LOOKING INTO YOUR FUTURE

Written by Vic Motley, AGWA Safety Director

SAFETY- NOW WHAT DOES THAT HAVE

TO DO WITH LOOKING INTO YOUR IMMEDIATE FUTURE?

Welcome back to the AGWA Safety Article for this month.  I didn’t get anything in from any of our membership relating to accidents or even slight mishaps, so I am going to use a story I know really well, since I was there. 

Our story happens in about 1995, on a beautiful spring day, not too hot or too cool, just great for riding.  The usual group of suspects, AKA Chapter D, TN, met for breakfast and a short but scenic ride.  We had an addition to our group that week, a really nice guy by the name of Mike.  Mike was on a Harley Sportser, about a 3-year-old bike that he had been the proud owner of for about 4 months.  We went outside to get ready to go and had a short drivers meeting, covering the route, riding staggered, riding the best line in the corners, where the first aid kit was in case of emergency, and what procedure we would use in case of any accident.  Everyone said they were clear on the details and we lined up and headed out for what should have been another uneventful day.  We usually try to ride back roads and only use interstates when we need to make time or get back home to beat darkness.  Mike chose a spot to ride where he was in the lane closest to the right shoulder.  He seemed to be doing just fine until we came to a very small left curve, with a creek on the right side running along side the road with about a 12-foot drop to the creek.  Whenever we have new riders along we always try to pay extra care and go a little slower than usual until we can get a good picture of their riding level.  It is a lot easier to go a little slower or wait on someone than have to wait on an ambulance or have to make arrange-ments to get them and their wrecked bike back home.  When Mike started into the curve he didn’t come out of the right side lane, he wasn’t speeding, but he was looking at the drop off, suddenly he just bobbled, his bike went off to the right into the drop off.  He bailed as the bike went off and he just bounced a little on his pride, tore his new jeans, and got really lucky as his bike caught on a little ledge about 3 feet below the top and just hung there.

As soon as it started to happen our back door rider came on the radio and told me what was happening, the back door rider and one other bike went back up the road a short distance to flag down and slow down traffic, we took the other bikes out of the curve and got a safe place for them to park out of harms way, 2 of them secured the oncoming lanes to the accident, and we then went back and got Mike’s bike off of the ledge and back up the hill with no more damage than it already had.  We got out the first aid kit, worked on a few scrapes on Mike, checked running gear on his bike, got him and bike off of the road and gave him a few minutes to compose himself and then went on to have a great rest of the day.  He said he didn’t know what happened, he had seen the drop off and was watching it and the right shoulder, as he was a little close to it.  Now what do you think caused this besides lack of group riding experience and being fresh to his bike?

Well, one of the first things they teach you is you will go where you look.  If there is a pothole in the road and you stare at the pothole knowing you don’t want to hit it, you will hit it.  Identify the danger and then look where you need to go, not where you don’t want to end up going.  If you are riding next to a big truck and you start looking at the trailer it will seem like it is sucking you into it.  Another mistake a lot of riders make in a bind is forgetting about counter steer, when it gets close they often turn their handlebars in the wrong direction, but we will cover that in later articles.  When this happens you hit whatever you wanted to miss in a hurry.  Mike made both of these mistakes, he kept looking at the drop off and therefore kept getting closer, and he snatched his handlebars to the left at the last second, which sent the bike off the road in a hurry.  He also failed to break the staggered position when he came to the curve.

Mike went on to have 3 different bikes while he rode with my chapter, he became a good rider and a safe rider and he passed away in about 99 or 2000 due to a heart attack at home.  He was a great person and a good friend and is missed but not forgotten.

Well, that’s our article for this month.  If you have any events we can use for an example, and if you would like to write a short article or story concerning safety, please feel free to do so.  Remember, we don’t want to use last names, the idea is to help someone else keep from making a mistake, not embarrass someone who has had a mishap.

I would be interested in any feedback or opinions you might have on these articles.  Good or Bad.  Send any articles or info for the safety program to Vic Motley, P.O. Box 8062, Hermitage, TN. 37076, or I can be reached at agwachptdtn@att.net.

Congratulations go out this month to the following people on the AGWA Safe Miles Program:

George Ramsey at 220,000 miles

Carl J Oehler Jr. at 110,000 miles

Timothy G Smelser at 95,000 miles

Watch next month’s article for more members on the program.

Ride Safe

Vic Motley, AGWA National Safety Director