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Why are these guys driving their Harley's into a ditch? Go to 1:15 and help me understand what's happening here. It looks like a sympathy dump after accidentally pushing your buddy off the road which makes no sense when your woman is riding pillion. I don't get it Is this just old folks getting older? Maybe time to get off the road or ride alone.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUB2darr5mU

homie wrote:Why are these guys driving their Harley's into a ditch? Go to 1:15 and help me understand what's happening here. It looks like a sympathy dump after accidentally pushing your buddy off the road which makes no sense when your woman is riding pillion. I don't get it Is this just old folks getting older? Maybe time to get off the road or ride alone.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUB2darr5mU

I think incompetence.

Mrs You You thinks deliberate insurance claim.

Nobody can be that stupid can they? Even HD riders?

I can somewhat appreciate the challenge of cornering a great big fat 1000lb bike with a pillion.
But I think the second guy is just a dickhead...

I'm pretty sure that's near Lake Travis, Austin, Texas BTW.

chicaboo wrote:I can somewhat appreciate the challenge of cornering a great big fat 1000lb bike with a pillion.
But I think the second guy is just a dickhead...

I'm pretty sure that's near Lake Travis, Austin, Texas BTW.

Shouldn't be on bikes. If they weren't so incompetent they'd be dangerous to others.

Before they laid the bikes down, it was hard to make out how steep the incline was. But when the three guys went back for them and the two cars were pulled over, the steepness of the incline could be seen, particularly when the one car going uphill went to leave and spun the front tires. From the audio, the woman on the phone does't appear to know where there are until the person in the downhill car tells them what road they are on. This is possibly the first time they had been on this particular road.

Thus, just a guess, but I suspect the two HD's were in too high of a gear on the incline and couldn't get them in a low enough gear in time before they stalled out.

I think I learned a lesson at their expense.

The thing that I noticed was instead of interacting with the people involved and the ones who stopped to help was of the lady who's first response was the cell phone

After watching it again on the PC, I can hear the older bloke whom had the pillion keep saying he hit a hole in the road.
I couldn't see a hole, but there was a patch of road that looked to have sand and maybe gravel on it right where they went off.
Beats me, I've never ridden a land whale before...

Heavy bikes , old but inexperienced riders. Not a good match.

kramnala58 wrote: the steepness of the incline could be seen, particularly when the one car going uphill went to leave and spun the front tires. Thus, just a guess, but I suspect the two HD's were in too high of a gear on the incline and couldn't get them in a low enough gear in time before they stalled out. I think I learned a lesson at their expense.

Nice work Watson, you are right about what initially the camera dosent show. This is indeed a very steep climb into a tight turn that 800lb bike riders would need to be prepared. Not going to fault age or inexperience... I suspect not moving fast enough to push a whale up that twisting grade and balance the mass at the same time whilst dodging a pothole. Unfamiliar roads with unexpected surprises. This was a slow moving train wreck

I imagine a bike that heavy will be very difficult on steep curves like that. The second guy just proved that your bike will tend to go where your eyes are.

alx123 wrote:I imagine a bike that heavy will be very difficult on steep curves like that. The second guy just proved that your bike will tend to go where your eyes are.

More likely where her eyes and body weight went. Second driver could have had the concentration in that precarious angle around that corner but if your passenger is rubber necking that would be enough to lean the big bike into the inside and drag you over the edge. Look closer

homie wrote:

alx123 wrote:I imagine a bike that heavy will be very difficult on steep curves like that. The second guy just proved that your bike will tend to go where your eyes are.

More likely where her eyes and body weight went. I would not have taken my concentration off the precarious angles of that corner but if your passenger is rubber necking that would be enough to lean the big bike into the inside and drag you over the edge. Look closer

The rider itself turn his head to check his friend and He probably thought there is a little space beside the road for him to stop.

Could have been worse, seems we can learn a lot by analyzing this clip. Like the north end cliff rides of Maui... these two bikes would still be rolling

Guy kept claiming he hit a hole - I didn't see a hole - I think they just lost too much speed and probably stalled before tipping over. It was a deceptively steep turn - besides the car losing traction I noticed it took a loooooong time for the other 3 bikers to get their bikes parked securely before they could help. As a rider of a fairly heavy bike now I thank you Homie for this valuable lesson.

Yeah, there was a deep divot in the road there.
The first bike that fell was still fixated on that, when they hit the sand on the road.
(Even the car at 3:50 slips on the sand as it starts up.)

It looks to me like the second bike went down because the person steering it
turned to look at the first bike and steered their bike right off the road.

i drove to California back in the 1960's and there was a road just this side of San Francisco that was so steep that they actually put a sign up telling riders and drivers that unless they had a certain size engine on a car and a certain size displacement on a bike they should not try to climb the road but instead go the long way around.
It was fun watching people try anyway. I didn't think the big Harleys could get stuck going up a hill, but they can. I thought they were going to burn up their engines trying. So much fun, so much humiliation.
Very few cars made it, and they were muscle cars. Even a dune buggy couldn't make it.

That's what happened. Going up a steep incline with a tight curve and not using enough power/speed. Maybe in high gear bogged/stalled and didn't downshift or missed the downshift, too late - the low speed and the bike tilted with the incline.Not knowing the road and the unexpected steep curve could have thrown off the lead driver. The second driver followed by slowing down to help but the weight tipped him over as well being on the incline. I didn't see any cautionary road signs of steep curve ahead to warn the riders.

Group hysteria? Lemmings theory?

tbln930 wrote:Group hysteria? Lemmings theory?

Here is some more group hysteria. Street tires on a dirt track and nothing better to do than dump their bikes for giggles and applause. I should have so much money

Since adventure bikes have exploded here there are a lot of Harleys gathering dust in garages. lol