Second Crash in Three Months
 

I crashed again yesterday.
I was coming from the outside lane of the M8 into the middle lane in rush hour traffic. A guy in a 4X4 flashed me in to a (fairly small) gap. I gave him a quick flash of my hazards by way of thanks (normally I'll wave to be honest).

My hazards are at my right hand and as I tried to switch them off I couldn't find the switch and looked down to do so (idiot), as I shifted my grip to cancel the switch I grabbed a handful of throttle. The bike lunges forward towards the back of the car in front and I panic and slam the brakes. The front wheel digs in and I lose the front end resulting in the bike chucking me off.

The really scary thing was I landed in the outside lane of the motorway, but fortunately the traffic stopped ok and I wasn't roadkill.

Almost identical damage to the crash I had in the summer, but I'll find out the full extent of it when the mechanic comes round tonight.

I'm cool though, just a few bruises and a bit of road rash on my side and a apparently I looked like I'd seen a ghost for a few hours after.

Gutted.

Re: Second Crash in Three Months
 

Re: Second Crash in Three Months
 

Sorry to hear about your crash. Glad to see that you're ok however.

Re: Second Crash in Three Months
 

Glad you are fine and the bike is too.

However, I have to say that one of my pet peeves is the use of Hazard Lights as "Thank You" lights.

Or White Van Man parked at the side of the road with them on, but the one at the kerb obscured by the car parked in front or behind him (as relevent) making it look like he is indicating pulling out.

I don't know how the practice started, but something should be done about it as they are a signal of a Hazard, not a "Thank You" signal, or a "Free Parking Facilitator"

Re: Second Crash in Three Months
 

Thanks for the comments guys.

RamJam, i actually have an IAM course sitting in the house which Quedos donated to me. I was going to let the Mrs use it once she got her license, but I think I have to use it now, especially as it transpires I'm not very good at staying on the bike.

To be honest SoulKiss, I probably agree with you, I never use my hazards as a thank you, even in the car, but I accept it's commenly used for this purpose and for some reason I figured I'd give it a shot yesterday.

Re: Second Crash in Three Months
 

AAAARGHHH!!! SK, I HATTTTEE when people use "magical park anywhere you like" lights! Does my nut in!!

Anyway, good to see you are ok mate! And yeah, the IAM training might be a good idea!

Re: Second Crash in Three Months
 

only 2 pifff, i binned a bike after owning it 20 mins not to mention every other time ive been run off the road or tried taking off on a raf runway
dont worry mate its all a learning curve, now you know not to **** about with hazards when nagotiating a busy situation, any accident you survive and learn from is a good one
just dont do it again, and remember
on the org i crash so yous dont have too :)

Re: Second Crash in Three Months
 

No they are 'I have my forcefield switched on lights', meaning you cannot damage me when I have them illuminated :-D

Re: Second Crash in Three Months
 

As an IAM observer, I don't know how I would teach someone not to use there hazard lights incase they grabbed a hanful of throttle & locked up the front brakes on a Motorway :???:
We're not miracle workers you know. :smt102

Sorry to hear about your crash, in all seriousness I hope IAM training gives you confidence to cope with bike control.

Re: Second Crash in Three Months
 

Urgh.. sorry to hear about this.

If I feel like I've got enough time and awareness of what is going on I'll nod or stick my boot out, or I will wave on open stretches where traffic has moved over for me to pass etc, but I never mess about with hazards and lights and the such - especially on the motorways.

Lesson learnt the hard and painful way me thinks.

Re: Second Crash in Three Months
 

Glad to hear you and the bike are relatively ok..

Re: Second Crash in Three Months
 

You know what I said!! but publicly...

Glad your ok and the bike can be fixed - AGAIN!
and yeah I think IAM course for you sunshine. We knock some sense into you yet!

Re: Second Crash in Three Months
 

I think you will find that forcing someone to smoke a pipe and wear slippers is still against the Geneva Convention...

Re: Second Crash in Three Months
 

:winner:


:smt082

Re: Second Crash in Three Months
 

Sorry to hear about your off mate, main thing is tho, you're ok n hopefully the bikes not got too much damage.

Thing only positive thing that comes out of coming off is you learn from it you won't make the same mistake twice.

I just give them a nod as a thankyou, or a wave depending on situation, if they don't see it then tough :)

Get back on 'er and don't let it get you down ;)

Re: Second Crash in Three Months
 

Hmmmm :D

Re: Second Crash in Three Months
 

Quedos, I detect a distinct lack of sympathy coming from you, is this due to my cavalier text last week? lol

I'm looking at around £350 of damage I think. I hope to get her back at the weekend, but I may be hanging the helmet up soon once the ice arrives in the morning and only take her out at the weekend for a couple of months.

Re: Second Crash in Three Months
 

Nah - i'm like that with everyone i know:) - i know you didn't mean it really;)

Re: Second Crash in Three Months
 

RC what did you damage, are you planning to replace everything with new oem parts? dear way to repair.

pop up your damage or pm me if you want and i'll describe the heath robinson repair method:smt038

If nothing else t will get you back on the road for the winter:riding: you can replace with oem later if you want

Re: Second Crash in Three Months
 

I did mine twice in six weeks---exactly same damage both times and both drivers concerned were insured by NFU.
This led to some confusion as neither accident was my fault and the NFU
were pulling their hair out by the time we were finished with them.

Re: Second Crash in Three Months
 

Bikes already at Bills should be sorted for the weekend - I'm not sure what method they are using this time though:?

Though RC - always good to remember our KG is quite handy!!

Re: Second Crash in Three Months
 

Thanks KG, much appreciated. As Quedos has pointed out, I'm expecting the work to be completed in the next day or two but I will certainly keep that in mind for future reference.

I think I'm looking at Suzuki parts for most of the damage but I can't remember what we agreed to with regards to a couple of the smaller parts - indicator, back break lever etc. I'm sure the indicator was only a tenner more from the factory but the brake lever was fairly dear. Also I've bent the handle bar prettly badly which I'm keen to replace.