First crash and lessons learned
Mike Kim - Mar 6, 2007

I once was told that there were two kinds of riders, the ones who have crashed and the ones who will crash. Though I didn’t believe it at the time (and I still don’t), I now know which category of riders I fall into. I want to give you my account of my first crash along with a few lessons I learned.

 

I’ve always had an interest in learning to ride a motorcycle, but I haven’t ridden one for very long. In fact, I got my motorcycle endorsement in November 2005, after taking a weekend riding class with my younger brother. I didn’t have a bike, thus once the class was over so was my exposure to a motorcycle. That is until I bought one in July 2006. It was a black Honda Shadow 600 VLX.

 

On the day of the crash, I was on my way home from work. It was a Friday, and I was eager to start my weekend, even though I stayed a little late. I had my kids to pick up, so I was hurrying home to swap my motorcycle for the car. I felt rushed and realized that I was riding faster than I normally do.

 

Although, I realized what I was doing, I didn’t listen to myself. I turned in to my neighborhood street and kept riding recklessly. My speed was about 40 mph when I hit a dip in the road, veering to the left. I couldn’t turn fast enough and the sidewalk was coming up fast. I decided to apply both my front and rear brakes hard, which caused the back tire to skid as I decelerated. The motorcycle slid into the sidewalk and immediately dumped me. With the momentum that was carried, I was launched about 8 feet away from the motorcycle, rolling to a stop on someone’s front lawn. I landed on my right side bruising my knee, spraining my wrist, and dinging my shoulder.

 

It was a surreal experience and felt like a dream, or a nightmare. Once I realized that I was okay, I started inspection my bike. A bent side view mirror, a turn signal that popped out of its casing, misaligned steering column, and an exhaust pipe with a few scratches. The saddle bags on the right side took most of the abuse.

 

My first crash was less than eight houses from my home!

 

The lessons I learned from my first crash are both practical and technical. First and foremost, one must be mentally sound when riding. Even though I was not impaired by alcohol or drugs, I was not in a good state of mind when I crashed. I felt rushed and pressured to ride faster than what my abilities allowed. One may feel this way at times when riding with a more advanced motorcyclist. The feeling to keep up or prove that you are capable can be overpowering, but listening to oneself and showing restraint is crucial. If your mind is elsewhere, using good judgment or keeping your emotions in check is impossible.

 

My advice is to listen to those thoughts that warn you and not to dismiss them. The second lesson that I learned from my crash is something called counter steering. It’s a counter-intuitive technique where you apply pressure on the handle grip in the direction of the turn in order to shift the weight of the motorcycle of its center of gravity and lean it into a turn. People have said that you lean your body into the turn, but for heavy bikes and especially at high speeds, the momentum of the motorcycle will resist every inch of the way. Mastering counter steering will lean the motorcycle into a turn faster and help avoid accidents. I truly believe that if I had known how to counter steer before, I would have navigated that turn correctly and avoided my first crash.

 

For me my bike is something that I’ll always cherish, not because it’s a one of a kind, but because it’s my first bike. I think it’s something I’ll always remember like my first girlfriend or the feeling I felt when I saw my daughter being born. Both taught me so much that the lessons learned from those experiences have shaped who I am. Perhaps my first crash will do the same…….

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