If you are gonna crash.........

[XV1100SE]

...so my question is this: in your years of riding have you found any one thing that makes you more visible to the other guy?

 

I remember years ago from the motorcycle course that if you are on a two lane road and a line of cars is coming towards you, anticipate that one of them will pull out to pass. Make yourself as visible as possible by moving to the right side of the lane.

 

After 15 years of riding and about 80,000km, I try to make myself as visible as possible and the bike as big as possible. I used to wear a white helmet but when I replaced it this summer I couldn't find one.

 

As for riding... what I do is :

1) riding with the sun behind me late afternoon - turn on the high beam

2) approaching traffic on two lane road - anticipate someone trying to pass. This includes in a no passing zone. I move to the right side of the lane a bit and also look for an escape route, double check the shoulder conditions in that area

3) car ahead signalling a left turn in front of me at an intersection - slow down, check escape routes, lanes around me, move to right side of lane, swerve bike from side to side so they have a bit of a side view to make the bike more visible

4) car stopped at an intersection perpendicular to my route - pretty much the same as in 3 but depending on whether they are coming from the right or left dictates where I am in the lane. Anticipation and preparation is key

5) riding beside a car going the same direction - I don't ! I'm always far enough ahead or behind so there is room in case they change lanes. Someone paces me in my "safety zone", I speed up if they are behind or slow down if they are in front

 

I've dropped my bike(s) twice - once on a gravel covered bend on a country road and once on my street where a car turned in front of me and I accidentally locked up the front. Both times I wasn't travelling very fast. I'd prefer to keep the rubber side down and stay in control as much as possible.

[Jercoupe]

Good article. This is why I think ABS braking should be mandatory on motorcycles - at least our heavy ones. Its completely instinctual to press down hard on the rear brake when something scares the hell out of you like a car placing itself right in your path. I wish Yamaha would build in an ABS system with the spare parts from the cassette deck!

My first experience with ABS braking is on the Bergman 650 I just aquired. I think I will become an avocate for abs on bikes now. I tested it with a panic stop from about 80mph and its stops damn fast and straight! I could feel the rear brake lever chattering but not the front. I doubt I can squeeze the front hard enough to lock up unless im in a true panic sitituation or on a wet road. I wonder now if I had had abs on the venture when we crashed if I could have stopped in time since once i knew the crash was going to happen I locked up and left 20 feet of skid marks. Once the brakes were locked I remember the bike felt like it was on a greased track as it seemed to accelerate right into the car.

[Motorpig]

Your best braking ability happens right BEFORE you hit ABS...it's called "threshold braking".

 

I have ridden bikes with and without ABS...while ABS is a nice feature for riders who dont practie threshold braking, if you are hitting ABS while braking it just means you've panicked.

 

The answer to the original question posted is brake as hard as you (and your bike) can handle. Scrub as much speed as possible. Don't leave any skid marks since a sliding tire has a much lower co-efficient of friction that a braking tire does! (higher COF = better braking ability)

 

For practice...measure out an area about 100 feet long...set up some cones at the beginning and create yourself an alley with cones down to 100 feet...go into this at about 40 mph...and as soon as you hit the first set of cones...brake with all you have. mark your stopping point. Do this a enough times (letting ur brakes cool after every couple runs) and you will see a huge improvement in your stopping distance.

 

This WILL save your life one day...and whoever posted that motorcops have a differnet set of things to be concerned with...i disagree..we ALL have to worry about staying upright and ending our rides in the garage not the hospital!

[Jercoupe]

Your best braking ability happens right BEFORE you hit ABS...it's called "threshold braking".

 

I have ridden bikes with and without ABS...while ABS is a nice feature for riders who dont practie threshold braking, if you are hitting ABS while braking it just means you've panicked.

 

QUOTE]

 

Your right about the panic Motorpig and I agree with the pratice stops. Did them in the experienced riders msf course and found I was stopping much shorter but its nice to know my abs brakes wont panic when i do!

[mountainhorsega]

Your best braking ability happens right BEFORE you hit ABS...it's called "threshold braking".

 

I have ridden bikes with and without ABS...while ABS is a nice feature for riders who dont practie threshold braking, if you are hitting ABS while braking it just means you've panicked.

 

The answer to the original question posted is brake as hard as you (and your bike) can handle. Scrub as much speed as possible. Don't leave any skid marks since a sliding tire has a much lower co-efficient of friction that a braking tire does! (higher COF = better braking ability)

 

For practice...measure out an area about 100 feet long...set up some cones at the beginning and create yourself an alley with cones down to 100 feet...go into this at about 40 mph...and as soon as you hit the first set of cones...brake with all you have. mark your stopping point. Do this a enough times (letting ur brakes cool after every couple runs) and you will see a huge improvement in your stopping distance.

 

This WILL save your life one day...and whoever posted that motorcops have a differnet set of things to be concerned with...i disagree..we ALL have to worry about staying upright and ending our rides in the garage not the hospital!

 

I was really agreeing with the guys's thought in his safety article (Riding side by side=bad idea, 1/2 or 3/4 helmet=bad idea(but probably necessary on duty), and a few other things like that.) but, I agree - we all are trying to get from point a to point b safely

[Midrsv]

I'll add my story from yesterday. On my way home from work I was in the far right lane of 3 through lanes at an intersection. The two left lanes were starting to move slowly as they proceeded from the light on green. The right lane was clear so I was proceeding at about 40 mph. Just as I crossed the white line at the intersection a car turned right from the side street. I didn't have time to anticipate him because he didn't pull up and stop and then turn on red. He just ran the light.

 

So, what to do? It's amazing how much data you process in a couple of seconds. I was left of center in my lane. I slammed the brakes to the point of locking the rear and kept moving left looking for room. I was concerned about the traffic in the adjacent lane and was hopeful someone would see me coming over and give me room. I ended up on the dividing line with my front tire next to the driver's door of the van. Forturnately there was space in the adjacent lane between cars and the guy that pulled out stayed to the center of his lane. That was my closest call short of actually crashing. During all of this I'm thinking how I was about to ruin my weekend ride that I had planned. Afterwards I pulled along side the guy to have a discussion and he wouldn't even look at me.

 

I've relplayed that incident in my mind a few times and I really don't know what I would have done differently. I do know that had it happened a few years ago the outcome wouldn't have been the same. Experience pays off.

 

Dennis

[Motorpig]

I was really agreeing with the guys's thought in his safety article (Riding side by side=bad idea, 1/2 or 3/4 helmet=bad idea(but probably necessary on duty), and a few other things like that.) but, I agree - we all are trying to get from point a to point b safely

 

That makes perfect sense...i misunderstood what you meant so thank you for clarifying that. To add to "Motor cops are a bad example" (I was one for four years)...you take guys who ride more than the average bear and most of them wear cloth shirts and wool pants. With all the safety clothing out there, thats the best most departments can do. It's amazing.

 

Side by side riding (Tandem) while it looks bit*hin'...you factor in another hundred variables riding two feet away from you...so i agree there.

 

3/4 helmet is necessary for duty purposes...HOWEVER...my modular helmet gives me all the benefits of the 3/4 helmet i used to wear but i now get to bring the shield down during rain/cold weather!

[Motorpig]

my abs brakes wont panic when i do!

 

 

Now thats a VERY Good point!!!

[CrazyHorse]

Good article. This is why I think ABS braking should be mandatory on motorcycles - at least our heavy ones. Its completely instinctual to press down hard on the rear brake when something scares the hell out of you like a car placing itself right in your path. I wish Yamaha would build in an ABS system with the spare parts from the cassette deck!

 

I would have to agree the design on some bikes encourages it especially more forward controls. Like on Harley's they have this huge rear brake pedal like a car with foot resting on that board its real easy to apply a bunch of pressure fast with your full leg. While on my 1st Gen (which is delinked) no boards, just pegs I find it harder to apply rear brake pressure because of the design (much smaller brake pedal) I have to rotate my foot forward cant really use the full leg pressure like on a bike with boards and big rear brake pedal. I dont know how a 2nd Gen rear pedal looks but I suspect its similiar to a Harley.

[CrazyHorse]

LIke to add to my statement that I learned the bob and weave method in a rider's course years ago, and it has saved be from banging up a bike at slow speeds on a few occasions. I still practice it every time I ride, just so it will be somewhat instinctive if I ever need it. The laydown method comes from personal experience (by sheer accident) and from my nephew who was a AMA licensed superbike racer. Those guys are taught that it is better to slide on the ground in a controlled manner at higher speeds than go over the bars in a out of control manner.

 

He says that if at the first gut feeling that you are no longer in control of the bike, it is time to part ways with it. Lock up the rear, lean to the left, and let go as it starts going down. I did it this way once, by accident, a long time ago. The bike was trashed, but I walked away without a scratch. I also got a death wobble by crossing RR tracks at 115 (young and dumb) once. I decided the best method was to ride it out. Bad move. I still have asphalt embedded in my chin bone, and that was 20 years ago. I hate to admit this one, but I have also hit a car head on at about 50mph. The cager and I were both in the middle of the road in a blind curve, so we were both at fault. Again, the car was trashed, but I walked away without a scratch. I can only attribute this to having enough reaction time to bring the bike upright, and faith in God. I cleared the car and landed in very dense bushes on the other side. I was also lucky in that I knew the cager, and he was driving his wife's LeBaron, instead of his '56 T-Bird.

 

Anyhoo...interesting discussion. Safe riding!

 

Yea this is great on the track with no crossing intersections and no big objects to hit your basically sliding off into the grass but not on a road with cars telephone poles and other objects yo might slide into.

[midnightventure]

When I crashed I slid for quite a ways perfectly straight. I didn't realize I was skidding because it was so straight. Right before I got to the van that had turned into my lane I decided to go from the middle of the lane to the outside. That was when I went down. If I had realized I was sliding I would have got off the brakes. It was only when I got out of the hospital and went back and looked at the skid marks that I realized that I had been skidding for quite a ways. With ABS brakes I wouldn't have been sliding. I have since realized that the sound was different from a skidding car. I later had a car pull out in front of me and recognized the sound and got off the brakes and maintained control.

[Oldslow]

my abs brakes wont panic when i do!

 

 

Now thats a VERY Good point!!!

 

I believe that's the whole point if ABS.