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

[duckb0y]

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 to take the edge off.

[Jetbrett]

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

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.   

[Desmostro]

Brief Summary of event:

Got off Golden Gate Bridge and onto raised turn pike in heavy traffic moving 70MPH.
Lanes merging from right and left, I got all the way right.
Cars in the on coming lanes hit one of those yellow plastic pillars they use for lane dividers and it shot at me head-on prolly about 40MPH in opposite direction spinning on collision course.
I was boxed in by cars and had a tail gater behind me. The only thing to do was hit it.

What I did right
Got the bike upright fast, got to the back of my seat and hit the gas a little. Getting a little weight off the front wheel I was able to run it over without upsetting the bike.
It was loud but went right under the wheels - no problem. 
I wasn't sure what those things were made of. I guess they're just plastic thank goodness.

[swampduc]

Brief Summary of event:

Got off Golden Gate Bridge and onto raised turn pike in heavy traffic moving 70MPH.
Lanes merging from right and left, I got all the way right.
Cars in the on coming lanes hit one of those yellow plastic pillars they use for lane dividers and it shot at me head-on prolly about 40MPH in opposite direction spinning on collision course.
I was boxed in by cars and had a tail gater behind me. The only thing to do was hit it.

What I did right
Got the bike upright fast, got to the back of my seat and hit the gas a little. Getting a little weight off the front wheel I was able to run it over without upsetting the bike.
It was loud but went right under the wheels - no problem. 
I wasn't sure what those things were made of. I guess they're just plastic thank goodness.

Jebus. Underwear change soon thereafter?

[Bun-bun]

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.

[trenner]

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 , 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

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.

[EvilSteve]

Glad you saved trenner.

You should post more of that vid.

Your line wasn't the best into that turn either btw.

[trenner]

Your line wasn't the best into that turn either btw.

Totally true.  Part of that was pure sloppiness on my part, and part of that was me subconsciously keeping a healthy distance from the ever-present gravel to the right.

[mars_bd]

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.

[trenner]

SE Portland, OR; in-town riding...
[...] I proceed to lock up the front and *very nearly* lose it. [...]

That was a good write-up.

Smart choice to release the brake as you were sliding; I expect that the reflexive response is to just keep squeezing, and that would probably have been a big fail.

I sometimes catch myself being sloppy while braking in commuter riding, using only the front.  Your comments about the rear brake are a good reminder to strive to brake properly all the time, using both front and rear, to develop that muscle memory and good habit.

[Goat_Herder]

Copied over from my initial post.

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!

[somegirl]

Staying neutral and not panicking are good reactions.

[Jester]

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.
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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.

[DoubleEagle]

I was on Rt. 56 near Ash Cave St. Park , deep in a valley , running hard through a series of S curves . I came through one tight curve at about 55mph and there was a patch of loose gravel for about 20 yards.

The gravel made my 1098-R go into a violent wobble or head shake and I thought for sure I was going to end up getting thrown over the front end.

What I did Wrong: I don't think I did anything wrong since I couldn't see the Gravel until I was right on top of it.

What I did right : I did not panic and grab the front brake ,  I relaxed my grip on the hand grips , I kept the throttle on and the bike eventually straightened out.

What I learned: Always look as far ahead as possible and don't cut the throttle in gravel on hard surfaces and ride out a hard vibration or head shake and be relaxed w, the grips until it stops shaking.

Dolph     

[redxblack]

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.