Coming off is never good.

[roverfj1200]

It has been awhile since this happen but I felt the need to share a bit of a off that Julie and myself had. It is amazing how fast things can go wrong and how it can affect your life in to the future. While Julie and myself are fine now we have had to endure 5 weeks of pain and recovery not to mention monetary loss.

So a quick break down of what happened.
There where five of us riding to the town of Biggenden for a get together. I was leading the group. There is a road that dissects two main roads and was a short cut but had some gravel sections that we as a group had decided to take knowing the dirt was there and that we may back track if needed. A few kilometres in as we crested a hill I seen the gravel ahead. I braked and slowed to around 50kmph (30mph) as I crossed on to the gravel. Without warning I found myself face down on the gravel with no understanding why. I didn't do anything wrong that I could see. The normal rush to stand up, in a haze of dust, as I looked for Julie hoping to find her uninjured is a horrible time that seems to go on for ever.
So as the dust clears things become clear. The two following bikes, for whatever reason, have been unable to slow down. One missing close to our right, the other tail ending us on our left.

Julie and myself are ATGATT people and as such sustained some speed burns, bruising and soft tissue damage. I also fractured my collar bone.

You can take what you like from this but remember it is not always your choices that affect your life sometimes other people can do that for you.

Stay safe people.

[Dieselman7.3]

Glad to hear you guys are okay. I try to avoid gravel roads as much as possible. I had a similar event happen to me on a 4 wheeler where the guy behind me didn't for what ever reason realize me and the four atvs in front of me we're turning right. I went off the trail and almost wrecked my brand new machine to avoid getting t boned. I'd rather be bringing up the tail any day. Never know what the guy behind you is gonna do.

[Tuned forks]

So I am guessing that you fractured your collar bone from the bike behind hitting you?  When I saw the pic of your helmet all scuffed up, all I could think was that could have been your face without a full face helmet.  Gravel and dirt give me great pause and I used to ride dirt bikes.

Joe

[racerrad8]

Richard, I'm sorry to read about the get off especially with the boss on the back.

The bike looks bad,  but the helmet looks much worse.

How did the other guys fare?
I hope there wasn't any major injuries.

Take care,  rest easy and heal quickly.

Tell Julie hello from us.

Randy  - RPM

[roverfj1200]

So I am guessing that you fractured your collar bone from the bike behind hitting you? 

Joe

No it was from the face plant..

Randy
Other bloke had dislocated shoulder a few broken ribs and a broken scap.

Will tell Julie hello from you.

[Sparky84]

Sorry to hear about you accident, good to hear you are on the mend and nothing too serious with both You, Julie and others involved.
And by the look of it you have already fixed your bike.

Cheers
Alan

[ribbert]

Bloody hell Richard! While not making light of the injuries you sustained, I'm glad neither of you were more seriously hurt and that a full recovery is on the horizon and the journey will continue.

".....You can take what you like from this but remember it is not always your choices that affect your life sometimes other people can do that for you....."

What I take from this is it reinforces my dislike of group riding. I often see comments here like "I'd ride with so and so any time" or " I have absolute faith in ......" or " I feel completely safe riding with..." etc.
While these remarks are complimentary to the named riders,  if you choose to ride in a manner where your safety depends on the actions of others in your own group then you are way too close.

Motorbikes following each other off corners, leaving the road, running into things or simply running into each other, sometimes in multiples, is not uncommon.
Riding is a dangerous activity and we need to minimise the risk wherever possible. We are vulnerable when things beyond our control go wrong but to intentionally add to the risk by riding bunched up, I just don't get it, let alone the distraction of having other bikes in close proximity.
I don't seek out group rides but when I find myself on one I always choose to be the last bike, drop back and do my own thing and in most cases, treat it for what it is, a social ride and take it easy.

I personally know of two occasions where bikes from the same group have rear ended each other, one of them took out a number of bikes in a remote location a long way from home, created a logistical nightmare trying to get them all home. Both happened at relatively low speeds.

Group rides are a social event, but when on the move there is nothing social about it, so spread out.
My ideal spacing is being far enough back to only occasionally catch a glimpse of the next bike ahead of me when the road straightens out. The difference in arrival times is negligible.

Noel



The views expressed above are my opinion only, I am not suggesting it is universally appropriate for every rider or situation. If you wish to offer a different opinion, great. If you wish contribute to further discussion on the subject or hijack it on some related safety matter, go for it. If you don't agree with me, tell us about it and why. If it prompts you to write about some other issue beneficial to our riding, bring it on. If you want to be contrary and disagree on principle, fuck off. If you can't separate the information from the person posting it, don't post a reply.

[1tinindian]

Bloody hell Richard! While not making light of the injuries you sustained, I'm glad neither of you were more seriously hurt and that a full recovery is on the horizon and the journey will continue.

".....You can take what you like from this but remember it is not always your choices that affect your life sometimes other people can do that for you....."

What I take from this is it reinforces my dislike of group riding. I often see comments here like "I'd ride with so and so any time" or " I have absolute faith in ......" or " I feel completely safe riding with..." etc.
While these remarks are complimentary to the named riders,  if you choose to ride in a manner where your safety depends on the actions of others in your own group then you are way too close.

Motorbikes following each other off corners, leaving the road, running into things or simply running into each other, sometimes in multiples, is not uncommon.
Riding is a dangerous activity and we need to minimise the risk wherever possible. We are vulnerable when things beyond our control go wrong but to intentionally add to the risk by riding bunched up, I just don't get it, let alone the distraction of having other bikes in close proximity.
I don't seek out group rides but when I find myself on one I always choose to be the last bike, drop back and do my own thing and in most cases, treat it for what it is, a social ride and take it easy.

I personally know of two occasions where bikes from the same group have rear ended each other, one of them took out a number of bikes in a remote location a long way from home, created a logistical nightmare trying to get them all home. Both happened at relatively low speeds.

Group rides are a social event, but when on the move there is nothing social about it, so spread out.
My ideal spacing is being far enough back to only occasionally catch a glimpse of the next bike ahead of me when the road straightens out. The difference in arrival times is negligible.

Noel



The views expressed above are my opinion only, I am not suggesting it is universally appropriate for every rider or situation. If you wish to offer a different opinion, great. If you wish contribute to further discussion on the subject or hijack it on some related safety matter, go for it. If you don't agree with me, tell us about it and why. If it prompts you to write about some other issue beneficial to our riding, bring it on. If you want to be contrary and disagree on principle, fuck off. If you can't separate the information from the person posting it, don't post a reply.

Your words have a lot of merit, and I agree with them all, BUT, I personally enjoy a very spirited ride, from time to time, tucked in with my special group of riders (Alan, Capt Ron, Derek). I know we all expect that something can go wrong, and honestly, we don't ride like that 100% of the time, either. I've told Capt Ron, that I'm looking for at least one of "those" rides, per rally, and we usually get that opportunity. Agreed, distance is your friend!

Leon  

[Pat Conlon]

Richard, I too am happy things did not get worse. I know you are a tough guy but I worry about Julie.

I wish you both a speedy recovery. I will not offer advice on riding.
You are a superior rider, much much better than me.

Cheers mate.

Pat

[ribbert]

It probably doesn't matter now and no one probably cares but a day or so back I posted an opinion piece on group riding in this thread that I now see included a small font footnote.

The body of that piece was written a while back and included the footnote, it was for the benefit of a specific member with a propensity for disagreeing with everything I say and was appropriate at the time, but it was not meant to be included in yesterday's post.

Noel

[krusty]

Most of my riding is with others but I do not allow their actions to dictate mine.
I keep three things (among others) in mind pretty much constantly.
1. Allow 3 second gap between myself and vehicle, bike or car, in front. If there's someone tailgating me I'll increase that gap.
2. Ride at a speed where you can stop in the distance you can see.
3. Keep away from things that can hurt me, stationary or mobile.

[ribbert]

Most of my riding is with others but I do not allow their actions to dictate mine.
I keep three things (among others) in mind pretty much constantly.
1. Allow 3 second gap between myself and vehicle, bike or car, in front. If there's someone tailgating me I'll increase that gap.
2. Ride at a speed where you can stop in the distance you can see.
3. Keep away from things that can hurt me, stationary or mobile.

All good common sense stuff Krusty. The thing I don't like about the 3 second rule is assumes you are looking at the vehicle ahead at the very moment it suddenly slows. If you are checking your mirrors, looking at you instruments, looking to the side of the road etc, in fact, looking anywhere other than at the vehicle ahead, that 3 secs can disappear in a hearbeat.'
Experience and common sense should tell you what distance you need to maintain, not counting off seconds.

Noel

[krusty]

With experience (and you did say experience and commonsense) you get a feel for the distance 3 seconds gives you at various speeds. In adverse conditions, e.g. rain,  commonsense would also dictate increasing the gap.  One is not constantly counting. I'll admit that sometimes when I check myself it can end up closer to 2 seconds.

[CutterBill]

I sorely wish that new plastic was still available for our bikes; I'm getting tired of patching. Along these lines, several years ago I contacted a large manufacturer of aftermarket bike plastics and, after seeing that they had nothing for FJ's, suggested they offer some parts. Explained to them that we had 5000 members on this forum alone, and probably that many more world-wide who are not members. I was quite surprised when they said they weren't interested. Seems like a profitable venture to me but what do I know...

Richard, glad you are (relatively) alright.
Bill