Me too
Posted: Tue Aug 02, 2016 1:32 am
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!
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!