Had a similar situation happen to me except somehow when I felt the bike sliding right and getting ready to lay down I was able to come out of the skid and get her going in a straight line. I did however have to chose between hitting a truck or grinding my primary as well as my foot on a concrete median. Luckily I got away with a bent shift lever, groung peg and a foot missing quite a bit of skin on the top. Could have been worse...

Thinking of what I could have done different I came to the conclusion that I locked the rear brake (panic reflex) and was probably following a bit close given the traffic conditions.

hopefully I learned from my mistakes and won't repeat them...

Like some many have said before: ride long enough you will lay her down... let's hope we both have that check in the block and don't need to do that again

 

First, I'm glad you're ok and it sounds like all possibilities have been covered. You may want to look at the road too - couldn't been dirt, patch, etc...

I'm very glad I opt'd for the ABS model mostly because of the high deer population here in Michigan. In this case, the anti-lock may have helped but everything happens for a reason and I'm just glad you're ok.

Now you get some upgrades compliments of your insurance company!

 

Wow! Someone has the answer.
At any speed if your front wheel is turn and you lock up, your going down. Seen it happen many times at Rider Edge classes and the instructor quotes to student "You can't lock up in a turn or stop with your wheel turned, your going down".

 

You locked up the rear brake, the *** of the bike slid to the left and you low sided on the right side. Never lock up the rear brake but if you do keep it locked or a high side can result.

 

FFB, Glad to hear you're not seriously injured, Take the MSF Class with your relatively new scoot. Having ridden many motorcycles (as you have) the one thing I can say with certainty is each one handles DIFFERENTLY. The Harleys in general are heavier and take longer to stop even with the newer braking systems, providing you have suffienttraction. Also, newer Harleys offer anti-lock front/rear brakes. Got them on my '08 FLHRC and they are gold to a rider... Happy Trails

 

I think you answered your own question. In your list of bikes ridden, none weigh as much as your Hog. Not having the saddle time to truly know how you and the bike react to inputs seems to be the root cause of your mishap. I have a similar background and can assure you it took a while and lots of practice to learn to control the braking on my Evo chopper especially after having ridden a much tweaked RD400 cafe' bike for 10 yrs.
I designed and built the Evo and paid particular attention to not overbraking the skinny 21"(early FL type 2 disc)and having a very progressive and smooth rear brake(Willwood, ceramic pads).
In a recent accident(left turner) it paid off. I was able to brake hard and steer, avoiding a Tbone(but catching her rear bumper with my leg).
There was no reaction time, I went into auto mode immediately without thought, cranked akneedragging leftand the bike responded well.

Practice, practice and practice some more!

 

When I took my licensce we were told to only use frontbrakes!

 

I agree. Hard front brake can cause the front wheel to slide out before you realize what is going on and WHAM! bodyslammed into the pavement left wondering "WTF just happened?!?!" Good Panic/Emergency braking is not the same thing as "grab all the brake I can as quickly as I can" - good panic/emergency braking, when done correctly, is done very smooth and firm, not quick and jerky. done smoothly, as the brake is being applied to the front wheel, the weight is being shifted to the front, thus allowing more brake to be applied without skidding the front tire, as more weight is shifting forward, more front brake and less rear brake should be applied as the rear wheel is unloading (and virtually lifting off the ground). Watch some superbike races sometime, when they are braking HARD heading toward a hairpin turn, their rear wheels are off the ground, and not locking up the front wheel due to a smooth weight transfer.

other things that I wonder about your situation, was the road crowned - therefore assisting the "slide-out" of the front wheel? if it is a slowly traveled city street, was there oil and gunk on the road that does not wear off due to slow traffic?

 

Good case for ABS. For the times when you screw up, ABS can save your ***.

 

I agree 100%. Yet there are so many that say it is a waste of money. As long as it is available I will have ABS. Certainly can't hurt. I'm almost positive if the starter of this thread had ABS he wouldn't have had to originate this thread.....