M/C crash kills German tourist

Heres another one close to me.

A German citizen was killed Saturday afternoon when his M/C went out of control on a turn on Amboy Road at the top of Sheep Hole Pass.

Witnesses said the driver was traveling west on Amboy Road when he failed to negotiate a right turn. The M/C then left the highway and the driver was ejected. The driver was dead on arrival of EMT crews.

This is a road I travel often. The area this happened in is a curvy portion of the two lane asphalt surface road traveling to and from the historic Route 66 town of Amboy. Some here will know of the town.

I know this is happening all over the place, as a guy was killed yesterday in the L.A. area, when he was thrown from his M/C into the center divider of a large freeway in Los Angeles.

Man. Makes a guy a bit nervous! Car tire hits my rental tennant, tourist killed on the road I travel often,,,,,.

It shouldn't go out of control unless there was something mechanically wrong, or the rider was not paying attention or riding faster than their abilities, or too fast for a road that they weren't familiar with. The last part happens all the time.

If you're responsible, do what you can to make sure your bike is mechanically sound and don't ride too aggressively on roads you're not familiar with, or even on bikes you're not familiar with, the chances of 'losing control' can be diminished alot.

Safe speed

Oh absolutely! "Speed safe for the road conditions" is the basic speed law here in California. Besides cage drivers trying to kill us, unsafe speed by riders is most likely the second most frequent cause of crashes.

I like to go to Roy's in Amboy and watch the tour buses come in with the European tourists. I like to talk with them and get a first hand account of what is going on in Europe. Most speak pretty good English. Some don't.

I have seen many folks over here on rented Harleys touring the states. I do wonder some times what their experience level is. The curves and turns he crashed in are not good corners for high speed riding. Most are off camber. I bet he was just going too fast and got out of control due to his speed.