No - I just know him through Bemsee ;)Wish him well for me if you see him. Ta.
Personally this is what I do/think - I don’t know if it will chime with the rest of you but it’s what I have picked up after ten years riding.
A lot of crashes (particularly in summer involving sportsbikes) come down to rider error - someone riding too fast and losing it on a bend - what would result in scuffed leathers/fairing on the track can mean death on the road. You can protect yourself from this by riding within your limits and getting training.
Crashes involving cars tend to occur at junctions - usually because the driver is not anticipating bikes (narrow, fast moving things). You can protect yourself from this by constantly scanning for junctions - cover your brakes and look for escape routes - and if you see a car EXPECT IT to pull out - LOOK AT THE WHEELS - are they starting to turn. If I’m approaching cars at a junction I will weave bike from side to side - this differentiates you from the scenery/background 9my light is on natch) - you then are more likely to register in the drivers brain (this technique scientifically proven).
In town you are likely to get taken out by vehicles doing U-turns - watch out for taxis/minicabs in particular in this respect.
Always plan your over-takes.
When you are filtering assume that they are not looking in their mirrors.
Learn to brake properly - understand that if you lock the front and don’t let it off you are going down.
Partition your brain into two parts - one part devote to just enjoying being on the bike - the other part devote to ‘worst case scenario’ type thinking - if you are always anticipating a worst case scenario you will not get taken by suprise.
You are f*cked if you are cornering on diesel!
Not sure I’ll be physically seeing him for a while, but I’m sure I’ll see him on Xbox Live or soemthing. He must have loads of free time at the moment to just sit there and play on the computer, after all. If I catch him, I’ll pas on the message 
It’s hard if you know someone who is killed on a bike. I’ve lost a few friends over the years and just reading this post makes the hairs on my arms stand up!
Last friend lost 3rd January 2007, great start to the year, killed by a drunk driver in Stevenage! A complete waste of a life. He left 4 children, youngest just 5 months old!
You may have read or seen in the news that his brother is currently running from Edinburgh to Stevenage to raise awarness of Drink Driving! He arrives in Stevenage to join the race for life at lunchtime on Sunday.
You’re welcome to join us to watch the finish.
When’s that, mate?! Im very local to there.
I’ve had two major off’s and two minors. First major was in Nov 2004, had only done my CBT a couple of months before and got knocked off my 125 at a junction by a lorry. Broke my foot and mashed up the bike and was on crutches for a few months. However, I got back on again after that and passed my A2 test in 05. Was out of the country for a while in 06 so didn’t ride, but in Feb 07 had a crash on my 250, when car turned right, really unexpectedly, out of a line of traffic when i was filtering. I flew through the air and knocked myself out on a lamppost. Had a head injury and mashed my knee up, so was out of action until summer 07. I then got myself a big bike and no offs on that! Thank God!! My poor friend witnessed both accidents, he was white as a sheet afterwards, worse than me!!
I think with both those major off’s I also learnt what i had done wrong to contribute to this. Eg I should have been aware that, in a line of slow moving traffic in rush hour, some car driver is going to think ‘sod this, am going to be late for work’ and do something unexpected, like a right turn without signalling. I am now much more aware of the possibility of this happening and ride more defensively, often i hoot, to warn drivers I am coming. So have learnt from these accidents and I think / hope they have made me a safer rider now.
Of course many accidents are completely out of one’s control, there is always that element of risk in biking.
To me, being on the bike means tuning that sense of awareness to everything around you, all the time, and that’s what makes you feel so alive riding - being completely absorbed by the experience. I ride for alot of practical reasons, but the biggest reason is the grin after a ride when you feel awake, alert, wired and alive.
I hate hearing stories about bike accidents. I usually deal with it with the “it was likely the biker’s fault” logic. Which means I trust my own judgement as much as I can, and I’m most scared of random road surface problems like diesel, and random actions by other road users (that means all of us!)
Ive mentioned it before but ill say it all againI watched my brother die on his lc,350 it was his own fault no one else involved but i was there watching it happen i blamed my self for years if i wouldnt of wanted to learn to ride his bike it wouldnt of happend that day. i was just 16 at the time and on a school holiday my brother ashley asked me if i wanted ago on his lc350 stanstevens tuned ect it was the dogs ******** bike in 1982 so how could i refuse he taught me to ride his first bike an rd125dx.
We went down the road where we lived and he handed over the keys and his gloves i went about 400 yards down the road turned around and came back finding out what a power band was all about , i came back to where he was standing and he said now do it quicker :w00t: well took his advice off down the road again turned around came back really thinking i was giving it some front end came off the ground i was stunned at just how fast i was going.
came back to where he was standing, stopped the bike , he said not bad now ill show you how its done ; Id seen him wheelie loads of times even seen him come off his 250dx a few times , anyway he got on the bike preceeded to pull away pulled a wheelie got about 150 yards down the road the bike was vertical , his right hand slipped off the bar i saw the brake light come on (must of been rear brake) then the bike cam smahing back down to earth he and the bike hit a tree the front end snapped away from the frame and he was laying in the road i ran over to him knelt down looked at him but his eyes where closed and there was blood comming out the side of his helmet , where the wing mirror had snapped at the stem had gone through the jebs helmet into his skull he never woke up.
that was a month before he was 21 i didnt ride the fsie i had i sold it for my parents sake i didnt get on a bike till i was 21 incase i never made it till that age like my brother.
I left home at 21 and bought an lc125 and had been riding ever since. my first big bike was an lc350 exactly the same as ashleys it was just something i wanted to own dont know why?
Any way in 2002 i was riding my gsxr600srad to work on a sunny saturday morning to do some overtime, i got 3 miles from my house and a car pulled out on me:hehe: ( i have no recollection of 2 weeks prior or 4 weeks after) that caused me to have 2 skull fractures, 2 neck fractures at c1 c2, broken top jaw lost 12 teeth broken shoulder broken ribs , liver contusion and sanpped my ankel off (held together with 2 bolts and four pins) i was in kings for 4 weeks in icu i was then transfered to a brain rehab in sevenoaks for 7 weeks , i spent 14months in plaster and 3 months in an air boot , i lost my job at the time as i couldnt work , it put my partner and family through hell as they didnt know if i was going to live or die .
part of the accident injurys means i have frontal lobe dammage too so maybe that explains why i can get very shy
As soon as i was outa plaster i got a zxr 400 followed by lots more bikes uptill now ,
my view is (got there eventually) when its your time its your time nothing you can do about it, my accident happend on the 4th of may 2002 my brother would of been 40 on that day , a medium, said i only lived because he was looking out for me?
its also not if but when my family think im mad but biking is in the blood there is a risk every time you get on your bike, doesnt have to be your fault and most of the time it wont be , . does that answer the question?
it scares the **** out of me riding but you have to over come your fears. “If your not living on the edge your taking up to much space”!!
i wonder if anyone new my brother??
Outside the school in Six Hills Way, that’s where Shaun died, then we’re moving onto Fairlands Lakes and his brother is running the race for life!He’s currently doing 35 miles per day!Shaun died on a scooter, so dustying down my Lambretta to show my respect!
Well as some of you know, I lost my boyfirend Davebez in a bike accident on 19th May, I couldn’t even look at a bike without feeling sick for about a week after but that got easier, I seriously thought about never riding my bike again but I soon realised that Dave wouldn’t have wanted that, I rode my bike last Saturday for the 1st time since the accident, it felt good to be back on even if it was only for about 20 mins and I remembered how much I enjoy it, a lot of people have said I now have a pillion for life in the form of Dave, nice to think he’ll still be looking out for me
Like slysi there, I’ve had a very big off and survived, albeit paralysed. $hit happens. Enjoy your bike, Wiggle, enjoy every minute of it. Ride as well as you can, scold yourself for doing daft things but above all enjoy it because it’s special.
I guess so It cant be easy if you have lost someone close dont know if i could but respect to those who could
I lost a couple of mates in bike accidents in my teens, and have had a few offs since.Never had a thought about giving up (no choice anyway cos not got a car licence).
I did calm / slow down a lot when my daughter came along - I suddenly felt very mortal and didn’t want her to grow up without a dad.Over the last few years I’ve just accepted that when your number’s called, it’s time to go, so now live life as fully as possible and hope never to be a statistic.
I did have an off at the end of 2006 - but it was fairly low speed and got away with just a few broken ribs.
Couldn’t wait to get back on my bike.
Cor that must have been a massive off! Lost 12 teeth! :crazy:
life is not a sure thing, death is.
make the most of life.
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Cor that must have been a massive off! Lost 12 teeth! :crazy:
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guess it was i cant remember:D