Target fixation is BAD....VERY bad
 

So I'm riding back from the big Cassoday rally today...gorgeous day...no wind...no clouds..mild temps...just PERFECT. Tons of people out on their bikes enjoying the day....great rally...big fun.

Anyway, my friends and I get stuck behind some slower riders on 177 on the way home and settle in...it's only a few miles south to a scenic route through El Dorado Lake State Park...the guy (and his woman) in front of us on an 1800VTX (no gear for either of them) looks pretty shaky on some of the 45 mph sweepers on the highway so we back off a bit and give him some room. They turned into El Dorado State Park too....the first corner is a 25 mph left hander...my best friend and I are probably 50 yards behind them....he doesn't even make the apex before he panics mid corner, stands the bike up....stomps on the brakes...and rides it right off the rode into a wicked steep ditch. He managed to miss the corner signs...but they at it HUGE once they left the road. She got the worst of it...landed awkwardly on her face with her body nearly vertical and bent over backwards.

We pulled over immediately....a guy in a truck behind us said he was an off duty EMT and began to treat her at the scene while we called 911. EMS arrived and began to treat her...huge gash on her forehead and left arm...and totally knocked out. He said he hit gravel and lost it....I saw the whole thing..he panicked mid corner, target fixated on the outside edge...and rode it right into the ditch. It sucked to see them get hurt over something so easily preventable.

In happier news, I had my bike dyno'd....113 HP...111 ft/lbs of torque. Bit of a flat spot around 3k. He said he could easily tune that out with my PC-III. Maybe I'll give him the work next week-end. :idk:

Here's a vid of the 3rd dyno pull...

http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w...90802-1157.jpg

Thought about going to that, will go next month. Sorry about the couple, seems like no one here in the state wears any gear. I feel like a freaking Power Ranger every time I get on the bike.

Ah the ever present gravel excuse. My favorite! :lol:

If you cant steer, gear is a priority!!!

Not in this state. Loud pipes save lives. :lmao:

And chrome, lotsa chrome. :D

Maybe I will use that as my excuse for crashing on the skyway.

yes there was a lot of gravel that caused my crash :lol:

better than saying I messed up ;)

Tom

Yea, that will work! I'm totally cursing myself but I can't tell you how many times I've heard someone use that excuse for a single vehicle crash. Although in your case it was more of a ran into a gravel lot and used the front brake situation, was it not? Anyway, I've led rides where 10 bikes will go through a corner and the 11th bike crashes and blames it on gravel.:lol:

that was MMFJM, I fixated on the skyway ran across the road onto some grass and locked up the front on the grass. But will still blame gravel in the road :lol:

Tom

ahh me too... lots of gravel in the intersection... that's why I looped it.. :scratch: shit...

maybe I should go the other way with it...

so I was on a gravel road... and went to leave the light but unbeknown to me... my tire was setting on a patch of pavement... and I hooked up and looped it...

it had nothing to do with pushing my limits and riding too many miles in too few days... but a rogue patch of asphault on a gravel road...


yeah I like that... THANKS!

gravel my ass :lol:

since they're ok (thankfully) one of 3 things will happen:

1 - They'll sell the bike because they're now scared of it
2 - They'll actually learn something
3 - They won't learn anything, crash again, and there'll be cheap VTX parts on e-bay in the next 18 months or so.