Modern Vespa

I'm new to scootering and posted some pics of my ride up a twisty mountain road to Tortilla Flat near Phoenix. When I got to the top, a couple of riders on sports bikes pulled a U-turn and started down ahead of me. A few minutes later I came across both of them.

They had both crashed at the same corner. The guy had already picked his bike up, but the gas tank was smashed in and leaking gas. I helped the gal pick up her much heavier bike. Bits and pieces were broken off, and the battery had been flung out onto the road. His bike needed to be towed, but hers still worked. Both of their helmets were banged up. The guy wore a t-shirt and his arms were pretty scraped up and bleeding. They said they ran into gravel and low-sided.

They were very luck they crashed on the inside turn, into the mountain side, rather than on an outside turn, where they would have gone over the edge to a much worse fate than busted motorcycles.

As a novice, it really hit home to ride within your limits, particularly on twisty, narrow, mountain roads. I've seen the videos on YouTube dissecting crashes (DanDanTheFireman) but experiencing it in person really taught me a great lesson today.

Given my recent misadventure, this advice is all-the-more sobering: bad enough when you're dealing with avoiding someone else's miscalculations on the road nearby; another thing altogether when you come across someone else's miscalculations. Good on ya to help them out.

That must have been a scary sight to come upon. I'm glad they were basically alright, albeit shaken and you were able to give assistance.

I've been witness to only one scooter crash and that was a very low-speed lowside due to sand on the road in a sharp turn. Remind me to tell you of my first bike drop. It has barfing bicyclists and bee stings to boot.

Inexperience and too much consideration of one's vehicle, one feels invincible and limitless and one loses control of the situation.
When I drive I evaluate every negative possibility and I always think there is something imponderable, that's what you care about ...and it kills you.

I love an aggressive ride, but the other part of my brain keeps repeating my mantra, "this is not a track!" There are tons of hazards out there to watch for, and it's pretty near impossible to ride hard and not have to worry about risks...gravel, animals, bad road, other vehicles.

Someone once told me about his nephew, paralyzed following a crash. He was active duty Marine, riding his sport bike in Cali, and a hare crossed his path and caused his crash. Major life-changer. If I had to rank hazards (other than other vehicles) I'd put gravel near the top of the list. There are so many curves I've looked at longingly only to find gravel on them. OTOH, if I've ridden the route a couple of times I'm pretty clear on whether they're good or not.

It seems like most people need to go down once - before they understand.
Hopefully - it only takes one time.

Around here - the majority of two wheel crashes involve only one vehicle: the bike & the rider.

O.S.

I slid over on a patch of sand in an intersection when I was fifteen. I was fine, but incredibly embarrassed. Bystanders asked me if I was alright. "I'm fine," I said, as I tried to ride away. Unfortunately, my motorcycle's shift lever had been bent under the transmission, so I couldn't get out of first until I got home.

Since then, I've been very paranoid about sand, oil, wet leaves, loose gravel, etc. I'm the very opposite of an aggressive driver. Riding through the mountains, when I can't see what's around a switchback, is the worst. My friend, on his Ducati, always leaves me and the Vespa far behind.

This story makes me feel my paranoia is somewhat justified. I'm glad that they were both basically OK, and I'm glad you were able to offer them assistance.

Good to know that they survived with minor injuries. Bikes can be fixed etc.
Living in NYC and a urban rider primarily one tends to have to be a defensive rider.
I make it a point to use the horn when I crossing intersections here in the city as so many bicycle riders/pedestrians don't bother to look to cross even when it isn't their right of way.
Worst offenders tend to be those who have their headphones on and cross streets knowing full well they don't have right of way but they believe being a pedestrian you will yield.
Here in NYC one has to be vigilant while riding to avoid people & pot holes that are plenty to make one curse and not want to ride, but we tend to then calm down and accept the realities till the next day.
I find that some riders tend to be a bit over confident and I dont think that trait is helpful while riding.

Came off a moped once when I was about 17 delivering Pizzas for Pizza Hut. Hit a patch of ice and sent the scooter tumbling down the road. No other traffic. Lucky.

Picked up the little Honda and delivered the mashed up Pizza and the Pepsi 2 litre anyway. Employee of the Month. The plastic Pepsi bottle was so taught I was scared to hold it. You could've blasted a small dog into orbit with it.





Ride safe everyone.

The word pictures are strong in this one ...

Learning a lesson through another's misfortune is a whole lot less painful / costly

That's a story I want to hear at our next scooter club ride!

You got it.

Ah, tell me about it.

The last handful of time I rode into Gotham, it was pure pandemonium in the streets: e-bikes and e-scooters scurrying every-which-way, plateless MCs thrown around by helmetless riders...compared to these folks I can almost forgive the occasional clueless ped or cyclist I come across, since being both a cyclist and ped myself, I can kinda-sorta anticipate a dick move on the part of either, whereas e-folk can, and often do, execute (if that's an appropriate term here) some wild-ass maneuvers, on street and sidewalk. And this is where a scooter like mine shines compared to a motorcycle: I can pull the odd wild-ass defensive maneuver in turn, with speed and relative ease.

I guess it's good that Gotham is just a 50-mile ride from home: keeps my road skills sharp.

Since my off I've been way more aware of what is going on around me. Seeing as how I got whacked by an Uber not checking mirrors or blind spot I'm REALLY cautious around anything with a sticker on the back that remotely looks like a ride service. I've been wearing a heart monitor (Holter) for 3 days and I'd be curious to see what's going on while I'm riding! Especially yesterday when I had to slam the brakes on as a dump truck decided at the last second it was going to miss it's exit so cut across 2 lanes and cut off me and Mercedes. ABS can sure come in handy sometimes! I marked that time in the journal for them to look at.

Whew...yes, ABS FTW. That's happening much more often than before, methinks.

It is preciely because we are often the first persons to come upon another rider who has injured themselves that my BMW Riders Club encourages and part sponsors members to be certified in First Aid. We have annual certification courses at Level 1 and Level 2, with special focus on motorcycle-related injuries and using "what-you-have" items to substitute for normal bandages, slings, splints etc.

I am a certified Level Two and carry a small FA pack with me on all my bikes, including a Swiss Army Knife.

Anecdote:
On a pre-Covid organised ride over a year ago, the group came across a couple who had a spill on their bike. They stopped to assist and found the pillion had broken her leg. They splinted it with branches cut from a roadside sapling (Swiss Army Knife!) T-shirts as cushions and ROKstraps to tie it together. An ambulance was called and when they arrived, they determined she was fine to travel without adjustment before going to hospital with the pillion. Meanwhile, the rider's road rash and minor burns were being treated by our members.

On arrival at the ER, the doctor on duty examined her and asked who had splinted her leg in that ad hoc way. The paramedics said it was 'the bikers' - one of whom had ridden to the ER just to see if they were OK as it was an overnight stop on the ride.

"You could not have done it better with the ambulance equipment. Thank you for doing a really great job." was the ER doctor's comment.

Thanks for sharing this story. Really great job.

Chris from CLE