La Porte bit me yesterday...

I dun tossed mah shit down La Porte road yesterday, but dunno wut happened?
I rode some real gnarly, bumpy, dirty, goaty, logging roads, ‘n made it through the more “technical” parts of La Porte fine, but then while cruz’in, take’in it easy a few miles outside Quincy the next thing I know, I’m slide’in, roll’in, and bounce’in across the road.

I’d been riding 4 long, hard hrs, w/ only one break ta pee, wolf down a granola bar, ‘n a small bottle of Gatorade ‘bout 2 hrs before the get off.
It was basically a sweeping right hander (“F” on the map I think?) at about 55, ‘n I’m not even sure if I high sided, or low sided? I thought I lowsided, but I cut my left palm, broke my left little pinky finger, and the left side of the bike’s worse, and it all happened past the apex.
I know I didn’t fly through the air like the GP guys, but the rear mighta broke loose, came ‘round ‘n flopped on the left side? The bike ended up on the right shoulder, ‘n I ended up in the ditch, a ways down the left side of the road. (Luckily there were no oncoming cars/trucks or I wouldn’t be around to annoy y’all! )

There was some gravel in the corner, but I’d been riding gravely roads for the last 4 hrs. And at that speed, in that corner, it shouldn’t have been an issue.
I’m thinking maybe I was just plumb tucked out, and maybe kinda had my elbows “locked” instead be’in relaxed, ‘n letting the bike do it’s thing? (Like I always preach.)
Also, I mounted a set of PRIIIs ‘bout 1,400 mi. ago, ‘n have hated ‘em every mi. since. With the PRIIs, I’d counter steer, the bike falls into the corner, and turns. With the PRIIIs, the bike turns in slower, ‘n I have to keep pushing the inside bar to keep the bike turning. I cranked some preload into the rear, and that helped a little. They remind me of mah ’86 FJ1200 w/ 16” wheels; the bike always wanted to “stand up” in the corners.

A nice man ‘n his wife (From Calistoga) dun stopped, and helped me get the pig upright, rip off the flopping bits, and pry the fairing frame out so’z I could ride the thing away.
Hell, maybe I should take up golf?



Hummmm, sumpin ain't right here?






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Well Andy, I guess we have something else in common - a mystery crash on LaPorte Road. What were you doing with the throttle when you lost it?

FWIW, tzrider helped me diagnose my crash.

Glad you're OK and glad you were well enough to ride the bike home.

How gravel in a sweeping 55mph right hander is dismissed as being possibly the main contributor of the crash is puzzling to me.

As a 'Stich owner, how'd it hold up?

Nice phantom BARF salute!

Did it break loose after the apex, when you gave it throttle, when you turned in, or . . .?

Hi all, this is CA, and you know the drill - if your post isn't crash analysis, it's going to be removed.

So Andy, what were you doing with the throttle when you lost traction?

Big Time Bummer BB!
Whatever happened can be tough to analyze from damage to a bike. You indicated that there was damage to both sides of the bike but that the left side is worse, right?
In a simple lowside to the right, the bike would most likely slide on its right side and have continued on down the road in the same trajectory as you did, that being across the road.
However, if the rear indeed begin to come around on you, it could have tossed you to the left as it stood up momentarily before it slammed onto its left, then flopped over to the right when it hit road's edge.
In simple lowsides one usually end's up very near their bike. in high sides you often seperate in two different directions, but that's no guarantee or hard rule. I have seen bikes do a lot of weird things in falls, including riding on down the road all by themselves for a quartermile after a down! As said, its tough to give an absolute analysis based on bike damage alone and often the simple lowside can actually produce more damage than the mega high side.

GAJ said:

Glad you're OK and glad you were well enough to ride the bike home.

How gravel in a sweeping 55mph right hander is dismissed as being possibly the main contributor of the crash is puzzling to me.

As a 'Stich owner, how'd it hold up?

Click to expand...

The 'Stitch held up great, 'n all the pad'in did itz job! one seem blew, but there wuz still another layer of protection underneath. Mah BUILT gloves held up well too. Got one little wear through spot, butt all the seems held up. And Erin, you'll be happy ta know them cowboy bootz dun held up fine also. arty

flying_hun said:

Hi all, this is CA, and you know the drill - if your post isn't crash analysis, it's going to be removed.

So Andy, what were you doing with the throttle when you lost traction?

Click to expand...

Not sure wut I wuz do'in w/ the throttle, butt see'in I wuz 'bout 2/3 of the way trough the corner, I shoulda been on the gas. Butt, I was just cruzing, not hard on the gas or brakes. Back in the "forest section" I wuz on the gas rail'in, butt ya know, for the few miles before Quincy there's houses here 'n there, so I took it down a couplea notches.

horsepower said:

Big Time Bummer BB!
Whatever happened can be tough to analyze from damage to a bike. You indicated that there was damage to both sides of the bike but that the left side is worse, right?
In a simple lowside to the right, the bike would most likely slide on its right side and have continued on down the road in the same trajectory as you did, that being across the road.
However, if the rear indeed begin to come around on you, it could have tossed you to the left as it stood up momentarily before it slammed onto its left, then flopped over to the right when it hit road's edge.
In simple lowsides one usually end's up very near their bike. in high sides you often seperate in two different directions, but that's no guarantee or hard rule. I have seen bikes do a lot of weird things in falls, including riding on down the road all by themselves for a quartermile after a down! As said, its tough to give an absolute analysis based on bike damage alone and often the simple lowside can actually produce more damage than the mega high side.

Click to expand...

As I try ta go over the events in mah twisted little mind, I keep see'in a low side, but low side'in 2/3 on the way through the corner don't make no sense. I wish I stayed at the scene and tried ta figure everythang out, but the survival mode kicked in, and I just wanted to figure out how ta get me 'n the bike outta there; for cheap!
The bike 'n I coulda bean slide'in the same direction, then it caught on the wheels, ghost rode then flopped the other side?

Another interesting tidbit; I noticed mah left fork wuz bleed'in, 'n now I'm wonder'in if'n I blew that seal shortly after the new tires, and lacked rebound damping? (That would explain why the bike hasn't wanted ta turn w/ the PRIIIs.) I wuz think'in that the front end felt "boingy" and considered, pulling over to crank in sum rebound damping, figured I'd do it on mah lunch break in Quincy.
Look'in back, I think it wuz a lot of little thangs that contributed to the crash. a little exhaustion, a little gravel, a little complacency, a little off on set up...

Got a lifelong friend who lives in Berry Creek, (next to Lake Oroville, just couple miles North of the road you bailed on.) He's just off of "Quincy/Oroville Hwy" & he told me the county tarred & chipped all those roads back in the spring this year.

Maybe you found some leftover gravel?

Being an inside turn, maybe gravel kicked out from the trucks an RV's cuttin the corner?

Bummer, sorry to hear about your crash.

Banjoboy said:

Look'in back, I think it wuz a lot of little thangs that contributed to the crash. a little exhaustion, a little gravel, a little complacency, a little off on set up...

Click to expand...

That's my guess.

You were tired, you had slowed from a spirited pace to a more relaxed pace as the fun part was over and you were just cruising back to 70. With this lowered speed came lowered concentration. Some gravel had been kicked into the road by a truck from the inside of the corner (it always ends up just past the apex). One or more of your tires lost traction through the gravel, hooked up again once through it and tossed you over on the left side. You didn't get tossed in the air like the MotoGP guys because your lean angle and speed weren't that extreme.

Banjoboy said:

but I cut my left palm, broke my left little pinky finger,

Click to expand...

Banjoboy said:

Mah BUILT gloves held up well too. Got one little wear through spot, butt all the seems held up.

Click to expand...

Doesn't sound like a great review to me.

Sorry to hear it. Your FJ has sort of a sheepish expression now.

What was your line through the corner?

What did you do pre-turn, brake or just roll off the gas?

Did you walk over through the corner and look for clues? Did you take any pics of the corner? Where you trail braking? Info we need more info.

thedub said:

Bilt gloves...

Doesn't sound like a great review to me.

Click to expand...

Agree. You should be able to slide on your hands at 100 mph with no damage to your skin if they are quality gloves.

More clues such as are mentioned above by OuutaControl would have helped to obtain a better analysis but as agreed, both you and your bike sounded a little off that day.

Banjoboy said:

I wish I stayed at the scene and tried ta figure everythang out, but the survival mode kicked in, and I just wanted to figure out how ta get me 'n the bike outta there; for cheap!

Click to expand...

Outta Control said:

Did you walk over through the corner and look for clues? Did you take any pics of the corner? Where you trail braking? Info we need more info.

Click to expand...

I think we already got all the info there is. I fear this mystery will never be solved to satisfaction.

Thanks y'all.

EastBayDave said:

Got a lifelong friend who lives in Berry Creek, (next to Lake Oroville, just couple miles North of the road you bailed on.) He's just off of "Quincy/Oroville Hwy" & he told me the county tarred & chipped all those roads back in the spring this year.

Maybe you found some leftover gravel?

Click to expand...

terdog55 said:

Being an inside turn, maybe gravel kicked out from the trucks an RV's cuttin the corner?

Click to expand...

Yeah the road wuz gravely, butt once again, mah speed 'n lean angle weren't much, so it shouldn't have bean a factor; I wuz ride'in on gravel all day, hard on the gas, hard on the brakes. arty

thedub said:

Bummer, sorry to hear about your crash.



That's my guess.

You were tired, you had slowed from a spirited pace to a more relaxed pace as the fun part was over and you were just cruising back to 70. With this lowered speed came lowered concentration. Some gravel had been kicked into the road by a truck from the inside of the corner (it always ends up just past the apex). One or more of your tires lost traction through the gravel, hooked up again once through it and tossed you over on the left side. You didn't get tossed in the air like the MotoGP guys because your lean angle and speed weren't that extreme.

Doesn't sound like a great review to me.

Click to expand...

Well, since imma cheap bastard, 'n the glovers were like $35 it iz.
One thing I do know iz the bike came to rest on it's right side, so I prolly did do sum kinda high side action?

smm said:

Sorry to hear it. Your FJ has sort of a sheepish expression now.

What was your line through the corner?

What did you do pre-turn, brake or just roll off the gas?

Click to expand...

Good line through the corner, if'n I wuz on the gas or brakes at all, it wasn't much. Once again, I wuz just cruise'in.

Outta Control said:

Did you walk over through the corner and look for clues? Did you take any pics of the corner? Where you trail braking? Info we need more info.

Click to expand...

No! Look'in back, I wish I'd examined the accident scene better, but I wuz in the survival mode, 'n figure'in out how ta get home. (280 mi. away)
I did look back, 'n all I could see wuz where we hit the ground; I didn't see any skid mark where the rear spun up, or the front plowed.
I'mma gonna examine the bike fer deer hair later today. If one jumped out in front of me, I woulda seen it, butt wut if one hit me from the side?

Might of went wide on a close radius rut? kinda like hitting tracks at the wrong angle.

Well, i'm no crash forensics expert, but if you rode that bitch 300 miles after a 50 someodd mph crash you get the Real Man Award

Def sounds like the complacency one can get under on a road you know like the back of your hand combined with some surface junk...i was sleepwalkriding recently on a road i'm on every day and hit a huge slick of glycol on dark new asphalt so it didn't stand out and i almost slid standing up right into heavy, fast cross traffic.

Or waaaiiit a minute...you have a car tire on the back, don't you?

Banjoboy said:

Another interesting tidbit; I noticed mah left fork wuz bleed'in, 'n now I'm wonder'in if'n I blew that seal shortly after the new tires, and lacked rebound damping? (That would explain why the bike hasn't wanted ta turn w/ the PRIIIs.) I wuz think'in that the front end felt "boingy" and considered, pulling over to crank in sum rebound damping, figured I'd do it on mah lunch break in Quincy.
Look'in back, I think it wuz a lot of little thangs that contributed to the crash. a little exhaustion, a little gravel, a little complacency, a little off on set up...

Click to expand...

That would be my guess. I have about 7,000 miles on my front PR3 and the tire is very compliant with no odd behavior.

Damn!! Don't have much to add except that I've been up there recently and there has been ALL kinds of gravel up there in the corners. Most of it has been real light color and in the brightness of day it doesn't always stand out. Especially if you're on a lighter section of pavement......

and there has been ALL kinds of gravel up there in the corners.

Click to expand...

I was up there about a month ago and agree that there was a bit in every inside turn. I got to the point of planing to run the left track of every right hand turn.