Onboard GoPro Crash Video: Honda CBR300R Crashes Out Of Second Place At Chuckwalla

From Last Place, to Second Place, to the Dirt!

Crashing in a race sucks. Crashing out of a podium finish on a borrowed bike is even worse!

In this video, Senior Road Test Editor Ari Henning is riding a friend's Honda CBR300R that he's ostensibly racing to help with the bike's development… After a last-row start behind 20-plus competitors, Ari ruthlessly works his way past nearly the entire pack of Ninjas, R3s, and RC390s. On lap three there's just one bike left to reel in—the race leader aboard a Yamaha R3. But in his efforts to close the gap Ari gets greedy with the throttle and pitches himself over the handlebars after the back end steps out and then snaps back into line.

Ari crashed because he poured on too much gas with too much lean angle, on tires that were well used and rapidly overheating. The slide at 00:46 was Ari’s first sign that his rear slick was losing grip, but he didn’t heed the warning. It could have been a win Ari, if only you’d kept your cool and kept it on two wheels!

Ari was wearing Shoei’s new X-Fourteen helmet when he hit the deck. The crash prompted an MC Tested evaluation, which you can read here. And for a lap of Chuckwalla aboard a CBR300R that doesn’t end up in the dirt, check out this onboard video from Ari’s record-setting lap on his own Honda (click here).