Talking about getting back safe, I am proof that you can blow a turn, end up in the dirt, and not drop the FJR. I made it back onto the tar with not having time for the butt pucker moment to stop my heart. Something about heading into a 25 mph turn without noticing the turn coming with an entry speed of 75mph makes for an exciting event.
Not to get too maudlin... I think all of us have blown turns. Some of us look through and push the handlebars lower and make it through past grinding pegs and huge fear (congratulations on "riding the bike," Andrew! Well done!). Others just go into the on-coming lane and back into line because thankfully there was no car coming. Others go straight and off the road.
For some, there is a car coming when they blow the turn. We lost that guy locally on Sunday.
The reason I'm taking the Keith Code school is because I want me to be the guy who looks through and pushes the bar lower, knowing I and the bike can do it if I just execute correctly. Of course not entering too fast in the first place is fundamental. But lately I'm beginning to think I need to give up twisties riding because there's too much at stake (familywise). In fact, Andrew, it's your post here that's made me think that touring is the way to ride, not whipping through narrow, twisty rural roads hoping not to blow a turn or run into (uh, literally) a hay hauler around the next turn. (But then you had to go and spoil my fantasy by posting that you blew a corner--I guess it's just about motorcycles and roads, period.)
Seriously, I'm lately thinking I'm being too irresponsible to my family by riding. But I go through these spooked periods routinely.
Better get off to work. Later....
Jb
Riding is an important part of my life. Twisties as an important part of my riding. I have blown turns, but frankly, never like this one. By the way, it was a left turn so there was no lane to run into. There were several factors that created the situation:
1) I had a lot on my mind and I was focusing on that and my vision simply seemed to blur - focus of the ride was lost. This is a first for me and I can assure you, a last.
2) My visor was fogging up a bit. My Scorpion helmet was retired after I dropped it too hard so I had to wear my Schuberth. The Schuberth fogs. The Scorpion did not. I was looking at the fogging to determine if I should stop and gee...all the sudden my peripheral vision caught a sign, on my right, and then caught the road turning to the left and I couldn't even look into the turn before I was braking and pushing really hard on my left bar and pulling with my right.
The bike slid, but the ABS did an incredible job of drift/cathc/drift/catch about ten times. I did run off the road, but by the time the bike was definitely going off the tar, I straightened the bike in time to prevent a lowside and never got more than a foot away from the side of the road. I rode on the dirt for about 15-20 feet and picked a good spot to get back on the tar. There was really no tough maneuvering on the dirt at all...it was all straight and slow. It is possible that I could have pushed a bit harder and stayed on the tar. However, by then I realized the dirt wasn't a threat so I just took it easy. The emergency maneuvering was on the tar and frankly, I was surprised at how much turn I could get while having the ABS in full activation, front and back. Frankly, I am more impressed with the FJR than ever. I am also more impressed with the importance of keeping SHIT out of my mind when riding. I am aslo more impressed with my need to throw that POS helmet in the trash and get my new Scorpion EXO1000.
Did not riding twisties even cross my mind? Riding the twisties wasn't the problem, and no, not riding my ride did not cross my mind and wont. If I die doing it, so be it; I'll die doing something I love. Better than death on the couch watching the Discovery Channel as though I need someone to show me adventures instead of finding them on my own. People die. I will die. I want to have lived before I die and riding is a huge part of life for me.
I can understand how people will weigh the options and risks and make a different decision than I would. Touring seems to be a mode that would increase the likelihood of me not paying attention. However, I have been know to take off on a slab and stay on the bike for 20 hours. So I dunno. I think for me near misses are very rare. I think this particular event was as close to an accident as I have been in without the bike going down. I have lowsided on my DRZ once, but that was more a road condition issue than lack of attention. So, this is the closest I have ever come to a crash due to lack of attentiveness. I'll count myself lucky to have made it through without the bike going down and without injury. If I had been one fraction of a second slower in initiating my emergency maneuver, I'd have gone down. If I had missed it by a full 2 seconds, I would have hit the dirt at 75 mph and had a scary ride off the edge of a mountain, and most likely a rude encounter with a tree.
Phew...I think I'll go riding and think about.....RIDING.
