Biggest Scare

Bee strike!

Lovely summer's day, country road, can see for miles = pulled over to enjoy the view, visor up. (OK, view schmiew, I was letting a couple of car's pull out of sight so I could attack a really nice bit of road!)

So, I pull away into the opening straight (visor still up), crank it open and go to slam the visor... it kind of went into slow-mo from there.

As I'm closing the visor a speck heads straight for me, rapidly identifying itself as a huge fuzzy bumble bee - slamming into my cheek just as the visor slams shut.
What felt like ten minutes of crosseyed goggling from me, I suddenly realise I'm into the turns with this bee crawling across the bottom of my visor.

I swear I could make out every little hair on that fat body, as well as the sting.

I just couldn't take my eyes off it, yet still managed to pull over, stop and carefully remove my crash helmet all without seeming to actually move my head.
As soon as it was past my ears I threw the thing so hard onto the verge that it struck a rock and put a fecking great dent in it.

I felt I sat there for an hour waiting to see this bee finally lazily fly out and over the hedge.

Result = new crash helment required and now I'm not fussed, bees, wasps, whatever, they can crawl on me anytime. I've had my baptism of fire.

It was raining - I rode over some tar banding in road (where it had been repaired) during leaning on a sharp right hander, bike slid all over the place - couldnt steer it - saw my life flash in front of me waited for the crash - all of a sudden the bike highsided which according to the guy behind me flung my a**se about 4 ft in the air - the impact sheared my mirror bolt! so my mirror was swinging around - but many years of horse riding must have kicked in and somehow unconciously I held on to those handlebars for dear life!! - next thing I knew was riding along still on the bike in total shock - I had to pull over for a about half an hour to stop shaking

I had about a 20 mile ride home which i did at about 20 mph . Took me weeks to get back my confidence but I learnt a big lesson from it

Mine happened today. Cold tyres, greasy roads, coming off a right hand turn on a roundabout onto a dual carriageway. Hit the throttle a bit too early and the front slides. Tank slapper city. Let off the power immediately but had braced myself for sliding up the sliproad on my ass. Thankfully held onto the handlebars for dear life and I stayed rubber side up. Strangely enough I was laughing for about 30 secs after it happened. Couldn't believe my luck probably. Hope that never happens again!

MK

4years ago, leading a sport ride, the testoserone was kicking in.. entered a downhill right hander about 65mph, decreasing radius....

I trusted the SV and kept countersteering more and more. about the time hardware started scraping the pavement became rippled in my line...

I swear to this day I crashed but my tires grabbed and I exited the corner.

the guy directly behind me on an RC-51 went wide, the gixxer behind him got slowed down as did everyone behind ... the guy on the gixxer said it looked like I slid about 20 feet from the apex out then stood it back up coming out of the corner as if nothing happened.....
the guy on the RC said he couldn't beleive I didn't go into a tank slapper

I think I peed my pants, within a half mile I started waiving everybody past me, my ticker was pounding

on inspection up the road a few miles when we stopped for a breather revealed road rash on my bar end mirror, brake pedal, exaust pipe and can (vance & hines cheapo) and my saddlebags

[northwind]

Mine was going over a speed cushion at about 40mph with all the brakes on It was a quiet, straight road with a 90 degree bend at the end, I was braking for the bend, and the damn bump wasn't there a couple of weeks before... it was completely unmarked and I'd mistaken it for a tarmac patch.

The front went over alright but the rear kicked, wheel was off the ground for a second or too, and in the process I was out of the seat and practically vertical... I fell right back into the riding position and somehow got around the bend I'd been braking for, just by pure luck if I'm honest.

So don't do that!

Similar to K with his Bee

Except mine was a pheasant! about 5.00am and blatting up from York to an early start at work in Oxfordshire.

Could have been worse, at leat there aren't many ostriches in that part of the world.

Missed the bird but it makes you think as all you can see is tail feathers twitching :P

Im not a pheasant plucker, Im the pheasant pluckers son. and Im only plucking pheasants until the pheasant plucker comes

My GOD! what size helmet are you? (just have visions of a pheasant stuffing itself through your visor opening! and to shut it in after closing your visor!? (must have been a bit cramped) ha

mmmm, there are too many near misses, and hits to count.
I hate deers, ive hit one cornering at about 60 on a little CB250, didnt see it and couldnt go anywhere but straight over it (btw it was already dead but not flattened) and both wheels cam off the ground, landed it and pulled over **** scared. Ive split between two deers crossing the road and almost hit both of them.

Someone did an emergency stop down a hill in front once. I was too close and lane split at about 70 and had to brake real hard to go round the corner cutting in front of this car.

Riding a bike with bent steering, know front brake lever or clutch lever, and a half snapped gear pedal and twisted steering wasnt fun when i came off. Good thing was it didnt cost much to fix but changing gear without clutch and jumping round roundabouts just using the rear brake to stop was scary. Needed to get it home!

I got endless storys in the only 4 and 1/2 years of riding. I ride everywhere and have put so many miles on all my bikes. I consider my self a sdafe rider on the road, but sometimes i do silly mistakes. Accidents have never cost me more than £50, and never hit another car. The thing with the Sv that scares me is that its a big bike compared to a gs500, and im taking it easy!!!!

Oh, losing the rear end on a cb250 on a straight road once braking hard but too much on the rear, kept on recovering it and it would switch over too the other side, zigzagging the road, and just managed to brake before getting to the one way bridge, that was scary.

the man in the dealer offering to fit a top box.

Mine was definitely the time when I was riding along at about 25-30 in a built up area, and an idiot in a Subaru Impreza comes up my inside at about 80mph (probably nicked) just as I was starting a left turn into a side road... missed him by about 2 or 3 feet tops.