NEED SEVERE HELP

[Sarge]

Not quite the same thing, but I was riding home from work the other day and was merging due to construction. I looked into my rear and saw some old lady a good 100+ feet behind me, but I would have been forced to make a pretty quick stop. Nothing extreme, especially not for me, but I just had this gut feeling that this lady wouldn't be able to stop in time, so I dropped a gear and squeezed up a few more cars. I wasn't all the way to the end of the merge, the lane to my left was still open a bit, I was just trying not to be "that guy" that flies down the merge lane to drop in at the last second. I saw a space, moved in to it, looked in my mirror and was convinced this lady would NOT stop in time, and hopped out right quick, moved up a few cars, and then back in.

[TurboGizzmo]

MSF course = racing toward your instructor and at the last minute they drop their left or right hand and you have to swerve in the instructed direction, followed by racing over 40mph and breaking within a box withOUT locking up the back tire.....and then doing it all over and over and over and over and over again....and its worth it.

[usmcab35]

MSF course = racing toward your instructor and at the last minute they drop their left or right hand and you have to swerve in the instructed direction, followed by racing over 40mph and breaking within a box withOUT locking up the back tire.....and then doing it all over and over and over and over and over again....and its worth it.

yea that was the best thing i learned in msf, i practice still to this day if there is no one on the road. practice make pretty close to perfect...

[cptschlongenheimer]

My wife passed the msf last weekend. I took this friday off just cause I plan on putting her back through all those exercises on her own ride. Not gonna turn her loose without making sure that quick stop is second nature.

[Sully]

I'm still confused about this person going 40mph in 6th gear..


Anyway.. please tell me you didn't only have liability insurance on your bike? Either way, bummer this happened to you. Heal up quick and hopefully you can get another bike soon.

[WolFeYeZ]

Gas.

[Revan]

well I do thank you all for your valuable information. I'm going to pick the bike up from Impound today. My friend and previous owner of the bike (Social4Life) checked it out this morning. From his initial evaluation, he doesn't think there is any damage to frame, fork or front wheel, which i think is actually pretty lucky. I'm going to get a WHOLE new set of plastics, which I'm not too excited about, but like I said, it could be a lot worse. I talked to the Insurance Adjuster, he said that fault is based on a percentage system. He said that depending on what my witness says, and what she says, and what the police report says, he might be able to find her at a partial percentage at fault. Someone said earlier that my insurance wouldn't want to fix her car, and they were right. He said Colorado state law is pretty black and white on this, and I will be found at fault, and I will receive the tickets. He said he might be able to find her at 30 to 50 percent at fault, which would get 30 to 50 percent of the damage to my bike covered by her insurance. So there is hope for me after all. Last night when i posted this, I was seriously drugged up and fuming pissed. I really thought I'd never ride again. Unfortunately, I'm not quite sure what the future holds for me, I sure would love to fix her up, but money is pretty tight, and this hasn't done any help to my checkbook. Anyway, thanks guys, a lot of good (and completely useless ) information was posted. So onto the next order of business, anyone got some cheap plastics that will fit an 01 zx 6r!?

[Zach929rr]

Aftermarket plastics aren't too hard to put on.

[MetaLord 9]

You rear ended someone at a high enough speed to pitch you over the handle bars and onto her back window, upside down, and your front wheel, forks and steering stem are all perfectly fine? Hmmmmm, I'd double check on that one. Not saying anyone's wrong here, just saying that with that much force, it's pretty darn likely something on that bike bent or was damaged aside from the plastics.

Hopefully I'm wrong and a cheap set of plastics is a really affordable lesson!

[Revan]

Metalord I honestly agree with you. My first reaction was the bike wasn't even worth the 250 to pull out of impound. But i'm going there today to inspect it. Gonna take it home, take off the forks and wheel, and check it all out. I'm pray to the motorcycle gods they're fine. Social's been riding a while, and has owned a few bikes. I trust his initial thoughts. we will pull them off and do further investigation. So I was reading online about the Kawi bikes. Someone said that the ZX6r was basically re released as the 05 zzr model touring bike, and used the EXACT same plastics, just with different paint jobs. can anyone verify this? or does anyone know how I can check into this? Ebay has some full fairings kits for my bike for like 600 to 900 bucks. Not really interested in dropping that much. But the newer zzr kits seem to be a little cheaper, but idk if they'd line up perfectly or not.

[Bueller]

This too is a part of motorcycling, get the mechanical issues fixed and you can still ride it. The bodywork can be repaired/replaced as it becomes available, just be patient and watch CL and ebay, then paint the thing when you complete it. Perhaps the streetfighter look, naked bikes don't sustain body damage in drops and crashes.

[Revan]

Ah good point... honestly hadn't considered this. So just need a new head light assembly in that case

[CaneZach]

Your generation ZX6 and the current ZZR are the same bike, so parts should be interchangeable.

[Finklestein87]

Ouch man, sorry to hear. Back pain is no joke, hope that heals well for ya.

Faults aside, you made it pretty clear the driver was driving carelessly (texting and driving) and if i was there i would have passed her, and if there was traffic on each side, slow down and then change lanes, getting behind one of those drivers.

To be totally honest, motorcycles should not be rear ending anyone. As vulnerable riders we should be wayy more aware than a caged drivers to road conditions and traffic.

[brennahm]

Who keeps telling you guys that bikes brake better than cars?

[usmcab35]

Who keeps telling you guys that bikes brake better than cars?

i was wondering the same thing, i could probably out brake a 1940's car with 4 wheel drum brakes but out brake a sports car with brembo's all around? dont think so.

[cptschlongenheimer]

Sorry, I respectfully disagree. At least when it come to modern sportbikes... cruisers are a diff story..
How many actual sports cars do you see around here?
Hint: If the dealer describes it as "sporty", it isn't.
Modern supersports can out brake just about any car. But you have to be ready to do it (covering in heavy traffic) and you have to be able to do it well (practice)

[cptschlongenheimer]

from road and track in '94...

[asp_125]

http://www.motorcycle-usa.com/100/69...on-Street.aspx

In the braking test the Duc earned the runner-up spot, halting in a distance of 121 feet from 60 mph. That’s just three feet behind the BMW without the advantage of an ABS-system.

http://www.edmunds.com/lotus/elise/2008/

The 2008 Lotus Elise's non-power steering feels as natural as anything we've ever driven. Braking is handled by AP Racing two-piston calipers up front and Brembo single-piston calipers in back (11.5-inch rotors all around), and 60-0 braking distances under 110 feet are commonplace.

0-100-0 bikes win because of their smaller mass = quicker acceleration / decelleration.
60-0 is a more common real-world situation, like coming to a stop on I-25 at rush hour.

[cptschlongenheimer]

Is a lotus a real world comparison though? It's basically a supersport with four wheels and its performance numbers reflect as much.
I'm saying that the modern supersports that we ride everyday and should be well acquainted with how to stop, should be able to outbrake all of the VW bugs, land yacht SUV's and four door sedans that make up 95% of the cars on the road. Are there exceptions? of course there are. but the vast majority of cars on the road (especially when you consider the car driver's skill level) are not high performance sports cars. No matter what mazda would have you think.

[Revan]

thats some really good info. thanks guys. so i spent this morning (nasty weather) turning it into a street fighter minus the head light assembly lol. so i know this is redundant, but I can buy the CURRENT generation ZZR headlight assembly, and it will match up PERFECTLY with my 2001 ZX6R?

[usmcab35]

i honestly have no idea if a bike can actually out brake a car, but seems to me that its somewhat close. then again i still think cars have the advantage. but what do i know...

[WolFeYeZ]

My 400lb r6 definitely outbrakes my 3 ton land cruiser. Not so sure about smaller cars or sports cars though. Sounds like more physics of traction that I don't know :P

[Penadam]

Once the brakes on a vehicle have the ability to lock the wheel up, braking becomes less about the brakes and more about how much traction the tires have. As most modern cars and bikes can lock up the brakes (hence ABS) it comes down to the braking force the tires can provide. If you run the math on it, in a simplified world, the mass of a vehicle is not relevant in how hard it can brake, it's solely dependent on the coefficient of friction. In the real world, you run into heat dissipation, tire deformation, suspension settings and weight transfer, etc... which complicates things.

Bottom line is, basically all sportsbikes with good tires are capable of outbraking the majority of cars on the road.