Mea Culpa and Lesson Learned

I have been riding motorcycles for close on 4 decades. Even having learned something during those hundreds of thousands of miles, on Saturday I learned (again), that powerful motorcycles are to be treated with respect.

I made an error that was stupid, dumb, crass, and one I should never have made, and I post this as a reminder.

I was riding two-up and joining the highway from the top of the on-ramp. As we turned on to the on-ramp a car decided it could cut in front of us for reasons best known to the driver .... I didn't ask.

What I did do was get mad, and cut inside the car using the power of the FJR to get back in front. The front wheel caught something on the road, and the large handful of throttle helped push the bike into a wild tank-slapper. Nothing about this was smart, clever or good decision-making, and could very easily have hurt both myself and, more importantly, my wife who was simply an innocent passenger.

Fortunately, a loose grip on the bars and a great deal of luck avoided anything more than a wild "wobble", but five days later I am still pissed that I lost my concentration and my sanity like that. Recently I have been happy that the many LD rides and rallies in the last few years have passed entirely without incident.

Self-congratulations have a habit of biting you very hard if you ever, even for a moment, forget the basics of road-safety and defensive riding.

I learned that on Saturday ... Sheesh! Do we ever stop learning?

Good to hear that it was not worse than a huge, attention getting scare. I too have allowed the power of a motorcycle to mix with an emotional response to a traffic incident. Even though I have not had a close-call such as yours, I have found myself regretting my loss of mental control. Thanks for posting. It took moral courage to do so and may cause another rider to avoid a similar response.

You were amazingly silent about your wife's response. I can only imagine her commentary about the experience.

You learn the hard way or the easy way. I've tried them both. I'm really glad to hear your outcome was of luck, and that it did not cost you or your passenger.

Glad you are ok! I struggle to maintain my composure with the idiots too, thanks for posting your experience.

Some men learn by watching, some by listening but many have to piss on the electric fence for themselves..............

We have all been there and just thanked our lucky stars or whatever for seeing us through our self imposed trials & tribulations.

Sounds like you handled the tank slapper perfectly, if you had tried to over correct you would almost certainly have gone down (the 'slapper ' bit is the bike self correcting from the initial input).

Self control is something that everyone with an FJR, and a heartbeat, struggles with at times. Every now and then we get reminders to use it (self control). I'm glad to hear your "reminder" came without any serious incident. Each reminder helps us with future rides, so look at this as a lesson that will benefit you from now on. Congrats on recognizing it!

A friend of mine recently told me, "Every day is a school day". This thought has stuck in my head since that conversation. I'd say your experience just helps prove his statement.

It wispers to me everyday I ride. It aint easy having that many ponys and not letting them loose every once and a while. We all have our demons.

Maxima, mea culpa

Dave

Pterodactyl said:

You were amazingly silent about your wife's response. I can only imagine her commentary about the experience.

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My wife is at her most scary when she says nothing. On this occasion, the silence was overwhelming

Picture this motorcyclist, riding his 1200 Trophy. Been behind this slow car for (seemingly) miles, no opportunity to get by. Then we come to a steep up-hill section. Car slows even more. "Oh, for f**k's sake, COME ON!"

Ah. Just enough room to overtake. Drop a gear, open her up. One thing the Trophy has in spades is TORQUE.

But ...

"Oh, shit!"

We're in bottom gear, wide open throttle, the back end starts to go sideways. It's a very slippery road. Back end starts dancing side-to-side, getting worse.

Back end almost hits the car. Ok, slacken the throttle, but not too rapidly. Back end comes in to line.

Now, we're beside the car, traveling at the same speed, wrong side of the road, coming to a blind brow of the hill, no idea what's beyond. Brake or accelerate? If I brake, there's a fair chance Mr SlowCoach will also brake (usual panic reaction). No ABS on bike. Ok, accelerate to get by. (There might also be a little bit of macho "I won't let him think I couldn't overtake". No, surely not.)

But ...

"Oh shit!"

We're still in bottom gear, half-open throttle, the back end starts to go sideways. Again. It's an extremely slippery road. Back end is dancing si... you get the picture.

Well, ease the throttle back a little, back end straightens, we're just moving faster than the rolling roadblock. We get by ok, looking for a place to stop so that I can change my underwear.

Lessons (hopefully) learnt?

• Always observe the road surface;
• Have patience;
• "Just enough room" leaves nothing for the unexpected;
• Get a bike with ABS and (at last) traction control;
• Leave that macho stuff out of your head when putting on your helmet. You don't have to prove anything.

Glad to hear it ended without mishap for you. We all make faulty decisions, the ability to learn from them and not repeat them is what keeps us alive. Sounds to me like that is just what you've done here. Anyone who has never been pissed off at an inconsiderate cager is a more patient, tolerant person than myself.

Thanks for the reminder.... I haven't had a tank slapper moment yet and I hope it never does happen. Good to know it does happen and to always listen to the little voice in your head that says 'whoa, be careful'. But, once in a while, the macho voice takes over and you push the bike hard... after all is done, the voice of reason (could also be the wife) kicks in with the look of disappointment.

Every once in awhile we need a reminder that we as riders are one "oh shit" and mere inches from becoming statistics. On my way to work on my V-MAX a car pulled over to let me pass. Instead of crossing into the on coming lane (no traffic coming and its a passing zone) I started to pass staying in my lane. The car had pulled all the way across the fog line and motioned me by. As I started to accelerate the car pulled back into the lane. I was able to accelerate quickly, being on a torque monster, and shot into the oncoming lane. When I got to work I changed my clothes and put another lesson learned on my wooden skull.

Twigg said:

My wife is at her most scary when she says nothing. On this occasion, the silence was overwhelming

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Ohh, the torture! It is not the silence, it is what awaits...

I forgot to ask, did you actually end up getting your spot back anyway?

The other day I got unreasonably upset just trying to strap my cooler to my new bike. It was uncharacteristic of me to just shut the big door and climb into the cage, but somehow I realized I was in no state of mind to be riding a motorcycle that day. I had an extra hour stuck in traffic to think about that a bit more. It would have been nice if you had posted earlier in the week as the drive would have been much easier that day.

When I bought the FJR, I was riding a Nighthawk 750. While that bike was no slouch, a few close friends warned me to respect the power of a liter bike. I stupidly ignored that and 2 weeks later, I took the ride down the belt sander. I try not to forget that, but a gentle reminder like this tread is well worth the time.

Yes, ponder the lesson before you. I have had a couple of these rash moments of just being plum stupid. However, I'd offer up when riding two up you have a HUGE responsibility on your hands. I'm sure you get this - but never ever forget this.

Scott

Shit happens. If we're lucky enough to walk away from it, that's a good day.

In car vs. motorcycle, car wins. Period.

Patience is the hardest subject I have ever studied.