JHupp

I havent posted here in a month or so now. I've always been into quads, and have been working on a 2001 Banshee, getting it setup for MX and trails from the frame up. I bought another Banshee, a 2002(pictured below), to ride in the meantime. The truck has taken a backseat, and I've been hanging out over at BansheeHQ. But I figured I'd throw this one at yall, just as a reminder to wear your helmet when you ride. Yeah, it's uncomfortable, and restricts your view, but mine saved my life yesterday.

Let me start by saying, I'm not a jackass or anything, and I really don't do stupid things. I have never wrecked a bike in my 10 years of riding, just minor stuff, little fender benders and whatnot, but this weekend took the cake. Me and some buddies went out to PA to ride, and we were havin' a blast. My banshee ran great, very quick, and was puttin' 4 strokes to shame.

Towards the end of the day we ran a few hill shoots. I ran the same one 3 times, and made it fine. My buddy bogged out a raptor, almost flipped, but clutched it, and slid back down safely. I ran again on the next shot, and I was about 3 feet away on a near vertical section when the bike came over backwards on me. The banshee cartwheeled about 50 feet back down into a tree, and I tumbled with it. I managed to get out of it's way about half way down, but I got pretty banged up from going half way with it, nothing major thankfull, just really sore, a lot of black and blues, and alot of rash from the rocks. I put some nasty gouges in my helmet too.

I'm pretty sure the bike is toast. The frame is bent, I unseated all 4 tires from the bead, the rims are screwed, the axles, and a-arms look bent, as well as the stem. I'm pretty beside myself, I always thought I was a pretty decent rider, and I know my abilities pretty well, I never really do jackass things, and if I do, they are minor. The engine still starts first kick, but nothing moves right. It spins fine when the chain is off, but as soon and the chain is on, the axle doesnt turns, and neither do the front wheels.

I'm going to try to sell my R1 tomorrow, and I'm thinking about selling the Banshees, I'm not sure yet, but I'm just really really bummed out about this. My buddy has pictures of the actual accident, which I'll post later. Here is one I snapped after getting home a few hours ago.

Elton

wow that sucks looks like the banshee is parts now

MTL_4runner

Wow Jason, glad you were ok!

Buck01

LEt me add this...my buudy here at work has always given me a hard time about me not wearing a helmet. I ride a Honda Rancher. It's not a racer and I dont get crazy on it. I have flipped it a few time though. It happens even when you are careful. Anyway my buddy said his wife is a speach therapist and see's people that have slipped an fallen and hit their head. They are trying to learn to speak all over again. He would always say imagine what would happen if the 4wheeler fell on you or you come off and hit a rock or tree. I would reassure him I dont go very fast and I would be ok.

Then one day we took a buddies 4 wheeler to the local shop to get some work done..He went in side to get the paper work done. My brother and I pulled around to the back and were going to unload it for him. My brother put the ramps against the tail gate. I hopped on the 4 wheeler and started to back up. Just as I reach the tail gate the ramps fall out from under the 4 wheeler. The 4 wheeler and I both fall the 2 to 3 feet to the ground.

I landed on the back of my head and kicked the 4 wheeler so it didnt fall back on my.

I got up had some brusies and some dirt. No big deal right??? That's the last thing I remember for the next 4 hours. I had a mild concusion. Some ice and I was fine.

The point is...Be careful loading and unloading and riding your 4 wheeler!!!!!

They are like guns..just when you think you cant get hurt they will bite you.

It's always the unloaded gun that goes off and kills someone.

I always chain my ramps to the truck now. I never ride in and out of the truck. I still dont always wear a helmet. I do wear it more often than I used to.

Please becareful........they are fun but they can and WILL hurt you.

JHupp

Thanks man, I'm still in disbelief, I've always been pretty decent with these things, but hey, you know what they say, it happens. Buck01, that's some good info, I've seen my share of loadings gone bad, ramps not lined up right, etc. etc. I usually back up to a hill or dirt mound if I can find one close, and load like that. I also use 8' ramps, because I have an 8' bed on my 250, so it is a little less steep. I always wear my helmet when loading and unloading too, but I know a lot of people that don't. All good info!

fustercluck

That was a close call. Do you usally wear a helmet? I'm glad you are well regardless......

MTL_4runner

Buck01, you're dead right, you should always wear a helmet when going on ATVs (it's like motorcycles......most of the time it isn't YOUR driving that gets you killed). Hitting your head hard enough for a concussion is like hitting the reset button on your brain......do it once too many times or too severely and it's game over. The rule in our house is that if you're on anything that can travel faster than you can run (only exception for that rule is a jetski), then you need a helmet on.

fustercluck

Jet ski helmet.....

lr9788

Jhupp, glad to hear that you are ok. i had a friend in high school passaway after a very tragic freak 4wheeler accident. he was much like yourself very responsible and wasnt goofing around. he ran into a pothole in the middle of a field heading back towards the house and the 4wheeler rolled on top of him and caused fatal brain swelling. and that was with a a helmet. so please everyone ride responsibly and take all necessary safety precautions. on a lighter note. what are you looking to get out of your bike jhupp i have a friend looking for an R1

MTL_4runner

Thanks Fuster! I knew you'd help me stave any need for an exception to my rules.

bakotoy

this really sucks. i'm sorry for your luck. i have also experienced crashes where the helmet is really what kept me alive. i'd say protect your head. i too ride a quad. a slow 4 stroke. i thought i'd say a little to ease the pain of this thread.

Ric

back in the day, when i sold bikes, Id tell people "there are 2 kinds of riders, those who have, crashed, and those who are going to crash" which one are you ?

then they would ask, "how much does a good helmet cost?" my reply was always the same, "if you have a $10 head, you buy a $10 helmet" funny how they would always walk out with a $500 helmet, matching thier new toy, lol (no i didnt get any extra cash for selling a $500 helmet vs. a $100 helmet) I always wear a helmet (back when I had bikes)
When my oldest was 3 I bought him a Suzuki Jr. but before I let him even sit on it, I explained the rules: rule 1, BEFORE your butt touches the seat, your helmet has to be on AND straped. (that was my biggest fear, he wouldnt want the helmet on his head, but hes seen me always wear mine, so he fine with it) Rule 2 was do not even sit on it, unless dad or mom was watching him. (or an adult) two very simple rules, that he follows to this day. 11 years later.

sorry about the Im glad your ok, bikes can be replaced, you cant.

One More Time

Glad to hear you are ok. A helmet should be the least amount of safety gear a rider has on.

On a trail ride a while back our group came upon an ATV rider whose ATV has rolled back over him while attempting to climb a steap hill. The rider was wearing a helmet but the ATV manage to somehow severely smashed his leg. The rider's buddy, who barley spoke any english, lead us to the victim. The rider, in shock and barley concious, had a fractured femur, shattered knee cap, and a tibula and fibula compund fracture.

I'd like to think that a good set of shin guards would have minimized or perhaps even prevent these injuries.

JHupp

Thanks for all the kind replies, just got back from the doctor a few hours ago because I was having spasms in my back, so now I have some muscle relaxers to ease the pain. I always wear a brain bucket when I'm out on the quads, even when I ride my little 80, I'll still throw one on.

Ric, I rmemebr the salesman at the dealer telling me that when I bought my R1, I walked out with an expensive helmet too.

Fuster, I knew you'd show up with a good pic, I miss this bored sooo much. Your post count is really up there now!

bakotoy, too bad about the 4-stroke, I knew it was gonna be a Honda before I even looked at it. For real though, that's a sick R, I've always been partial to Yamaha, but Honda really put out a nice quad there. That's a crazy scheme too with the green and black. What mods do you have done other then then paint?

Thanks again to everyone else, I've heard quite a few horror stories with quads and such, and you never now when it's gonna happen. Still waiting on more pics from my buddy. My banshee is still sitting on my driveway, I havent even attempted to move it yet.

4unner4life

Jhupp: Glad your ok. Sounds like a nasty crash. I think you should think about it more before you start selling all your bikes and giving it up.

JHupp

Oh, I'm not giving it up quite yet. I've had too many friends get hurt, and one die on a strett bike, so I've been really thinking about getting rid of the R for a while. For offroad, I'll probably take my dad's Grizzly, just to slow the pace down a little. I talked to a guy out in PA about a swapping for a mostly stock blaster on the wrecked banshee, but I'll probably sell both, and put the money towards a new truck in a year or so. I'm not sure yet, but I just think it might be a good time to slow down a little bit.

JHupp

I know it's been a while, but 2 months later, and my buddy finally gave me pics. Here are pics from the whole trip, with the wreck pics toward the end. It's from Sproul? state forest in Pennsylvania. Went up at the end of September.

Pretty much, I drove up with him and hauled our 2 quads, 400ex, and banshee, and his dad and his buddy went up with their 2 ute quads. I got to ride for 2 whole days before I wrecked at the end of the second. I sat out the third, but had a good time.

In my 250 on the drive up, my buddy took soooo many lame pictures of the scenery.


Here's what the trails looked like, lot's of hill climbs, mostly open trails, it was retty damp both days, actually pretty nice, kept the dust down, but didn't rain.


Here's a kinda ghetto pic of me jumping.


And, here's a hill climb, with my buddy on his 400 behind me, gettin' ready to eat some roost.


And, then here is where it turned ugly, I ran this hill climb twice, and my buddy made it once, but barely on his 400. The 3rd time I tried, I was in too high of a gear, downshifted, and pulled the front end up when I was abut 10 feet away from the top. Here's a shot from the tope, you can see me, in blue at the bottom, and my buddy on his 400 at the top.


Here's a shot from the bottom.


And here's what happens when your dumb like me. Basically it cartwheeled down the hill after I got away from it. I tried to shove the front end down, but I just really screwed this one up, I stayed with it throught the first sideways roll, but momentum got the better of me, and I just had to get away from it.






As I said before, my buddy is a photo whore, so here is a shot of where my rim planted into the ground while it was carthweeling.


I was actually pretty wrong about this bike. It in fact was salvageable, even after the carnage. I wound up replacing ALOT of stuff, steering stem, axle, acrrier, rotos, bars, bumpers, swingarm, and alot of other stuff. It took about 2 months working in my garge, I finished it up yesterday, and I'm gonna try to sell it to try to recoup some of the cash. I also have another banshee that I'm building as an MX racer, so I need some dough for that too. Here's a shot of the banshee in my garage, and the second one is of the finished product last night next to my 4Runner.

rdharper

For what its worth, I've 1/2 century of motorcycles behind me. My GoldWing sits... learned long ago not to sell my bike, as spring time brings out the desire. Somewhere I realized that the adrenalin thrill can be had in safer ways, although it took a very long time to learn that.

Today my "thrills" are limited to a Honda Rincon which I use to keep up the property. My worries are limited to a tree falling on me... lol.

The last trip I took on the GoldWing, I drove up to Canada (from Morgan Hill, Ca) and turned right. It was my retirement trip. All the way to Halifax, then a tour back through the US. Logged 14k miles on that trip, doing a lot of side trips (interest in history and geneology). Since then the bike has been kept up, but ridden only a few times.

I'm well aware of the aphorism regarding there being only two kinds of riders, those that have gone down, and those that are going to go down. Told to me by motorcycle cop in 1958.

While I've never dropped a bike, I've had 4 very close calls over the years. I can still see them in slow-motion. Example, a 67 camaro decided to do a U-turn right in front of me (in 1975) on a two lane road, totally blocking my path except for about 18 inches of pavement all the way to the right of my lane. I can still feel the air brushing my leg from the nose of that Camaro on my left leg. I like to think I think for the other driver, but I had no warning, as there was no road (or driveway) for him to turn into, no warning... he just braked hard and pulled into my lane at right angles. I was at about 60mph. There was an eight inch lip on the macadam to the shoulder, with a fence just to the right of the dirt. Would have been messy to say the least.

There are a few things I've learned that have kept me accident free.

1. You can be right, the other guy wrong... but you may be "dead-right". On two wheels, you should be aware of what the other guy sees and thinks. Blind spots you might be in, flaky behavior... etc.

2. This one everyone knows by now, but when I started, it was not common practice. Headlights help! A good low beam is all that is necessary. Can't tell you how many times that has prevented an oblivious driver from pulling out in front of me.

3. Don't commit to a pass unless you can see the whole of the distance necessary to make that pass.

4. Don't ride if your awareness level is temporarily lowered due to whatever. Your intuition and skill are important on two wheels.

5. Take care of your bike.

I've violated every one of those over 49 years of riding, more than once. My advice is to learn from someone thats been there.

Most accidents are a combination of unlikely events. But if you follow the above principles, you will increase your chances of coming out on the other side.

All that having been said, motorcycles (and ATV's) have been just the best fun. People talk about wanting to beef up their truck. Well I never had that interest, as the bikes I've driven in the last 30 years would do under 12 seconds in the 1/4 mile.

The Honda Rincon is the best quad I've owned, much safer than the trikes I used to ride, and much faster.

One more thing about dirt riding. It is the best way to learn to drive. Awareness of the surface you are on will serve you well, in normal driving. The awareness you learn riding bikes, two wheeled or ATV's, will serve you well in day to day driving.

Stay safe... and have fun!

HarrisonP

Guess I missed this thread, glad you are ok. I agree 4wheelers can be very dangerous, even if you are careful. It happens when you least expect it. Thats why I make sure to strap the ramps to the truck. I would hate to have my Polaris 500 fall over on me. That thing is ridiculously heavy. I used to have a 3 wheeler when I was younger and rolled it several times. I will never step foot on one of those things without putting a helmet on.

JHupp

Good info bro! I got rid of my R, not worth it, sport bikes are a death wish, I don;t care what anyone says. As soon as I would hop on that thing, my brain just went dead, and it was either all throttle or all brake. The quads for me arent much better, my intuition usally goes down hill. I've learned a little, hoepfully, but I just can't kick the thrill of being wide open on a banshee where the trees are wheels width apart.

I ride my dad's grizzly every now and then, and it's actually pretty fun in the mud, but I couldnt bring myself to ride that all the time. The Rincon is kinda the same quad, as the Grizz, big utes. Maybe when I get older, but I don;t drive fast on the street, and I don't do many things that get my adrenaline going, except for my banshee, and dirt bike, and these seem way safer then my old R.