[madjak30]

Well, tonight I proved to myself that I need to practice more…

After I got the kids to bed and I had about 45 mins before sunset, I thought I would head out for a ride to take some nice sunset pics…I rode around the back side of the lake down the secondary hiway, and found my opportunity about 15 mins before sunset…perfect, so I pulled off onto a gravel road to find a nice spot to pull over…as I was riding I passed a spot on the other side of the road that I thought was pretty good…in front of rolling canola field with some trees surrounding the field…very nice…I pulled over stopped and thought, a little gas, let the clutch out, turn the bars with a little wheel spin…voila, instant 180…yup, that was my thoughts…what happened (I’m sure most of you can see this coming a mile away)…give it a little gas, let out the clutch, wheel spin, turn the bars, back of the bike does and instantaneous 270, I grab a hand full of brake (panic has set in a little, but thinking “I can save this”)…did I mention the gravel?…intant high side at maybe 2kph…now I am laying on my back, laughing at how much of a moron I am…so I get up, stand up the bike (which of course has stalled out). It’s a little flooded, but I get it to fire up…check everything over…all is good, and atleast I am in the middle of nowhere, so no one saw me…

I’m not quite sure why I thought I could pull a 180…it has been about 25 years since I rode a 125cc dirt bike…I think my street bike weighs about three times the dirt bike, and has smooth street tires…brilliant!!

I did pull into that spot and take some pictures…man where the mosquitos bad!!!…nice ride home, saw some deer…thankfully, they were jumping over the fence into the field and not towards the road…that would not be good…

Anyway, I just thought I would demonstrate what being cocky will get you when you are still a rookie…

Later.

[gitchy42]

lol…well, at least no permanent damage to you, eh? You going to show us the pretty sunset?

[madjak30]

Just had to wait for the wife to finish with the computer tonight before I could load them…I didn’t take as many as I would have liked…the mosquitos were eating me alive and I couldn’t wait to get the helmet back on and get out of there…

First, the wipeout…

Here is a pic of the marks in the gravel looking towards the grass…notice the near perfect 270 deg turn…

Here are the same marks looking at them from the grass…

Here is where my bike ended up on it’s side after “ejecting” me…notice the mosquito that is trying to get in on the picture action…lol

Here are a few pics of the bike against the canola field…the sunset was the other way…bonehead!! But I did take a pic of the sunset…but it was a little early, and I wasn’t going to feed the bugs anymore…

Hope you enjoy the pics, and as you can see (well, kinda) the bike is fine…just a couple of scratches on the right side…

Later.

[JackTrade]

So did you try to make the turn from a stop ala the movies: plant the inside foot on the ground and use the throttle to break the rear wheel loose in the gravel, swinging the rear end around?

If so, awesome. Now THAT’S the way to drop a bike. Much better than me in a parking lot, deciding mid-tight, slow turn to apply my front brake.

[madjak30]

Go all out and try to pull a stunt…I used to do it all the time when I was a kid, but a lighter bike and knobbies (that actually have grip in loose dirt) make a better stunt ride than a 420lbs street bike with smooth street tires…it was like I was on grease, it just took off…sideways…hehehe…not something I would recommend trying.

[JtownJJA]

What little bit I’ve ridden on gravel (and it is very little), I’ve hated it! I grew up living on a gravel road, and there are a few gravel roads around where I live now, but I avoid them like the plague with the bike. Nice pictures you took. I like the colors in the 4th one. AND, just cause you have a spill, it doesn’t make you an idiot, it makes you smarter.

[ShamRock229]

Look at it this way, most people that take a spill don’t get up and laugh about it lol so I think youre in good shape.

Loving the pics!

[eon]

It usually means you are off the beaten track and not sure where you are going (at least around here). Plus sliding the back wheel is fun.

[madjak30]

I am refering more to the decision I made to just do a 180 without ever practicing…it had been 25yrs since I had done one, and I figured I would just jump right back into it…nope…that is the idiot part…

I was laughing at myself even as I rolled in the dirt because of the stupid assumption that I had made, and I knew it was wrong the second I let go of the clutch…

Oh well, lesson learned…

[madjak30]

Sliding the back tire is fun…I just got a little carried away with the “fun”…lol

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