OK, I have scared myself...

[rictus01]

writing a car off with my head and very nearly loosing my lower left leg, was about as close as I've come, nearly four years later every day is pain, and yet not once did it ever cross my mind to give up biking, in fact it was the other way around, getting back on a bike was a major recovery target, the bike gives me sanity and no one but me will made the decision whether or not I ride.

I choose to face my demons, but that is my character I guess and the way I've always delt with these things, I've never stopped trying to improve my abilities and think it'll probably be time to give up should I become complacent that way.

Cheers Mark.

[Red Herring]

I guess the best way forward is to decide what you want out of your motorcycling. If you are just looking for thrills then I would encourage you to take yourself off the roads and take up some form of motorsport, because the public roads are no place for such behaviour simply because there are to many other people at risk by it.

If on the other hand you want to be a good motorcyclist then as Rictus says you just need to recognize that self control and discipline are far more important that bravado. There is always going to be someone who is quicker than you on the open road, but that may simply be because they are prepared to take risks you're not, and that doesn't make them "better".

[Bri w]

First of all you've got to analyse whether or not your recent off could have been reasonably avoided, e.g. yes it could but only by going silly slow. That will give you a basis on which regain your trust in your own ability.

And secondly, as Mark chose to do, if you want to ride "making progress" you've got to face your demons. Speaking from personal experience, serious accident, extremely long physical recovery period (still working on it nearly 5yrs later), head in bits and a number of sessions with a shrink. A therapist will tell you to slowly expose yourself to the demons, building your confidence with each experience. They will also tell you that the "what if" syndrome is self defeating and a waste of your life - paralysis by analysis.

If you ride sensibly, and within your level of your ability the only thing that can get you is the unavoidable, e.g. the idiot coming out of a side road without looking.

Life is not a p!55ing contest based around your chicken strips.

Col, sorry mate.
As you know i had a severe lack of confidence even after my minor off, still regaining some confidence now, thats why i changed the sv, i have smaller chicken strips already on my trumpet than i have on my sv, thats says something about my confidence in the sv.
Hence why i didnt try and 'keep up' with people on rideouts, i would have crashed, not if, when.

Partly though because im not no where near talented enough (im never gonna be a cornering king) and partly because me and the sv didnt get on round corners.

I have found a good painter, he also does plastics repair, so you may be able to get your cone repaired?

Phil

[fizzwheel]

It's quite simple you need to stop riding like a tit where it's not appropriate to do so.

Sounds like you need to back the pace off and leave more room and time to workout what is coming towards you and maybe brush up on your obs a bit to. You put yourself into those situations on hartside and in Ireland, a bit less pace and better obs and analysis and I wander whether you would have had those offs at all.

It's difficult to comment as I wasn't there though, apologies if post is a bit blunt. But maybe that's what you needed to hear.

Originally Posted by -Ralph-

So two crashes were entirely my own fault and due to riding like an idiot and pushing to the limit. I don't ride like that all the time, in fact a few qualified IAM instructors/riders have said I'm a safe sensible rider and my bikesafe feedback was that there was nothing constructive that they could add. I don't enjoy riding at three figure speeds, but, when I see a tight twisty B road where 60 mph is fast for the majority of bends, I just throw all caution to the wind and attack it for all I'm worth. I love throwing the bike down such roads, hitting one corner after another after another.

Reading between the line of this para, it seems like you are a safe rider until you meet a skills challenge ( correct me if I'm wrong). What about finding another type of challenge that you can explore in a safer environment? A twisty circuit like Three Sisters, some stunting, or some MX for instance.

I've been strapped to a backboard and ferried off to intensive care when I was taken out in 2008.
Yes you do think more about your riding and yes it can scare you (especially if you have kids etc I imagine) but then it's bound to shake you up a little, we're only human.

Do you do track days at all? For me, that helps reduce the 'eagerness' for a twisty road - because at the end of the day most roads are nowhere near as good as tracks, and of course you also have the obstacles...

[flymo]

I know where you are coming from. I stopped riding on the road after a couple of 'mature' moments of reflection. Sounds a little drastic I know but at the time it was the right decision for me, I'll get another road bike one day but for the moment I dont miss it at all.

I replaced my road riding with racing and it fits the bill perfectly, I loved going fast on the road and the problem was I was getting braver as time went on. I decided to nip it in the bud before I got killed or my licence taken away. I've raced ever since.

I'm not saying you should necessarily do the same but its another option.

haha you pussy, knee down - elbow down - face down - rider down its the future!

Glad you're not too hurt, sounds like you got lucky and naturally you're questioning your mortality and maybe this is just what you needed to be thinking to avoid been the 3rd person your mate knows who croaked.

You've been riding a while an by the sounds of it you're quite confident but this quote says all I needed to read.

"So I am scared into the realisation that I need to slow down, reduce my lean angles and give myself more room for error, because I have had two crashes when riding fully committed, and I am now of the opinion that when you ride like that, a crash is a matter of 'when', not 'if'."

Its been my opinion since day one of riding, if I leave no room for error its not like off road where you slide into a hedge get up an laugh it off. When ever you bin it from the limit on the road you're lucky to walk away from it. Personally I can't do it partially cos I'm not good enough but in honesty thats a good thing. Far better riders than me have lost their lives on our roads so I'm not foolish enough to belive that I'm too good to die, and been plainly honest I dont want to do that to the people I care about. Never mind the "he died doing what he loved" they'll prob repeat to other people, but inside they'll feel I've let them down and thats not something I want to risk.

So you've reached that same conclusion, maybe for different reasons but the result is the same and hats off too ya, it gets my respect. To have it and not use it, is better the use it and loose it.