Traveling at an estimated 170 mph in a 35 mph zone, resident of St. Ann (suburb of St. Louis, MO.), 19-year-old Warren Daniels’ journey on his 2008 Kawasaki ZX600-J came to a tragic and abrupt end Saturday after T-boning a Mitsubishi Outlander. More
47 Comments on Crotch Rocket Crash
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There is a video that a lady posted in memorial to her son that did the same thing. She was hoping it would convince other young men his age to be a little more careful.
that was a special kind of stupid if kawasaki 600’s go that fast.
Parents shouldn’t be burying their children. It’s heartbreaking when it happens.
Heh. I’ve been 196, indicated, on a Ducati 996.
That reminds me of the dude on his bike who crossed Rt 4 off of the Suitland Parkway doing “Who Knows?”
He was fucking dead for about 3 weeks before anybody knew he was missing. He went about 200 yards through the trees at about 20 feet up. They found him because of the vultures.
the french quad was also a biker fag. he got nothing but sympathy because it was a “car accident”. lmao lets see where this goes
Most people have no fucking idea what is going on at 110. You have very little control at speeds over 150… or whatever for your bike. At 196 it was everything to just stay on the road. And it was a straight road. I’m NOT a fan of adrenaline. Those days are behind me. I did 196 on a Ducati. That’s enough and more than enough.
In 1980 one of my employees had a 1976 Kawasaki KZ900 and dared me to “open it up” on a closed road in a sub-division we were building and in a straight line. I don’t know how fast I was going when I shut it down but I was still just in 3rd gear! It scared the livin’ shit out of me.
A year or so later a friend in upstate NY sold his crotch rocket to a kid who was getting it as a graduation present, he wound it up and splattered himself into a block wall on the way home with his new bike.
Thumb rules:
Each addition 10mph speed doubles your stopping distance. IOW – it takes 2x the distance to stop at 70mph vs 60mph.
At 60mph, you will travel ~66ft before you begin applying the brakes or make a steering change. At 80mph ~ 88ft. At 40mph ~ 44ft. (move the tens digit to the units position and add)
60mph equals approx.~ 90ft/sec. 40mph ~ 60ft/sec. 80mph ~ 120ft/sec. (Speed in mph x 1.5 = ~ speed in ft/sec)
At 170mph : ~255ft/sec (85yds/sec). Approx. ~ 187ft (62yds) traveled before he could begin applying brakes, about the same to make a steering direction change. Not much time. The faster ya go the farther ahead you need to be aware of what’s there. 12 seconds ahead & 6 seconds behind is a good rule to follow.
Generally there are two thumb rules to follow if you want to survive riding a motorcycle on public roads. Some people follow one or the other rul, other people follow both:
Ride as if no one can see you, and ride in a safe position where they can’t hit you if they really don’t see you. Or ride as though every driver on the highway can see you, and each one of them wants to hit you, so ride in a position where they can’t hit you.
Other people, such as this deceased kid, need a third rule. See all the other vehicles on the road and don’t run into them.
I had an RD 400… shower jets, the whole bit. Ahh shit. That thing would stand straight up. That was the definition of nasty.
ok, so even if he was only doing 120, thats assinine. And if the cops saw him driving irratically? Irratic at high speeds = dead on scooters.
My sister’s boyfriend (at the time, over 25 years ago) bought a CBR90. She dumped him, she said she wasn’t interested in marrying someone who was going to end up in the ER. Then they got married, he took his bike onto the track and did any speed stuff in relative safety. Then he got her into it – and for the past 15 years or so they have co-owned a track days business. Although they divorced and my sister remarried they still co-own the business and are at a track somewhere in CA about half the weekends every year.
A few years ago she was visiting our parents and me. Mom was asking her what bikes she rides. They ride Yamahas, she has ridden the R1 but it wears on her so she prefers the R6. My mom asked how fast she gets going, and she said up to 180 in the straightaways. No reaction from mom – after 20+ years I guess she knew the answer.
Last time I was on a bike I was about 10, riding a friend’s 2-stroke dirt bike slowly down a dirt road. I turned around, gave it a little too much gas and lifted the front wheel off the ground. That was it – I idled it back and haven’t ridden one since. Not that I wouldn’t. 🙂
Reminds me of that old slogan: “Buy your kid a motorcycle for his last birthday.”
I commuted for a decade on motor bikes. I had three wrecks. Two because cagers encroached upon me, and one sorely my own fault… which is three wrecks sorely my own fault. I love motorbikes. But I reckon I’ll never ride one again.
I had numerous non-wrecks, too. One time I was on the back road to Croom and hit the edge of a pothole. My handlebars did the whole bangbangbangbang. I was totally out of control. I went between two vehicles coming the opposite direction at 55 and into the ditch. I kept it upright but I crapped my suit. I missed that motherfucker, the trailing motherfuker, by about 14 inches.
Kid rabbited. “Driving erratically” means he was having fun, saw the cops hit the lights and thought “fuk dese dudes, I can ditch em’.”
RedBull is a hell of a drug.
It ain’t just Red Bull. “That was a STATE TROOPER!”
We didn’t care about them county mofos…
I had sharp eyes when I was young.
At 500 yards, “That’s a State cat, we better slow down.”
And we passed him at 110 going the the other way. He didn’t even blink. I pretended I was going slow by propping up my head on my wrist.
Anonymous.Just wuke up for work read the thread. I used to ride a rz500 wild little bike still own it might put it back on the road. At 110 mph and over the road gets narrow and bumpy.Now that i am an old man i ride a lot more sane.So many close calls and a few nasty hits.
So how much tire rubber is actually in contact with the road at 170+ mph? I’m thinking not a hell of a lot.
I used to ride until I got old enough to figure
out that too many people on the road don’t even “SEE”
(as it regestering on their brain) a motorcycle
under many conditions. And yeah I did some idiotic
crap to the point of checking to see if my arms and
legs were still attached. As to this poor fool, he put
himself into what is known as “a self correcting situation”. One can get away with that only so many
times. I lucked out. He didn’t.
We lost a 19 YO rider here in town this past saturday. Report says “Too fast for curve, left roadway, impacted end of guardrail with head”.
I raised a beer that evening. After I got home from my ride.
170 is a stretch for a 600. I had a FJ1200 Yamaha with flat slide carbs and aftermarket air filter and headers. 170 was about its top end on a good day. If the 600’s are doing that now I’d be surprised because in my day that was considered an entry level learners bike.
Huron, was always jealous of you guys. You could get the world spec 2 strokes that weren’t allowed for sale here in the states. I used to come over there to buy the import record albums that weren’t sold here also. Need to come over again soon as I’m running out of HP sauce. Can only get the tiny ridiculously expensive ones here.
I rode daily for five or six years before I had to start using a truck to earn a living. Always rode conservatively and never dumped a bike. Was run off the road once at about 45 and bounced through the woods a ways. Had skid marks………….
“Speaking the truth in times of universal deceit is a revolutionary act.” Geo. Orwell
Just rode 2 days out of Illinois, currently in Kentucky about an hour or so from the Blue Ridge Parkway. Cutting through the Smokey Mountains today.
A quick internet search says the bike in question here tops out at 140. Could it have been modified?
I don’t know or hear about many 19 year old kids these days able to overcome the compounding effect of drag above 150MPH. Besides, for the money needed to do so on a 600cc bike, why not just buy a 1000cc bike?
Darwin pays another visit!
The term “crotch rocket” is old…almost insulting. As a Ducati and Aprilia owner, I prefer… Pasta Rocket.
Speed can kill…but so does immature riders. Take a riding course. Want to pin the throttle and ton up ? GO TO THE TRACK. When I tell co-workers I go to the track, they immediately think SPEED… Its really about control, learning to brake and accelerate properly. Makes for a better street rider.
Old Oaks, those were my thoughts. The money on mods to hit 170 would probably buy new bike. Wonder if impact pegged speedo?
Blink: you made good points, but your numbers are a little optimistic.
Different Tim. We could get all kinds of crazy bikes. I had a street legal honda cr 250 wide ratio trans.We could buy street legal kawi kx’s rm’s and yz’s.We could get the crazy world spec rally cars and sports cars also.Oh and buckets of HP sauce swimming in the stuff ha!
Yeah Tim, I’m thinking the speedo, a mechanical item on a 2008 bike, was disturbed during the crash.
Speaking of crotch rockets, anyone ever hear of or know what a glitter rocket is? I recently bought one and never heard of it before my purchase.
Old Oaks… have you come to ride the Dragon? Godspeed and safe roads to you and yours, it is beautiful but can be treacherous
Since I’m on the bike and don’t want to leave anyone hanging due to lack of response.
https://youtu.be/xLKXp-yWq-g
That new Mercury Four Stroke 4.6L V8 is a beast! I almost lost a bunch of rods, some drinks and a tackle box the first time I hole shot that monster.
Hoo Hoo, We will be there soon. Hopefully we find a place to stay nearby so I can ditch my top heavy roll bag and pizza box!
The ride through Daniel Boone yesterday was amazing! Better yet, we didn’t get rolled by half the town that came out to see the new people with all their teeth at the gas station.
The ‘TUNNEL” vision at 160 is like
looking down 2 paper towel tubes
taped together… Just like 2001 space oddity.
We do dumb shit.
Sometimes only once.
There’s a lesson in here, somewhere – the experienced don’t need it, and the inexperienced won’t heed it.
Ah, well.
izlamo delenda est …
The Texas Motorcycle Riders news, now gone I believe, was mostly comprised of an Obituary…A friend in College got me into dirt racing back in 1965 and while I dropped out he continued in a long career even becoming a side car weight when he was too old to race as an individual. At our reunion we talked about his fame and success and he told me that he had over 100 motorcycles when I asked him about injuries since he lived in New Hampshire where the roads are great for a cycle ride. His answer stunned me…since 1967, he has never ridden a motorcycle on a public road and practiced only at tracks and had some accidents but always in a race..
This young idiot ended up like Kowalski in Vanishing Point when he slammed that Dodge Challenger into a bulldozer at a high rate of speed. Immediately dead on impact, Darwin claims another dumbass.
I always try to ride like they can’t see me and the ones that can may be trying to hit me.
In the only traffic accident I had on a bike, I literally got run over because we were hidden from each other until he entered the intersection. In retrospect, there were many ways I could change what I did that put me in that position, but I was both lucky and unlucky that time. I was barely rolling on takeoff, so speed was only an issue in that I wasn’t going fast enough.
This guy was asking for it, though.
Roll the dice often enough and you’re going to crap out at some point.
When I was 30, I was engaged to a guy who had a motorcycle. I enjoyed riding with him and soon found that being a passenger on a bike was like riding a horse – the balance was the same. But he was a chicken-shit and never took chances, (not that I wanted him to).
After hearing your stories, I’m glad he was a chicken-shit!
Claudia, My brother’s wife had been a passenger on bikes for 15-20 years before they met.
One time, I came over to visit them on my`77 750 Suzuki. She asked for a ride. It was powerful for a street bike back then and so a bit scary to people who didn’t ride regularly. She was the first one to sit on the “Queen seat” that knew how to lean with the bike.
Stability-wise, it was like she wasn’t even there. What a joy.
Everyone else I had ever given a ride to on that bike tried to stay completely vertical by leaning the opposite way instead of into the turns. Boy can that make things very unstable.
Dadof4, that’s where my horse riding came in handy. As soon as we started, I “felt” the bike’s movement and didn’t even need to hang on. It was fun, but I do like horses better 😉 (it’s the critter thing)!
Video, or it didn’t happen! 😛
Weird. My buddy “Kenny” (because he has an orange parka) Dumped his bike yesterday. Busted both legs and punctured a kidney.
“Well, I was doin’ about a buck 20 when I started to get fork wobble….)
No idea how he’s alive. Dude had to ditch so he CHOSE to stick it between a fire hydrant and a old pine tree.
??????????????
Yeah…. I’ll help him rebuild it.
@Odin 2013 – the only optimistic numbers are the minimum approximate distance to begin braking or making steering change that assumes a 2/3 second reaction time that is only possible if the rider is alert, paying attention, and has brake lever covered with finger tips ready to brake. Otherwise the distances are indeed longer. The 2/3 second reaction times are from rider safety studies I’ve read over the years.
The rest are just quick math methods to calculate distances or speed. For example at 60mph the actual speed is 88ft/sec, not 90ft/sec calculated via X-mph x 1.5. And 2/3sec x 88ft/sec is actually 60ft , not 66 ft calculated via 60 + 6 = 66ft using the quick math method. Thus 66 ft traveled before reacting actually extends the danger zone to be aware of something entering your path ahead, therefore a conservative quick estimate. A safer estimate. However, that distance is indeed longer if brake lever not covered & goofing off.
I think of it in terms of the length of my house, which is ~ 65ft. 45mph is 66ft /sec. Anything suddenly appearing in my path within the length of my house ~ 66ft ahead of me I would probably hit. Definitely anything within 44ft. Slow down where a child or animal might unexpectedly run out or a car appear in your path. The danger zone is of course much longer at higher speeds. Or on wet, sandy or oily roads.
Aaron, check steering head bearings. Don’t know what kind of bike. Had a 82 KZ1000J that used to occasionally do headshake/tankslapper on wholeshots because of frame not being designed to handle power. (Engine was highly modified) Installed a steering damper and solved problem. Your buddy should do same so problem doesn’t repeat self. Money well spent for the piece of mind. Rear wheel alignment can do strange things also when out of whack. Especially chain drive when on gas.
“Politics is like driving – if it is exciting, you are doing it wrong”. Our massive govt. loot and power pile is always going to attract the worst, and result in vicious squabbles as we try to restrain them.