Let's talk about crashes.

[jewwlion]

Crashes are something I never hear spoken of in the minibiking/karting community, so let's start a thread about it. In fact, I crashed myself a few weeks ago, still recovering from injury. The story went like this:

I was riding my almost stock Azusa bike running a Predator 212 around my local high school track. All was good for a few laps until I took a turn too hard and just as I did so, the brakes failed! I was probably going at least 37-40 mph. Crashed right into the fence surrounding the track, bent the forks of my bike all the way back into the engine, broke the right footpeg, broke my right hand, cut up my leg pretty badly, but was luckily wearing a full face helmet.

I got back home, iced up my hand, wrapped my leg, and looked to see why the brakes had failed. Turns out that the cable running down to the drum brake had loosened and slipped out of the hole that it was supposed to be screwed into. This is one of my greatest fears...

 

[capguncowboy]

It wasn't a mini bike, but I had a go a couple of go kart accidents. The first one was the classic run away kart. I adjusted the throttle a little too much and when I started it, it took off. It ended up dragging me across the yard, but I was able to keep all of my fingers and toes in tact.

The second time, the throttle got stuck. The brakes worked, but just barely. There wasn't a kill switch where I could reach it, so I ended up hitting a tree. I installed a kill switch the next day.

I guess that part of the hobby is the risk of having a catastrophic failure. I'm a huge advocate of kill switches and full-face helmets these days. I won't even ride a bike or a kart without them.

 

[chatten63]

I have had the front wheel lock up and dump it in the marsh ground. Inside nut had tightend itself into the bearing and seized the bearing up. Never got hurt from it.

 

[45t]

As a kid I decided to jump and do a table top stunt with my Cat Duster Chopper. Well the jump and table top worked but I didn't/couldn't get the bike back perpendicular to the ground fast enough to land on its wheels and I laid it/crashed it to the ground on its side. There was no kill switch on the bike so it kept running while it was laid on its side and the force of the crash spun the bike around and the spinning rear tire did a bad burn out on the bare skin above my right hip. I was picking rubber out of the wound for a long time. The wound was a big one, the width of the tire.

 

[pomfish]

Good thread.
Worst wipe out for me was on a modified Gemini converted to 5hp Briggs.
Anyway I was going down between the next door neighbor's farmers field lane and hit gooey,slimy slippery green mud, laid it down hard on left side, bike goes full throttle causing clutch to burn into my leg just up from kneecap on the inside of the leg. Finally got to the kill switch at the same time as getting the bike off me. Laid there for a while, then got up, got the bike up and had to ride home. Mud in the wound made it not look near as bad as it did cleaned up.
Worst pain for the longest recovery time of any injury I have ever had in my life. Gave me a whole new respect for any burn victim.
The hair still does not grow on that half moon shape area, all scar tissue.

All other wipe outs pale in comparison to that one.
I will try to find a picture of that evil bike.
Later,
Keith

 

[Mr Big Mini]

i recommend you all remember and learn this.

LOC - level of consciousness
D - delicate spine
A - airway
B - breathing
C - circulation
RBS - rapid body survey

 

[125ccCrazy]

only crash I can remember on a minibike was when I was about 16 and the cops shoved me off of it on a gravel road... they had half the force looking through the woods for my buddies who they were just chasing in a dunebuggy...I rode back there to see what was going on when I seen the Police and high tailed it in the opposite direction..., well unbeknownst to me a couple of cops came running out of the trees onto the road and shoved me off... the bike and I both went end over end... Moral of this story... Don't run, it hurts a lot less and doesn't cost as much....

 

[george3]

It wasn't a mini bike, but I had a go a couple of go kart accidents. The first one was the classic run away kart. I adjusted the throttle a little too much and when I started it, it took off. It ended up dragging me across the yard, but I was able to keep all of my fingers and toes in tact.

The second time, the throttle got stuck. The brakes worked, but just barely. There wasn't a kill switch where I could reach it, so I ended up hitting a tree. I installed a kill switch the next day.

I guess that part of the hobby is the risk of having a catastrophic failure. I'm a huge advocate of kill switches and full-face helmets these days. I won't even ride a bike or a kart without them.


I guess that part of the hobby is the risk of having a catastrophic failure. I'm a huge advocate of kill switches and full-face helmets these days. I won't even ride a bike or a kart without them. :thumbsup:

 

[gumpit]

When I was real young I was on the back and my neighbor was driving. There is a circle in front of my house that we would ride on. Well the throttle got stuck and he yells "jump off".so I did and went tumbling at full speed. He hits the sidewalk in front of the neighbors house and gets catapulted in the air about 10ft high. It's amazing how things seem to move in slow motion when your adrenaline is pumping.

Another time I was riding and the neighbor comes running out saying I was on fire. The gas has leaked and it was everywhere. I didn't notice because I was in motion. When I looked down I just dumped it and tumbled away. There was my minibike in the middle of the grass circle in front of the house in a full blaze. It seemed like by the time the neighbor came out with a fire extinguisher that it looked like a Bon fire. I swear 40 years later I can see the spot that burned in the grass.

 

[heavygs]

I've wrecked on about everything you can drive at one time or another, but luckily never any major bodily harm. Capgun's stories reminded me of working on my Manco Big Cat. I didn't realize the throttle was wide open and when I fired it up it took off across the garage and tried to climb the back wall. The tread marks are still there.

 

[oldbird]

I had a doodlebug with a 6hp engine but it had no clutch just a sprocket hammered onto a tapered shaft lol. So to start it I would roll the bike and jump on.. well me and my buddy crossed the train tracks to avoid the guys working under the bridge. I went to roll start it and it just took off before I could jump on lol but I was still holding on with my hands. I fell hard and bike rode pretty far before crashing into the tracks. Everybody was laughing and so was I. A few days after that I was riding with my buddy and we both had doodlebugs but his only had a 2hp engine so I let him ride mine. Well he thought he was cool and went to fly by me after I stopped and swerved at me and caught my hand with the handlebar at WOT. Lesson learned haha.

 

[six40]

I recently wiped off my 212cc scooter at about 40mph when the chain flew off, jammed into the sprocket and locked up sending me flying off the side. I broke the fall with my shoulder, so I broke my right collarbone and tore my right knee meniscus. I had to get surgery, it wasn't fun.

It was my own fault for not testing the thing better after I built it. Lesson learned

 

[stargazer7467]

april 12 2015, i wiped out on my mini, hit a rought spot in the road and gave me front end wobble. bit the pavement face first about 35 mph. got knocked out and near no breathing. Ambulance to the local county hospital, air lifted to indinapolis about 100 miles away, 9 docs on me in neuro ICU. four titalnium plates in my face now, truamatic brain injury, brain bleed, damage to my left temporal lobe. rebuilt my cheek bones and my eye's orbital socket. Couldnt tell them my own name and not self aware for weeks. speant a month in the hospital and 2 weeks in rehab. im still off work on medical. good new is as of today in almost 100% ready to head back to work anytime. completed my speech, occupational, and physical therepies. i still see double at times in the morning and fight dizziness issues. crappy thing is that i was helmet shopping 5 days before. I still cant remember the day it happened or the weeks i was in teh ICU. luck i had a riding partner or id never made it off that country road that day.

 

[quinsdad]

Holy crap, dude. Glad you made it. You win!

My two worst were both on my older son's doodle. First one... I had just gotten the predator 212 on it, and wanted to test it... even though there was no throttle cable or return spring... and no kill switch. I figured I could just reach back and feather the throttle by hand to putt around the yard. Well, the stock linkage was a bit tight, and when it finally budged it went to WOT with me holding one hand on the left handlebar and the other trying frantically to push the throttle back. Before I could, I hit a bunch of exposed roots from a huge tree and got bucked over the handlebars. Landed face down on my chest... head smacked the ground and knocked me out. Somehow the front of both of my shins got torn up by the foot pegs, and I tore my lip from sliding across the ground unconscious on my face.

The second time was after I had gotten the bike pretty much done except for cosmetic stuff and paint. Had put a torque converter on, and was having fun riding wheelies at high speed. Well, started to loop out, got my feet on the ground and jumped back on. When I did I accidentally whiskey throttled and went right back into a wheelie... feet down, tried to hop back on, got a death wobble and then it flipped me and the bike end over end about 30mph or so. I landed on my head and right shoulder, then my right ankle smacked the asphalt really hard and broke it. Had some missing skin in various places and also fractured my collar bone. Had to put the bikes on the cargo carrier on the back of my jeep and drive home like that, because like the first time, it was just me and my boy and no one else around. That drive home sucked, lol :censure:

Boy was ten then, he's thirteen now... and still scared of his mini bike. He's never wrecked it though... because he never rides full throttle.

 

[cxbra]

Wow, these are some BRUTAL stories.. wow. My first huge crash was October, 2014.. I was riding on the sidewalk doing full throttle pulls late at night (35-40mph, no pedestrians). I already know the seemingly straight road bends about 15 degrees at one point. I Hit the gas right at that slight turn and it sent me head on into a light pole at about 35mph!! I flew over the bars and landed on my back and legs about 10 feet away from the bike. I realized that the only thing that saved my life was that I saw the pole coming and tucked my head to the side, if not that could have spelled death. Worse yet, I had NO helmet on, only a pair of gloves. My leather work gloves were worn almost through on the right palm. My forks were smashed to where the wheel was touching the frame and my bars were bent in to were they were almost touching eachother! Somehow in the crash I managed to deeply bruise my knees and ankles. I couldnt walk right for a week but no broken bones. Im currently in the market for a full face helmet.

 

[jada555]

Always use a helmet!

 

[jada555]

Well, not always, not while walking and sleeping...

 

[jeep2003]

Wow crazy stuff. I build all my bikes with brakes now but still havnt graduated to kill switches unless theyre really fast and have crappy brakes. a few weeks ago I had a chain brake and slap my leg pretty hard. No major damage just stung for a few days. Iv had a few stuck throttle incidents luckily im pretty good at the ol tuck and roll. We dont usually wear helmets. it seems whenever we do we need them. One time when i was too small to ride a moped I ran straight into a barn and bent the forks all the way back and broke the spark plug off. I was wearing a helmet luckily because i bonked my head into the barn too. I made a run for it because I thought my brother was going to beat me up for breaking the moped. He didnt care too much. Another time we were rididng a boy scout push kart down the road really fast and I yelled back to my brother if we should turn right and go down the embankment he obviously didnt hear me because he flew off and smashed his head on the road and broke the helmet but he was ok and got up laughing. Another incident that rather hurt was a gokart that I flipped over with a seat belt on and no cage. I bent my back over the seat sliding across the grass. Couldnt breathe so good for a while but I was ok. A feind of mine has way more stories about the 70s and 80s when they rode the quaries in NJ. He lost part of his ear it got ripped off by the fiberglass on his trike when he crashed