Pothole on Ridgecrest Blvd - Potentially Totaled Bike

[SFSV650]

Dropped the bike on Sunday on Ridgecrest Blvd about 100 ft south of the intersection with Bolinas- Fairfax Road. I hit a pothole at about 20mph and seem to have totaled my 2003 SV650.

I had about 75' of unobstructed sight to the hole when I turned the corner, but it doesn't look like much until you're right on top of it.

Not a lot of extenuating circumstances, but here goes:

1. after a check that the road was clear apart from what looked like normal bumps and texture,
2. I looked at the cyclists in the opposite lane, two of whom were stopped on the shoulder and two of whom were close to the center of the road
3. I looked at the riders ahead to try and figure out why they were stopped around the intersection, when I expected them to be traveling west towards Hwy 1. I was trailing behind the group because I'm slow and I don't trust Marin roads - they're pretty but there's always the possibility of a cow or a cyclist or an oncoming V8 pickup in your lane around every blind corner.
4. at which point, about 5 feet out, I noticed there were two pot holes side by side in my lane, one of which was directly in front of me, and that they were larger than expected. It wasn't apparent which one was larger from my perspective. There was a narrow shoulder of dirt and a significant drop to my right. I didn't think I had room to swerve without risking the cliff or hitting a cyclist.
5. I thought I could ride it out, so I gave it a little gas and tried to scoot my weight back right before impact.
6. turned out the hole was deeper than I thought (at least 5 inches) and/or the lip was too steep, because the front tire dug in and momentum carried it forward and over on the left side.

I'm not sure how far I traveled once out of the hole - somewhere between 6 inches and 2 feet. I held on and hit the kill switch, then hopped up, gave a thumbs up and made a joke about being in town all week. My pant leg rode up above my boot and I burned my leg on the exhaust, and have a bruise on my right leg from being dragged over the tank as I tried to squeeze and hold on, but otherwise I'm fine. No scuffs on my gloves, helmet or jacket, so it seems like I didn't touch the ground until I had stopped.

Frame sliders and hand guards bore the brunt of the damage, apart from twisted bars and a broken shift lever. The frame, tank, swing arm were all unscathed. After a look over the bike with a much more experienced rider, I rode on with the group and then home, about 75 miles total.

I took the bike to Tokyo Moto in SF to have it looked over. A few drops of oil from the left side frame slider led us to discover that the bolt had cracked the engine case. The repair estimate is high enough that it's looking like a total loss. I'll find out on Monday.

I'm annoyed at myself because I have spotted and avoided the last however many hundred pot holes, but managed to miss the deepest one yet. I didn't think 20mph was excessive speed, but if I were going slower I may have have seen the hole sooner, or determined that the left hole was in fact much more shallow. I've heard a suggestion that I should have swerved hard and risked taking out a cyclist, but as that's my other form of two wheeled enjoyment I am particularly reluctant to endanger them when riding / driving. There was definitely a certain amount of target fixation - it may have taken me a full second (which is about 30 feet at 20mph) from realizing the depth of the hole to deciding what to do.

I went back and took a couple of photos. I took a ruler - a 36" yard stick. That should give some idea of the size of the hole.

Big thanks to the folks who helped me pick up the bike and get my clutch sensor reattached. I'm glad I'm ok, but mad that I messed up, that the pot hole was out there and unmarked, and that what seemed like a small drop did so much hidden damage.

 

[OneRedLT4]

Wow! I thought that was a 12" ruler!
Glad you're relatively ok. My first thought, and this will sound a bit counter intuitive, is that maybe a bit more speed could have "smoothed it out" a bit and momentum and inertia could have kept you upright. Being a 3' long hole which looks to be lined with gravel, you'd definitely want to adjust your line at the last second and be going straight (if you weren't already). The leaning back is correct to unweight the front as much as possible.

I also want to point out that a bit of target fixation probably came in to play here. I see the two holes side by side, but I see about 1.5' spot between them that should have been your "exit". No swerving needed just a small adjustment.

This looking for an exit isn't the easiest thing to do when you're coming up on a hazard. There was a thread on another forum about how one could practice this without endangering themselves or others. For me, it's something where I have to consciously tell myself to look away and head around it.

Lastly, I don't know who is responsible for the road, but if it's city or county (not a private road) it looks like you've documented it enough where you might get the bike fixed on someone else's bill. A friend bent a wheel on a pot hole and the city replaced the wheel no questions.

 

[jdhu]

Yeah, definitely doesn't look that worrying, until closer inspection.

Were you leaned over far at the time? I guess I'm surprised it caused a crash, even at its size...

 

[SFSV650]

I was fully upright in a straight line. Looking at the photos it looks like if I had exited on the right of the pothole there was enough 'ramp' to clear it, but I was more to the left where its a sharper lip.

I think part of the problem is that I really thought I was going to be able to ride through it if I kept it in a straight line, right until the moment I didn't.

 

[jdhu]

Good thing you had those frame sliders on.

Personally, I think frame sliders do more damage than good.

Hmm, so, is the 1st sentence sarcasm?

 

[packnrat]

looks like a county rd. hurry as some counties will be going bankrupt in the near future.

too many burdensome reg and taxes have driven jobs else-were.

good you were not hurt, and even a small dip can cause much damage.
and that hole is not small, and looks like they had tried to patch it once before.

maybe instead of trying to go through could you have gone between the two pot holes?

.

 

[ThumperX]

When riding rough surface roads it's critical to allow the bike some freedom to respond to irregularities in the road.
It appears as though you may have tensed once you realized you were going for the hole. Relaxed arms would have lessened your input and allowed the SV to wander its way out of the dilemma.
As more and more roads deteriorate it's becoming more common to find yourself in these uncomfortable situations. The key is to look where you want to go, make sure the front of the bike understands this and the back will follow.

Other than the obvious avoid it, what would you do differently if you found yourself hitting a good sized pothole again?

 

[Gary856]

I'm not sure how far I traveled once out of the hole - somewhere between 6 inches and 2 feet. I held on and hit the kill switch, then hopped up, gave a thumbs up and made a joke about being in town all week. My pant leg rode up above my boot and I burned my leg on the exhaust, and have a bruise on my right leg from being dragged over the tank as I tried to squeeze and hold on, but otherwise I'm fine. No scuffs on my gloves, helmet or jacket, so it seems like I didn't touch the ground until I had stopped.

If the bike dropped/stopped that close past the pothole, then it seems like you were moving a lot slower than 20 mph. Being too slow could be a problem - less stability. Also agree with OneRedLT4 about there being 1.5 ft of good road between the two potholes, and you could have easily avoid that pothole.

- Where were your eyes looking when you hit the pothole - down at it, or up farther down the road? (You should not be looking down.)

- How did you grip the handlebar when you hit the pothole - tight or loose? (You should have a loose grip - enough to guide the handlebar, but loose enough to let it wiggle freely.)

 

[SFSV650]

Other than the obvious avoid it, what would you do differently if you found yourself hitting a good sized pothole again?

Honestly I'm not sure. Other than being more watchful and, in future, assuming a pothole is worse than it looks at first, I don't know what to do.

I (now) know I need to practice rotating the bike around the axis of travel, so that I could have gotten the wheels out of line with the obstacle without taking out a cyclist with my handlebars & upper body. I'm reluctant to take the bike out and practice hitting kerbs until I get it right; I might get it but I'd probably trash what's left of the bike in the process.

 

[SFSV650]

- How did you grip the handlebar when you hit the pothole - tight or loose? (You should have a loose grip - enough to guide the handlebar, but loose enough to let it wiggle freely.)

Loose until the wheel hit the lip, then I tensed up completely. Which probably didn't help. I'm not sure how to train myself not to do that if this happens again - is there a good way to practice?

 

[Honey Badger]

I see that you said you tried to scoot your weight back - but did you get off the seat, get your weight into your legs and let the bike do what it needed? Getting your butt off the seat is about the only good way I know of to deal with unexpected bumps - you don't see dirt bikers sitting with their butts on their seats over bumps for a reason....from my own experience, I would say that continuing to sit there was probably your biggest mistake, weight back or not.

 

[ThumperX]

If you don't have access to a dirt bike but you need practice dealing with rough surfaces, experiment with shallow ruts. They can be found everywhere on Bay Area highways. Learn to allow your front wheel to wander up and down the side while you redistribute your weight on the pegs.

Becoming comfortable with your bike in adverse conditions can save you when you hit a surprise. On 580 there is a long deep pothole that gets fixed but regrows, imagine hitting that thing at 65mph at night.

 

[SFSV650]

but did you get off the seat, get your weight into your legs and let the bike do what it needed?

No, I didn't. I've done it plenty of times before with smaller bumps but it didn't even occur to me this time. It should have. Thanks.

 

[OneRedLT4]

If you don't have access to a dirt bike but you need practice dealing with rough surfaces, experiment with shallow ruts. They can be found everywhere on Bay Area highways. Learn to allow your front wheel to wander up and down the side while you redistribute your weight on the pegs.

Becoming comfortable with your bike in adverse conditions can save you when you hit a surprise. On 580 there is a long deep pothole that gets fixed but regrows, imagine hitting that thing at 65mph at night.

Be careful practicing with rough terrain on city streets for obvious reasons. Don't want another off

As someone mentioned, definitely git yer butt off the seat and allow your legs and arms to soak up the exaggerated movement of the bike.

 

[ThumperX]

Be careful practicing with rough terrain on city streets for obvious reasons. Don't want another off

As someone mentioned, definitely git yer butt off the seat and allow your legs and arms to soak up the exaggerated movement of the bike.

Here's my reasoning, just as we do with emergency braking, these skills must be practiced to the point where dealing with them is second nature and no longer create fearful reactions.

At any given juncture of the average commute a rider will encounter stepped pavement, ruts, gravel, pot holes and who knows what else. Better to know what these things feel like and how the bike responds n a controlled environment rather than at night as a shock.

 

[Gary856]

Loose until the wheel hit the lip, then I tensed up completely. Which probably didn't help. I'm not sure how to train myself not to do that if this happens again - is there a good way to practice?

I learned to stay loose from trail riding a rigid (un-suspended) mountain bike. On rough downhill runs the handlebar shakes so violently it hurts your hands if you tried to hold on to it tightly, so I learned to loosen my grips enough to let the handlebar bounces freely on the worst impacts. I also learned to use my arms/legs as suspension to absorb the impacts.

BTW having a loose grip on the bar is also critical for cornering.

 

[OneRedLT4]

Here's my reasoning, just as we do with emergency braking, these skills must be practiced to the point where dealing with them is second nature and no longer create fearful reactions.

At any given juncture of the average commute a rider will encounter stepped pavement, ruts, gravel, pot holes and who knows what else. Better to know what these things feel like and how the bike responds n a controlled environment rather than at night as a shock.

I'm not entirely disagreeing with you, just pointing out, not knowing the rider skill level, to mention to be careful as some people can unintentionally bite off more than they can chew. Therefore if the OP tries it, just take it in baby steps, just like emergency braking practice.

 

[ThumperX]

I'm not entirely disagreeing with you, just pointing out, not knowing the rider skill level, to mention to be careful as some people can unintentionally bite off more than they can chew. Therefore if the OP tries it, just take it in baby steps, just like emergency braking practice.

 

[SFSV650]

not knowing the rider skill level

Total noob. Only about 6 months / 3k miles of experience.

I've had practice with ruts, 3" drop offs and metal plates as they've been ripping up a different block of my commute every week, but this one caught me by surprise. I tensed up when I hit the lip because I was bumped forwards as the bike either stopped or seemed to stop - I have a wicked bruise on my inner thigh from where it was dragged over the tank as I held on / tried to hold on. I honestly don't know if I could have stayed on the bike if I'd let my arms go loose?

If/when I get back on 2 wheels I'll go try with some 2x4's and work up from there.