Mrs. Hellgate goes down...

Hellgate

Hellgate

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Get your minds out of the gutter!

Rachelle took a light spill this afternoon. She'd ridden about 25 miles, and as she was turning left she forgot to turn sharp enough and ran up against the curb. Once her tires were parallel with the curb it was all over. The curb sucked her in and the bike fell on her right foot and shin. She was going about 15 to 18. Thank goodness for gear. All she ended up with is a scraped knee.

I stopped picked her and the bike up. Asked what happened, and she said I don't know. I made her sit down, take off her helmet and explain to me what happen. Then she said, "I did everything wrong. I started too fast, didn't turn soon enough then I fixated on the curb." Yup you did. What do you do next time? "Look through the corner, and don't lock my arms." Yup, put your helmet on let's go.

She road another 10 miles home and is now soaking in the tub with a Kahlua and Cream. I handed her Total Control to read.

The bike is fine, and few scrapes, no big deal.

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Shoot Pete, with that title I figured you were going into the adult entertainment business :poke:

Glad she's ok, just a minor teaching lesson. Give her some love and she will be all better :tup:
 
Oh, that sucks! Hey, she got it out of her system and learned a valuable lesson and came out with only a few scrapes. Don't sweat it Mrs. Hellgate! Glad your okay. Don't let it get you down. It happens to the best of us at one point in time.
 
Sooner or later it happens to all bikers, glad that everything is resolved with little damages to you and the bike. There are only two kinds of riders, those who have fallen and those who will fall, the important thing is being able to tell and also smile at all.
Last May, for a poorly controlled high-side, I have broken two ribs of mine and I defused the situation by buying a 1000 instead of the 600 I had at the time of the accident.
Have happy rides in the future Mrs. HG! :)
 
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Glad she's OK! Sucks to see your lady crash. My wife had a very similar crash shortly after passing MSF. She actually ended up riding up onto the curb.
 
We all know it is "when" and not "if" a rider goes down. So happy to know it was a slow roller and she is OK. Kudos to you Pete for getting her right back on the horse! Know she knows how to fall! ;)
 
My wife dumped the new Ninja on her first ride to work. I went with her for support. She did great until the parking lot. It was at a bit of an angle and the bike hadn't been lowered and didn't have frame sliders yet : oops: Anyway, as she was coming to a stop, I think she did a panic front brake grab with the wheel turned to the left. It was an instant drop. Busted fairing, rashed handle bar, clutch lever and left mirror, bent shift lever, a sore ankle and damaged pride. We eventually had insurance fix it. Not had a drop since. (and she does have frame sliders now)

I tell her every drop, bad ride in the rain, bad weather, etc. is just an added experience that makes her a better rider in the end. It's happened to all of us, but most of mine happened on a dirt bike as a teen. It's harder to swallow as an adult learning. I know she will do fine and we are all glad she is OK and not deterred by the experience. Keep on riding!
 
Well she is very sore today but otherwise fine. She's disappointed that it is raining today as she wanted to get back out there.

She'd started crying last night and apologized for crashing the bike. I told that is why we bought an inexpensive bike to learn on and not to worry about it. I told her better to crash on this then the Ninja 300 she wants. That spill would have been expensive.

I'm really proud of her.

One a side note I am convinced that cruiser type bikes are terrible for a new rider as the position doesn't allow the rider to fully control the bike. The high bars make it hard to counter steer, the forward controls put your weight on your butt, not your toes, and with the raked frontend the steering is floppy. Not a good combination for a newb. Would she not have crashed standard bike, no but I think she would feel more confident.
 
Hellgate said:
One a side note I am convinced that cruiser type bikes are terrible for a new rider as the position doesn't allow the rider to fully control the bike. The high bars make it hard to counter steer, the forward controls put your weight on your butt, not your toes, and with the raked frontend the steering is floppy. Not a good combination for a newb. Would she not have crashed standard bike, no but I think she would feel more confident.
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I saw a guy riding a Harley the other day with those ape hanger bars (see attached) and wondered how the h*ll he could ride like that!!
Good for her wanting to get back out there!
 
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