Modern Buddy

I've been in that in-between phase where I'm looking for a car for the winter, but still riding the Buddy 125.

Last night I had to go to my apartment from parent's house, and I took Buddy out. It was mild out, low 50s, and had rained so the road was wet. Now I don't seek riding on wet road, but it doesn't ever stop me from riding either.

About 4 blocks from my house, as I'm going south, a car going north pulls a left with no signal right in front of me. I don't recall my speed, but I wasn't going fast at all, maybe 20-25mph? What made it so surprising is that he hesitated for a second before turning (like he saw me coming), and then turned quickly.

One thing I learned is that everything that happens in this kind of situation is muscle memory. I had no time to consciously decide how to react. I swerved left to avoid him and hit the pavement. The Buddy slid forward and to the right of me, about 10 feet on its left side and was still running! I was, between the moments of pain, proud to have a scooter that is well built.

Luckily it was around 11pm and not of cars were on the road. Seeing as I was lying in the middle of the lane that would not have been good during a more busy time. I would say I did experience shock but it was only for a brief moment. I realized I was fine, and just had my left elbow and knee scraped up decently.

Two guys in their cars pulled over to check up on me. I thanked them and told them I was fine. I seeked confirmation as to what had happened - one of them said he saw the driver turn right in front of me, probably drunk.

There was no reason to get the police involved, as I had no memory of the car or driver that cut me off. The Buddy is still working fine - it just has some cosmetic damage on the left side where it slid; part of the metal enclosure around the headlight is down to the bare material. After I collected myself I rode to my apartment. I was sore but happy.

----------

Here's what I took away from the whole thing:

1- Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I think swerving and hitting the pavement is much better than slamming the brakes and flying forward in front of your bike. I am glad my muscle reaction was to swerve and not hit the brakes. This way I fell in one spot, and the bike slid away from me. It happened so quickly!

2- This was my first fall. I'm glad I know what it feels like now. It won't stop me from riding though.

3- Gear is nice. Glad I had on gloves. I also had an underlayer of thermal pants which I think stopped my knee from getting scraped worse than it did.

4- When you see your girlfriend/partner after the incident, don't start with "I got into an accident." That only leads to an actor-worthy face of worry and an expectation that you have one or more limbs missing.

5- Don't tell your mother. If I were more seriously hurt it would be difficult to hide though.


The only thing that really broke were two antique tea cups my mother had given me, that I had in a bag on the front hook. I like to think they took the fall for me.

6- Don't carry antique cups in a plastic bag while riding.

7- Life surprises me every day.

bimbom wrote:knee scraped up

Consider $10 knee pads at Lowe's garden department.

Sorry to hear that. I had a very similar scenario, and fortunately insurance covered it. Don't forget to add this to the who's crashed section!

I'm a major fan of gear for that reason, but I would be lying if I said I wore my kevlar pants with knee pads and full armor all the time. In the hottest part of the summer, sometimes I take off the jacket even.

Overall, glad you're OK. if barely anything took any damage, and your helmet is OK, it might be better to buy the parts and put them on yourself. Otherwise insurance should have you covered.

Thanks for sharing the experience.

[/url]

Good to hear that you are okay. I hesitate a bit at the "all okay and glad it happened", though. I'd say it is one of those times for a reassessment. We each make our own decisions and I certainly would not tell you what yours should be. I can tell you about mine, however. I ride a lot. I do not ride at eleven pm in the dark in the rain in city traffic in December though. In my personal calculation, that just shifts the odds too far against me. Many riders see it differently than that of course.

Sorry to hear of the crash, but glad you're okay!

bimbom wrote: Here's what I took away from the whole thing:

1- Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I think swerving and hitting the pavement is much better than slamming the brakes and flying forward in front of your bike. I am glad my muscle reaction was to swerve and not hit the brakes. This way I fell in one spot, and the bike slid away from me. It happened so quickly!

Crash dynamics are incredibly complicated and no two are the same. It's almost impossible to have a hard and fast rule about these things because the conditions and variables are different every time. I think there's a lot to learn from the near misses. How fast can you stop? How well can you swerve? The important thing to know is that when an incident occurs, you'll have a millisecond to decide—brake or swerve—because doing both will inevitably lead to a crash. This means having a good awareness at all times of your surroundings, the traffic and road conditions around you.

4- When you see your girlfriend/partner after the incident, don't start with "I got into an accident." That only leads to an actor-worthy face of worry and an expectation that you have one or more limbs missing.

There is no good way to do this.

5- Don't tell your mother. If I were more seriously hurt it would be difficult to hide though.

Or, in my case, loudmouthed siblings!

tortoise wrote:

bimbom wrote:knee scraped up

Consider $10 knee pads at Lowe's garden department.

Consider $30 knee/shin guards from an MC gear website.


Eric is right, it doesn't really happen the same way twice, but if I HAD to give an answer, I would say that you're right FOR LOW SPEEDS. Dropping the bike to avoid crashing, I would think, is better than flinging yourself through the air forward or chancing actually colliding with another vehicle. Especially if you think you can control your landing, throw yourself into grass on the side of the road, and maybe now that you have dropped it once on that side you will remember to put it down on that side if it happens again, saving the other side from scrapes.

And yeah... facing the mom isn't fun. But I'm glad you are okay!! Keep scootin

No accident is fun, but it sounds like you walked away with minimal damage to yourself and your scoot, which is never a bad thing.

In my accident, which sounds similar to yours (rain earlier, slow speed, and someone turns or pulls in front of you) I'm not sure what would have happened had I done what you did (which in your case sounds like was the correct option). I might have ended up sliding into the on-coming lane of traffic.

Luckily I landed on my shoulder and helmet (luckily in my case, that is) as my armored jacket and helmet kept the rest of me from getting banged up. My head and shoulder suffered no injury at all thankfully!

Each accident is different, and you just never know what you'll have time to do (or whether there WILL be time to even do some kind of evasive maneuver or plan your fall in any way).

Anyhow, I'm glad things turned out so well for you!