Someone once said to me "you just haven't gone down yet" and it has stuck with me every time i have gotten on my scoot. Well Merry Christmas good old St Nick thought tonight was the night for me.

Went down for the first time tonight.(Pictures to come when its daylight out) Twas a bitter 28* degrees in the northeast tonight. Riding with a passenger. Passenger leaned a little to far with me mixed with freezing pavement and cold tires was not a good combination at all. Laid the bike down taking a corner. Walk away with a banged up knee and a scraped exhaust and crash bar. Passenger has a 1/2 dollar size bit of rash on the elbow. Considering myself lucky and proud at the same time. Lucky I walked away with a small bruise and the bike in tip top condition. Proud of going down and handling the dump in what i hope is the proper manner.

Just curious as to what was your first crash/dump/high side/low side experience. How many have you had? And what do you feel you learned from them?

 

I am glad you are ok but what is there to be proud of? You put yourself and your passenger in danger..I wouldn't be proud of that..Just my opinion

 

I was stationed at the Navy base in Charleston, SC back in the mid-late '80s. I was heading to work early one morning in the rain. I believe it was on Dorchester Road. There is a set of railroad tracks that stuck up well above the road surface and crossed the road at a steep angle. Most of my friends rode as well and everyone knew about those tracks. Bikers would hug as far right as possible to cut back and take off as much of the angle as possible.
Traffic was heavy that morning (less than 20 mph) and, as I said, it was raining. I moved to the far right of my lane but the cager next to me decided to share my lane with me forcing me to take those elevated, wet tracks head on. I knew what was coming, but there was nothing I could do. I didn't even have time to stop. I hit the tracks and the front wheel slid happily along them to the right. Down I went. Luckily, the car behind me saw what was going down and backed way off. He got out and helped me set the bike back up.
The car that took my lane kept going. I guess when I moved to the right, they lost track of me, as if the motorcycle right next to them suddenly floated away or something. I'm sure there was something I could have done differently, but to this day, I don't know what it might have been. It happened so fast.

 

In 50 years I have not EVER "laid it down."
If one does not practice, it is way too EZ to over brake on the rear.
Then ya go dwn or let loose the rear brake and it pops back up and launches you off the other side.
To lay dwn a bike is to go under something rather than into it or over it.
If you keep the thing up, then you have the chance of stopping faster and or going around the object .

 

Following a car who was driving well below the speed limit on a narrow one lane street for several blocks. Getting frustrated with this I decided I'd squeeze by him on the right (there was ample room).
As I throttle up and make my move, the putz turns right into a driveway (no signal) and I glance off of him, hitting a parked car.

Broken nose, got some new teeth too, nice assortment of rash and took a short nap.
100% my fault! Lesson learned! I'm glad I was 17 and invincible. Same wreck would take my old *** out nowadays.

Patience!

 

Some 50 years ago, riding an XLCH, pulled into a gravel parking lot, turned too tight to park and the bike fell over, header burned my leg. Never laid down while riding.

 

I said I was proud of properly keeping control as long as I could and it not being way worse. Not gripping and ripping the throttle and sending the bike into on coming traffic or into a front yard. Also how do you deem "i put myself and passenger in danger"? This was at a light, doing 5 mph. Its not like I was doing a wheelie with a passenger on my bike.

 

There is a BIG and huge difference between laying dwn and falling dwn.
It is all too ez to drop an old Iron head.
I did it many times.

 

Tried riding with a passenger years ago. Hot young chick, couldn't resist. Never again. Between her counter-balancing and banging her helmet against mine every time I slowed down, I decided that it just isn't practical to carry a passenger on a bike.