Low-Side

[ArabicaMan]

Well, it happened.  This morning while out with a four other guys riding on a wonderful country road, I laid down my beautiful 2007 white-and-red S4Rs on a bend going about 60.  Here’s my recounting.

I was at the trailing position in our group of five; we were riding in stagger, and I was on the inside.  It was a spirited ride, but our speeds were appropriate for the road conditions and we were all riding within our limits (or so I thought).  My throttle hand was getting a bit numb, which is a fairly common thing for me on my Duck, so I’d hung back a bit to shake it out before we got to some choice twisty bits.  Stupidly, I then sped up to catch the group so by the time we got to the curves, I was probably going about 10mph faster than I should have been.  I caught the group right before we went into a left-hander, and I stayed on the inside of the lane (my position in the group).  I braked and then leaned into the turn, rolling on the throttle and counter-steering around the curve, but my speed and inside lane position pushed me farther toward the outside edge of the lane.  And then I hit the gravel.  The rear wheel sluiced, I reflexively came off the throttle, the bike sat up, then the rear wheel sluiced again as I started to run off the edge of the pavement.  Down we went, a classic low-side at about 60.  The bike ended up in a muddy culvert and I ended up beside it.

I really can’t tell you how fortunate I feel.  My Dainese leather jacket took the brunt of the slide, my Dainese gloves did their thing, my Sidi boots kept my sliding ankle in check, and my Shoei helmet gave itself up to protect my noggin.   I ended up with a reasonable scrape on the top of my right hand, a row of smaller scrapes on the underside of my left forearm, a abrasion on my left shoulder, and a plum-sized raspberry on my left hip.  Aside from some general soreness, that’s it.  The bike is another story, but it’s tough to tell since it’s covered in mud.  I think most of the damage is cosmetic, though it wouldn’t shift into gear and thus was dead on the side of the road (thank you, $261 tow service), but I’ll know more after my local Ducati dealer has a chance to tear into it this week.  But the bike can again be made pristine and I can replace the safety gear.  In the annals of motorcycle accidents, the gods were clearly smiling on me today.  (I’ve been injured much worse in bicycle racing accidents.)

So what did I learn?  Well, this was no one’s issue but my own.  I should have braked off more speed before entering the turn, I should have moved to the outside of the lane and ridden outside-inside on the curve, and I should have been more aware of the possibility of gravel being in the road (since we’d have heavy rains the night before).  And coming off the throttle in this situation just made it go from bad (but probably salvageable) to worse.  This lesson will surely cost me in terms of money and pride, but it will no doubt make me a better, more aware rider.  And the fact that I didn’t get hurt any worse is the most amazing fact of all.

Just wanted to share my experience with the group.  Ride safe. 

[TiNi]

sorry to hear about your low-side... i'm glad you're okay 
it was a right hander, did you actually end up going off the left side of the road?
you sound in good spirits, and the bike can be fixed.

thanks for sharing your story!

[ArabicaMan]

sorry to hear about your low-side... i'm glad you're okay 
it was a right hander, did you actually end up going off the left side of the road?
you sound in good spirits, and the bike can be fixed.

thanks for sharing your story!

Thanks for your comments, and you know, I can tell I'm a bit shaken' up still because my sense of direction isn't so great.  The bend was a left-hander; I went off the right side of the road.  (I corrected this in my message text.)

And for my spirits, I was actually more worried about how upset my wife would be (she weathered it fine).  Now, though, I'm just crushed that my beautiful, pristine Duck is all messed up.  But this too shall pass.  At least I'm not in traction (or worse).

[TiNi]

that's got to be tough on the wife... getting the news that you went down...
my fiancée and i both ride, and he used to be a little nervous riding with me...
he's better now, but in the beginning he was always watching out for me.

some of the best advice i ever received as a rider was...
ride your own ride.

[Xiphias]

Glad to hear you made it through. Hope you can get the bike back soon.

Best Wishes,

Rob

[topspin_flyer]

Glad to hear you are reasonably OK.  You need to know gravel can always surprise you so slow down when you cannot see around those turns.  Also, you need to think "late apex" which would likely have helped you in this situation, read some good books on technique while you are recovering and waiting to get back on the bike.  And no doubt this will make you a better rider, and you were very lucky as you mentioned.

[TCK!]

Sorry about the accident. The only part of this I don't get is the "I stayed on the inside of the lane (my position in the group)"

Was there someone to outside of you? On the freeway to and from rides, I know we do the staggered formation but in the twisites we spread out, and you shouldn't have to choose a bad line through a turn just to try and stay staggered.

[ArabicaMan]

Sorry about the accident. The only part of this I don't get is the "I stayed on the inside of the lane (my position in the group)"

Was there someone to outside of you? On the freeway to and from rides, I know we do the staggered formation but in the twisites we spread out, and you shouldn't have to choose a bad line through a turn just to try and stay staggered.

Now that is great advice and I will take that to heart.  I was trying to maintain position as if we were riding on the flats (because yes, there was someone on the outside), but as you say, in the twisties, single file and follow-your-line is the best approach.  Thanks for that reminder.

[somegirl]

Sorry to hear about your crash, but very glad you are ok, and learned from it.  

Good luck getting your bike fixed up.

[misti]

Now that is great advice and I will take that to heart.  I was trying to maintain position as if we were riding on the flats (because yes, there was someone on the outside), but as you say, in the twisties, single file and follow-your-line is the best approach.  Thanks for that reminder.

Very good point, I was going to ask the same question.  Also, glad to hear that you are OK and I appreciate the fact that you posted up your story so that others could learn from it, and especially the fact that you were able to recognize the cause of the accident and are prepared to not make the same mistake next time.  I hear a lot of riders tell stories about how they crashed on the street and it was no big deal, they hit gravel "Whatever" and when I ask what actually caused the incident they don't really seem keen on investigating WHY the crash happened.  So, good on you for recognizing that it was probably your lane positioning (if you turn in too early in a corner or you are too far to the inside then your line will tend to push wide on exit) and for admitting that you should have fallen out of formation and slowed your entry speed down a little!

Thanks and glad you are ok

Misti

[mossimo]

You mentioned you had Dainese jacket and gloves, sidi boots, but I am curious what pants you had on.  I tend to ride in jeans to much (all the other PPE though), the thought of going for a slide with jeans isn't a pleasant one.  Curious if they protected you enough or if you had something else on.

Glad you are ok!  

Your story reminds me a lot of my first low-side.  I was going 20 miles slower and ended up on the shoulder, not in a ditch!

[ScottRNelson]

Riding in staggered formation is for wide straight roads only.  Once you get to the twisty parts, it should be single file and two seconds distance (or more) between each bike.

On rides that I lead I remind those who haven't ridden with us before to ride their own ride and set their own comfortable speed through the twisty sections.  Trying to catch up in the turns is one of the leading causes of crashes similar to yours.

I know that it's often easier to just follow the guy in front of you, but it's easy to miss subtle differences in the line taken through a corner.  Entering too much on the inside of the curve, like you did, means that you need to make a tighter turn than if you had entered from the outside of the turn.

Now would be a good time to read Proficient Motorcycling by David L. Hough.  Read his second book, More Proficient Motorcycling after you get done with that one.  You'll have a much better understanding both of what you did wrong and how to make sure that it never happens again.

[ArabicaMan]

You mentioned you had Dainese jacket and gloves, sidi boots, but I am curious what pants you had on.  I tend to ride in jeans to much (all the other PPE though), the thought of going for a slide with jeans isn't a pleasant one.  Curious if they protected you enough or if you had something else on.

Glad you are ok!  

Your story reminds me a lot of my first low-side.  I was going 20 miles slower and ended up on the shoulder, not in a ditch!

I was wearing jeans (Lucky Brand to be precise).  Amazingly, they escaped the ordeal pretty much unscathed (aside from a rub mark on the hip which looks like it could have been there in the first place).  My hip underneath the jeans ended up with a raspberry the size of a really large plum but that was the extent of my lower-body injuries.  Honestly I'm quite amazed, though I imagine the fact that most of my sliding was done on gravel and then the grassy bank saved me through the jeans.  (Of special note is that my Sidi Vertigo Corsa boots kept my ankles in perfect shape; thank you Sidi!)

Thanks for the happy thoughts.  I'm feeling quite charmed about not getting injured any worse.

[ArabicaMan]

Riding in staggered formation if for wide straight roads only.  Once you get to the twisty parts, it should be single file and two seconds distance (or more) between each bike.

On rides that I lead I remind those who haven't ridden with us before to ride their own ride and set their own comfortable speed through the twisty sections.  Trying to catch up in the turns is one of the leading causes of crashes similar to yours.

I know that it's often easier to just follow the guy in front of you, but it's easy to miss subtle differences in the line taken through a corner.  Entering too much on the inside of the curve, like you did, means that you need to make a tighter turn than if you had entered from the outside of the turn.

Now would be a good time to read Proficient Motorcycling by David L. Hough.  Read his second book, More Proficient Motorcycling after you get done with that one.  You'll have a much better understanding both of what you did wrong and how to make sure that it never happens again.

You're observations are absolutely spot on, and now that I have a bit of time without my Duck (while it's getting patched up; sigh...), I'll buy the two Hough books you suggested and read them through and through.  Thanks for the recommendations.

[ArabicaMan]

UPDATE:  Well, it seems the cost of getting bushels of replacement parts from Italy has effectively rendered by beloved a total loss.  Totaled.  Kaput.  Fini.  So once the good folks at Progressive (who have been great to work with so far, by the way) settle up, I guess I'll be shopping for a new mount.  And since Ducati didn't supply a white-and-red S4Rs this year, I guess it'll be something different.  But that question is probably for another thread.  Cheers.