You know the old adage about two kinds of riders....

[TK421]

... those who've crashed, and those who will??  I still think that's kinda stupid but unfortunately I have joined the first group

Being somewhat laid up with nothing better to do, a nerd, and having some crash investigation experience, I decided to do a post-crash analysis on myself.  I thought I would share it so others can learn from my mistakes. 

I should say I'm obviously a bit of a lurker here but I come to the site regularly and have a lot of respect for the wealth of knowledge here.  I know this post is long but if anyone makes it to the end, I'd be interested to hear your thoughts and criticisms!
P.S.  I know referring to myself in the third person is weird, but that's both force of habit when doing these things, as well as some token attempt to keep it analytical and impartial.

I.  The Crash
Crash occurred on a rural road in NW Hillsborough County FL.  The vehicle is a 2002 Suzuki Bandit 1200S.  The motorcycle was negotiating a 90 degree left hand turn, in 2nd gear, traveling about 20mph.  The motorcycle low-sided to left and slid on left side approximately 12 feet onto a grassy shoulder before coming to rest.  Motorcycle appeared to lose grip from rear and rotated slightly counterclockwise while sliding.  Rider contacted pavement on left side and slid approximately 8 feet onto shoulder.  While motorcycle was leaned over, prior to crash, the left foot peg made contact with pavement.

II.  Damage
Left front turn signal was broken off and left hanging by wire.  Starter motor cover is heavily scratched.  Minor scratches on left side of Givi Wingrack, rear cowling under Wingrack, left mirror, and left side of front fairing.  Minor oil seepage observed at gasket under starter motor cover, which has not continued.  Motorcycle was ridable post-crash.

III.  Injuries
Rider suffered bruised/ sprained left ankle requiring medical treatment.  Moderate road rash suffered on left knee and upper elbow.  Rider was able to ride home after crash, with some difficulty shifting.  Pride severely damaged!

IV.  Crash Causality/ Contributing Factors
A.  Human Factors:  Rider control inputs negligible, as rider did not apply brake or throttle and was in fact highly surprised when crash occurred (“holy s**t!”)  In other words, rider did not feel turn was beyond limits and was not attempting to “correct” or react to perception of a deteriorating situation.  Rider is experienced road rider and has been riding motorcycles for approximately 20 years.  No track/ racing experience.

B.  Environmental Factors:  Sand in corners is an ever present danger in FL.  Rider was entering turn from outside part of lane (due to limited sight distance) which is where sand tends to gather in left-hand turns.  However, sand was not seen by rider prior to entering turn and not observed in other corners on this road before crash.  Brief post-crash examination by rider did not locate sand, although rider was perhaps less focused than he could have been (see “holy s**t!”)

C. Mechanical Factors:  Motorcycle was in apparent good working condition, with no visible oil leaks.  Tires (Michelin Pilot Roads) in good condition with less than 2500 miles.  Tire pressures were checked and adjusted to 36psi prior to ride.  No other known mechanical issues.

D.  Conclusions:  Exact cause is undetermined but excessive corner entry speed appears to be primary contributing factor.  Contact of left foot peg likely levered rear tire off ground or reduced contact force causing loss of traction.  Environmental factors and rider inputs during turn appear insignificant.

V.  Equipment Analysis
A.  HJC CL-15 Helmet:  did not make contact with any surfaces/ objects during crash and performance cannot be evaluated.    Did a good job cooling sweaty brow after crash.  Note:  was a great deal at $69 on closeout at NewEnough.com!  Still usable.

B.  Joe Rocket Phoenix Jacket (circa 2002):  Fair to poor performance.  Rider did not suffer any joint injuries, particularly at left elbow, which did contact pavement.  However, jacket provided little to no abrasion protection.  A hole approximately 3 inches in diameter was torn through both layers of left sleeve, midway between wrist and elbow.  Hole location on sleeve does not correspond to any injury on rider.  Jacket elbow shows no damage, indicating sleeve may have ridden up during slide, moving padding off rider's elbow and allowing skin injury to occur.  Jacket can no longer be used due to sleeve damage.

C.  Rev'It Solar Gloves:  Good performance.  Rider does not recall significant impact to hands but some impact was likely due to nature of fall.  Slight scuff on outside of left knuckle protector but otherwise no damage to gloves or rider's hands.  Gloves are still usable and in near original condition.

D.  Sidi On-Road boots:  Fair performance.  Boots offered good abrasion resistance and suffered little to no damage, but rider suffered moderate left ankle sprain.  Exact mechanism of injury is unknown but rider has history of sports-related ankle injuries and may need more lateral support than other riders.  Boots are still usable.

E.  Jeans:  Jeans are not motorcycle clothing and should not be worn when riding, therefore performance evaluation is not relevant.  Provided no protection from impact or abrasion and basically shredded.

VI.  Overall Conclusions/ Lessons Learned
A.  Stay within limits of rider and motorcycle and watch corner entry speed.  Avoid overconfidence.

B.  If hard parts touch down, back off immediately!
   
C.  Always wear proper gear, even if you're “only going to the library.”  Jeans were a big mistake.  The best equipment is useless in the closet, and no one ever thinks they're going to crash (see overconfidence.)  Consider perforated leather jacket as replacement for textile Phoenix jacket. 

[stormi]

I'm sorry to hear you joined the ranks of the "haves",... but glad to hear that you made it out reasonably well.

I -almost- went down on one of my last rides.  Too fast in the dark on a road I wasn't familiar with. I saw the "corner ahead sign", but couldn't see the corner, I was looking,.. looking,... Oh Sh*t!, same as you.  I hit the brakes and locked up the backend and was careening toward a guardrail.  The things that went through my mind were:

• I'm almost at the back of the pack, I wonder how long til they come back for me.
• I sure hope the guy on the triumph behind me sees what's happening,.. I don't want to be a pillow for his bike too.
• If I line my body up right, perhaps I can boot the guardrail and make sure this stays a lowside, not a highside with an obstacle.
• Oh MAN!  My poor bike.
• This is REALLY gonna hurt.

Yes,.. in that order.  It's a nasty feeling.

[solman]

Contact of left foot peg likely levered rear tire off ground or reduced contact force causing loss of traction.

You would have to be leaned over pretty hard  on your side to scrape the pegs.  Even if you do, they are spring loaded and will come up.  I know this because a friend of mine scraped his pegs a few times during a track day and had no problems.  Sounds like you may of hit an oily spot and was just enough for you to lose traction.  I have seen pics of Harleys hitting hardware and lifting the tires.

[Pillage]

I've been down a couple of times myself in the last 120,000 miles, and I'm glad you made it through it reasonably well.  I think it's great that you are trying to understand why it happened so it won't happen again. 

I was thinking about it and wondering if you use your upper body position when negotiating tight turns?  In other words do you lean your body to the inside of the turn?  This allows you to turn tighter and faster with the bike actually leaning a bit less. 

I'm also wondering if you use the clutch to modulate power to the rear tire in tight spots?  Using the "friction zone" of the clutch can allow you to dole out the awesome low end power of the Bandit a bit more precisely.

Anyway I'm glad you survived it.  And the fact that you're thinking about it, I bet you will become a better rider because of it. 

[Red01]

I.  The Crash
<snip> The motorcycle low-sided to left and slid on left side approximately 12 feet onto a grassy shoulder before coming to rest.  Motorcycle appeared to lose grip from rear and rotated slightly counterclockwise while sliding.  Rider contacted pavement on left side and slid approximately 8 feet onto shoulder.  While motorcycle was leaned over, prior to crash, the left foot peg made contact with pavement.

Minor semantics here, but from reading the whole story, it sounds like the motorcycle low-sided ON ITS left and would have slid to the right, or outside... right?

VI.  Overall Conclusions/ Lessons Learned
A.  Stay within limits of rider and motorcycle and watch corner entry speed.  Avoid overconfidence.

B.  If hard parts touch down, back off immediately!
   
C.  Always wear proper gear, even if you're “only going to the library.”  Jeans were a big mistake.  The best equipment is useless in the closet, and no one ever thinks they're going to crash (see overconfidence.)  Consider perforated leather jacket as replacement for textile Phoenix jacket. 

A. & C. 

But B. is wrong!

If you back off when the hard parts are starting to touch, the bike will settle on its suspension and hard parts touching will get worse, not better. I know the average instinct is to back off, but gassing it would be a better thing to do. Better than that though would be to hang off more to the inside and put the bike at a lesser angle.

[CWO4GUNNER]

Thanks for sharing the experience which is always a significant event even when your not seriously hurt, and glad to hear the grim reaper missed you this time. So many of us forget how easy it is to talk casually about what we hear happening to others until it happens to us. From the way you talk in your story I know you'll be riding again as soon as you can. So learn, enjoy and be safe.

[pmackie]

Hey TK421

Thanks for sharing your story. I appreciate being able to read your thoughts and comment. So, good on you!

Generally your analysis process is pretty good, you have obviously done this before. Like others said, your conclusions/recommendations may still need a little more work. Did you look at the footpeg? My experience is that you usually touch a toe at or before touching a footpeg unless you have your feet well back on the balls, and in tight against the cases. The centre stand can touch down on the left side at about the same time as well, and does NOT move, like the hinged footpeg. Maybe you hit both? More preload front an back may help give additional lean angle, if required.

Your "gravel rash" experience has reinforced my ATGATT attitude, and I try to ride in leather almost all the time. Heat of summer has caused me to add a "mesh" jacket for very hot days, but I know there is some additional risk.

Glad to hear you were able to ride home, and that all will get better with time, and a few $ in repairs.

Again, great that you shared and are willing to solicit comments.

[TK421]

Guys and girls,

Thanks for the replies.  Your insights and criticisms are exactly why I posted my analysis here.

You would have to be leaned over pretty hard  on your side to scrape the pegs.  Even if you do, they are spring loaded and will come up.  I know this because a friend of mine scraped his pegs a few times during a track day and had no problems.  Sounds like you may of hit an oily spot and was just enough for you to lose traction.  I have seen pics of Harleys hitting hardware and lifting the tires.

There is evidence of scraping on the lower outside of the left footpeg, but of course I can't tell if this was pre-crash or post-crash.  Good point about the pegs being movable.  I had thought of this but figured since they were weighted (by my foot) they might not move.  I've seen similar pics of a Harley going down at Deal's Gap after hard footpeg contact, which is probably where I got the idea.  I don't know much about Harleys though-- are their footpegs fixed?  An oily spot is also possible and as I said I didn't make too much of a road examination.  Also, it hasn't rained here in about 6 weeks.

<snip>I was thinking about it and wondering if you use your upper body position when negotiating tight turns?  In other words do you lean your body to the inside of the turn?  This allows you to turn tighter and faster with the bike actually leaning a bit less.

That's a really good tip, and I do try to use my upper body in turns.  I'm a big guy so it's hard for me to be to be shifting around in the seat a lot.  I do wish I had video of the crash so I could see how good or bad my body position was!

Minor semantics here, but from reading the whole story, it sounds like the motorcycle low-sided ON ITS left and would have slid to the right, or outside... right?

Oops.  Right...  I mean correct.

But B. is wrong!

If you back off when the hard parts are starting to touch, the bike will settle on its suspension and hard parts touching will get worse, not better. I know the average instinct is to back off, but gassing it would be a better thing to do. Better than that though would be to hang off more to the inside and put the bike at a lesser angle.

Thanks Red01, I appreciate your insight here, and I think you're right.  My thought process was that carefully reducing throttle might allow you to reduce the lean angle, but I think you're correct that the resulting upset to the chassis would be worse.  In fact I would think chopping the throttle (the "oh s**t" reaction) would weight the front tire, reducing grip at the back.

I have always believed (and been taught) that if you get into a corner too hot you should hang on and stay committed to the turn, so I was struggling to figure out what I did wrong.  I was perhaps too focused on the idea that the footpeg contact contributed to the loss of traction at the rear tire, which other posters have called into question.

In any event, I will amend B. to read "If hard parts start to touch down in corners, reduce your overall pace when safe to do so."

Would you be willing to elaborate on why you suggest more throttle?  Wouldn't that use up more traction at the rear tire, which presumably is already too close to its limits?

<snip>My experience is that you usually touch a toe at or before touching a footpeg unless you have your feet well back on the balls, and in tight against the cases. The centre stand can touch down on the left side at about the same time as well, and does NOT move, like the hinged footpeg. Maybe you hit both?

That's a good idea, and one I didn't think of.  After reading it I did go out to the garage and have a look at the center stand, but I didn't see damage.  With my bum ankle I couldn't get down and look as closely as I wanted so will have to do that again a bit later.  Also, my foot did touch down, just before the scraping started. 

Once again, thanks to everyone who posted and I am humbled that people took the time to think about my little crash and post their insights.  Cheers!

P.S.  I just noticed something:  "Damage" was listed before "Injuries!"  Guess that says something about my priorities

[PitterB4]

One note or comment on the performance of the jacket:  I make sure my jackets fit pretty snuggly and I'm anal about making sure the cuffs are zipped and snapped/velcroed and that the snaps that pull the elbow pads tight on my two JR jackets are just that - tight.  I know that the mesh jacket in particular isn't going to provide much abrasion resistance.  I at least want that extra layer of mesh and the foam padding to stay put should I decide to put it to the test.  Was the Phoenix loose-fitting and/or not properly secured or did it just flat-out fail you?  I'm curious about it since I own two (oh wait, it's 3) JR jackets. 

Glad the damages to man and machine were realatively minimal.  Heal quick!

[rkfire]

20mph in a wider (than a right) left 90 degree turn doesn't seem to me to require getting even close to touching down a footpeg. Even then, they do fold even with a riders weight on them. I'd suspect they touched during the low side, rather than having leaned over that much to negotiate the turn. Unless the bike has been lowered or a combo of soft spring settings and higher rider weight.

Oil is possible, but, any chance the ride had just begun and the tires were cold? This has caused more than a few low speed get offs. If not that, any chance they were new tires?

[TK421]

Thanks for the kind words PitterB4.

In answer to your question I'm not sure if the failure of the jacket was design/ materials or that it just didn't stay put.  The lack of damage to the elbow of the jacket makes me think the sleeve moved, although I have no memory of this.  The unpadded area that made contact with the pavement shredded through both layers of mesh.  It did fit me pretty snugly, and it once had snap closures along the inside of the arms that could be used to tighten the fit of the sleeves, but they all broke/ tore within a month of purchase, so sleeves were perhaps not as snug as they could be.  The cuffs were velcroed as tightly as comfort allowed.

I've always known that a mesh jacket is a bit of a compromise, but a necessary one to ride in FL.  I am disappointed that I got road rash on a part of my elbow that should have been protected by the elbow padding.  I should add that my jacket is an early generation Phoenix, maybe even first generation, and I have noticed that the mesh weave on the later jackets is tighter.

In any event, I'm thinking about a perforated leather jacket, but I'm just not sure if it would be tolerable in the FL summer heat.  Any hot climate riders have any experience with this??

[TK421]

20mph in a wider (than a right) left 90 degree turn doesn't seem to me to require getting even close to touching down a footpeg. Even then, they do fold even with a riders weight on them. I'd suspect they touched during the low side, rather than having leaned over that much to negotiate the turn. Unless the bike has been lowered or a combo of soft spring settings and higher rider weight.

Oil is possible, but, any chance the ride had just begun and the tires were cold? This has caused more than a few low speed get offs. If not that, any chance they were new tires?

Tires have about 2500 miles on them, and should have been warm--  had been riding about 20 mins when the crash occurred.

My suspension settings are as they left the dealer.  I should probably think about adjusting since I'm larger than average (6-2, 270) but truth be told, I don't know diddly about what settings to use.

[pmackie]

At 270 lbs, you could improve your bike's corner manners with a couple of changes:

1. Forks - Increase the fork preload to the max, by turning the adjusters all the way in.

If you haven't changed the fork oil, you should consider doing so (every 2-3 years is recommended), and for stock springs, I would mix about 30% SAE 20W and 70% SAE 10W to firm up the ride a little. A change to Progressive or Race Tech springs would really help, and for your weight, I would move up to 50% SAE 20W and 50% SAE 10W with the stiffer springs.

2. At the rear, increase the shock preload to the max, or one notch less than max, AND increase the rebound adjuster to 3 or 4(max).

Again, a Hyabusa or aftermarket shock will make a bigger improvement.

Firming up the suspension will give you more cornering clearance, and may help avoid the little incident you recently had, and should provide better feedback about the limit of the tires, at the expense of a little rougher ride, but for your weight, more preload should be an improvement.

[stormi]

At 270 lbs, you could improve your bike's corner manners with a couple of changes:

So,... this brings up a question... what is the average bike set up for?  I.e. what is the weight and height of the rider assumed to be? 

And for that matter, if you're below the assumed weight and height... I assume that you don't just reverse what a heavier rider would do??  For instance,.. soft springs don't help anyone, right?? And most factory settings seem to be decidedly soft...

[Pillage]

My suspension settings are as they left the dealer.  I should probably think about adjusting since I'm larger than average (6-2, 270) but truth be told, I don't know diddly about what settings to use.

Here is link to a post about suspension settings.  The links within that post helped take the mystery out of it for me.  Good luck...
http://forums.banditalley.net/index.php?topic=9732.msg77109#msg77109