From @wantonlywindswept

@prettyarbitrary a bit randomly, have you ever been in a crash? My SIL has always said that she never knew a biker who HADN’T been in one (even minor), so I was wondering if the trend held.

Yep, I have!  They’ve all been low-speed crashes: mostly falling over for one reason or another while coming to a stop, although with time I’ve gotten good at slipping out from under before I went over with the bike.  It’s not great for the bike to fall over, of course, but it pretty much inevitably happens to them sometimes.  And with a light bike, even if you tip over with it, this isn’t much different than falling over on a bicycle.  I gave myself a second degree burn on the muffler one time when I fell over with the bike and my pant leg rode up.

The worst crash I’ve been in was still a low-speed one.  My dad was riding pillion while I was still learning.  He was significantly heavier than me, and one time he tried to lean in a different direction than I was going and it tipped the bike over while I was going about 15 mph.  That one did mess up my knee a bit.  (Although ironically it’s the other knee that has continued to bother me over the years, and I messed that one up on a bicycle.)

That kind of stuff happens a lot when you’re still learning, and mostly sorts itself out with experience.  Also, taking the Basic Rider Course from the Motorcycle Safety Foundation is a really fantastic way to minimize such fuck-ups.  They really teach you how to control your bike, minimize your stupid decisions, and be aware of dangers on the road.

from Tumblr http://ift.tt/2nPIyiM

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *