Climbing a wall

Did I really choose that line?

The strangest of all is the time I climbed a wall.

I had met Ernst for the first time a couple of weeks before, and we rode, together with some friends, in Limburg, in the far (as far as far goes in Holland) south-east of the Netherlands. Ernst knew the neighbourhood very well, and the same applied for the corner around the church where I tried to follow him.

He rode his XT500, and I my first R11GS (this was long before my crash). He did know that the corner would tighten up; I did not. He was used to lean with his XT, even in tight corners; I was used to do tight corners motorcross style.

I was following him, and assumed that if he could begin the corner with a given velocity, I could too.

I was wrong ;-)

Next thing I notice, is my left footstep hitting the ground. No big deal, just raise my foot a bit. Hmmm, now the centerstand is hitting the ground, and it doesn't yield. The problem is, that the corner is now tightening, I have the centerstand on the ground, and I am not going to make the corner! Next to the road is a sidewalk, which could give me some space.

I steer onto the sidewalk, between two lampposts, and notice that my problem is the same: centerstand on the ground, and I am still going too wide to make the corner.

Next to the sidewalk is a small wall, and behind that, on a lower level, a garden. My only option is now, to get the bike as straight as possible, and steer for the wall!

I remember thinking that this was the end, that I would die on the immaculately well-kept lawn of this garden next to the church. Not exactly the way I had imagined my death...

Landing on soft grass

A fraction of a moment later, I am riding on the lawn. I apply the brakes, but the ABS makes it impossible to reduce speed on the grass (I will never in my life buy a motorcycle with ABS again). Shit, I did survive climbing this wall, and now I am riding towards another, without the possibility to brake!

I am very grateful to the owner of the garden, for the fact that he created a border for plants alongside this wall, and used very soft soil for it. The BMW sinks in it, and I come to a standstill.

Everybody who was behind me has seen it all happen, and they can't believe I am sitting, upright, on my bike, instead of lying dead in the garden. Ernst had seen me disappear in his mirror, and is certain that he lost me, so he almost doesn't dare to turn to see the result.

Instead, he sees everybody laughing and lauging, and when he looks better, he sees me laughing inbetween them!

When we inspect the Beemer, it appears that he wasn't completely upright when hitting the wall. It is just incredible what he did.

For the garden owner, it is a happy conincidence that I had ABS, because the track in his lawn is very mild. But I kept imagining how it would look when he would come home: a track of a two-wheeled vehicle, beginning out of nowhere, and ending in his border ;-)

And for me, it was a wonderful experience. It's amazing how quickly and sanely you can think in those fractions of time.

And of course, it is very reassuring that it resulted in doing the only right thing...

Tankslapper with my XT

One day, I was riding my XT, on a road which led us out of a village. Where the village ended, I rode about 80 kilometers an hour. There was a speed bump in the road, in a (mild) corner. When I hit the bump (going up), I got a tankslapper: the steer went from one side to the other side, while I couldn't do anything about it. The bike went from one side, scratching everything, to another, scratching everything on the other side.

I tried to move my weight towards the front, and I got the impression that it helped a bit.

Then came the end of the speed bump, and this aggravated the tankslapper. This time I could do absolutely nothing about it, and in the third or fourth "slapper", I was thrown off the bike, landing in the grass.

We later disassembled the front fork, and came to the conclusion that the spring in it was much too stiff for an XT, so I hope such an accident will never happen again.

The problem with this accident was that it decreased my confidence in my bike. I had always ridden with the knowledge (I was just very sure about it), that my bike could help me out of every situation, as long as I didn't make too many mistakes. It took a long time before I had that back...

Unexplicable fall with the Roadrunner

The line of the sliding bike

One day, coming home through Germany, from a very pleasant trip to France, Ernst rode before me, and was leading the way. The road was dry, broad, and made of perfect tarmac. There was a slight curve to the right, and I saw a road to the right. Ernst was looking on his map, so I was not sure (he never has blinkers on his bike) whether he would ride straight ahead, or turn to the right.

To be certain, I braked slightly (velocity about 80 km/h), and next thing I notice, is that the bike is sliding on its right side, and I slide next to it. I hoped that the car, which I knew was behind me, would see me in time.

I slid for about 20 meters, at first with my face to the car (and I see that he sees me, thank god...), and then with my face forward, and I see my bike sliding far ahead of me, in the direction of a truck, driving on the opposite side of the road! I remember thinking: "Shit!!! I don't want to lose my bike!!!".

The GS slides for about 100 meters in the direction of the truck, but the truck stops in time, understands the situation, and blocks the road so my bike is safe from other cars!

The car which was behind me stops beside me, and a strange conversation starts. The driver is completely white, and I try to reassure him that I am alright, but I was used to speak French during our holidays, and now I have to speak German, so I can't get a word out of my mouth. He too, tries to speak, but doesn't succeed.
We look at each other for some time, like two goldfishes, making movements with our mouths, but unable to speak. At last, I am able to say: "Alles ist in ordnung", and then he drives away ;-)

The truckdriver is an Englishman. "Ah, a Roadrunner, my very favourite bird", he says. The first man to recognise the Roadrunner ;-)

We need a new valve cover, and, being in Germany, we are able to find a BMW dealer in the neighbourhood, so, within an hour or so, we can ride on.

The cause: repair stripe in the road coming loose?

In this case, the question is, of course, what caused the crash. I really braked very slightly, and the road was dry, and not slippery at all. At the place where I went down, there is a groove in the road: a place where the tarmac has been repaired, but the repair stuff has gone.

We think, that the repair stuff was laying loose in the groove, and that the front wheel slid away when I rode on this loose stuff somehow. Anyway, I will never really know, but it certainly must have been something strange on the road (maybe even a stick through my wheel).

After this crash, my confidence in the road had gone. It took me a long time to get it back (and I now know how much one is used to read the road, and deduce how the surface will be in circumstances where you can't see the details!).