Kawasaki Sportsbike Riders Club - Australia - Online Forum

Just to begin no injuries (just ego) probably good as i think it was getting a little inflamed anyway! And the bike has a few small fairing cracks will be easy to fix with a bit of surfboard repair fiberglass! And the little rod from the gear leaver to the engine block bit is a bit bent mate is coming over tomorrow to help me take it off and bend it straight again.
So guys i think ill be staying clear of the Nasho for a few months... My self control doesn't seem to be very good. This time was not because i wasn't concentrating it was a combination of going to fast into a corner and then panicking!
Came into a left hander and went a bit wide ending up on the other side of the road, there were no cars coming (luckily) and I was coming out of the corner and panicked a little and though lets just stop and then take off again and get back onto the right side of the road in hind sight i should have just kept leaning, but I panicked due to inexperience hence the staying away from the nasho for a while! So i was breaking and hit the gravel on the side of the road and continued over the side and slid down a little embankment. So over all i was VERY lucky that 1 there were no cars going the other way and 2 that i managed to find a gap between 2 trees to slide down the embankment through or this little spill could have been A LOT worse!
I have the Intermediate cornering course in September with stay upright but until then can anyone suggest some easier rides i can try in the meantime?

Bad luck there DMonkey
I came off my 250 a few times, it's sort of par for the course and also the reason they don't want you having
a big bore right from the start

damn dude, i dropped my bike today too, but it was my own stupid fault, since ive been awake since 3am and shouldnt really be trying to put the bike on its centre stand with it in gear hahaha. anyways it leaned to the right and i went over the top of it hahaha, damaged the brake lever a little but still useable. thankgod since im going to the old road tomorrow.

Easy rides ummmmm, the old road. take it at your own pace, nice winding corners, and relax and enjoy yourself.

Good learning experience.
Analyse everything that led up to the point of you being along way to wrong side of the road.
Some questions that only you can answer for yourself are;
What was my attitude before and during this ride?
Could I have done anything better to focus more during my ride leading up to this point?
Was I attentive or complacent?
Were there other indicators that I should of recognised that I was / am out of control prior to the mishap?
Forget about riding skill and how to control a bike. It's more down to keeping your ability matched to your emotions and thoughts that will keep you alive. And anyone else.
I'm not sure your hindsight thought of " Just leaning more" would have been much of a better option.
Everyone crashes and there is always a reason why. Be honest with yourself and understand everything that led up to the point of you being out of control and you will be a better rider through learning from experience. To give the flippant response of "Yeah could have saved it if I leant it more" is wrong. You put yourself in that position by your own actions and it is important to understand those actions that led up to it so that you can learn and understand to no not do it again.
You have been given a lesson - we all have had these types of incidences so don't feel bad - but please learn from it.

Bad luck about the bike..........Yeah right. Some lessons are more costly than others. You got out of it cheaply.
Have a nice day.

Wow Adrian

seiko1 wrote:Wow Adrian

A little blunt perhaps, but right on the nose. Being off the road wide on a left hander is a very long way from simply crossing the centre line (which isn't good). Could have leaned further and saved it, perhaps. But could have been traffic in the other direction, could have been a barrier, etc.

Understand why you let it get that far over. Too fast, not counter steering, trying to be Rossi whilst on Ls/Ps.

Sometime we think that going faster is better - but when it comes to corners, unless you always find yourself turning too tight, then you are not too slow. Slow down, work on corner lines, body position and counter steering. Only once these are mastered should you ever consider picking up the pace, and then only by very small margins at a time.

Exactly which road; stay on the same one and ride with someone you trust to be a good rider, and let them follow you but keeping the pace down. Your 'wingman' can then give you tips and instruction and even lead you through the parts you struggle with.

Not blunt...nice and precise is what I mean.
Good one Adrian and Mike
Where were you bastards when I was eighteen and sliding along the road at
130 with my visor holding my whole body up in Bendigo

From what I can assertain, three essential facts are, you're entry speed, how much you lean/trust your grip level and your corner line.

I think all three were factors in this case, and only practice will sort out the first two - start slow and gradually increase speed, going through a few corners over and again increasing speed by a couple of ks each time, be too slow on teh first few times.

For your corner line, try and enter fairly wide, and turn to take a consistant arc through the corner. I try and apex quite late in the corner, so I do not get pushed wide on exit.

This is a very bad drawing, but something like this...

Trust in the GRIP is the MAJOR issue
I have it from coming off in the damp (not wet)

Dmonkey it's fantastic you're fine!

I agree entirely with S&W, the attitude stuff is at the core of safe riding and I'll probably rewrite exactly what you guys have already written
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I'm gonna play devils advocate to S&W and suggest there's concepts about bike dynamics you really need to get down AND OWN FOR YOURSELF, some are REALLY important and you haven't made them habit yet.

These aren't something you need to do "sometime", or just think about, but start working on straight away, on the bike, going around corners.

You need to understand them and practice them over and over to teach yourself the correct habits, so that your survival instincts don't dictate your reactions, but sound riding technique based on knowledge does.


Here they are, 2 points:

1. The road available to you FINISHES at the center line. Imagine it's a brick wall or a cliff, You're NEVER allowed to cross it!

2. In order to NEVER cross it:

a) "For a bike to turn, it MUST LEAN and stay leaned" (If you stand a bike up, it will go straight)

b) "You always need to LOOK WHERE YOU WANT TO GO!" (not at what you're worried about, but where you want to go)

c) Brakes (disc or engine braking) make the bike stand up (it will go straight)

There's almost countless other technique notes and tips and each one has many practical implications, like relaxing, turn-in point, line etc etc etc

DMonkey wrote:This time was not because i wasn't concentrating it was a combination of going to fast into a corner and then panicking!
Came into a left hander and went a bit wide ending up on the other side of the road, there were no cars coming (luckily) and I was coming out of the corner and panicked a little and though lets just stop and then take off again and get back onto the right side of the road in hind sight i should have just kept leaning, but I panicked due to inexperience hence the staying away from the nasho for a while!

I'd suggest your bike would have easily handled the speed you were going into that corner (and probably 50km/hr more if Madkaw was riding it ) but as I discussed it was your survival reaction, which put you in the path of oncoming traffic.

This reaction needs to be replaced with correct cornering technique and until you do that you won't be able to relax at any more than sunday driver pace.


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As fpr the mental side, the responsibility for our safety is 95% in OUR control (not the car drivers), and it's a matter of how much effort we're willing (and able) to devote to the development of the mental and physical skills required to ride at the level YOU want to, whilst never exceeding YOUR limits.

It's great you're booked in for the Stay Upright course!

Continuous reading and application of "Sport Riding Techniques" and "Twist of the Wrist 2" along with practice, riding with good safe riders and all the other knowledge and skills I've developed helps put me in control of myself and the environment on the bike.

We all have our own consciousness and skill level. Tobe safe we need to KNOW them and UNDERSTAND their limits, and if we're feeling a bit "off", back off, concentrate on riding "the Pace" (do you know what that is?) and looking where you need to go and get those good vibes flowing again.

Some reflection, a few applied simple techniques, and getting back on those same roads will have the confidence back in no time dude.

Phew, Bedtime!

seiko1 wrote:Bad luck there DMonkey
I came off my 250 a few times, it's sort of par for the course and also the reason they don't want you having
a big bore right from the start

No, they don't want you having a bigger bike from the start.
I'm starting on my Z750 and she is fairly heavy.
By getting her I went against the advice of some bikers I know but some others tell me I made a good choice.
I am nowhere near using Zoe to her full potential but day by day, w'end by w'end, I am slowly getting there.
Every now and then I have a hairy moment but thankfully I haven't had an incident yet.
I always make sure that when I go out with better riders (most times I go riding with others!) that I ride at my pace.
I wouldn't fear the place you crashed and never go there again, just tone it down enough and be smooth.
I am inexperienced though so take what I have said with a grain of salt.

If you want to speed up the learning process, just go backwards and forwards over the same twisty
piece of road ALL DAY LONG. Once it becomes really boring you can start to pick up the pace and will soon learn your
limitations. As you go faster and faster you will see yourself approaching the centre line limit and not going over it
I wouldn't be listening to music either because it tends to increase your confidence, but unrealistically.

Word of advise mr DM...... well two words actually:
COUNTER STEER!
Works like a charm once mastered & could have possibly got you out of this situation, please do yourself a favor & practice whenever a corner presents itself so that in time it becomes second nature

Slow and wobbly wrote:Good learning experience.
Analyse everything that led up to the point of you being along way to wrong side of the road.
Some questions that only you can answer for yourself are;
What was my attitude before and during this ride?
Could I have done anything better to focus more during my ride leading up to this point?
Was I attentive or complacent?
Were there other indicators that I should of recognised that I was / am out of control prior to the mishap?

What was my attitude before and during this ride? - I was getting cocky and pushing myself to hard!
Could I have done anything better to focus more during my ride leading up to this point? - I should have been slower coming into the corner i was going through a few corners and none of them really tightened up and i went into this one to fast and it tightened up so i was pushing to hard the corner tightened and i panicked the second i crossed the center line! I should have kept leaning not panicked and break as soon as i crossed the line as no cars were coming
Was I attentive or complacent? - I was getting to complacent
Were there other indicators that I should of recognised that I was / am out of control prior to the mishap? I was fine untill i crossed the center line and got on the brakes thought i was gonna be able to stop before hitting the gravel on the side.. obviously i couldn't!

So yea after the stay upright course and get a bit more practice i plan to do some track days then i have a place where i can get the stupidity out of my system!
At lease there are not any cars/trees to hit if i fall off!
I am just REALLY lucky there were no cars going the other way or i would have been A LOT worse off!!!

Just out of interest, how hard were you going on the straight bits?

See, this is where people go wrong - trying to race the straight bits. I don't know any NSW twisty bits, but in VIC the straights are enough to get will into trebble figures, but the corners need to be taken in double firgues. So the question you have to ask yourself is, "Do I need to hammer along the straights, when the fun is cornering anyway. If you can take all the corners at 50kph (for example), take the straights at 70k, reach the corner, back off (no brakes) turn in, Apex at 50 and accel back up to 70. You didn't speed, you didn't over cook the corner, but your corner speed was close to your abaility. Fun and fairly safe.

A final note, learn a road at a sensible pace before you 'have a dip'. This makes you aware of any tightening radius corners, bumps, dirt, gravel etc. Then there will be less 'oh shit, it tightens' moments.