The Motorbikerist Thread

[Jobbo]

Blimey. In the slow-mo I thought he was going to go up the side road; I guess it was blocked with barriers though. Lucky but ouch.

[mik]

I thought he was going to go up the side road

Hard to judge the speed with the slo-mo, but I think he was going too fast and/or off-balance to make it. Had just collided with the bike now behind him, who missed a gear and slowed suddenly.

Higher-res version now on the tube. House residents seem oblivious. Apparently the barrier saved the bike too - barely damaged. Nuts all-round....



Bonnet broke his fall very well. Without this footage that cou;ld have been an interesting insurance claim.

[Jobbo]

Looking at the location on Streetview, the side road is not at the right angle anyway so he wouldn't have been able to simply go up there: https://maps.app.goo.gl/cC99QfvZw6XYBypL7

I see he used the dropped kerb for the short cycle lane to good effect; hitting a kerb may have launched him far earlier with worse consequences.

[jamcg]

Facebook update from the rider below, explains what happened

[IanF]

Ouch!

[mik]

[nuttinnew]

[mik]

Blimey - Shakey suing Snetterton for injuries sustained in crash

https://www.kentonline.co.uk/sittingbou ... sh-306686/

[Rich B]

Surely if they're arguing that "he knows the "capabilities and limits" of his bike." then they're actually saying that he crashed on purpose?

[mik]

I don't know enough about the man or the circuit or where the incident happened.

They seem to be highlighting it was an accident in a sport known for dangerous accidents - everyone is pushing their equipment to and beyond the limit.

He seems to be arguing that the circuit & organisers could have done more - like fitting air fence - which to my understanding is the stuff generally used on road circuits where you are trying to protect riders from solid things that can't otherwise be eliminated as a threat. I don't believe air fence is common on circuits as there are generally other safety measures deployed (and solid objects are as far as possible removed), but I might be wrong.

I have absolutely no idea if his complaint is reasonable or not. The crash did end his racing career, so it's not an insignificant event. If he's arguing that they could have done more, then I guess the answer to that will always be a yes. Regardless of what you put in place you could always do more. Why 4 rows of tyres and not 5? Why 50m of run-off and not 100m? Why no air fence? Why one air fence and not two doubled up? etc.I guess someone is going to have to demonstrate that measures the circuit had in place were reasonable, and that he'd have been badly injured even if additional protective elements were in place.

Everyone who goes onto any circuit also has to sign an indemnity clause that accepts the risk they are taking and that they won't go after the circuit owners or event organisers in the event of a crash - I'm sure there are stronger clauses / contractual elements for pro racers - will be interesting to see how that aspect plays out too.

[Barry]

I'd be willing to bet they're small printed up the wazzoo on these circuits, so if he wins it'll open flood gates for claims no doubt. Potential to ruin the very thing that made him famous/rich.

[mik]

Some interesting comments on boatshoes.

Apparently lost it and ended up sideways, crashing on the inside of a first-gear bend, so definitely a weird one.

[Jobbo]

In his sporting "prime" at the time - he was 41 which surely is getting towards the end of a career in bike racing? It's more physical than F1 driving isn't it?

Also, if the crash was 6 years ago I think he's way out of time to start court proceedings. The limitation period for personal injury is 3 years. So there's probably more to this; it's not as if the crash being career-ending is something which wasn't apparent at the time.

[tim]

So on Saturday I undertook an IAM Advanced Riding Test, just for lols so I could complete the set. I recently retired as Chair of the local RoSPA group so now my loyalties no longer need to be in one place I thought I'd whore myself around the other local riding groups. I got a FIRST, which was nice.

Anyway, whilst the examiner and I were enjoying a post-test debrief coffee we heard some expensive sounding noises coming from the car park, and I couldn't help noticing my fucking bike was on it's fucking side on the fucking floor. A very apologetic old lady wearing the darkest glasses I've ever seen was stood looking at it, with her VX Mokka in close proximity.

For actual fuck's sake.

She'd WALKED PAST IT, got in her car, and reversed straight into it, knocking it off it's centre stand. My helmet was on the seat so that went for a short flight as well.

Thankfully whilst it's scuffed up it's perfectly usable still, but what a ball ache I now have to deal with, plus the inevitable argument over replacing a £900 helmet.

This is the worst of it:



A quick google search suggests about £1200 in parts + labour (most expensive bit is the top box which is scuffed and dented) plus nearly £900 for my lid.

Fucking old people.

[Simon]

Fucking old people.

Not often, no.

[mik]

This is the worst of it:

That's rather annoying. And a real over the helmet. It's probably absolutely fine internally, but I guess you'd always be paranoid it might not be.....

[tim]

This is the worst of it:

That's rather annoying. And a real over the helmet. It's probably absolutely fine internally, but I guess you'd always be paranoid it might not be.....

Well quite, and I had a perfectly unmarked helmet before, and now i have one full of chips and a small crack on the chin bit. So, no thank you. The ballache is it's a Shoei Neotec 2, which is no longer made. So it will need replacing with a Neotec 3, and the comms units are not compatible, so it'll need that too, which is why it's so damned expensive. £330 just for the comms bit.

I'm waiting on the BMW dealer to give me an estimate for the bits, and then I'm going to phone her and see if she wants to cough up for it all without involving insurance. It'll be a lot simpler, but I suspect, being and old duffer, they won't.

[Barry]

I saw the insta post at the weekend. I'd be livid if that were mine, and I've got the same lid. Cheap they are not.

Nicely done with the IAM thing too

[mik]

Well quite, and I had a perfectly unmarked helmet before, and now i have one full of chips and a small crack on the chin bit. So, no thank you. The ballache is it's a Shoei Neotec 2, which is no longer made. So it will need replacing with a Neotec 3

I expect you've probably considered this, but (whilst googling to see what they look like) - quite a few places selling off 2's at reduced prices.

For examples:

https://www.helmetcity.co.uk/shop-by-br ... -neotec-2/

[tim]

Cheers Mik, have seen there are a few around but

1. Mostly pinhead sizes
2. They'll all be at least a year into the expiry date already