Print Page - "I Saved It!" Analysis - Learning from our successes

Brief summary of the event:

Early last year, I was riding home from Zeitgeist with someguy and jammen, basically my first time riding at night. I got on one slow on-ramp, and they took off on the next bit, which was a much faster two-lane ramp merging with another freeway.

I went in the left lane to pass some slow cars so that I wouldn't be left too far behind, and ended up picking up a bit more speed than I expected. As the two lanes curved to the right, I then looked to the left to see the merging traffic, and started to target fixate on the guardrail. The thought passed through my head, I'm about to die in the next few seconds. I somehow managed not to panic, stayed constant on the throttle, finally looked in the correct direction and made the turn (quite close to the rail).

Then, coming out of the turn, I was probably a bit tense and hit a bump of some sort. I immediately got major headshake (a near-tankslapper) and for the second time in less than 10 seconds, I thought that I was about to die. I again didn't panic, just stayed even on the throttle, tried to relax my arms, and managed to ride it out.

I was quite shaky after all this and rode like a granny the rest of the way home. Jammen had continued on ahead, but someguy waited up for me and somehow I managed to find him for the rest of the ride back. (BTW this was the day we first met too.)

What you did right:

- Didn't panic other than the brief thoughts of imminent demise
- Stayed constant on the throttle
- Managed to break out of target fixation

What you did wrong:

- Riding past a comfortable pace, trying to keep up with others (especially in unfamiliar circumstances i.e. riding at night)
- Concentrating on passing more so than the upcoming corner
- Obviously target fixation, and in a very bad place (had I hit the guardrail, I would have gone flipping over, landing probably a couple of stories below on a different freeway)

How could it have been avoided:

- Riding at a more conservative pace that I would have been comfortable with, and not concern myself with keeping up
- Practicing riding at night beforehand on less busy roads, especially looking through turns in the dark
- Since then I have had my suspension adjusted and added a steering damper (set on the minimum setting)

Brief summary of the event:

I was riding in a Novice school for my second trackday at Thunderhill. In the afternoon, I went back out after a quick break. Almost immediately after entering the track, an instructor sniped me (motioned me to follow him). My brain wasn't quite warmed back up yet, and he was going a bit faster than I was mentally ready for, so coming out of turn 6 I lost concentration and found myself trying some dirt riding for the first time.

Fortunately I didn't panic, managed to stay loose and off the brakes, and kept it upright. I went parallel to the track for quite a ways until I stopped somewhere about 15 feet out from the track between turns 7 and 8. I thought about trying to ride it back onto the track, but then decided my dirt skills weren't that good and I waited for someone with longer legs to come and give me a hand.

What you did right:

- Didn't brake!
- Kept upright
- Stayed loose
- Didn't try to ride it out of the dirt myself

What you did wrong:

- Tried to ride faster than my brain was ready for and didn't look through a fast turn

How could it have been avoided:

- I should have stayed at a pace that I was comfortable with until I had warmed up a bit

#1

Brief summary of the event
Ripping down a backroad, flipped into a left-hander didn't see the pile of grit (enough to have falled from a trailer or truck bed) in the middle of the lane. Squared it leaned in and under moderate throttle. Front slid wide, not quite enough to fold, it grabbed traction right as the rear hit the stuff. Once the rear hit, the bike was twisted out of shape and went into a violent tank slapper

What you did right
Stayed loose, didn't grab the brakes, kept my body position steady, kept looking where I wanted the bike to go & attempting to gently & smoothly coax it back in that general direction.

What you did wrong
A little too much speed, assumed the road was clear

How could it have been avoided
Pre-riding an area before making a hot run, paying more attention to anamolies on the road surface.

#2

Brief summary of the event
Riding a backroad with uneven surface, recent repair work, lots of tight turns. Came hard into a right hander, sun right in my eyes making the road difficult to see. Hit some fine gravel scattered from the chip-seal repair work done along the edge of the pavement. Moving fast, hard lean got in the gravel, front and rear slid, moving my entire line and bike wide in the turn. I *knew* I was going to lowside but saved it

What you did right
Stayed loose, didn't grab the brakes. This next part is questionable as being "right" as I'm lucky I didn't twist a knee or break a leg. I regressed back to my dirt bike skills, put my foot down, toes pulled up so my hill would hopefully slide. It did for a split second, but hit a bump kicking my knee into the tank (got a small dent from the knee hitting the tank) but the force of putting my foot down & the kniee hitting my tank raised me up enough to control the slide and not lowside.

What you did wrong
A too much speed for the conditions, riding fatigued (last leg of a nearly 300 mile day).

How could it have been avoided
Pre-riding an area before making a hot run, understanding that a freshly worked on road may have debris in the wrong places

JM

Summary of the event
I was 3rd of 4 bikes returning from a larger group ride, via a number of 2 lane, fun roads that are a bit off the beaten path.

The bikes were strung out in 2 pairs, I was leader of the 2nd pair as we were slower than the 1st pair.

We come to a right with poor visibility due to an over grown berm. I enter the turn and commit to my lean only to find that there is large section of the tarmac that had turned to pea-gravel in the middle of my line.

Both wheels hit the gravel and the bike slid a bit towards the outside before regaining traction. When it regained, it stood up and also picked up a head shake

What you did right
Opened the throttle and settle the shake before trying any other control inputs on the bike
Had read up on my riding theory and knew how to counter the head shake
Was actually cogent enough to apply the above readings.

What you did wrong
A delayed/late apex entry to the turn might well have provided me with a visual warning of the danger or created a line that might have avoided it - I didn't use that technique
I did have to cross the double yellow as a result... good thing there were no cars for miles.

How could it have been avoided
Using the delayed/late apex method would have given me a greater margin of error by providing a better sight line

Brief summary of the event:
Headed south in the express lanes of I-270 just north of the Washington DC Beltway. It's a whole bunch of lanes through there, with express lanes divided from the local lanes by a jersey barrier. Traffic generally runs 70 mph plus through there, and I was moving probably 75ish. Saw the exit sign for Falls Road and at the last minute remembered a semi-fun section of curves (at least more fun than the interstate) along there I could catch on the way home. I ducked onto the off ramp (from express to local) at the last second and started to merge right. That's when I noticed that the pavement beneath me was grooved & chewed up and that the local lanes to my right had just been resurfaced & were on the other side of a very abrupt 4" edge of the new pavement. Basically, I was riding way fast in a rapidly narrowing angle formed by the jersey barrier & a lip of new pavement. I came to an emergency stop with a couple of feet to spare & traffic blowing past my elbow, eased my way over the curb at the end point (in the gutter), then accelerated that little M600 motor for all it was worth to get up to merging speed when I saw a little gap in traffic.

What you did right:
Didn't attempt to cross the pavement edge, then managed a controlled emergency stop despite pea gravel & chewed up pavement underneath me.

What you did wrong:
Going too fast to be making last-second route changes; was thinking several miles up the road instead of being attentive to the pavement right in front of me.

How could it have been avoided:
Stuck with my original route, or at least had a plan and awareness of what changing it meant. Less speed would have given me more time to deal with the situation.

Brief summary of the event
Riding back towards NYC on the Palisades Parkway. I was approaching the park information center that lives between the north & south bound lanes. As I approached I could see that people were slowing down in the fast lane due to traffic entering the park info center. The line had extended to probably 4 or 5 cars. The last car was a Boxter so I was pretty sure he was going to pull out with little or no notice. In order to avoid the possibility I accelerated up the hill and around the corner. As I did so, I crossed some rather nasty uneven road that sent my bike into fairly spirited head shake. It really scared me but I remembered that the idea was to let it happen rather than fight it and that's what I did. The head shake cleared after several seconds and I looked for a place to pull over and take some breaths. Unfortunately, there wasn't anywhere.

What you did right
Full gear
Anticipated potential issues & planned an appropriate course of action
Didn't get splatted
Learned about head shake ;)

What you did wrong
Didn't anticipate the combination of factors
Accelerated too hard

How could it have been avoided
Leave more space for traffic
Smoother acceleration
Be prepared for unsighted problems with road surface... hmmm I see a pattern.

Brief Summary of the Event.
Was riding with three other people at a modest clip in the hills around nicasio road. Speed limit was about 45 and I was around the speed limit except for the straights, but no racing. Two guys ahead of me one behind. Two ahead by 10 sec, one behind by about 4. F350 with a small sailboat slowing traffic. He puts on his "right" blinker and gets over on the shoulder. I assume this is to let me and the other rider CharliesAngel by. I put on left blinker and start to accelerate and then guy does a uturn with his right blinker still on on a two lane road. I lock up the rear and keep the bike upright, miss the rear of the trailer by a couple feet.

What I did right:
full gear
not excessively speeding
didn't panic

What I did wrong:
Can't answer that because I really think I was going by the book

How it could have been avoided:
Keep same speed instead of passing? I don't know because he was off on the shoulder and didn't have a left signal on or any indication he was going to do a f'ing u turn in front of me. Stay alert and watch the habits of drivers, was he looking for a place to u-turn? Dunno.

Yikes, did I ever save it yesterday!!! :o

Situation: I was going to explore some twistys down in South Plymouth, MA, that lead through the state forest down to the Cape Cod Canal. There is one road that it REALLY fun with a lot of switchbacks and chicanes, so I decided to ride it in both directions; one on the way down to the Canal and one on the way back...I actually got my knee down a few times!! ;D

WELL.....On the way back, I was throttling out of a 180 degree left-hander and the rear wheel COMPLETELY broke loose and started to spin....I'm pretty sure I hit sand but I really didn't see any when I went back to look.... ???

What I did right: -Full Gear, so if I did highside, I hopefully woulda avoided the ol' ambulance trip...

-When I felt the rear wheel start to step out, I flashed back to my dirtbike riding days and managed to maintain my cool enough to stay ON the throttle long enough to bring it back around and hook up....

-STEER INTO the slide....That way, I kept the rear-end from coming around too far and catapulting me to the Moon....

What I did wrong: -Not much, but I think my throttle roll-on was a little too much too early, and that managed to break it loose...

How it could have been avoided: -Well, I guess I should have known the possibility of sand in the road, and adjusted my throttle roll-on accordingly....I was looking through the turn, but I think I may have been looking TOO FAR through (ie: looking at the horizon rather than the turn exit...)

-All in all, after checking my pants, I was pretty happy w/my ability to stay on the gas and not chop the throttle, which no doubt would have lead to a massive high-side!!! :o Dirtbike experience DEFINITELY helped me out on this one.... [thumbsup]

Brief summary of the event
Leaving my house to go to work, earlyish on a cool wet morning, the first traffic light I hit after turning out of the driveway is a divided highway where I make a right. I roll into an angled right turn lane (with a yield sign) and check traffic to my left while moving, then stop if there is oncoming traffic or roll on around the turn if it's clear. On this occasion, there were oncoming cars, but they were far enough away that I judged I could make the turn in front of them by using a little extra speed. I opened the throttle a bit more than usual, and the rear wheel broke loose (only briefly, but enough to wake me the hell up). I rolled back a little on the throttle and went into a head wobble which thankfully resolved itself without dumping me into speeding highway flow. It was the first time I'd experienced something like that and it made me respect torque a lot more.

What you did right
I assume I did things mostly right because I recovered rather than crashing. Honesly, it happened so fast I can't remember making specific decisions. I didn't chop the throttle suddenly but I did roll back gently, and I straightened up immediately on feeling the wheel slip. And wearing gear as always!

What you did wrong
Riding aggressively on cold tires and cold wet pavement. Now I know to take it easy right out of the driveway. Also, riding sloppily when not quite awake. I find it's better to have coffee, then leave for work, rather than leave earlier and spend my first 15 minutes at work drinking coffee.

How could it have been avoided
By, uh, not doing those wrong things? But I now understand how it feels to lose traction and stability, so it hopefully won't panic me if it happens in a more demanding situation, like mountain riding.

Brief summary of the event
Riding in early spring traffic in suburban Chicago going about 45 or 50 on my 1100 Honda Shadow Aero. Two ladies in a convertible are eyeballin' my ride, and I start to check out their considerable cleavage from my relatively high vantage point, as we are now driving right next to each other. [evil] I notice out of the corner of my eye, the corvette in front of me made a quick and violent lane change. Immediately in front of him was a brown econoline van, stopped in my lane trying to turn left. I was basically boxed in and had a very short space to save my life. I pointed my bike at his rear right corner and braked hard. Hard enough to lock both front and back tires. :-X I managed to keep the bike upright and kept on the brakes until the bike came to almost a complete stop right next to the van, half in my original lane and half in the next lane over. Exhaled, shifted into first and drove off a new man.

What you did right
Once the tires locked up, kept on the brakes and managed to keep the bike going in it's original line. Had a fair amount of luck.

What you did wrong
With more control on the brakes, it might have been possible to slow down faster and stay 100% in my lane if I hadn't locked the tires up in my moment of panic. Riding too close to the corvette in tight fast traffic, not leaving myself an out in the lane next to me, checking out the MILF's huge cans instead of watching the road.

How could it have been avoided
Better situational awareness especially during early spring when the winter cobwebs haven't really been cleared out. Keeping my eyes on the road, knowing and having trust in the bike's ability to stop quickly.

Less of an "I saved it" than a quick wake-up call, I could very easily have run straight into my neighbor the other day when we were riding together.

Brief summary of the event: Riding to a familiar place (the diner at Skull Valley, AZ), with a familiar rider (my neighbor Tom), though I'd never ridden that route with him before. We were still in our neighborhood with him riding ahead near the centerline and me staggered behind toward the curb. He's got his right turn signal on but instead of going up to the main drag where I always make that right turn, he ducks into the little side street about 20 yards earlier -- where HE always makes that right turn. Caught off guard, I do a hard deceleration, make the turn, and spend the rest of the ride paying a whole lot closer attention to not only what's going on around me but to the assumptions I'm making about those things. If I'd been daydreaming just a little bit right there, i'd have T-boned him pretty good and it would have been entirely my fault.

What you did right: Left enough following distance, reasonable speed, just enough situation awareness to avoid a crash without too much excitement.

What you did wrong: Assumed I knew what his right turn signal meant just because of my habitual route.

How could it have been avoided: A bit more space and a lot less assuming I knew what was about to happen.

Brief summary of the event
Riding through Watchung Reservation in NJ to cut from Rt 22 to Rt 78. This section has quite a few curves and the road surface can be rough. The first 4 curves I nailed my lines and was way too confident. Coming up was a soft 45 degree turn to the right followed closely by a relatively hard 90 degree turn also to the right. I swung a little wide on the 45 degree and brushed it off thinking I'll have to grip the tank with the knees more on the next one. Just before the 90 degree, I hit a rough patch of road (uneven pothole patching) tensed the arms, and forgot about my self critique on the last turn. Though still looking through the turn, I lost my line and saw either an Excursion or F350 headed at me. I relaxed the arms, tensed the legs and applied throttle. my line tightened up and I just stopped from drifting over the yellow line into oncoming traffic.

What you did right
Loosened arms
Gripped tank
increased throttle
Continued looking through turn instead of fixating on (very) large chrome grille headed my way

What you did wrong
OVERCONFIDENCE!!!
Death grip on clipons during unexpected rough patch of road
OVERCONFIDENCE!!!

How could it have been avoided
Remember that I have had my license for a total of one year, and not think I am Stoner ripping through the curves because I hit my lines the previous few curves.
In other words, do not ride beyond my abilities.

Brief summary of the event

B and I were less than 30 miles into our week NE moto vacation and I was following a utility truck down the NYS thruway. The truck kicked something small at me from one of the rear tires that hit my arm. No damage.

Then "BANG" it had a blow out on same tire. Before I could even think, the retread on the blow out was flying through the air toward me. "Oh shit, I'm going down." is what ran through my head.

It hit me on the right front of the bike and then I ran over it with the rear wheel. I kept the bike upright and pulled over to the shoulder to asses damage.

Rubber scuff along right fairing:

(http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn43/Desmodiva/DMF/tirescuff.jpg)

What you did right

I was following at a safe distance that allowed me to react. I had time to slow and move to the left to avoid my body taking a direct hit from the tire snake. The plastic parts of the bike are replaceable.

I didn't make any quick moves that would upset the bike. I kept my eyes ahead and didn't focus on the tire snake.

What you did wrong

Assuming that truck would never have a blow out in front of me.

How could it have been avoided

Not riding. ;D Just one of those risk we take when we hit the road [moto]

Brief summary of the event

On the way home from work - rush hour - south on 8th @ Folsom
Started across the intersection after stopping at the red light. Light turned green, I went then B L A M an SUV blew threw the red light to my right taking out a motorcyclist and a smaller SUV which flew in front of my face about 30 inches away and landed in a shower of broken bits all over the road. The cyclist landed in a pile like a sack of potatoes unconscious.

<<I just found out the rider that was hit is pretty ok. Bike is in 10k pieces, he sustained back injuries but not that bad which seems like a miracle. He was booted 40 feet threw the air from a dead stop. He had very good gear on with a back protector etc. >>

What you did right

1, I did not lurch across the intersection like it was a race when the light changed. That tiny hesitation kept me out of the accident. I looked both ways then went.
2, I was set up correctly and did a stoppie instead of crashing.
3, Checked the scenery around and found the best way out of the mess, got to the sidewalk and started helping downed rider. Took pictures, gave statement, gave rider my number.

What you did wrong
Bad way home. I've since heard that intersection is notoriously bad.

How could it have been avoided
Slept in that day?

Keep in mind this was only the 6th time on my monster, the first since the accident in which my husband was killed.

Brief summary of the event

I was riding with a friend (DuckStew) taking it really easy. We were heading for my house, getting onto a freeway--really easy onramp. An SUV nearly turned into me having never seen me, and I let it get in my head. I overshot the right-hand turn and ended up in the dirt on the far left side of the road (not good). But I managed to let the bike recover, get back on the slab and take off unscathed.

What you did right

I relaxed my arms when I got into trouble, rather than tensing up. I knew if I let River (my bike) recover I'd be okay. Once I felt her stand up a bit I moved back onto the pavement, gained traction, and took off before the SUV behind me could eat me up.

What you did wrong

I target fixated rather than looking through my turn. I looked where I DIDN'T want to go and that's exactly where I went.

How could it have been avoided

Well, other than not making a completely newbie mistake of not looking through my turn and target fixating instead, I would say that the mental game was the bigger one for me. Don't let some other idiot on the road get into your head in the first place. Ride how you've been trained, find your zen and keep your focus.

Incidentally, I felt the need to apologize to my riding partner for scaring him because I knew he saw me blow the turn and ride into the dirt and I was pretty sure I freaked him out or at least distracted him a little. Of course he's a cooler customer than that after all his years of riding, which I should have known. He actually congratulated me on a nice save after a huge f@!?-up, so all's well that ends well I guess. ;D

One other thing: when riding with someone who has a lot more experience than you do, I find it best to follow their lead, watch their lines, and learn from their performance...as long as they aren't doing wheelies and other interesting stunting. ;-)

Keep the shiny side up!

River

Brief summary of the event
Riding home from work, where I had stayed late to get some drawings released into the system. After a 10 hour day I was tired, but excited to ride my bike as I had recently taken off the silencers and was just rockin' the udders. It was dark outside, and I have only ridden in the dark a handful of times. On the final stretch of main road before I turned off onto the street where I live, I see a car stopped, waiting to turn left (I am coming from the right, turning left). There is a motorcycle behind the car.
When I was perhaps 20 feet from the car, and have started making my turn, it starts to make its turn. I am moving at about 20-25 mph. I grab the front brake, and feel the front tire slipping and twisting. I release the brake and grab it again, with of course the same result. By this time I am moving at less than 5 miles per hour, and have already passed the car, which luckily stopped going into the intersection. I am able to catch myself and continue riding home, shaken but otherwise unharmed. The motorcyclist behind the car throws his hands up in the air and shakes his head.

What you did right
Realized that the chick in the car was going to make a stupid move.

What you did wrong
Didn't use that information to its maximum benefit. I am usually pretty good about using the rear brake, actually I think I use it more than the front brake. But in this case I was only half expecting something stupid from the cage driver. The rear brake should have been applied, and I should have been entering the intersection at a slower speed.

How could it have been avoided
Driving slower, not trying to accelerate through all corners. If the chick had not stopped its pretty safe to say that I would have been nailed. Covering the rear brake is important, you need to be ready to stop and the rear brake helps quite a bit. In a case like this it could mean the difference between getting hit or getting to live another day.

Edit: I should say that this is the first time in my 6 months of riding that anyone has really come close to hitting me, and it scared the shit out of me. Now I am [drink] to take the edge off.

Today was an interesting day. I actually had two near misses. :o

Brief Summary of the 1st event:
I was running late for a meeting and was pushing the speed (72 mph) Through a notoriously bad stretch of 405 (southbound) through Renton, WA. There is construction activity in the median between the northbound and southbound lanes with concrete barriers separating the construction from the road. Including the HOV lane, there are three lanes of travel each way. I was in the far left, HOV lane and had nobody in front of me. As I approached an on ramp, I noticed a white pickup enter onto the freeway from my right. The truck was still in the right lane and I was overtaking it quickly. It then abruptly swerved across all three lanes cutting less than a car length in front of me. As soon as it cut me off, it abruptly braked hard and came almost to a stop before turning into a gap between the concrete barriers. I had serious thoughts of what it would be like to jump from my bike into the bed of the truck.

What I did right
As soon as I saw brake lights, I began easing on the brake. I didn't grab for the lever which would have locked the front at high speed. Instead, I eased on the front brake and progressively squeezed harder until I was maintaining the gap between my bike and the truck. After braking with the front, I began to ease on the back brake as well. I kept squeezing until I felt the bike begin to shudder which I took as the limit of my braking ability. I hadn't planned on practicing full on panic braking today, but I was able to stop in a remarkably short distance given my speed.

What I did wrong
This goes together with how it could have been avoided. No meeting is worth my life and I should have listened to that little voice that says that I need to slow down. I should have recognized the possibility of workers entering and leaving the construction zone via the HOV lane. For some reason, when the truck entered onto the highway, it caught my attention. I should have been going at least 5-10 mph slower and should have begun to slow down as soon as I saw it abruptly merge into the middle lane with no signs of stopping there.

Brief summary of second event
Fast forward to the evening and I am on my way to the gym. It is November in Seattle and has been raining a lot. Although it was dry today, it was cold (in the low 40's) and some areas of the the roads were wet and covered with fallen leaves. I was coming around a round about when I came upon a minivan putting along in 1st gear. I could have gotten off my bike and walked passed the guy on foot. Unfortunately, he left the roundabout going the same direction as I and then made a right turn onto the on-ramp that I intended to use. (there are two lanes going up this on-ramp) Frustrated by this tool's lack of familiarity with the peddle on the right, I accelerated behind him and began to turn into the left lane. Because I was carrying more speed, I was leaning into the turn. I was still leaning and accelerating when the front end slid out from under me.

What I did right
As soon as I felt the front tire slide out, I cut throttle to get more weight onto the front tire, straightened the handlebars, and stood up on the pegs (I did this to help balance the bike). I did all of these at the same time and felt the tire regain traction. At this point I am now headed straight toward the ditch. I ignored the onrushing ditch and focused hard on where I wanted to go. As soon as I got traction, I pushed on the right handle bar and re-initiated my turn. I kept my head through all of this and continually worked to save my bike (and me).

What I did wrong
I should have recognized that with the rain we have been having, there will be gravel deposits in the less traveled lanes. When I crossed into the left lane, I also had to ride across a good quantity of road markings which, given the humidity and temperature, were slick.

How it could have been avoided
Although I kept my head when I encountered an emergency, I completely lost it when riding behind the idiot in the minivan. Passing him at full roar would not have gotten me to my destination any faster and I strongly doubt that my display of frustration would have encouraged him to travel at a reasonable speed. Given the suspect road conditions during winter, I should have waited until I was on a straight stretch of road to make my pass. My impatience on two different occasions nearly cost me my bike or worse. :-[

On a roadtrip through western VA this weekend I had a "moment".
We had done about 125 miles already that day, allthrough the mountains, and I was getting tired. Coming down a mountain pass, I was coming into a left hand turn. As I did, a pickup appeared around the corner, breaking my concentration for just a split second, and I grabbed a bit of front brake. That was enough to stand the bike up in the corner, and I left the road. At that point, there was about a 2 foot wide patch of gravel, then 2 feet of grass, then a cliff. I suddenly found myself traveling downhill, through gravel, at about 50MPH. I pulled in the clutch, dabbed my right foot down several times, and steered the bike back onto the road after about 30 feet of travel. I continued on for another few miles, then stopped. The guy behind me saw the whole thing. His comment: These aren't dual sports!"
What I did wrong:
First, I was tired. I should have stopped before this, and rested. Second, I was going balls to the wall, and should have allowed for the possibility of oncoming traffic. Third, I shouldn't have reacted by grabbing brakes. The truck was not in my lane, and was no danger to me, I just reacted instinctively.
What I did right:
I didn't panic. I didn't try to muscle the bike back onto the road immediately. There was a drop of 2-3 inches from the road to the gravel, and I would have just wiped out if I had turned too hard. I didn't hit the brakes; I would have wiped out in the gravel, and maybe gone over the cliff.
I got lucky.

Brief summary of the event

It's been rainy for a couple days, and yesterday afternoon the sun finally came out. After work, I had a chunk of time before a dinner-and-a-show engagement, and figured that I'd go for a quick ride, then hit the gym before dinner.

I decided to go to Siuslaw River Road (http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=Eugene,+Or&daddr=Lorane,+Or+to:Siuslaw+River+Rd,+Veneta,+Lane,+Oregon+97487+to:Eugene,+Or&hl=en&geocode=%3B%3BFf3KnQIdeUGk-A%3B&mra=ls&sll=43.928718,-123.335057&sspn=0.441117,1.040955&ie=UTF8&ll=43.933506,-123.276901&spn=0.471242,0.590515&z=11), a windy bit of goodness that was just within grasp given my allotted time. Google Maps said that the 64 miles would require 2 hours and 16 minutes. I figured that I could do it in a bit over 60 minutes. I'd been there once before, with another rider, but was looking forward to going at purely my own pace through the ample twisties and hills.

That road is pretty remote, and there's no cellular coverage for chunks of it, so I told my wife where I was going, and stored away in the back of my mind the knowledge that having to walk 10 miles for assistance would suck. I put a toolkit and a first aid kit in my backpack, checked the bike over mechanically, filled it up with gas, and boogied out of town and onto the back roads while I still had enough time to complete the trip.

Recently, I've been playing with a tank-mounted camcorder, and I took that, too.

The roads to the Siuslaw River Road cutoff were warm and dry and familiar, and I flew over them.

Turning on to SRR, I engaged the camcorder, and settled into the road.

After a few farmhouses and a car or two, the land changed to pure forest, initially open, then becoming periodically tunnel-like. The sun was low enough that, heading west, I was experiencing some dazzle. As I moved into partial overhanging trees, I started to get shaded areas that were a challenge to see effectively, especially coming from bright sunlight and wearing a tinted visor. Also, the overhanging trees were shading the pavement, and in some cases dripping water onto it, and so there were patches of wet pavement in the shadows.

I slowed things up a bit where it was both wet and curvy, but continued on.

Where it was sunny, I was reasonably aggressive, my goal being to ride at about 70%. To me that's taking corners well above posted cautions, accelerating strongly through the corner exits and the straights, and braking before turn-in to the next corner.

I came to a shaded straight, and goosed the throttle. I passed a left turn caution, and started to top a rise. The road curved SHARPLY to the left, too fast for my speed. Gravel and shrubs formed the outside of the curve. I braked, and noticed that I wasn't slowing fast enough. The brakes felt weak. The shrubs loomed; I was still going too fast for the turn, but time was up. I released the brakes, leaned hard, and swore to myself, anticipating the loss of traction if I touched the gravel.

As you'll see in the video, I came through okay. The curve is at about 0:36.

Siuslaw error (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmBIZTDiokQ#lq-lq2-hq-vhq)

Shaken, I continued with my ride, though dialed back to more like 50%. The remainder was both pleasant and uneventful.

What I did wrong

The ride in general:

I rushed myself with my scheduling.
I rode alone on a deserted road, that I wasn't that familiar with.
I miscalculated the road condition. I didn't anticipate wet spots.
I miscalculated the effect of sun and shadow on visibility.
I didn't turn back when I noticed my miscalculations and general "not-in-the-groove" feeling. I didn't adjust suitably for the actual conditions, either.

All of these things added to the stress level, and reduced my focus. Put another way, they changed that 70% goal of mine to actually be 80%, or 90%, without me realizing it.

The corner in particular:

I approached a poor-visibility corner too quickly, and braked too late (and perhaps not vigorously enough, though it's a mystery to me why the brakes felt so weak during braking. Damp maybe?)
I target-fixated on the shrubs and gravel at the outside of the curve.
I had poor body position (still centered on the bike) prior to turn-in, because I was preoccupied with trying to brake. I didn't shift myself to the inside effectively.

What I did right

The ride in general:

I let someone know where I was going.
I inspected the bike before the ride.
I recognized new and challenging conditions, and compensated some (though not enough).

The corner in particular:

I realized that braking wasn't going to get me where I wanted to be for the corner entry speed, and abandoned trying to deal with that, and moved on to actually navigating the corner with the speed I had.
I broke my fixation on the shrubs, and looked where I wanted to go.
I trusted that the bike would do what I asked it to do.
I didn't give up.

And lastly, I videotaped it, and am learning from it.

SE Portland, OR; in-town riding...

Brief summary of the event:
While approaching an intersection a block or two after pulling away from Radio Shack (picked up the diode for bypassing my sidestand cutoff switch), the light turns yellow right at that questionable distance given my speed (not speeding, FYI). I've been practicing my panic stops, it's dry outside, there's no one immediately behind me and feel like erring on the side of caution, so I decide to brake for it. I proceed to lock up the front and *very nearly* lose it. However, I release just in time, she stands up and I roll through the intersection (still under yellow, though there may have been a twinge of red at the exit). I pull off on the next sidestreet, take a deep breath and calm down for a minute, then continue on my way with a new respect for that slippery zone in the middle of the lane.

What I did right:
My braking was progressive (though not enough so) - if I'd just grabbed a handful of brake I surely would have found myself *sliding* through that intersection. I did let go of the brake in time and aborted the stop, though too close to the intersection for another try. I was also wearing some gear despite being only a few blocks from my house (I always wear at least boots, gloves, jacket, back armor and a full-face lid).

What I did wrong:
I was only a hair left-of-center in my lane, right where there's all that build-up of slippery drippings. Lane position has been on my mind alot lately (due to a good deal of studying in the off-hours) but not this time: instead I was thinking about where to turn around and what to get at the grocery store. My braking was not progressive enough - I may have been able to stop cleanly had I been smoother on the lever. Also, I didn't use the rear brake to settle the chasis at all - that too has been on my mind lately but the muscle-memory isn't there yet. Oh yeah, I was only wearing jeans (albeit the thick Dickie work jeans) which, had I actually gone down, would likely have shredded straightaway.

How it could have been avoided:
I definitely should have been paying more attention to lane position as I approached the intersection and probably shouldn't have even attempted to stop - it was partly done in the name of caution, partly for the sake of practice, and a slight bit to show off how fast I could stop...often a dangerous combination in real-world situations.

Copied over from my initial post.

http://ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=27455.0 (http://ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=27455.0)
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I came pretty close to joining some of the members who have had an accident in the past month. Just thought I would share what happened so you can learn from it.

Brief summary of the event:
I was commuting to work on my bike on the exact same route as usual. The route requires me to travel north on HWY 167 and exit near Renton, WA, so I can get on north bound I-405, enroute to Bellevue. Just like any other morning, I got on the off ramp, leaned to the right for a couple sweeping right turns, before merging with heavy i-405 traffic. What's different this morning is that, in the middle of the 2nd sweeping right turn, there was a oil spill, about 1 foot wide and 10 feet long. By the time I recongized it, I was already on top of it, leaning to the right, going about 45 mph.

I am sure you all know what happened next. My front wheel was non-responsive, like I was snow tubing down a hill; the rear wheel was sliding out. It all happened to fast that I didn't even have time to say "oh s***".

What I did (or what I did right):
1. I didn’t panic - Or should I say I didn’t have time to panic? My first reaction was to straighten the bike out, from leaning. Just used the bike’s momentum to carry me thru the oil spill
2. I didn’t over-react – I didn’t try to do a sudden move right before entering the oil spill. Any shift in weight would have caused something bigger. I just straightened out the bike, clutch in and off the throttle. Tried to go straight thru the spill.
3. Maintain composure – the rear tire slid out of the spill, caught the dry pavement and bounced back into the spill again. It was squirmy for a little bit more after that. I just held on for these little wiggles. Once out of the spill, the bike was heading to the outside shoulder with gravel. Did my best to smoothly turn back into the lane.

It was an incident that could have easily turned into something devastating for me. I am glad that my instinct and initial reactions got me thru this unharmed. I don’t know if I did all the right things but I think I did enough things right. What are your thoughts?

Stay safe out there people!

I have two incidents on the same road... different days.

Brief summary of the first event:
I was coming up and then back down one of my favorite fast/twisty roads, when on the way back I had a semi truck slowly leading a pack of about 6 cars behind it. The visibility of the road goes quite far so I had been watching this slow train of truck/cars through a couple sweepers and was rapidly coming up on the tail end of it. Well, I decided to pass the whole train, pinned the throttle and pulled into the other lane ( I was doing probably 80-90 and the train of truck/cars was probably doing 35-40. Just as I got into the other lane and began my pass, the semi trailer slowed and began a left turn onto a rock road, pretty much leaving me the broadside of the trailer as my view.

What I did right:
1. I didn't panic.
2. I was able to brake the snot out of the bike to the point I lifted the rear off the ground slightly and actually locked the front just near the end.
3. Let off the braking slightly to re-engage the front grip and get the bike stopped about five feet short of hitting the trailer. I then went around the tail end of the truck and continued on. Albeit my heart pounding and momentary contemplation of life + wondering what the hell the cars thought about my antics.

What I did wrong:
1. I had no business riding that road at that speed in the first place and especially with an obstacle ahead of me such as that I came upon.
2. I should have slowed behind the tractor trailer and cars and made a decision later or just followed them safely.
-------------------------------------

Brief summary of the second event:

Same road, different day. One of the fast sweepers, it was a left hander, has a white rock road that feeds into it mid-sweep. I entered the sweeper around 70, had the bike cranked over and as I entered the area where the rock road feeds, there was a nice layer of white dust on the tarmac from midpoint to the end of the sweeper. My tires lost grip and the bike started to drift.

What I did right:

1. I maintained consistant throttle, letting off just slightly, stayed loose and let the bike slide ( front and rear drift ) until I was able to get it straightened out and leave the turn.
2. Reading lots of riding tips in books and magazines reinforced what to do in a situation I had not encountered before. Knowing and applying are different things, but having a basic understanding of panic situations allows you a better chance to apply, whether or not you've experienced it.

What I did wrong:
1. I should have assumed poor conditions by seeing the rock road leading into the turn on a dry/windy day.
2. Slowing up prior to the poor surface would have allowed me a less ass-puckering experience and avoided a potential crash situation.

Brief summary of the event:
I had my wife on the back for a quick run downtown to go to the library. A really nice BMW pulled out of a retirement home right in front of us and nearly took us both out (given the estimated age, I'm guessing the driver was a resident). 3 lane major road through a nice section of town, 35mph speed limit and I was going around 30 given the traffic conditions.

What I did right:
1. I had been scanning the road actively and saw the tarmac clearly as the guy came out. I had an escape route before i even realized I was in danger.
2. The oncoming traffic lane was wide open, but cars were coming towards us much further down. I could have hit the brakes hard (again, I'm 2-up) or roll off the throttle a bit and fall in behind, but I couldn't give it gas and safely get around without speeding terribly or getting mashed by the oncoming cars. I used the oncoming lane and let the throttle go, folding into my own lane. The jerk then stopped in the middle of the street and turned on his four way flashers. I guess he was lost (?) but stopping short as I folded in behind him nearly got me again. As soon as it was clear, I went around, honking as my pillon gave him the bird.

What I did wrong:
my wife was shaken (angry, not scared - she told me afterwards) and I told her how some people I know have punched off the sideview mirror of cars in situations like these. It's not that I was riding unaware or unsafely, but I did share some information with my favorite passenger that could come back to bite me in the ass.

Hello my name is Scott and I'm a cycleholic.

Brief summary of the event: A number of years back I was riding on a straight piece of nondescript road in Denver. I was just starting to accelerate and over take a slower car when I looked in my rearview and saw an ambulance RIGHT behind me lights-a-flashin'. I was so surprised that I immediately moved over into the right hand lane. Well the car that I was overtaking was now stopped and I was all but on top of it. I went for the escape route to the right which was a vertical curb and a dirt trail running perpendicular to the road. I hit the curb at a 45 degree angle, eased myself onto the trail and using a lot more rear brake than I normally would came to a not really that safe stop.

What I did wrong(First; because that's why it happened in the first place):
Did not have situational awareness.
Let surprise turn into a very bad mistake. [bang]

What I did right:
Once I made the mistake I was decisive. I decided I did not have enough braking distance and instead of trying to shoot a gap between the car and the curb I took the curb on full force. I allowed the bike the mount the curb before trying to change my path. I didn't lock up the front tire in the dirt.

How could it have been avoided:
What I should have done and to this day I am still kicking myself for is blip the throttle get and in front of the slowing car and then pull over. Easy as that. I let something surprise me that should never have and when it did I did the wrong thing. The good thing is I came out unscathed and smarter for the experience.

yesterday on the commute home, ended up riding next to a guy on a harley. stopped at a red light at a particularly tricky intersection in west hollywood - santa monica and la cienega. the issues are (a) it's a big wide-open intersection that takes a long time to cross, and (b) my light turns green very quickly after the perpendicular light turns red, which means it's high risk from the standpoint of people running reds.

i was at the light with the harley guy to my right. light turns green. i do my visual head check in both directions to see if anyone is running the red. sure enough, some yokel comes drifting thru the intersection from our left, oblivious to anyone but himself. i never use my horn, b/c i hate how wimpy it sounds (yes i know i could upgrade to one of those truck horns). i always use my throttle as a horn. so i blipped the throttle pretty hard to get the attention of the people behind me (so they don't rear-end me) and the biker next to me. harley guy didn't do the visual check. he just started to go once the light turned green. at the last second he caught the noise from my throttle, looked left, and stopped, about a tenth of a second before the guy running the red light would have jack-knifed him.

at the next stop light the harley guy thanked me profusely for "saving his ass".

lesson: always do that visual check before crossing an intersection.

Brief summary of the event
I was lane splitting on the freeway in rush hour. Going between the carpool lane and the regular lanes. Everything was normal and cool until a Honda civic decided to ride the line so I could not get past. A spot opened up in the lane next to him. I switched lanes to get past him and look at the driver. Next thing I know the lane I am in stops. I grabbed brakes, forgot to grab clutch. Rear end started hopping, grabbed clutch, down shifted, rear locked up, rear started to slide out, eased off the rear brake, got my speed down and bike under control. I had it under control and could stop in the lane but decided to get the hell out of there. Enough of a gap opened up and I kept lane splitting. I wasn't sure if the person behind me was paying attention. I didn't want to find out if they weren't.

What you did right
Calmed myself down in the moment. At first I was like oh shit oh shit. Then I remember thinking YOU CAN RIDE. That is when I got the bike under control, looked for an out and kept going. Just put it past me and got focused again.

What you did wrong
I have a bad habit of looking at the person that won't let me lane split. A bad idea that I really need to break. Since I did that I didn't notice the lane I was in stopping.

How could it have been avoided
Kicking his door in... kidding kidding. I should of just switched lanes, sped up to get past him before the lane I was in had a chance to stop. I still don't get why he was riding the line so hard.

Brief summary of the event:

I came into a corner too hot and had to stand it up and cross the far lane. It was an uphill blind turn to the right (I know, I'm dumb). It may have even been a tad off camber. I started leaning in and realized I was about 5-10mph too fast. I might have been able to stay with it but I didn't trust the road to hold me. I stood it up and got on the brakes hard. I came to a stop on the far shoulder just before a 4' deep ditch. If a car would have been coming the other direction, I would have been toast. Scary, and lucky.

What you did right:

Didn't lay it down, looked ahead enough to notice the ditch and angle myself enough parallel to it to not fall in.

What you did wrong:

Pushed too hard in a non-track situation, didn't trust my bike to hold the turn. Add didn't replace my tires soon enough to that, as it contributed to my lack of faith in the bike.

How could it have been avoided:

SLOW DOWN! Save the heavy throttle for on camber turns with good visibility.

I almost went underneath a 18 wheeler. I'm going to try to potrait the scenario to the the best I can remeber , would appreciate some input .

Three lane road I was on far left , two semi on far right. Speed was around 40 mph. There was some other cars in center lane .. Space opens up on center lane ,one of the truck changes lane and gets into center lane. As he picks up his speed and creates some space, I decided to change lane and go to center lane, than saw the other semi from far right signallin to get in to center lane from right lane. I let him in and followed him to center lane.

What happened next was real quick . As the truck was right infront of me . I couldn't see the traffic light or anything. As the big white truck hit is brakes. I hit both the brakes, most likely a little harder on the rear brakes. I pulled in the clutch and lowered the gear ( If I felt I was definately gonna hit the truck, I was gonna let go of the clutch and hope engine braking would slow me down. not sure if that is the right thing to do ) . Good thing I was on the left edge of the lane, coz I noticed a little space between the car on the left lane and the truck in center lane( which i was right behind). I swerved in between them and came to complete stop two car ahead in between the semi and car.

While was trying to get inside the gap , I heard my rear tire go screeeeeeeeetcccchhh. and felt the rear tire dancing on its own , I let go of both breaks for a second and pulled them gently to come to complete stop. Cant remeber exactly but i might have gone in between the truck and car little sideways like some kind of stunt.

Things I did right : didnt have target fixation altho All my view was block by rear of white truck , and saw the little gap and got in it.

things I did wrong: Please add in , so i know better next time. I was definately following too close, especially knowing I couldnt see much while i am behind a semi.

My question , did the rear tire went dancing and screaming coz i hit the rear braketoo hard?. Also could it have been that since i pulled the clutch it aided on rear tire going all over the place?

Second day out riding on the streets

Experience - 4 weeks of riding

Afternoon, light traffic two lanes each direction.

Culprit - Woman in a minivan on the phone

I was traveling around town getting used to my bike. It was a light saturday morning riding with my girl as she was on her cbr and was behind me, to be overwatch. We are going down a fairly calm road and I was in the right hand lane and there was a minivan that we were coming up to. I had all my PPE on and everything was checked out, gotta to love the BRC.

As I was coming up, I was checking all my outs. No traffic/signals ahead, curb to the right, minivan to the left and a turn into a subdivision to the right. Was riding along in 3rd gear at 45...then I saw it.

The minivan did the not look and oops let me cut across to get to the turn without signalling. I saw it happen and time slowed down I was watching her passenger door come towards me. I shifted down, swerved, and gunned it to get ahead, since it was my exit path. I did the look back and shake the head b/c she didn't even notice me...cagers...

What I did right - Knew my exit path, saw the threats, and the actions that I would have to take. Expected the minivan to do something stupid because it was a minivan.

What I did wrong - Given the fact I was not in the blind zone and I could looked over at her idk on this. Could have minimized my time next to her but I was in the middle of passing her.

I think I have to thank my instructor for saying tto remember everything and plan for hte worst and know your way out.

Quote from: 99Zulu on July 23, 2011, 08:13:42 AM

My question , did the rear tire went dancing and screaming coz i hit the rear braketoo hard?. Also could it have been that since i pulled the clutch it aided on rear tire going all over the place?

Depending on which bike you have, you could experience the same behavior from over application of the brake or changing down too quickly/roughly. With an APTC clutch which many more recent Ducatis have, the chance that the rear would lock up is lower but still there. The net result is the same, the rear tire rotates slower than bike speed and locks up.

As to whether you should just pull the clutch or not, that really depends on what's going on but you'll generally want to be in a position to move once you come to a stop. If you just pull the clutch, you could find yourself in a higher gear needing to get yourself away from some other vehicle. The ideal is to slow the bike with the brakes and keep the gears in sync with your speed so that you have the best chance to get away from whatever comes next and have the most control possible. If you're downshifting at the same time, it might not be so bad but you have to watch your revs. If you drop the clutch in 1st when you're still doing 30mph, you may end up locking the rear up anyway. As CDawg said, if you lock your rear in future, don't let off the brake. If you lock your front (and you have a chance to, you probably won't) you can let the pressure off a little but I wouldn't just let go completely.

From your description, it sounds as though the basic problem was not looking far enough ahead and then not allowing yourself enough space to stop safely in the event of something happening (that you'd have seen if you were looking further ahead). You should also remember that trucks tend to do similar things and in fact, depending on the road, you may have seen that behavior if you'd been more aware of your surroundings and who was on the road and what they were doing. Scanning ahead is super important on a bike, your ability to watch for impending danger and potential danger as well is up there in terms of riding skills that you need to apply on any ride. For me, that means scanning at far, mid and close range, as well as behind me. Not only for people doing something directly threatening, but also people on their phones, driving inattentively, swerving, aggressive driving, goofing off with someone else, etc. etc. You're looking for stuff that doesn't fit into the picture.

I am by no means saying that I or anyone else couldn't make this mistake (I once rode through a red light in NYC because I wasn't paying attention and almost hit the side of a cab) and it seemed like you picked a viable out and executed well which is great but scanning is something that should be a top priority any time you get on your bike.

Since I had three today I figure I should post up and see if I can get some opinions.

First, this morning riding down a backroad right by my place doing about 65 deer leaps from the left and crosses in front of me. I grabbed the front brake hard (no back brake, apparently the forced week off the bike has weakened my emergency braking response), which led to my first stoppie. I think maybe I grabbed brake more than squeezed, but I didnt lock the front and the deer was damn close even with braking...

Second was on a quick joyride just now at lunch, had a tight righthanded turn, at maybe 40. Leaned over, then kept leaning to keep in my lane and trusted the road/tires. Only issue is it took me a little too long to get straightened up and i ended up headed toward the right shoulder more than I should have. I think think maybe I let the throttle off some (didnt chop) which decreased my turning radius, instead of getting on it and straightening the bike back up.

Third was pulling into the parking lot, I was turning around a parked car and a minivan was coming the other way (not really enough room for two full lanes). We both hit the brakes and I locked the rear. Just a reminder to slow the hell down as our packed parking lot is obviously for parking not showing off my clutch feathering/rear braking.

Any non-obvious advice would be appreciated, helps to be able to put this up here and be honest, hard to talk to non-riders like family and explain this stuff without scaring the hell out of them. Thanks

I hit a deer. :o Which sucked. Not recommended.

Hwy 1 south of the Racetrack. (Sonoma County California, on the coast. )
Tight right-left hilly twisties with dense flora, out popped the fauna.
The deer darted to the center line from the left at full gallop.
I stood my 848 upright and hit the breaks hard. I had a computer and books in my backpack that was weighing in around 40 pounds. It took everything I had to keep my chin off my tank.

The deer stopped juked, then dove with all of its potential right for my front wheel. (small California deer)

Visions of YouTube cyclists hitting a small wild bore and tumbling into the trees raced through my thoughts. I remember his front wheel buckled to lock left and he went over his handlebars.

I let go of the breaks and locked my arms elbows bent to keep the front wheel straight.
What I would do on a mountain bike if i had to take a hit.
Head down, butt back, weight off the front.

Flight attendants take your positions, BRACE ! BRACE !

THUMP! I hit it squarely and felt the shock ripple through my arms.
It spun around behind me and some of it went under - I kept going minus about 10MPH.
After the shock and wobble I got back into a lean to complete the curve got around the next one as well.

A quick look back saw cars coming in both directions. There was nothing I could do for the deer. I pulled over in PR Stn. and got my adrenaline down. Examining the bike it looks like the tires took the entire blow.
No damage at all, though I can't say the same for that deer. Bummer.

What I did right:
1. Full leathers - backpack very secure, tightened up no sloshing around.
2. Kept my head and got head down low in case deer was going over the top
3. Got bike upright - then hit the brakes
4. Did NOT swerve - Time tested - You CANNOT out maneuver animals. They will get you off the road or into traffic.
5. Let go of brakes before impact - Locked wheel with object under it means you are very likely going skidding down.
6. Pushed handlebars OUT evenly with palms, not down, to keep front wheel straight through impact. Weight as far back as possible. Hands slightly open. This allows harsh vibrations without ripping bars out of your hands, at the same time, not allowing the bars to turn significantly.
7. Was not chewing gum. That would have been one too many things ha ha ha. & I would have swallowed it.
8. Kept moving until safe to stop, then stopped and checked bike diligently. Got adrenalin down.
9. Changed shorts.

Then [Dolph]

Just a minute ago. First really perfect riding day in a while so I geared up and went out to the garage to start my warm up procedure. The bike had been sitting for a few weeks so I checked it over completely. Saddled up and went for a slow cruise around the neighborhood to warm up the bike. Once it got up to temp I headed for the freeway on-ramp. As I leaned over into the right and accelerated out of the turn I heard a tick tick tick coming from the rear of the bike. Just as I thought to stop and check it it stopped. Gravel? nope.. an nail had sunk in and blown back out. I slowed out of my acceleration just as the rear wheel blew out. I pulled over safely and made up some new curse words before pushing my bike back to the house.

Not sure if I did any thing wrong. I inspected the tires well before riding off and there was no nail. What I did right? I was aware of my bike and noticed a new sound which was barely audible over the clutch / exhaust. I rolled off of the throttle slowly and was already pulling over when the tire blew. If I had been less aware it could have been a high speed blowout?

So the moral is to stay aware and use all of your senses to stay alive. Now I need to go replace a brand new tire [bang] [drink]

This was a while ago, it had me scratching my head when it happened:

Brief summary of the event: My morning commute to work, riding down Lake Shore Drive with very little traffic (I was really late to work.) LSD is pretty terrible road to be riding on, lots of bumps, potholes, etc... There was a vehicle in the left lane most passing lane which wasn't moving so I decided to overtake it on the right. This was into a slight right bank, and over a slight hump in the road due it being a bridge. I accelerated, moved to the right lane, pass the car, then moved back into the left lane. As I did this, I hit a slight bump in the road like I do every day, except this time, the bike went into a full on tank-slapper, right in front of the car I just passed.

What I did wrong: I accelerated hard while in a slight turn which reduced traction on my front tire by virtue of the shifting weight to the rear (no wheelie or anything.) I hit a slight bump in the road which caused the front wheel turn at an extreme angle due to there being very little resistance on the front. As the full force of the bike came down on the now turned front wheel, it caused the bike to try to compensate by flinging the wheel over in the opposite direction. This lead to a full on tank-slapper that was starting to get out of control causing the rear to start drifting as well. All with the only other car on the road right behind me.

What I did right: I don't know why, but my instinct was to grab on tight and just stay on the throttle and ride it out. The bike corrected itself after a few seconds. This is most likely what saved me, had I used my front bake in a panic, I would have gone down immediately. After further research, I have read that actually getting on the gas hard again to get the weight off the front tire would get out of this situation since it gives you a chance to re-align without the bike shaking wildly under you.

How could it have been avoided: By not accelerating hard, into a slight bank, on an unsafe stretch of road, and then hitting a bump. I don't overtake vehicles if I can't see where I will be afterwards anymore.

This story is 20 years old but a good one.

Friend and I were riding for four days in California. Soft luggage on both bikes (CBR600f2) We were up on Highway 9 in the Santa Cruz mountains with me in the lead. I was not real familiar with the road but was only riding 75mph or so when I setup a pass on two cars. Just as I downshifted and was about to move the giant Bronco two vehicles in front signaled a left turn.
It was then I saw a bush covered driveway and realized that passing at that moment might be a poor choice so I grabbed a bit of break dropped back in behind the cars when all of a sudden I get hit from the rear hard and find my bags flying over my head, my bike is flying through the air a little sideways. I relaxed as best I could due to the tank slapper on landing and somehow got the bike stopped on the shoulder.

My buddy nearly got himself (and me killed) He saw me setting up for the pass and ramped up to 75mph anticipating that he would be right behind me as I passed, When I dropped out he hit my left rear; blowing my bags and my entire left side plastics off the bike. His right side plastics were gone. It made such a tremendous noise that the driver of the Bronco slammed his breaks right as my buddy went by his front bumper still doing 70mph. Had it not been for that huge noise and the stellar reactions of the Bronco driver my buddy would have broadsided the Bronco completely out of control.

Lessons learned? Pick your riding buddies carefully, make no assumptions and ride in your own head. To this day I am not sure if it was my skills that saved the bike or it it was so sudden, that I did nothing and the bike saved itself.

Reading through some of these, I thought I would share my two close calls. Both of these happened years ago, but still taught me lessons that are burned into my brain.

Incident #1- I was a relatively new rider, with about 3 years under my belt, riding a Kawi 600 on my way to classes. I was running late, as usual. It was a suburban residential road I had traveled hundreds of times, so I was quite familiar with it. Approaching an intersection, the light turned yellow and I made the decision to go for it. A car was waiting to cross the intersection from my right, on the cross street. I was going about 5 mph above the limit when I hit the throttle. I had more than enough time to clear the intersection, but I glanced over and saw the front wheels on the car start to move. She jumped the light! As I crossed the intersection, I swerved left, and got on the throttle hard. The lady in the car came into the intersection, saw me, and hit her brakes. My jeans brushed against her front plate as I passed by. I pulled over to take a deep breath, and proceeded to class.

What I did wrong: I was rushing to class, and made a poor decision. Increasing my speed through the light.

What I did right: Besides wearing correct gear, I remembered to look at the front wheels of the car and not at the car itself. It gave me that split second to be able to start swerving left.

What I learned: I ALWAYS look at the front wheels of any vehicles preparing to enter a roadway. Its much easier to see the slightest movement there than the car in general. I don't remember who taught me that, but it really works!

Incident #2- Fast forward 5 years, and I'm on a modified ZX-9R (160 or so wheel hp). This one is pretty simple. I was out with friends having a few drinks. One of my friends and I decide to go up to his house to meet a few girls (always makes the judgement side of the brain go blahhhh), which is on a very twisty, uphill road. I felt fine, had a water, and we took off. Second turn was a decreasing radius uphill left hander, one I was very familiar with. Outside of the turn is a natural berm with about 3 ft worth of sandy shoulder. Posted limit was 40 mph, turn warning was 30 mph, and I was doing about 45. Well, I took the turn too fast and the turn tightening caught me completely off guard. I tried to correct it, but the rear wheel started to slide out. I straightened her up and headed for the shoulder at a shallow angle, braking hard and letting off the front as I entered the sand. The rear wheel locked and slid sideways, but I managed to keep her upright and stop. My friend was riding just behind me and managed to avoid the whole thing, but he was giving me the "wtf is wrong with you" look.

What I did wrong: The obvious-DRINKING before getting on the bike! Taking the turn too fast for my condition.

What I did right: Very little, but I did have gear on and I didn't panic when the rear wheel broke loose. I reverted to my dirtbike days (which I think helps quite a bit when things start moving around) and let off the front brake, using the rear to help shave off speed and keep the bikes direction parallel to the road.

What I learned: Drinking before getting on a bike is a very bad idea, no matter how you think you feel. Even a 1/10th of a second reduction in reaction time can have disastrous consequences, as it almost did for me. I haven't had a drink before getting on a bike since that incident. In addition, the two girls who showed up looked like Chris Farley and David Spade....

cruising home from hoboken, nj today - down the pulaski skyway, for those who're familiar. they're doing construction now so the whole things even worse of a mess than it normally is. coming down the ramp onto 1-9, I was moving about 60 mph in the left lane, a jeep in front of me, and a car at my 3 oclock and one in each lane behind me. I was cruising, maybe slightly too close to the car in front of me, but by no means tailgating. I was paying what I thought was sufficient attention to what was happening around me, right hand on the throttle, left on my thigh, when I either hit a pothole or something in the road that made the front wheel shoot into a not so mini tank slapper. it was over faster than it started.

what I did right: the whole thing happened quicker faster than I could really even react to, but I didn't chop the throttle or hit the front brake, and I do remember grabbing the tank with my knees. before I knew it, i was cruising along again like nothing happened.

what I did wrong: I've always said that if I ever wind up on the ground or in an accident on this machine, it will have been 100% my fault, regardless of who's technically at fault. even though I was not being reckless, I was not processing as much of the information available to me as I could have been. I could've been further back, and paid more attention to the condition of the roadway. it was a scary reminder that things can go wrong on these machines very quickly, but thankfully that's all it was.

Brief summary of the event:

I was out riding a small inner city mountain road with a mate, we were done for the day and pulled into a car-park to say goodbye. The bike was facing a wooden barrier 10 - 15m in front of me when I started revving the bike hard for shits and giggles and to hear its awesome sound when my fingers slipped off the clutch. The bike launched forward into a wheelie and headed straight for the barrier really fast. I managed to bring the bike down and stop it moving with only about a cm left before the large log barrier which would have for sure destroyed the bike and might have killed me. I did however still hurt myself in the process. When I brought the bike down and kept it balanced, my left foot missed the peg and hit the ground which gripped for a second, i was still stopping the bike at that point, pulling hard on the brakes but the blunt corner of the gear shifter hit the back of my leg just below my calf and ripped a large jagged hole in my skin through my jeans. As it all happened in a flash i didn't notice the pain or weakness in my leg until the bike had stopped but I couldn't get off the bike to look to see what was hurting until I'd put the side stand out. In a crazy Hulk strength moment I managed to use my essentially limp injured leg to extremely painfully kick out the stand. I then fell off the bike and pulled up my jeans only to see all the blood and muscle/fat tissue coming out of my calf. My mate then called an ambulance and 8 stitches later + 2 weeks on crutches life goes on.

So I saved the bike entirely but hurt myself pretty bad.

What you did right:

- Reacted Quickly
- Kept Calm
- Brought the bike down and kept it balanced
- Used proper braking techniques to stop the bike as quickly as possible

What you did wrong:

- Had too loose a grip on the clutch
- Let my feet come off the pegs
- Prioritised the bikes safety over my own, if i'd just jumped off the back of it i would have had a few scratches maybe a bruise

How could it have been avoided:

- Not been a dickhead revving up the bike in the first place
- Put it in neutral before playing around
- I was wearing riding shoes that came up just past the ankle, if they were proper height boots instead I wouldn't have been injured

Ducati Monster Forum

Moto Board => Riding Techniques => Topic started by: Speeddog on February 05, 2008, 12:41:30 PM