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Discussion of the Genuine Buddy, Hooligan, Black Jack and other topics, both scooter related and not

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Clydeo
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Posts: 183
Joined: Tue Apr 21, 2015 11:08 am
Location: Harrisburg PA

Me too

Post by Clydeo »

I will probably forget the correct order, but here goes:
Buddy 50 (Brit)
About 7:30 AM on a morning commute
About 30 mph
It was mostly my fault: the accdent was avoidable
I was wearing a Joe Rocket jacket and full face helmet, boots, and gloves. I was not wearing my protective pants, my bad.
I have been riding since 1972, mostly small(ish) motorcycles, but Scooters and mopeds too over the years. Maybe a half million miles or so all together.
It was sunny, but the road where I went down was wet and had leaves on it
Yes, I have a bike license and yes, I did take a MSF class several years ago.
I was about 20 miles from home. My total commute is about 30 miles each way.

I have been riding the Buddy to work while my Suzuki TU250 is in the shop. I have ridden it to work on previous occasions for the fun of it. I have a regular route that I take, one that is appropriate and enjoyable on a 40+ mph scooter. It has a couple of tricky sections on it, though. It was on one of those sections that my accident happened. The road goes down a steep hill, around a corner, and then up a steep hill around a corner (same direction, turning to the right. After the corner, the road ends at a traffic light, with lanes to turn left and right.
I went down the hill at a moderate rate (30 mph), but maintained that speed going over the bridge and then up the hill. Going around the corner, I went into the right lane to turn right at the light. A car in front of me moved from the left lane into the right lane, taking up the space I was heading for. I went into panic stop mode, locked up the back brake, and low sided on the bikes right side at 30 mph, skidding about 25 feet, and stopping before I hit the car. The scoot was still running, so I dusted myself off and rode it to work. And back home that afternoon. I am sore and stiff, and have a minor amount of road rash. The bike has a another minor scratch on it. All in all, I was very lucky.

So what went wrong? The accident was 90% my fault. First of all, I was trying too hard to keep up my momentum going up the hill. The 50cc scoot does NOT handle hills very well, and I didn't want to hold up traffic, so I was going too fast around a curve I could not see around. I KNOW that drivers are often confused when the road ends abruptly, and often change lanes at the last minute, but I thought I could stop the scoot quickly enough if I needed to. Unfortunately, I didnt take the wet road and leaves into consideration (mainly because the rest of the road was dry. I should have remembered that the hill shaded the road in that particular area, and that had rained hard the night before). When I DID stop, I didn't have to think about what to do, as I have been commuting by bike for years. But not on Scooters! I pulled the left lever in hard, realizing 1/10 of a second too late that the left lever was a brake, not a clutch. In this case, my experience actually worked against me. I modulated the front brake perfectly, but locked the back brake up, and went down as a result. If I had braked properly, I would have been fine, because the bike stopped short of the car, even sliding on its side.
Oh well, it was a lesson that wasn't too terribly painful, but one that I won't forget anytime soon!
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Dooglas
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Joined: Sun Jul 08, 2007 2:17 am
Location: Oregon City, OR

Post by Dooglas »

Glad you are okay. An excellent after action analysis about what went wrong. Be sure you post this info on the long running "Who's crashed" thread.

viewtopic.php?t=635&start=1700
Clydeo
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Posts: 183
Joined: Tue Apr 21, 2015 11:08 am
Location: Harrisburg PA

Moving post

Post by Clydeo »

I thought I WAS posting on that topic! How would I move it over?
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Syd
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Joined: Wed Jul 18, 2007 6:41 am
Location: Tempe

Re: Moving post

Post by Syd »

Clydeo wrote:I thought I WAS posting on that topic! How would I move it over?
Don't think you can move it, but you can copy your post from this thread, start a new post in the Who's Crashed thread, then paste what you copied there. Done.
The majority is always sane - Nessus
paracer
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Joined: Mon Dec 28, 2015 1:58 pm

Post by paracer »

Sorry to hear about your spill.

On another note... was that your Brit in the parking lot across from the Wal-Mart on Friday?
Clydeo
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Posts: 183
Joined: Tue Apr 21, 2015 11:08 am
Location: Harrisburg PA

Brit

Post by Clydeo »

Yep. I work right across the street. Not at Excite Video, mind you! But at the Pathways/UCP program. Right now I am a teacher/instructor/ Whatever they need me to be on a given day.
paracer
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Posts: 172
Joined: Mon Dec 28, 2015 1:58 pm

Post by paracer »

Neat. My wife and I were stopping in at the vape shop to get her some new vape liquid. Maybe we'll run across each other one of these days. I ride past there on my way to work and back almost every day.
scootergrind
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Joined: Mon Dec 09, 2013 8:26 pm
Location: Redding, CA

Post by scootergrind »

Clydeo, that has got to be one of the best self-assessments I've ever read. Well done!

And glad you're still in one piece!
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