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[ST] Re: Paint, Western Rallye, Ken's interesting comments...



First, the tow truck that hauled the bikes in scraped my fairing. I'm
"chatting" with them right now about it, but could use two things: The
paint # for the (wonderful, babe-attracting, crash-repelling, really fast)
ST blue, OR, if anyone knows of a crashed blue ST, it's the rightmost of
the three front panels on the fairing - the one that surrounds the outside
of the right headlamp...I'd love to find the part.

We're ordering new Stiches (hi-viz) and helmets (hers was obviously trashed
- - helpful tow truck put all my personal gear left at the scene in a trash
bag ... then added the gasoline-soaked tank bra that came off Grace's bike.
Smell washed out of my Stich, but the foam inside helmets reacts badly to
gasoline vapor, so a new helmet for me as well. Whitham isn't doing too
well these days, so we'll have to look at another replica <g>), and
depending on arrival, we'll make the call re the Rally. Will know more
Weds, I think.


Ken made some helpful comments, and my responses are interspersed:


>Thirdly, would you mind if I made some observations from my perspective on
>what you say was going on prior to the accident? You may disagree with
this
>stuff, but here's something from an English perspective anyway...

Please!! Part of why I posted all this stuff...


>This is the opposite to what I would do, and what the IAM, RoSPA and the
>Police teach motorcyclists in this country. If you are out wide in your
lane
>on the entry to blind corners, or even where safe and the road markings
>don't preclude it (in the UK, this is - US traffic laws may not allow
this)
>in the other lane, you can see much further round the corner, and equally
>importantly, any oncoming traffic can better and earlier see you and is
less
>likely to cut the corner. It means you get round quicker as well...


Interesting. On two-lane roads (i.e. roads with a clear center line and
adequate width for two cars to comfortably pass in opposite directions), I
absolutely agree. I'll set my corner entry at the inside of the paint
stripe and follow a classic Code line from there. I've taken the position
that on what are essentially one-and-a-half lane roads (like the one we
were riding), that I want to be riding around blind corners along the right
hand edge of the road, and adjust my speed appropriately (i.e. slow the
heck down). I do this because of the inevitable pickup truck that will be
running towards me in the middle of the road; if I'm already on the right
edge, all I have to do is move over the few inches I have left, and I've
done everything I can. If I'm at the left edge of the road (wrong side for
us in the US), I've got to move all the way across. I'll also be riding
faster (using the better sightline) and so will have a higher closing
speed. I've talked with a few people who state that "riding more to the
left lets the truck see you sooner", and my response has tended to be that
most of the driver I've seen would watch you right into their grill before
they reacted.

I came up with this all by myself, and so there may be some other folks who
have better knowledge or research, and I'd be extremely interested in
hearing from them.


>It kind of looks like she braked on the gravel, doesn't it. This looks
kind
>of like it locked the front and the rear, and... well, you know what
>happened next. I guess you'll be saying something about that to her when
she
>gets to 'so what happened and how do I stop it happening again' stage...


Yup. My personal assessment (she doesn't remember from about 15 mins before
the accident to about 2 hours after) is that she was focusing on the road
geometry ... i.e. tracking the curves, looking ahead into the next curve
... and overlooked the road condition until she was right on top of it. At
that point, she panicked, grabbed a bunch of brake and ... boom!! 

I'm assembling a list of topics for her to start thinking about and "moving
one's awareness around" will be high on the list.


>I'll bet. Might have been easier to wait until you were clear of the
gravel
>before trying that :-).


Absolutely right. I reacted instinctively, and once I realized what I was
doing, made a biiig effort to get stopped before I hit the gravel. Didn't
work. Got it sorted and all came out OK...


>Can I recommend a little light reading for Grace while she heals?
>
>See http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ts/book-glance/011341143X for
>details of a guide to riding on the road briskly and safely.


Just ordered it, thanks!!!

Marc Danziger

00 Sprint ST "Vixen"
95 Speed Triple "Strumpet"
82 FT500 Ascot racebike "Elvis"


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