Slide it or brake it until impact?

[NickSully]

You also have to think of the insurance claim. If you dump the bike before impact the cop won't ticket the other driver and your insurance claim will be against you and not the other guy. Failure to control vehicle I believe. So it is best to practice your emergency breaking procedures.

 

[dangerous dave]

if you have a plan to bail out or jump off your bike if things get to scary you'll never be much of a bike pilot.

 

[Pardini]

I had to lay it down really means, I got scared and gave up. That rephrasing is just the ego trying to protect the manhood.

Can't steer or brake unless your on the bike. Learn how to ride, not how to crash.

 

[Fastbus]

My I side it missed the car and the busa lived to ride another day 40 mile per hour if I impacted front of bike would be thrashed. BTW I broke ribs on impact with curb. Wife collected busa and drove it home from crash site, new stator cover and spray job all ok

 

[dadofthree]

Ride it until the end.

 

[Tufbusa]

Anyone who says they intentionally laid their bike down at 30 mph to avoid an impact is yanking your chain. At 30 mph you can come to a complete stop in less time than your brain can process the information, make a concious decision to lay it down, lock the rear brake, cross it up and lay it down. If they find themselves on the deck, the results is from poor braking skills but the story is better if it was an intentional slide.

As a matter of fact, if you knew ahead of time that the impact was coming, at 30 mph there would not be enough time to get the beast on it's side prior to impact. Braking distance at 30 mph is what, maybe 40 feet?

Braking is a developed skill just like cornering. It takes practice to become efficient at braking and it takes practice to sustain those skills. Just ten minutes spent on hard braking from different speeds on every ride may be the best thing you can do to insure your personal safety?

I'd have to say 99% if not all bikes that are down prior to impact is due to panic, not a mindful intentional downing of the bike. Who do you know that practices laying their bike down?

By all means, stay on two wheels. You will burn off five times more speed on the brakes than you will sliding on your arse.

 

[Wag]

Tufbusa said it best so far.

Simply put, your tires on the road will slow you down a LOT faster than sliding on your plastic and metal parts. It's just fact.

If you're going to ride, learn the skills it takes to ride. This is not a mindless activity requiring no thought. It's the kind of thing you need to learn to do well in order to optimize your experience, including optimizing your survival.

Nothing else matters. Except the fun factor, of course!

--Wag--

 

[kjcili]

I had to lay it down really means, I got scared and gave up. That rephrasing is just the ego trying to protect the manhood.

Can't steer or brake unless your on the bike. Learn how to ride, not how to crash.

Knowing how to ride is a top notch idea, you HAVE to know HOW to crash to stay alive. Especially seeings how crashes are emminent in this day and age with drivers out there that think they own the road cuz there in a cage.

 

[Dino]

brake as long as possible,* if time allows.* the last thing you want to do is slam into an immovable object.* statistics show,* riders that stay on the bike suffer worse injuries and do more damage to the bike than sliding where possible.

I'd like to see the statistics and the source.

 

[AlanS]

The crashes I've been in I didn't have time to think things through a whole lot. I reacted pretty instinctively. I have been 'down', but never purposely 'laid' the bike down. I went down because I lost control at that point, either over-braking, or hitting something. My sense is that, at least in a statistical aspect, you are better off to slow down as much as possible before hitting something, and/or falling.

I am curious: Is there anyone reading this thread who has consciously made the decision to lay their bike on its side in order to mitigate the results of a collision? Speaking for myself, I don't think I could make myself do that. But different people have different tolerances (to fear etc.) so maybe there's people out there who have the presence of mind when the chips are down to do this.

After thinking about it a bit, it seems to me that 'laying her down' is pretty counter-intuitive. And, if I had time to think about something that's so far from my experience, and then if I had time to actually perform the act, with all the seconds that elapsed, I'd have had time to brake and either avoid, or substantially lessen an impact.

I would urge anyone who's reading this thread and seriously considering its implications to do more research on the topic. I'm pretty sure you'll find that 'laying her down' is not a recommended strategy, i.e., you should be practicing emergency braking, and other techniques that afford you at least some control of the situation in an emergency. A riding school, like Keith Code's, is also not just for racers, but for those who want to better learn the craft of motorcycle riding. The MSF courses are good, but they are, in my humble opinion, like 'Riding 101'. They teach you the bare essentials. For advanced training, you need to get on a track and practice the techniques that will keep you safe. The same practices and theories that make people better racers also serve to make them better riders, in general. The best strategy for dealing with trouble is to avoid that trouble, in the first place. You do this with situational awareness, technique--and experience, time in the seat, riding.

Then there are those impacts that come out of the blue...you never see it coming. Point being, there's no way to insulate yourself from fate altogether. The best you can hope to do is improve your chances of survival. It's all probabilities, and our task as riders is to give ourselves the best odds we can. The rest is in God's--or the Devil's--hands.

 

[TruWrecks]

Truwrecks, that is my thinking also...do you have any unwanted experience with this or any of your buddies and the outcome with some details...2hip

The only time on the street I went down was entirely my own stupid mistakes. I do have an in-law that claims to have purposely lay his down. He was riding his V-Star when a car pulled out in front of him. He broke his right foot and got a lot of rash. He was walking with a cane for a couple of years now. With the people that have pulled out on me, I got on the brakes progressively harder and pointed toward the longest path before impact. I haven't had a single pull out since I started using headlight modulators on my bikes. I would go HID if they make a modulator for those, but the way they work would require a mechanical flapper to get the same effect.
Posted via Mobile Device

 

[sessions]

The thing is i was all over the breaks and if i wouldnt have let her down i would have been on the hood or windshield of her car. It's easy to say that BREAK BREAK BREAK but until your in the situation you have less then 2-3 seconds to react. and if i wouldnt have laid it down i would be more injured then i am, now im not saying i laid it down intentionaly but i think it was for the better in my sistuation you wont get much road rash with your gear. Trust me if i could have avoided the situation i would have but with so little time to react im just glad it didnt turn out worse then it did. just my opinion.

 

[kjcili]

I'd like to see the statistics and the source.

I'll talk to my agent next time i see him and ask. He's the one that told me, I do agree that I like to also c statistics.

 

[kjcili]

The thing is i was all over the breaks and if i wouldnt have let her down i would have been on the hood or windshield of her car. It's easy to say that BREAK BREAK BREAK but until your in the situation you have less then 2-3 seconds to react. and if i wouldnt have laid it down i would be more injured then i am, now im not saying i laid it down intentionaly but i think it was for the better in my sistuation you wont get much road rash with your gear. Trust me if i could have avoided the situation i would have but with so little time to react im just glad it didnt turn out worse then it did. just my opinion.

and every situation is indeed different, and no-one can actually say how they would react because no 2 incidents will ever be the same. all we can do is pray that we don't have to go down or be in a situation where sudden decisions and rash manuevers are in order. point being here, you did as u thought necessary and still here to tell us about it.

 

[sessions]

and every situation is indeed different, and no-one can actually say how they would react because no 2 incidents will ever be the same. all we can do is pray that we don't have to go down or be in a situation where sudden decisions and rash manuevers are in order. point being here, you did as u thought necessary and still here to tell us about it.

AMEN!!!!!

 

[Wag]

The crashes I've been in I didn't have time to think things through a whole lot. I reacted pretty instinctively. I have been 'down', but never purposely 'laid' the bike down. I went down because I lost control at that point, either over-braking, or hitting something. My sense is that, at least in a statistical aspect, you are better off to slow down as much as possible before hitting something, and/or falling.

I am curious: Is there anyone reading this thread who has consciously made the decision to lay their bike on its side in order to mitigate the results of a collision? Speaking for myself, I don't think I could make myself do that. But different people have different tolerances (to fear etc.) so maybe there's people out there who have the presence of mind when the chips are down to do this.

After thinking about it a bit, it seems to me that 'laying her down' is pretty counter-intuitive. And, if I had time to think about something that's so far from my experience, and then if I had time to actually perform the act, with all the seconds that elapsed, I'd have had time to brake and either avoid, or substantially lessen an impact.

I would urge anyone who's reading this thread and seriously considering its implications to do more research on the topic. I'm pretty sure you'll find that 'laying her down' is not a recommended strategy, i.e., you should be practicing emergency braking, and other techniques that afford you at least some control of the situation in an emergency. A riding school, like Keith Code's, is also not just for racers, but for those who want to better learn the craft of motorcycle riding. The MSF courses are good, but they are, in my humble opinion, like 'Riding 101'. They teach you the bare essentials. For advanced training, you need to get on a track and practice the techniques that will keep you safe. The same practices and theories that make people better racers also serve to make them better riders, in general. The best strategy for dealing with trouble is to avoid that trouble, in the first place. You do this with situational awareness, technique--and experience, time in the seat, riding.

Then there are those impacts that come out of the blue...you never see it coming. Point being, there's no way to insulate yourself from fate altogether. The best you can hope to do is improve your chances of survival. It's all probabilities, and our task as riders is to give ourselves the best odds we can. The rest is in God's--or the Devil's--hands.

Excellently stated, Alan. I've encountered a couple of riders over the past 20 years who said they, "had to lay it down." Somehow, I still don't get that. Years ago, I believed that this was the kind of thing that was reasonable and advisable but no longer. Simple physics say that rubber on the road will slow you faster.

Also, learning to control your braking so that you can brake with maximum efficiency using BOTH brakes and not breaking the tires loose from their traction threshold.

--Wag--

 

[2hip]

I saw it on the television so it must be true, right? Remember the CHP show where the Latino guy had to slide it under the big rig...ha ha ha ???