Motorcycle crash : Tail of the dragon

[blueglide88]

I've ridden the Tail a few times with and as a ride you cannot enjoy the scenery because you have to be concentrating the whole time on the road. Add to that the squids
who think they are in Daytona and own the road, and any enjoyment goes out the window really fast when you realize one of these morons can take me out.

 

[beanoil]

I've ridden the dragon a couple times. Once with a good friend, MSF instructor, well over a 3/4 million miles on bikes. His feelers on the footpegs were long gone, and the witness marks on the mufflers were like a grinder had beveled the outer edge of the exhaust can. Who would have thunk a heavy Concours could lean that far? Went up, went down, drama free. Did it again years later on a BMW R1100RT. I probably should have warned my spouse about what we were about to do......
Most of those accidents happen exactly as zee o six says. If you are leaned over, panic and grab a handful of brake, the bike stands up and goes straight, simple physics. Roll on, push harder, avoid target fixation and look where you want to be. Apparently, that guy wanted a closer look at the Vette.

 

[BigCahuna]

They should make it illegal for those photographers to distract anyone driving, by encouraging them to wave. On roads like the Dragon, you need to focus on what your doing not mugging for the camera.,,

 

[gman2304]

Hoping the guy came out OK. From the way it looks to my old eyes he might have been lucky to have hit the Corvette. Depending on his speed, plus there's no telling what was over the edge. What brand motorcycle is he riding? It looks like a Nippon cruiser with that big radiator, the tail light, and the look of the head pipe orientation. But again I have old eyes.

 

[02SE]

It's a Triumph Thunderbird 1600 or 1700, depending on which engine it was equipped with.

 

[spasm3]

Originally Posted by ZeeOSix
Originally Posted by U_S
My wife and I rode the Dragon a few years ago. We saw the results of a cyclist waving at a photographer instead of paying attention to the road. Click on the link and scroll through the 28 images.

https://xtremesportsphotography.pho...spx?pi=0QAK01AY080000&po=0&pc=28


Guy didn't even try to lean hard to the right and instead went straight into the Vette. Get off the brakes and LEAN it over !! Better than going head-on into a car.


Looks like he was in the wrong place on the road before entering the turn. Waving did not help as he as not looking ahead to where the exit of the turn was. I agree, I would have never straightened up the bike. If he had stayed leaned over, and even given it some throttle, he might have made it, as the vette moved over a lot. But straight up he had no chance of making it.

 

[02SE]

Originally Posted by BigCahuna
They should make it illegal for those photographers to distract anyone driving, by encouraging them to wave. On roads like the Dragon, you need to focus on what your doing not mugging for the camera.,,


That's all on the rider. If he's so easily distracted, he shouldn't be riding.

Poor lane positioning, lack of spatial awareness, lack of bike handling skills, and finally panic and target fixation. He is simply an incompetent rider, and he and the Corvette owner paid the price.

 

[Jarlaxle]

Looks like that bike may have been at its limit-I wonder if he was scraping hard parts.

 

[SubieRubyRoo]

Originally Posted by blupupher
I do plan on doing the 3 Sisters here in Texas at some point though.


That's cool if they're into a family thing. One at a time or all together?

 

[ZeeOSix]

Originally Posted by Jarlaxle
Looks like that bike may have been at its limit-I wonder if he was scraping hard parts.


He probably was scraping or close to it ... but that probably freaked him out which caused him to brake and lift the bike up which made him start going straight again. He would probably have been better off keeping it all the way over and trying to make the corner.

 

[02SE]

Originally Posted by Jarlaxle
Looks like that bike may have been at its limit-I wonder if he was scraping hard parts.


At one point he might have been scraping hard parts, due to poor initial lane position, a distinct lack of spatial awareness, and then when he finally looked where he was heading he paniced, target fixated, didn't understand (or more likely wasn't aware) of the concept of getting his butt out of the middle of the seat to turn the bike more sharply without grounding hard parts, stood the bike straight up, and went right where he was fixating, which was the front fender of the poor guys Corvette.

Basically, he crashed because of a lack of riding knowledge and ability.

 

[gman2304]

Originally Posted by Jarlaxle
Looks like that bike may have been at its limit-I wonder if he was scraping hard parts.

In the 10th pic there's no daylight between the bottom right side of his motorcycle and he's to the right side of the double yellow line. In the 11th pic, no lean and he's crossed the yellow lines. He possibly heard some scraping, panicked and corrected right into the Corvette. Plus it looks like his bike is way overloaded with bags and such.

 

[stoan]

Sadly, a lot of Motorcycle accidents happen just like this. Riders start to panic, become fixated on the danger, and ride right into it. A lot of bad crashes could have been avoided if the riders stayed focused on the corner exit and just leaned a little more. It's the old motorcycling adage, look where you want to go because you are going to go where you're looking.