Just tried to post this and had an issue with my server. Lucky for you guys as it was a long post and now I will condense it.

Yesterday I took a nice long ride on my sportster. While cruising down rte 3a in litchfield, nh, I noticed an old lady on the side of the road looking to cross the street with her dog. No crosswalk, busy 40mph road. SUV in front of me and plenty of cars behind me. We were all traveling close to 50mph. Well I should have thought this one through a bit more, because at the last moment, the teen driving the suv decided to abruptly stop for this lady (she wasn't in the process of crossing, just standing at the side of the road). I had to hit my breaks real hard. I hit both the front and the rear simultaneously and locked em both up good. I started skidding back and forth all over my lane. I was actually calm during the ordeal and released my front while keeping my rear locked. I eventually came to a stop and kept the bike up during the ordeal. Once stopped the fear set in and I yelled a series of obsenities that would have made a sailor blush. Wasn't so mad at the old lady, but more at the dip **** who ignored the rules of traffic.

This has caused me to become a little "break shy". I have hit my breaks hard before and have never locked them up to this degree. I have also never skidded like I did yesterday either. Made me wonder if there is something wrong with my tire. I had the local wrench take a quick look to see if the skid did any damage and he said it was fine. I did try a couple of quick stops yesterday after this incident and didn't skid, though I wasn't going 50 either. I also noticed (while over analyzing things) that if I downshift to second at 30mph and pop the clutch quickly, my rear tire will kick a bit. I did check my air pressure before I went out yesterday, and it was fine. My bike has 2700 miles on it and the tires look fine. Am I over worrying this? Normal to skid like this when making a real hard stop? I think I had just rounded a corner when I had to stop, so that may have had something to do with it.

would appreciate your feedback. And for those wishing to flame me and say that I could have thought this one out better...yes you're right. shoulda slowed down as soon as I saw this lady and not assumed the guy ahead of me would continue down the road.

rob

 

Your last sentence tells the truth of it. You've got to ALWAYS be on the defensive while riding a bike. Your tires are fine as long as you feel no noticable flat spots while riding.

Be careful out there!

 

All close calls are learning opportunities. The thing I would look at learning from this is distance from the vehicle in front of you. Give yourself more room in the future. As for hard stops, find an empty rural road and practice them from 50 or 60 mph. Fast stops require all control inputs simultaneously. Front and rear brake, throttle and downshift. You have to match your engine speed to your real wheel speed to avoid the rear wheel hop that is induced by engine braking when down shifting.

 

The real lesson is you were following too close.

 

I make ita habit to stay at least 2 seconds behind the car in front of me. Perhpas I was closer this time.

Just came back from a ride. Perhaps I'm over thinking things, but I feel like my rear wheel is slipping. Any hard breaking is causing it to slip and sometimes on a curve I feel like it is. Am I over thinking things are could there be a problem with the tire? Is there anthing other than a bald tire / or under inflated tire that could cause the rear wheel to slip? Tread looks fine and I check tire pressure before every ride. 30 in the front, 36 at the rear. Tires have spokes. not sure if that could mean anything.

Thanks,
Rob

 

Not to flame, honest, but, you might be riding just a little too fast for the situations, I always assume that a person on the side of the road/street is going to cross, so, i start getting ready for anything, plus, i'm constantly scanning front and back for traffic build up. Even if your on a bike, pay attention to the speed signs, just because your on a bike, dosen't mean you or i are superman. Glad it all turned out good for you, probably made you a better rider, good job, keep it up.

 

Adrenaline. That's why you locked up your brakes. The only time I locked up my brakes was when some A-hole in a beemer, not paying attention while yapping on his cell cut in front of me. He was making a left at a light in front of me. He stopped and so did I. I'm pretty sure the other person on the other end of his phone was just as concerned for his life as was he. I made sure I gave him a quick driving lesson and gave him a few new names.

 

Did you ever take a MSF course? Sounds like you did everything right, except maybe not keeping as much space cushion. When your fronts locked you let off of them, and when your backs locked you stayed on them - and kept the bike straight up through the slide. Sounds text book to me.

You'll likely be on close guard now...

 

Just use the situation as a learning experience. Why someone would stop to let someone cross the street is a bit odd. Especially at those speeds. It was probably adrenaline and panic that made you lock up the tires like that. Just remember to practice and practice often. Like someone said, find a nice stretch of open road to practice your 50 mph braking. You don't want to get into that situation again, but you also want to be ready for it.

 

Don't take this the wrongway but...

a) you should have seen this situation coming before you locked it down...at least as you describe it.

b) you need to practice emergency braking if you're locking the brakes in a panic like that..

c) no need to get mad at the older lady..pedestrians still have the right of way even if they're brain dead..sadly.