5/14    ausman-- curious about your survival. How did you crash, and at
        what speed? Was it a direct-on or a side-wipe? What did you ride
        at the time and what kind of gears did you have? Was it a typical
        left-turn, I didn't see you type of accident? High-side or low-side?
        \_ I was going too fast, probably about 40, down Fell street in
           SF (a four lane one way) and some parked car pulled out in
           front of me. I hit my brakes hard, skidded to about 20, realized

           that I was going to hit her anyway, pulled my brakes harder
           and did a flip over my handlebars, hitting the pavement face
           first. My full face helmet saved me. And to think, I used to
           be against the helmet laws. I probably had a minor concussion
           (a saw a flash when I hit the ground) but I walked away. Oh,
           I was riding a race tweaked Honda F600 at the time with
           super sticky tires and steel brake lines. Probably why I
           was able to stand my bike on its front tire like that. I
           was pretty lucky the bike did not end up on top of me.
           I was wearing a Shoei F900 and a First Gear ballistic nylon
           I was wearing a Shoei F700 and a First Gear ballistic nylon
           jacket with pads in and jeans. I got pretty good road rash
           though the jeans. I don't know what I was wearing on my feet,
           probably sneakers. -ausman
           \_ HOLY SHIT. Glad you're ok! Did you try swerving instead of
              a stoppie? Are you skilled at doing stoppies? Did you hit the
              car at all? And is this an F3/F2 you're talking about?
                \_ I don't ride a motorcycle, but even in a car I'm always
                   wary of swerving.  If you swerve to avoid a Yugo and
                   get creamed by a Mac truck instead that's no good.  And
                   if you have enough time to check your mirrors, there is
                   probably enough time to brake properly.
                   \_ Idealy, you should know what's around you and try to
                      keep your sides open for swerving when riding a
                      motorcycle.  Some people are quite good at this.
                      Unfortunatly, this rarely works out in RL,
                      especially in SF.
           \_ Let me get this right. You were riding a motorcycle and you
              fell down on Fell street?
              \_ Ha ha!  Did he get his motocycle license from that DMV on Fell
                 Street too? :-)
              \_ No, I thought I could stop in time and there was
                 a car next to me. Once the bike started sliding/skidding
                 I didn't feel like I could try and split lanes. I actually
                 didn't even think of it, I was just trying to stop. I
                 have no experience with stoppies, except for this one
                 not particularly enjoyable one. And no, I did not hit
                 the car. It was an F2 that I had bought from a racer.