next bike is getting crash guards).

Get up, hit the "off" switch on your motorcycle's handlebars. Dust yourself off, enlist the help of the bystanders in getting your motorcycle back on its wheels. Check to see that things haven't leaked too much. Check the battery compartment too, if that's easily accessible; I carry paper towels with me just in case I have to wipe up an acid spill.

Turn 'er on, put 'er in neutral, see if she starts, and ride off. Spend the next week buying whichever lever and mirror and turn signal that snapped off, and installing them.

Edit: What Lubers said too. I forgot about that. Couple of times when I went over, the motorcycle's front wheel got twisted out of alignment with the rear. Cheap fix, just loosened the tubes from the triple tree and eyeballed it with the help of a couple of boards.

Answer 8

It's great to hear that you walked away. The best thing you can do is get back up on the bike. We have all either done or will do it. First, get your bike in and get it inspected to make sure there is no hidden damage, the wheels are aligned and things like that.

Answer 9

yea, just get over it, and take it as a life lesson. you'll know not to do that again. its like riding a horse, if you get thrown off, you get up, dust yourself off and get back on again and RIDE! oh yea, and get a good pair of riding leathers!!! you'll never have road rash again! you say you weren't riding like an idiot, but in fact you were.. you did not wear any type of leathers to save your butt.. sorry, had to get that out. i have a suzuki katana 750 and i wear a full leather riding suit, so if i happen to go down i wont get any road rash.. just a sore ego and some bruises and some sore bones.. hope that helped out!

Answer 10

if you aint wrecking you aint riding. everybody has accidents i just hope there are no major injuries as long as you learn from your mistake and go on to make your self a better rider your doing good [just look at the pro's they wreck too]