Why Bikes are NOT Toys: My Friend's Story

[Cyrus]

My friend has, well had, a really nice Honda CBR 600 motorcycle. He's the same guy who let me ride his bike. It was such a nice bike . Well, here is what it looks like after he wrapped it around a tree going 60 through my old neighborhood. He even got to spend his birthday in the hospital since he never wears his riding gear. He hit the ground so hard he punctured his liver. Now he can't drink or lift for a month, and he just turned 21

http://www.uploadfile.info/uploads/69930b10a2.jpg

http://www.uploadfile.info/uploads/0844814913.jpg

http://www.uploadfile.info/uploads/6a6b8702e0.jpg

The tree he hit going 60:

http://www.uploadfile.info/uploads/4c471b7f6c.jpg

He wrote "phi was here" on the tree and he put "I got F*&^ed up on my 21st birthday" on his profile...

 

[Pengwuino]

What a pointless thread

 

[scorpa]

Sounds like your friend was riding a bike that was to much for him and not being very responsible while he did it. It's to bad it had to happen but unfortunately things like that will happen when you are riding like an idiot. On a happier note I might be getting a harley sportster or a triumph america pretty soon and i am thrilled.

 

[wolram]

I put my stupidity down to falling off bikes to many times, g force on the brain. i hope your friend recovers soon Cyrus with no lasting ill effects, and to cheer him up tell him i will give him a fiver for what remains of his bike

 

[rcgldr]

How far off road was that tree? How did your friend manage to hit a tree? Was it due to taking a corner too fast?

Other than a rider with no experience, I don't believe in the concept of "too much" motorcycle, as there aren't any "trainer" bikes like the 125cc and 250cc bikes used by the Motorcycle Safety Foundation for sale any more. It may take a bit longer but a 600cc bike can go 100mph just like a 1300cc Hayabusa. It's more a case of "too little brain" than "too much bike".

Regarding Harleys, it's my opinion when the 1990's Harley craze started, that fatality rate went up because you had so many inexperienced riders, and many of them riding without helmets. Never been a Harley fan myself, as I liked my Norton 850 much more than a Sportster (the Norton was a bit quicker and cornered much better). The Sportster was good for shorter riders though, since the seat was very low to the ground.

I started riding back in the 1960's, starting with small motorcycles and working up to larger ones (90cc, 450cc, a Norton 850, then to Suzuki or Kawasaki 1100cc and now a 2001 Suzuki 1300cc Hayabusa). The main thing is to pay attention to the speedometer and realize that there are few places you can open up these bikes even in just the first two gears (the Hayabusa redlines at 81mph in 1st, 111mph in 2nd, 138mph in 3rd).

I'd recommend a MSF class for any new rider, just to get some seat time to learn the controls and how to steer (they teach counter-steering). The class is cheap, (cheaper than buying and selling some old small bike), so take it twice or talk to the instructor to get more seat time if you want.

 

[wolram]

How far off road was that tree? How did your friend manage to hit a tree? Was it due to taking a corner too fast?

Other than a rider with no experience, I don't believe in the concept of "too much" motorcycle, as there aren't any "trainer" bikes like the 125cc and 250cc bikes used by the Motorcycle Safety Foundation for sale any more. It may take a bit longer but a 600cc bike can go 100mph just like a 1300cc Hayabusa. It's more a case of "too little brain" than "too much bike".

Regarding Harleys, it's my opinion when the 1990's Harley craze started, that fatality rate went up because you had so many inexperienced riders, and many of them riding without helmets. Never been a Harley fan myself, as I liked my Norton 850 much more than a Sportster (the Norton was a bit quicker and cornered much better). The Sportster was good for shorter riders though, since the seat was very low to the ground.

I started riding back in the 1960's, starting with small motorcycles and working up to larger ones (90cc, 450cc, a Norton 850, then to Suzuki or Kawasaki 1100cc and now a 2001 Suzuki 1300cc Hayabusa). The main thing is to pay attention to the speedometer and realize that there are few places you can open up these bikes even in just the first two gears (the Hayabusa redlines at 81mph in 1st, 111mph in 2nd, 138mph in 3rd).

I'd recommend a MSF class for any new rider, just to get some seat time to learn the controls and how to steer (they teach counter-steering). The class is cheap, (cheaper than buying and selling some old small bike), so take it twice or talk to the instructor to get more seat time if you want.

I agree that training is paramount, but all the training in the world will not prevent the unpradictable, i came off a my bike on my home road, a route i must have used hundreds of times, a bend i was so so used to and could take at 60 mph easily, this one day the back end went and the the foot peg dug in lifting the back wheel from the road, can you steer away when you have the width of a brit a road, no chance

 

[Astronuc]

My friend has, well had, a really nice Honda CBR 600 motorcycle. He's the same guy who let me ride his bike. It was such a nice bike . Well, here is what it looks like after he wrapped it around a tree going 60 through my old neighborhood. He even got to spend his birthday in the hospital since he never wears his riding gear. He hit the ground so hard he punctured his liver. Now he can't drink or lift for a month, and he just turned 21

The tree he hit going 60:

He wrote "phi was here" on the tree and he put "I got F*&^ed up on my 21st birthday" on his profile...

Ouch. Your friend is very lucky he wasn't killed - lucky he didn't hit the tree head on. Hopefull he will be more careful in the future.

I hope he recovers soon.

A friend of a friend just lost his 15 year old son who was hit by a car. The young man was in a coma (with severe damage to the left hemisphere of his brain) for 5 days before he died. It is such a great loss for a parent.

 

[Chi Meson]

60 though a neighborhood? If it was my neighborhood, I think I would feel like finishing what the tree started.

I'm sorry to you, Cyrus, That your friend is hurt. I'm sorry for his parents and the rest of his family and all his other friends.
I have no sympathy for him though.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

He's lucky to be alive.

I used to ride, but now I prefer safer hobbies like Russian Roulette. Uncontrollable variables like oil slick roads, stalled cars, and reckless drivers brought enough close calls for my taste.

 

[Chi Meson]

... wreckless drivers brought enough close calls for my taste.

You know the wreckless drivers aren't the problem. I'm worried about the reckless ones.

Ha! I got it first!

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Darn, I hate it when I do that! Its about the third time now too, but in the past I caught it before anyone else did.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

I should say that I was riding in Los Angeles.

It might be okay around here. In fact Tsu and I have talked about getting a touring bike.

 

[turbo]

I've been riding for over 35 years with no intention of letting up. I've been down twice in all that time - both times on my Yamaha 350 R5, and both times due to an unintentional wheelies. That bike was very quick, but you had to keep the RPMs up in the power band. If you are under the power band and you open up the throttle, you are in for a big surprise when you hit the RPM range where that engine starts making a lot of torque (around 5000-6000 RPM depending on how you have the bike tuned). I got surprised a few times and eventually smartened up and kept the revs up all the time, except when putting through town. That 350 wasn't too much bike, but I had too little experience with such a high power-to-weight ratio combined with a quirky engine. A 350-450 4-stroke might have been a better first bike. It's not as if I didn't have the required riding skills - my friend and I rode our bikes 25 miles each way through slushy snow to take our road tests. When we got there, the inspector responsible for motorcycle exams said that he wouldn't give us our road tests due to road conditions. The other inspector said "they just rode 25 miles in these conditions - they can certainly handle an in-town road test". We got our licenses.

 

[turbo]

I should say that I was riding in Los Angeles.

That's another whole kettle of fish! I have biker friends that live in Quincy, Brockton, etc, south of Boston, and I WILL NOT visit them on my bike. Harleys are heavy and sturdy, but no match for any car with a nut behind the wheel, and the Boston area has the rudest, most irresponsible drivers in the country. When those guys want to put on some miles, they trailer their bikes to Maine, and my local friends and I plan some nice long rides through the mountains and woods, or maybe through rolling farm country in the east of the state. We always try to stop at some scenic spots along the way, and have experienced a lot of "firsts" - for them. First sighting of a moose, first sighting of a bald eagle, or the rarer golden eagle, etc. Several of the Mass bikers have moved to Maine, and couple more are thinking seriously about it.

 

[Cyrus]

It may take a bit longer but a 600cc bike can go 100mph just like a 1300cc Hayabusa.

100!? You know better than that. He has taken his bike up to 140mph, easily. A 1300cc Hayabusa would leave him in the dust. What's the top speed on yours, 180-190?

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Bikes are so incredible now. I've heard of few instances of newbies buying a bike, and it scares them so badly that they're selling it within the first month...if they haven't wrecked it.

 

[Danger]

Subtle, Ivan... very subtle.

 

[Hurkyl]

I agree that training is paramount, but all the training in the world will not prevent the unpradictable, i came off a my bike on my home road, a route i must have used hundreds of times, a bend i was so so used to and could take at 60 mph easily, this one day the back end went and the the foot peg dug in lifting the back wheel from the road, can you steer away when you have the width of a brit a road, no chance

Training can prevent most of it, though. For example, had you been trained to take bends at safe speeds, instead of speeds at which you were "capable"...

 

[rcgldr]

100!? You know better than that. He has taken his bike up to 140mph, easily. A 1300cc Hayabusa would leave him in the dust. What's the top speed on yours, 180-190?

True, even 60mph can get you killed, I was just pointing out that both can go 100 easily. Getting to 140mph on the 600 will take a lot longer than it will on the 1300cc Busa.

Top speed on the Hayabusa is about 192mph, but it's speed limited to 186mph (300kmh). This can be bypassed, but it's not an issue for me.

A 500+hp 2006 Z06 Corvette reaches about 125mph (11.7 seconds) in the 1/4 mile (good driver and track). With drag racing slicks on the Z06, 1/4 mile time drops to 11.2 seconds, top speed about 127mph (expert driver, good track). The Hayabusa, is doing about 118mph at the 1/8 mile, and 145mph at the 1/4 mile around 9.8 seconds with an expert and light rider. By strapping down the front, and adding struts to prevent rear suspension compression, 1/4 mile time is dropped to 9.5 seconds, 147mph.

Some speedometer comparasons of bikes and cars:

500+hp, 3150lb 2006 Z06 Corvette, 3310lbs with 160lb driver. Takes about 2 miles to get to 190mph. It's quick up to about 160mph in 4th gear, but once in 5th around 175mph the rate of acceleration is very slow.

z06190.wmv

175hp (160rwhp), 550lb Hayabusa, 710lbs with 160lb rider. With a high power to weight ratio, but relatively poor power to aerodynamic drag ratio, the bike pulls quickly to it's top speed in less than a mile. In this video it runs up to about 185mph (speedo in kmh, is a bit optimistic, showing equivalent of 190+mph).

busa185.wmv

Just for grins, a souped up but normally aspriated busa, doing 211mph (speedo shows 220):

busa211.wmv

Turbo busa doing a "flyby" at 235mph (measured trap speed).

busa235.wmv

Tiff mostly doing power slides in a Z06:

z065g.wmv

 

[twisting_edge]

Some speedometer comparasons of bikes and cars:

That's something a lot of people (esp. those driving extremely expensive BMWs) never seem to get: the bike will go fast sooner. Even an absolute trash bike like my 1978 CB550K would probably give most every musclecar out there a serious run for the first 50 mph or so.

I can't really say for certain how she'd do, since I am not stupid enough to go around racing people. But I do pull out of stoplights and stopsigns very hard: I like to keep a lot of clear room on my tail since I don't generally trust the jokers behind me to be paying attention. That's always my biggest fear: something I can't see. In general, if I can see it, I can handle it. That is a natural result of not riding like an idiot. But if I can't see it, there's nothing at all I can do about it.

 

[matthew baird]

60mph in a neighborhood? Not too smart lol. What I have done isn't smart either...hit 168 on I-15 on a honda RC-51 one night...There was zero traffic and I could see for miles ahead of me.(This is in the middle of Salt Lake City) I do not regret it whatsoever cause I loved it! Too much actually lol...wasn't the smartest decision though