Well meant,but, anxiety causing info

[ANDYVH]

Many of us have probably heard a rider that crashed report "the bike just wouldn't make the turn!"

Almost as big a lie and myth as "hadda lay it down!"

No, the bike WILL make the turn, but the RIDER chose to not use the right techniques, or froze, or was not aware of, the techniques needed to make a motorcycle easily handle roads and conditions that some riders find impassable.

I have ridden my 94 RS on all sorts of surfaces, including sand, snow and ice. I have enjoyed many a twistie and the bike has NEVER communicated to me it could not do it. Its all the rider holding the grips that makes the difference.

 

[Rapid_Roy]

Who was that guy?! Superman? Bubbazanetti? Walking at 25 MPH pushing a 600 Lb. motorcycle with your son on the back!

Alright poor phrasing. First of all, if he can't ride, my son won't be on the back.


What I should have said was :That weekend, myself and my son were going about 25 mph to 30 mph, when we passed a rider walking his K bike on the side of the road. I waved at him as we passed by.

 

[rocketman]

Who was that guy?! Superman? Bubbazanetti? Walking at 25 MPH pushing a 600 Lb. motorcycle with your son on the back!

Just what I was thinking.... Ha Ha!

RM

 

[rocketman]

Many of us have probably heard a rider that crashed report "the bike just wouldn't make the turn!"

Almost as big a lie and myth as "hadda lay it down!"

No, the bike WILL make the turn, but the RIDER chose to not use the right techniques, or froze, or was not aware of, the techniques needed to make a motorcycle easily handle roads and conditions that some riders find impassable.

I have ridden my 94 RS on all sorts of surfaces, including sand, snow and ice. I have enjoyed many a twistie and the bike has NEVER communicated to me it could not do it. Its all the rider holding the grips that makes the difference.

I've been asked more than once how many times I've had to "lay it down". I used to try to explain.. now I just shake my head and move on...

And last weekend while out some old dude came up to me and told me about someone he knew who had been killed riding.. its actually been a while since that happened..

RM

 

[ultracyclist]

andyVH

If you share with me how one rides on ice and snow, I will actually try it!

How do you control the pucker factor?

 

[haughty]

If you share with me how one rides on ice and snow, I will actually try it!

How do you control the pucker factor?

DID a 100 miles from North of Dallas to Fairfield one late night sometime in the late 80's.
we had fresh powder and it was a rarity since it was dry! 6 to 8" of it, no one else had driven in it, so my tracks were the only ones till the next morning.. (my story and I am sticking to it!)
Really, was like on sand, just softer and because I was the only person to have driven it at the time (2 AM) I did not have to follow tracks , which would be a whole nuther ballgame.
It was fun, little pucker... had to warm the hands by the jugs of the girl (82 Virago) every couple of miles ...

 

[KenDittrick]

Now to my point...I think

She, and I, have come to realize difficulty is in the eyes of the handlebar holder...and to stop listening to others tales of dangers, it is their reality,their perception. When asked about the technical level of roads by others...we will not be negative or give scary feedback warnings... Just ride and enjoy the road...ride your own ride and know your limitations. Maybe some of you will do the same to others and not cause unfounded anxiety to them.

I agree with what you are saying with a couple of additions. I do warn of unusual safety hazards or weather (snow on road, rock slides, fog).

 

[Rapid_Roy]

I've been asked more than once how many times I've had to "lay it down". I used to try to explain.. now I just shake my head and move on...

And last weekend while out some old dude came up to me and told me about someone he knew who had been killed riding.. its actually been a while since that happened..

RM

It has been a while since you were killed riding?

2 can play at that game RM!

 

[ANDYVH]

I have been a MSF instructor going on 17 years now. Occassionally I still get the question "how do you teach your students to lay a bike down?"

I used to simply stare at the person asking the question, in the same manner one would respond to "why is the sky blue?" But now I explain there is no reason to teach a rider how to lay down a bike. The training we give help riders avoid getting into crash situations (there are no "accidents").

Hey, actually, I do know why the sky is blue. But anyway,......it never ceases to amaze me how many people still assume "laying a bike down" is some sort of proper technique!! I will say that most people that ask that question seem to be those that either don't ride or have never ridden, and the stereotype images of non-riders overtake the rational brain.

The idea is, to never get oneself into a scenario where lack of skills, poor judgement, panic, lack of training, lack of situational awareness (riding in the DOH zone) and other factors that combine to where the only result is panic over-reaction and whatever happens, happens. If you do MORE of the right things, you avoid ever being in a situation that could lead to a crash. If you have the proper training, you gain the knowledge to react properly and control the results, rather than just mashing on the rear brake, looking down, letting the bike "low side" under you, and then lie "hadda lay er down!" like it was some planned technique. LIAR!!

I once had a student report to me of a couple on a Wing that had to lay their bike down. A truck turned left in front of them. The guy laid it down in reaction to the sudden truck in his path (I don't get that either, a "sudden" truck in his path?). He and his wife suffered all sorts of road rash, his bike sustained damage from sliding on its side, but NOT from hitting the truck, as it never got to the truck!! So, he paniced, dumped his bike, injured his wife and himself, and lied that he had to lay it down. Yet, had he properly applied the brakes in a controlled high effort stop, he would have stopped WELL short, upright and unharmed. The brakes on the bike would have certainly stopped the bike in FAR LESS distance than it did sliding on its side.

 

[BCKRider]

two comments

1. I don't expect I will ever again ride Beartooth Pass. That's where my beloved K75RS died in a a collision with another rider. The REAL culprit was the road maintenance crew that did a superb job of cleaning the winter sand from all of the road except the one and only passing lane which started on a curve. When I crested the summit and saw this rider sliding out in his path toward me, I angled the bike a bit right and braked hard. I later learned that the rider with the problem was experienced in dirt, had a lot of road experience, didn't chop the throttle, counter-steered through the sand, and at exactly the wrong place his back tire hooked up with bare pavement sending his bike out in my lane.

If I had braked a little harder, we would probably both be dead from a head-on collision. If I had done anything else, including not slowing down because I was looking at the scenery, it would have just been a scary moment.

I'm curious if there were other accidents after mine in 2008 at that same location, the only passing lane on the Beartooth. I'm also curious if others using this road the past two years have encountered serious sand in that passing lane when the rest of the highway is pristine.

2. For competent sane riders, I think the big danger of riding roads like "the dragon" and other lesser known twisty roads, is not your competence but that of the sport bike riders coming toward you. If there testosterone takes them into your lane - or worse sliding across in front of you - what do you do?

 

[rocketman]

It has been a while since you were killed riding?

2 can play at that game RM!

Only 2? my how limited your thinking is....

well, as James Bond discovered you can only live twice and I got that over and done with in my Yut, now I'm mere ghost of my former self....the invincibility of death has its rewards....

RM

PS hope all is well with the "Silly Bean" !