Extremely close call...

[Amlethae]

Just had my first extremely close call ever.  I was doing 40-45mph on the West Side Hwy in NYC [over, I know] and suddenly a group of cars in my lane slammed on their brakes for no reason I know of... yeah well I guess I was following too close or something of that nature -- I'd say I was about 2 car lengths back.

I slammed on my brakes and the rear wheel locked up pretty fast... I wasn't going to stop in time.  I saw the back of the car approaching, and I visualized the moment of hitting it.  I then (thank god!) took a deep breath, relaxed my grip on the rear & front brakes and went for them again... this saved my ass big time.  Rear wheel unlocked and I came to a stop about 2 feet away from the car with no more damage than a little burn on my shin from somehow coming in contact with the exhaust.... left a fair bit of rubber on the street too.

I'm a bit shaken to say the least and am very thankful I've got a new bike on order WITH ABS. 

Is there anything I should check on the bike after this?  Seems okay (didn't drop it), but maybe I'm missing something about fluids/levers/etc.

Do you guys have any advice on what I should have done differently?  I should have let go of the rear as soon as it locked up, but my brain wasn't thinking that well in that moment.  But I'd love to get some feedback from everyone. 

As far as getting myself into that situation, I ride that stretch almost every day so I'm probably too comfortable on it; not expecting anything like that to happen.  I'm certainly going to be keeping my distance better for as long as I can remember to.  I also do take yellow/red lights as opportunities to practice my panic breaking as much as possible; I've felt the rear lock before and gotten it back in time, but again, no way to really practice panic breaking.

Ugh so shaken right now.  Thanks for letting me vent. 

[ScottRNelson]

Anything to check on the bike?  No, because you didn't hit anything.

What should you have done differently?  Keep a proper following distance.  Watch what's happening ahead of you.  Practice braking without locking the rear wheel - do it in a parking lot from about 25 mph.  You can learn at least 90% of what you need to know at that low speed.

[EvilSteve]

I know Scott was implying it but thought it worth pointing out that you should be using your front and rear brake appropriately. If you have a monster or similarly non-cruiser bike, most of your braking should be happening at the front rather than the rear. Getting rear brake application right is tricky because, as you brake, weight transfers to the front, loading the front tire and allowing heavier braking. As this happens, the rear is being unloaded which makes it easier to lock it up. Ideally, you'd transition brake pressure from the rear to the front but it is pretty difficult to do right.

You didn't hit anything, you didn't drop the bike. You did good. We can all do better so don't beat yourself up. Make sure you're looking up the road a fair way and figuring out what's going to happen next (as Scott said), it's very important that you're planning ahead.

[ScottRNelson]

Okay, let me add a bit more.

Go read all of the braking hints here to learn a bit more about what you should be doing when trying to get the bike stopped as quickly as possible: http://www.msgroup.org/Articles.aspx?Cat=2

Then get a copy of Proficient Motorcycling by David L. Hough and study it.  Then get his other book, More Proficient Motorcycling and study that.  If you do everything he teaches, you shouldn't have very many close calls.

I'm just finishing reading More Proficient Motorcycling again and have learned a few things (which apparently I had forgotten) that should help to make me a safer rider.  And I've already reached the point where I don't have close calls anymore.  After years of working at it, I can identify potential problems early enough to avoid them.  But I still need work on a few things, like when I'm around large vehicles that might either block my view of other traffic or their view of me.  That's the area I'm concentrating on the most right now.

If you really want to be a safe rider, you have to study and practice.  I've crashed before and don't want to do it again, so my number one emphasis while riding is safety.  And it takes work to not grow complacent and slack off a bit.

So be thankful that you made it through the close call without doing more than scaring yourself.  But figure out how you can make sure that the same thing won't happen to you again.

[somegirl]

You didn't hit anything, you didn't drop the bike. You did good. We can all do better so don't beat yourself up.

+1

[Amlethae]

Thanks everyone!  I've pretty much read all the tips on http://www.msgroup.org/Articles.aspx?Cat=2 and I've certainly learned a few things I'm going to try -- I think the first thing will be the extending the calf muscle to use the rear break in order to get tapered breaking into muscle memory.  Gonna take a while to do automatically but seems like it'll be a big help.

Also gonna break out Proficient Motorcycling and review everything.  I haven't had an accident yet, and by all means I never want to have one [yes, it's only a matter of time... but I'll continue to fight against it and aim to be safe in the mean time.] 

Thanks again for the help and the encouragement!   

[Popeye the Sailor]

I also do take yellow/red lights as opportunities to practice my panic breaking as much as possible;

Off hand I'd say you're better off practicing that in a controlled environment.


I'd also make sure there's no one behind you, or someone in the next lane over thinking you're going to run it, and they want to be first in that lane, so they move over real quick like-that would get real interesting real quick.

[NoisyDante]

Yes, practice those panic stops.  When I was learning to ride I went to an empty parking lot and practiced stopping in as short a space as possible while at the same time not locking either wheel.

Be careful about releasing a rear wheel after it has locked up.  If the wheel is drifting out of alignment, and the brake is released, it could snap back upon regaining traction, and at certain speeds it could throw you from the bike.  I've been told that if I lock the rear, leave it locked, and if I lock the front, release it immediately.

I had a similar experience, I was lane splitting on the 405 freeway, traffic at a standstill.  I wasn't going extremely fast, but an SUV pulled out of the HOV lane where they were not supposed to as I was approaching.  Luckily I saw it coming, squeezed the front brake, but I did lock the rear.  I left the rear locked but gently squeezed the front lever progressively harder and I came to a stop just a few inches from the rear of the car.  I pulled up next to it when it finally exited my path, the driver gave me a peace sign, and I yelled through his open window that he was a g-damn moron and that he did an illegal maneuver that could have cost me my life or made me a paraplegic.  I went out of my way to embarrass him in front of his pretty girlfriend in the passenger seat.

Well done surviving unscathed    Don't let it discourage you in any way.   [moto]

[badgalbetty]

always have an out and be very aware of your spacial awareness. I have been riding 30 years and my eyes are everywhere all the time. all the time. everywhere all the time . I think 2-300yds ahead and am always aware of what and who is around me. On a bike it takes but a split second for things to go very bad very quick. Dont ride too close always have a car length for every 10 mph and always be aware of your out.

[Amlethae]

Everyone,

Thanks so much again for all your thoughts/suggestions/encouragements.  I am happy to report that the incident didn't stop me from riding.  I've since been encouraging myself to rely much more heavily on the front brake and only using the rear brake to initialize the procedure, rolling to 100% on the front and back again to the rear to come to a complete stop.  My confidence in braking quickly as necessary has greatly improved already.  Not to mention that I am keeping myself focused further down the road and analyzing the potential dangers and situations while maintaining a safe distance from cars ahead of me no matter what.  Sure there's no such thing as a safe motorcycle, but the better the squishy bit on top of the thing is, the safer it can be!

Thanks so much again!