:-) !!Regards,Tom

 

I agree with Romero01. I have also put a bike down on its side with a rear wheel lock up rather then T bone a car. Also down hill on sand/salt covered paved roads without being able to lock up the rear is scary. My "other bike" is a BMW with ABS. At least it has a kill switch for the system that I leave on all the time. I've been riding for 47 years ( wow, I must be gettin old ) and I only lock a wheel or spin the tire WHEN I WANT TO.

 

I CAN FART ANYTIME I WANT TO.LOL!Regards,Tom

 

by the time you've reacted to the situation, locked up your rear tire and put it sideway to lay 'er down....you could have been stopped with propper use of the front brake or avoided the stituation. you need to take some riding classes.....

 

Okay MR I NEED RIDING CLASSES then you tell me how I could have done this better. I had a 4x4 (SUV to sepos) delibrately lock his vehicle to a stop in front of me on a rainy day. No traffic in front of him, no warning. Just starting up a hill so I was accelerating.

The choice was:
1. Go down the 3m culvert to my left.
2. Hit the 4x4 (having tried to stop with *propper* use of my front brake) and over the bars.
3. Hit the oncoming traffic queue to my right
4. Lock the back brake and put the bike down (this slows better than a couple of inches of rubber on a wet road)

I chose option (4). ABS may have helped me with option (2) but what if I was still not going to stop in time. I see lots of car crashes where the cars have ABS.

Tell me more about your riding classes?

 

The only downside I can see is the $795.00. ABS is the main reason I decided to sell my perfectly good 2005 Road King Classic and get an 2008 Street Glide.

Well OK, then there's the AM/FM/CD Player that can hold 100 songs in MP3 format/weather band radio, the hard lockable bags, the 6 gal tank, the feature to turn off the rear cylinder by rolling the throttle forward when stuck in traffic, the added cold wind protection on the hands and the way it looks like its on a some kind of mission just standing of the side stand. Jeezz I can't wait!

Seriously, no matter how much I practice emergency braking, hopefully developing muscle memory, I don't know for sure what my brain will tell my body to do once the adrenaline starts pumping through my blood stream. Have you ever been so frighten or seen someone so frighten that they shake? Now tell them to stop shaking. Can't be done until the adrenaline levels drop. Improper braking is a major factor in MC accidents so if I can spend some money to reduce that risk I will. Then there is that Harmon Kardon stereo and the 6 gallon tank....

As far as laying a bike down to avoid an accident - like the MotorMan says "I had an accident to avoid an accident" does that make sense?

 

I would a controlled fall is better than an uncontrolled one. I had a mate lose both his ***** going over the handle bars and I've been VERY weary of doing this myself!

 

[rant on]

Whiterides,

Please take none of what follows personally. It is a rant, and as such is intended to spew indiscriminately in all directions

It is not a complete impossibility that as an absolute last resort, putting the bike down might be the only feasible response in a given situation. And I am not qualified to question your physics. However, as a general rule, deliberately laying the bike down is the worst possible response to an impending accident.

The fact is that an extremely high percentage of riders have NEVER practiced emergency braking, have no idea of how to properly use their front brake to maximum effect, and lay their bikes down because they are completely at a loss as to how else to stop in an emergency. What they are really doing, in most if not all cases, is simply giving up control voluntarily because they have reached the end of their very limited knowledge of how properly to control their bike.

In addition, we have the act of locking the rear brake being bandied about as though it were a riding skill, rather than a prelude to an invariably disastrous high-side get-off. One can only conclude that riders who speak of locking the rear wheel as though doing so were part of a sophisticated accident avoidance maneuver simply should not be riding around on two-wheeled vehicles.

Forgive the airplane analogy, but that's my background: When you get into trouble in an airplane, no matter how bad, the first rule is FLY THE AIRPLANE. Even if you are sure you're going into the ground, never stop flying the airplane. You never give up, and you never let the airplane fly you. Same with motorcycles (and lots of other things): ride the bike, never quit, never let the bike ride you. If you think you're going to crash, ride the bike into the crash if you have to, but stay in control.

I am certainly not saying, nor do I mean to imply, that you did the wrong thing in the instance of which you wrote -- though of course you may well have done. When was the last time you ever practiced maximum effort stops? Read a book about riding technique (such as Proficient Motorcycling)? Did not assume you know all there is to know about riding because you've been riding X many years?

And regarding technique: You will find many on this and other bike-related boards who deride the very concept of technique, who claim there is no such thing as the "right way" to start, stop, turn, or do anything else on a motorcycle -- if it feels good and it seems to work, it's okay.

Do not listen to these people, and do not be one of them. They speak from laziness and take pride in their ignorance. There is a right way and a wrong way to do almost everything in life, and the humble person seeks to learn as much as they can when starting any activity, including riding motorcycles. You never can stop learning. But in order to learn, you must first listen.

I've been riding for about 44 years now, and I'm still learning. I still find myself from time to time being lazy on the bike, and upbraid myself for it. One day, I know, a moment of laziness could kill me, j

 

sorry mate but #4 is wrong. a bike sliding down the road on it's side will not stop faster than a bike that is braked correctly ( use of front and rear brake short of lock up) there are many new riders that come to this forum and misinformation such as you have posted could be dangerous to them.

had you used both brakes you may have still hit the truck but it would have been at a lower speed than you'd be on your side...

a good example is in road racing which i have done lots of. in wet conditions, or dry,brakinghard for a turn if the rider behind you goes down he will either hit you or pass by you if he was close enough because he is not slowing as quickly as you.

 

I like OldBoldPilot's flying the airplane analogy. It fits very well.

I think this laying the bike down came from a time before motorcycle had front brakes. Can someone point to a reliable source that recommends lying the bike down instead of a well practiced emergency braking technique? For instance do they teach laying the bike down in police motor school? I don't know the authors names off hand but I own a few books on riding motorcycles and I think they are thought of as experts but I don't recall anything about crashing to avoid a crash. I don't mean this to come off as being a wise a$$ here but I really have a concern for all of you guys that share the love of motorcycles and I think this is dangerous misinformation.

Me, I going to keep flying the airplane.