Close calls and other instances of taking motorcycles to/past the limit for the conditions. This page reminds me to keep my ego under control and my head out of my ass.

Ninja 250

1. 5 tire slips in cold weather on dry pavement almost brought me down.
2. On a corner on the Peak to Peak Highway in November, 2000, I hit a patch of cold melt-off, and almost spilled

Yamaha R6

1. Crossed the line the first time I went up a canyon, before I knew how to handle the new bike. Luckily, there was no oncoming traffic. Scared the hell out of me so bad, though, that I made it a point to become an awesome rider after that.
2. Pulling out of my neighborhood one summer day I somehow failed to see an oncoming car. I think it was hiding behind the other car that I saw, from my field of view. So, when I pulled out onto the road, I looked left and there's a car going 45 mph right there a few feet away. Big problem was that I was going about 15 mph, and was on a direct collision course with the car. It all happened so fast that the car didn't have a chance to swerve or anything. I cranked the bars to the left and hit the front brake, sliding my front tire and narrowly escaped the business end of the car. I didn't have a helmet on that day. I do every day now, though.
3. Hit two different oil slicks coming fast down Hwy 285. A car had blown it's engine and left two large slicks on the road. Came around a corner and had to straighten up to not fall when I hit the first one, which made me run nearly straight into the bend's guardrail. When I started off again, I hit the second slick (that I didn't see before because the car was between me and it) and my back tire swerved wildly for several oscillations. Should have spilled, but held it. I was pretty spooked after that for a while.
4. Slid my rear tire on two different instances on a ride with Darrick taking very hard left-hand turns. The first was on S. Turkey Creek Road. The rear broke loose and I slipped around the corner for a good 10 to 15 feet. I lost all of my left side chicken strips on that corner. Roads were a bit cold, but not frigid. The second one was later that day on Hwy 103 below Echo lake. Slipped a bit, but not as severe as before, around a 20 mph u-turn. Held both fine.. but was a weird experience. My R6 tires have never slipped like that before.
5. Coming out of Aimee's appt complex at 1:30am on a 35 deg F night, I didn't stop for the stop sign and goosed it a little on the corner. Tires were cold-soaked and everything was cold. The rear broke loose and slipped out to the left, leaving me pointing at a 30 degree angle to my direction of travel. I caught it, though, and didn't wipe out. Probably should have eaten gravel on that one... with a fresh High Side on my record. Just pushed the tires too hard for the conditions. ...mental note...
6. I was driving home after getting my new Shoei helmet, and, I don't remember the circumstances that occured up to the incident, but, all of the sudden I'm driving South down broadway near CU going about 20 mph and there's a car at a dead stop 10 feet in front of me. All I had time to do was grab a handful of front brake. I stopped about and inch and a half from the car in front of me with my back tire in the air and the bike at a 45 deg angle to the road, and me looking straight down at the trunk of the car. Yikes. The bike must have twisted at the top of the Stoppie, though, because when I came back down I couldn't hold the bike upright. It touched the pavement on the left side ever-so-gently. Argh! Just two days after getting it all fixed up. All that happened, though, was a scratch on the gear cap.