Cause of MB Crash Was ?

My early adopter MB career came to an abrupt end when I crashed into a canal in Holland and had to swim for my life!.I had managed to put a ILO (80cc) engine used on delivery trikes, (which I had rescued fromthe junkyard&fixed up), on the back of my bike.The right size sprocket was not to be found,the original one being much too big,so I ended up overgeared,With a stiff wind in your face (quite common) I had to help out& pedal along which was hard work&no fun.So I had gotten into the habit of drafting behind other cars,mostly trucks because they were slower.I was on my way to school one morning, behind small truck when a good sized piece of wood suddenly appeared on the road from under it,I tried to avoid it,lost control of the bike and careened down the bank into the canal running along the road.One moment I was on the road and the next in stinging cold water,quite disconcerting.I had let go of the bike somehow & was none the worse for wear otherwise.As luck would have it there was a house boat moored not far away and I managed to swim to it&get myself rescued.They were flabbergasted of course to find someone in the water in the middle of the winter and took good care of me,(dry clothes& hot tea etc) So ended my pioneering MB career,the bike I suppose is still lying on the bottom of the canal.I wanted to rescue it of course, but my mother put her foot down.So this incident started my MC career. (a DKW 125cc monster).I was lucky in a way,if that boat had not been there I would have had a hard time getting out of that very cold water by myself.
 
Well Im embarrassed to say I got hit by a car today. I was crossing at a set of lights. It was a really big intersection and the cars were stopped at the lights.

The pedestrian lights had just started flashing red so I figured I could get across. Anyway I nearly did but the lights changed to green. Its 4 lanes and three of them stopped for me. The guy at the end gassed it and drove straight into the side of me ( I didnt even have the motor running. Anyway he folded the back rim over and knocked me off. I got up and dragged the bike off the road.

I layed the bike on its side and pulled on the wheel. Miraculously it sprung back into shape. It got heavily buckled but it got me to the job (only 5 minutes late) and back home 100ks round trip. The bike ran OK apart from the splug plug continually undoing itself. I had to change a plug also as the one in it just stopped suddenly. Man this China stuff is rubbish.

Its weird I grew up on bikes (pedal and motored). I even raced them for a number of years. I cant believe I could have two stacks in as many weeks.

Oh by the way I didnt get a mark on me (DIDNT EVEN DIRTY MY PANTS) and tonight I got another rear wheel and fitted it for tommorrows mission (60 k round trip). At least Ill have Sunday off. My wife can drive me around. Dave
 
what caused MB accident: Lots and lots of gravel on a very sharp turn
what happened in MB accident: I tried to turn and high sided
why: because gravel sucks
to avoid - what could have been done: Not much to do
error due to person or persons or machine: Enviorment
 
Mountainman:

What a great idea for a topic! I have learned a lot from reading this and, as you said, if it stops just ONE accident from happening (maybe mine?) it was well worth it. Good for you man! Back when I was learning to fly, PILOT magazine always had a monthly article called..."I learned about flying from that".
This was the same type of thing where folks shared their accidents and others could learn/benefit from it.

There was a lot of good information here and I do hope folks read it and think about that while riding.

Bill
 
Careless driver!!! Somtimes no matter how careful you are, no matter how much protection you wear, some careless driver will still ruin your day. I got hit by a truck yesterday, I was approaching a light that turned green for me I was still in the pedal to motor phase when a cargo truck decided he had the right, sped up and cut infront of me. hit me with the side of the truck, If i didnt turn and slam the brakes I would be under the rear tires. Nothing I could do, btw the driver of the truck never stopped!! We just have to becareful no matter how fast or slow we go.
 
After a couple of months of riding and motor was well broken in, I was getting comfortable with my build and started pushing it limits. I rode it like I stole it!! I was riding on a new concrete pathway they had just put in and the dirt was still soft on either side of the pathway. I came around a tight corner at a pretty good speed and came off the pathway. I tried to get back on the pathway and caught my rear tire on the lip of the concrete, and it slid me sideways and shot me across the pathway into a drainage ditch. It flipped me over the handlebars and then the bike landed on top of me. I had a couple of scrapes on my arms and later recieved two huge brusies on my thighs. As for the bike, it still ran, but it snapped the frame where it attaches to the head tube. I now have a gusset welded up to strengthen that area. These things are very dangerous and will hurt you if you dont respect it. Bicycles are not made for these kind of speeds and I have a whole new respect for it after this incident.
 
what caused MB accident ? Front mounting tab of rear fender fatigued & snapped, fender contacted tire & was pulled around under tire, fender stays wrapped/bent forward & then kept fender positioned under tire.

what happened in MB accident ? Late night, speed approx. 25. Started "skiing" on rear fender at crosswalk entering 5 lane wide intersection, nice sparks. Went down a little past mid-intersection. Mostly tumbled rather than skidded, very minor road rash & bruising, negligible damage to MB. Was not wearing my helmet.

why ? Ignorant me failed to remove/did not know to remove or inspect cheap beach cruiser fender who's mounting tab fatigued & broke under HT vibrations.

to avoid - what could have been done ? Remove cheap metal fenders.

error due to person or persons or machine ? Both.

And in a pure bike thing, in the mid-70s I learned that some road side storm sewer grates have openings in their grill big enough to accommodate even relatively wide bicycle tires & wheels, been shaving funny around my chin since before I was shaving regularly due to that little lesson.
 
Wow this brought back an ugly memory of more than 50 yrs ago.Had just completed a resto of my 48 Whizzer new motor and all.Future brother in law had just purchased a 305cc Honda scrambler and bragging about how fast it was.We grew up on dirt roads and at that time I was very good at going fast on anything.The run we picked out I was making him look foolish the trouble was trying to get around a turn and going a tad too fast the tires lost grip leaving me no choice but try and save my hide going out through the woods.Believe it or not was doing great till coming upon a thick area of brush.Got scratched up real good bent front wheel on Whizzer so had to drag bike back out to road and push it home.Finally got home only to hear I got beat Whoopee!
 
If you get into a accident with a cager and its is there fault , how do you get them to pay for damage to your MB , or for medical bills etc if you get injured , or because you not insured you don't have a claim ,
just wondering if anyone had been in this situation.
 
While going up a short incline, the throttle grip slipped right off my swept-back cruiser bars. Luckily I wasn't going too fast and I got away with just some grazed and burnt trousers (from the floor and engine respectively). Looks like it was just glued on. After that I cut the end off the throttle grip and used a clamp from some lock-on grips to keep it in place.

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