The Franco-Taiwanese Alliance

So I went on a group ride with the crew from 530riders.com on Saturday. It was a fun ride, lasting about 4 hours with a few rest stops… but unfortunately, the end of the ride saw me lowsiding the Ninja on Russell, coming back in to Davis. I followed the person in front of me too closely and didn’t notice them reduce speed drastically in the first part of a 40mph sweeping left turn. I hit the brakes to avoid tagging his back tire, went off the pavement, and lost traction. The bike slid out from under me, and we both skidded about 30 feet on grass and dirt to end up in a ditch.

Damage to me: one bruised elbow.

Damage to gear: armor is a bit green, burrs everywhere, helmet is iffy and being replaced.

Damage to Ninja: right handlebar insert snapped, right footpeg/rearset snapped, right front turn signal popped off, left front turn signal housing/lens broken, sidestand bent, and the all-important Vacaville Motorsports license plate frame snapped. Light scratches to the plastics.

Lesson: DON’T TAILGATE! Also, for in-turn panic braking, straighten out, brake hard, resume turn - don’t try to brake and turn simultaneously.

Here’s a link to the group ride thread… the last three pages or so have commentary on the ride, as well as pictures. Here’s a link to my Flickr photoset of pictures I took on the ride… nothing too exciting there, though.