First fall today. [Spoiler – I’m ok]

[paulz]

First fall today. [Spoiler – I’m ok]  I was riding my MTen3.  I have about 300 miles under my belt between my MTen3 and my V10F.  Ironically, it was my first ride in months without my body-armor-motorcycle-jacket.  But I was still wearing a full-face motorcycle helmet and Wristguards.   I’m 39 years old, 5”10 and 165.

I don’t know what caused the fall.  I was probably going in the high-teens mph on smooth brick.  I doubt that I over leaned.  I was not turning, but perhaps in a mild arc.  I fell, took the impact on my wrist-guards, then left upper forearm near my elbow.  I don’t think my helmet hit the ground. I slid further than expected.   I could not find my shoe.  Turns out it had flown considerable distance and landed on an air-intake grate for an underground parking garage that was about 1.5 meters high. 

I seem to be completely ok, except for a minor skin abrasion that is about 1cm on the upper forearm.  I suspect that my back and hips might be sore tomorrow, so I am going to make sure I get up and move around a lot.   My fall had a sizable audience so my pride is a bit injured also, but a full-face helmet also helps hide the face and protect from embarrassment. 

Any ideas on what could have caused this fall?  I was going straight on flat, smooth brick on a route that I’ve traveled 50+ times.  My wheel was on its side but still turned on but not spinning.  I had no problem completing my trip.

As I sit here, I realize that I have a minor ankle abrasion also.   I’m feeling pretty good, I’ve always worried about falling and what it would be like.  Now I know.

[Marty Backe]

Without additional information it's impossible to know what happened. Usually the rider has some idea. Did the wheel stop balancing? Did you overlean? Did you hit a bump that caused you to slip off the pedals? What was the approximate battery charge?

[paulz]

I just turned on the wheel expecting to see a battery charge in the 90s, but it was 47%.   I bet that was the issue.  I thought I was on a fresh battery.  I ride it during the week and charge it on the weekends.   I bet the charging plug was not seated fully.  Another fact which supports the over-lean theory is that I fell forward and left the wheel far behind.  

Thanks, I feel much better knowing a probable cause. 

I'm definitely going to be a bit sore.  I've been walking around every few minutes to stay loose.  My the plastic in my rollerblade wristguard ripped it's stitching.    

[Smoother]

So you popped your face plant cherry.  Glad you're mostly ok.  That abrasion on your forearms can be reduced/eliminated in the future with elbow pads turned inwards slightly so that the inner protruding bone (the one you can feel with your thumb if you reach over and grad the other elbow, is under the hard outer cup.  This bone and the forearm in front of this area seems to always get grazed when I go down (hasn't happened in a while) so the longer the elbow pad material the better as they tend to ride up a bit when one is introducing ones face to the street.

I must admit, I was stumped for a diagnosis, until @Marty Backe prompted you to investiigate you battery level, been there, done that, got the road rash.

Welcome to the club, you're fully paid up.......for now

ps. it's a bad club, a very bad club, membership is not encouraged, chicks don't dig scars, and crashing out, along with everything else, is very embarrassing.

Edited May 13, 2019 by Smoother

[Marty Backe]

2 hours ago, paulz said:

I just turned on the wheel expecting to see a battery charge in the 90s, but it was 47%.   I bet that was the issue.  I thought I was on a fresh battery.  I ride it during the week and charge it on the weekends.   I bet the charging plug was not seated fully.  Another fact which supports the over-lean theory is that I fell forward and left the wheel far behind.  

Thanks, I feel much better knowing a probable cause. 

I'm definitely going to be a bit sore.  I've been walking around every few minutes to stay loose.  My the plastic in my rollerblade wristguard ripped it's stitching.    

A follow-up question if I may; what is the battery capacity of your Mten3? I have the ~520wh version and I would think ~50% charge is still plenty safe.

But then again my max speed on the Mten3 is probably 15, and it's usually less. I use mine for riding around town and enjoying the low speed agility. I think if I were to ride closer to 20 I would limit those speeds to a fuller battery.

Anyway, glad you're feeling better about the wheel. It's not a good feeling when you lose confidence in your wheel.

I guess now you have a checklist item to check before you ride - what's my battery level?

[meepmeepmayer]

Is an mten3 so easy to overlean at 50% battery?

Maybe it was temporary loss of traction or a small bump that stopped it for the fraction of a second.

The fact that you fell forwards means nothing - where else would you have fallen, no matter what caused the crash? It's hard to fall anywhere else unless the fall happens dring deceleration.

[Marty Backe]

16 minutes ago, meepmeepmayer said:

Is an mten3 so easy to overlean at 50% battery?

Maybe it was temporary loss of traction or a small bump that stopped it for the fraction of a second.

The fact that you fell forwards means nothing - where else would you have fallen, no matter what caused the crash? It's hard to fall anywhere else unless the fall happens dring deceleration.

I don't think so, but then again, at high-speeds it may not have a lot of margin. And I asked him the size of his battery. There were/are a lot of Mten3's sold with ~300wh battery. 50% of that is pretty low to be running at 28+ kph.

[Smoother]

6 hours ago, Marty Backe said:

I don't think so, but then again, at high-speeds it may not have a lot of margin. And I asked him the size of his battery. There were/are a lot of Mten3's sold with ~300wh battery. 50% of that is pretty low to be running at 28+ kph.

Yep 300Wh or 340Wh (my learner wheel) is pretty small and 50% at near top speed is dangerously close to a black out voltage sag.  As for forwards falling, I've been dumped on my ass a few times, sometimes by "kiss of death" tilt back and its associated rapid acceleration.  I think the OP was just trying to paint a complete picture for the amateur forensic scientists among up.  If he didn't say it, someone would have asked.

[travsformation]

21 hours ago, paulz said:

As I sit here, I realize that I have a minor ankle abrasion also.

So you ended up on your side? If you were making an ark, it makes sense. I got a contusion on my ankle on one of my falls. I never would have expected to hurt my ankle. The only thing that comes to mind is wearing high boots for riding (loosely tied on the part covering your ankle so you don't subtract mobility), , although I find the thick sole takes away from the wheel feedback (much more on the V8 than the 18XL), so I still prefer normal sneakers.

21 hours ago, paulz said:

I’m feeling pretty good, I’ve always worried about falling and what it would be like.  Now I know.

It's worth keeping in mind that every fall can be different. A cut-out going straight isn't the same as a cut-out while turning, which isn't the same as a high-speed wobble-bail-faceplant, hitting a rock, clipping a curb with your pedal, etc. By which I mean, don't let the "mostly unharmed" part of the experience lead to over-confidence/"falls aren't that big a deal after all"; as Smoother said, the faceplant club isn't a good one to belong too, so stay vigilant and prevent accidents insomuch as possible.

In any case, glad it was only minor scratches. Safe riding!

P.S. / Edit: I really shouldn't be preaching about rider safety and over-confidence due to lack of injury during falls...at least, until I start practising it myself

Edited May 14, 2019 by travsformation

[paulz]

Thanks for the responses!  I have the 512wh/800w MTen3.  I left my MTen3 at work and walked home last night.  On the way, I examined my path.  I saw a small bump which was probably the culprit in combination with riding too aggressively on a half-charged battery.  I'm riding through downtown Minneapolis and I tend to be going pretty slowly until I see a wide open space, then I blast off.  That was when I fell.   

I seem to be fully recovered with only the two minor scrapes and a bruise on my hip.  

 

[paulz]

3 minutes ago, travsformation said:

By which I mean, don't let the "mostly unharmed" part of the experience lead to over-confidence/"falls aren't that big a deal after all"; as Smoother said, the faceplant club isn't a good one to belong too, so stay vigilant and prevent accidents insomuch as possible.

This experience has definitely made me more careful, not less.  The MTen3 is such a wonderful vehicle, but now I'll check my battery before riding and accelerate more carefully.  I've often sped up till the beep, but I've always slowed down prior to the tilt-back.  

 

[travsformation]

18 minutes ago, paulz said:

This experience has definitely made me more careful, not less

It's good to know there are people out there with more common sense than myself

[Scubadragonsan]

Welcome to the face plant club! I had 3 award winning face plants. First one was going too fast on a KS16S hitting a pothole and flew like a diver diving into a pool, except it was asphalt. This is all due to inexperience. A good lesson. Second one was going uphill and somehow the wheel got choked by something, perhaps a branch or a small piece of rock, and I had a soft fall, gentle face plant. Third one was riding on a bad motor that was making weird noises. The motor suddenly cut off and I saw the concrete for about 1 second. Fortunately, my helmet protected my face, only ended up with a sore wrist from breaking the fall. The awards I got are that these experience are all good. They taught me quite a bit--know the condition of the road and never ride on a suspicious motor. Lastly, face plants do make me appreciate, though 60 years old, that I still like to keep this wrinkled face for awhile the way it is !