What's the common denominator here?

[Tufbusa]

Yesterday (Friday 8-3-12) we had a track day event which included a street rider school. I think we had 14 customers for the school and around 60 track day customers.

We had a few get offs with three being nasty with bikes trashed but only one serious injury. I picked up all three of the serious crashes. All of these crashes had a few thing in common.

1. All three were liter bikes (1 ZX10 & 2 R1's)
2. All three bikes were Black
3. All three riders wore black leathers
4. All three riders wore black helmets
5. All three hit the deck on the asphalt (No run offs)
6. All three were high speed
7. All three were in the intermediate group
8. All three riders were around 30 years of age
9. All three had an excuse as to why the crash wasn't their fault
10. All three bikes sustained serious damage (Most insurance companies would call them a total loss)
11. And last but not least all three were on YankeeNoodleDandy's praised tire, the infamous Michelin PP 2ct.

My question is: Is this something in the gene pool, result of drinking bad water, bad choice or simply the luck of the draw? I find this somewhat odd at best!

 

[sixpack577]

Black leathers and especially helmets are making the riders and their brains too hot to continue to respond in time at their personal level. Several degrees hotter than the competition.
That's the scientific reason, simmer down old man.

 

[Tufbusa]

Black leathers and especially helmets are making the riders and their brains too hot to continue to respond in time at their personal level. Several degrees hotter than the competition.
That's the scientific reason, simmer down old man.

Awh, you punk kids with baggy britches that look like a covey of quail just flew out of the seat are always lippy!

 

[Blanca BusaLess]

Personally I think you should stop crashing folks bikes, it's very rude.

 

[sixpack577]

Personally I think you should stop crashing folks bikes, it's very rude.

 

[Tufbusa]

Personally I think you should stop crashing folks bikes, it's very rude.

When I move into your house I expect full access to that ugly scooter. It could use a spankin!

 

[The Big Red One]

Yesterday (Friday 8-3-12) we had a track day event which included a street rider school. I think we had 14 customers for the school and around 60 track day customers.

We had a few get offs with three being nasty with bikes trashed but only one serious injury. I picked up all three of the serious crashes. All of these crashes had a few thing in common.

1. All three were liter bikes (1 ZX10 & 2 R1's)
2. All three bikes were Black
3. All three riders wore black leathers
4. All three riders wore black helmets
5. All three hit the deck on the asphalt (No run offs)
6. All three were high speed
7. All three were in the intermediate group
8. All three riders were around 30 years of age
9. All three had an excuse as to why the crash wasn't their fault
10. All three bikes sustained serious damage (Most insurance companies would call them a total loss)
11. And last but not least all three were on YankeeNoodleDandy's praised tire, the infamous Michelin PP 2ct.

My question is: Is this something in the gene pool, result of drinking bad water, bad choice or simply the luck of the draw? I find this somewhat odd at best!

Tuf you know the all black is bad-azz mode, so of course they have to try and back up the tude......which leads to in over their heads and crashes. Simple really

 

[cheferman65]

Yesterday (Friday 8-3-12) we had a track day event which included a street rider school. I think we had 14 customers for the school and around 60 track day customers.

We had a few get offs with three being nasty with bikes trashed but only one serious injury. I picked up all three of the serious crashes. All of these crashes had a few thing in common.

1. All three were liter bikes (1 ZX10 & 2 R1's)
2. All three bikes were Black
3. All three riders wore black leathers
4. All three riders wore black helmets
5. All three hit the deck on the asphalt (No run offs)
6. All three were high speed
7. All three were in the intermediate group
8. All three riders were around 30 years of age
9. All three had an excuse as to why the crash wasn't their fault
10. All three bikes sustained serious damage (Most insurance companies would call them a total loss)
11. And last but not least all three were on YankeeNoodleDandy's praised tire, the infamous Michelin PP 2ct.

My question is: Is this something in the gene pool, result of drinking bad water, bad choice or simply the luck of the draw? I find this somewhat odd at best!

Maybe they were not as good as they believed they were?

 

[dadofthree]

Special training required with all that black going on

 

[fallenarch]

I wear all black because it makes my butt look thinner

 

[Tufbusa]

Most every single bike crash has two things in common whether it's a Moto GP rider or a street level track day rider, some sort of corner and tire grip are involved. It's rare a single bike crashes on straight asphalt. They seem to crash some place between the tip in point and the exit point where the bike is once again vertical.

Believe it or not, there seems to be a few things in common with track day crashes which I'm sure could be stressed with street crashes as well. By a large margin it's the intermediate group that has the most crashes. Maybe as many as the novice and expert groups put together. It's the guy who can't wait to get out of the Novice group and hang with the intermediate guys and simply runs out of talent. But then, running out of talent is the route to most crashes no matter where they occur.

Tire choice is also a common denominator when it comes to crashes. The lions share of intermediate get offs are on unforgiving tires. It's always safer to be on tires designed for the track when it comes to avoiding a crash. However, many street tires work quite well while others may feel good to the everyday rider but have characteristics unbecoming to mistakes. It's almost always a mistake (Big or small) that initiates the crash. When you make a mistake your tire choice has a great deal to do with whether you remain upright or haul your bike home in boxes. Rarely does the rider simply over ride the tire.

My advise to new track day riders is to choose your tire wisely as that little contact patch is the only thing between you and disaster. Tires are cheap compared to a crash. Secondly (Street or track) advance in small little steps.

How do you eat an elephant "One small bite at a time"! Biting off more than you can chew always ends ugly.

 

[MC MUSTANG]

Believe it or not, there seems to be a few things in common with track day crashes which I'm sure could be stressed with street crashes as well. By a large margin it's the intermediate group that has the most crashes. Maybe as many as the novice and expert groups put together. It's the guy who can't wait to get out of the Novice group and hang with the intermediate guys and simply runs out of talent. But then, running out of talent is the route to most crashes no matter where they occur.

This is exactly the guy that I don't want to be- I typically handle peer pressure pretty well and ride my own ride- I want to learn, grow and improve- which I think will ultimately make my riding even more enjoyable. Novice is just fine for me- 'cause that is exactly what I am.

 

[RussellJ]

Black is merely too fast for intermediate riders... well that was easy, Tuff. Give us a harder one next time!

 

[card16969]

the common denominator is that tuf was there intimidating guys into making mistakes lol

 

[dadofthree]

Black is merely too fast for intermediate riders... well that was easy, Tuff. Give us a harder one next time!

and it has the added benefit of making our butts look smaller

 

[RussellJ]

and it has the added benefit of making our butts look smaller

Yes, lmao, for some it seems so.

I, personally, love the phrase Tuff uses: "Ran out of talent when he/she needed it the most". Pretty much explains it perfectly.

So now with the obvious stab at the tires being the true underlying cause of the crashes, can we turn this into a Michelin PP2 bashing/Pro-Dunlop Q2 thread now?

 

[HillbillyTom]

Most every single bike crash has two things in common whether it's a Moto GP rider or a street level track day rider, some sort of corner and tire grip are involved. It's rare a single bike crashes on straight asphalt. They seem to crash some place between the tip in point and the exit point where the bike is once again vertical.

But it does happen..
Forward up to about 2:00. This was my first trip to a track year before last. Triump 955 passed me and was disappearing off in the distance until..