Had my first on-road incident today, with the wife riding 2up. Was on a two-lane road at 55-60 mph. Vehicle in front of my was a pickup, and well ahead (5-7 seconds). Road is tight with trees and houses/neighborhoods. Truck put his brakes on for a second then let off, I slowed some. He seemingly kept going, but suddenly swerved right revealing a small car in the road waiting to turn left. The truck started off road as I approached, but then nearly stopped as he negotiated around the stopped car. I applied more rear than front brake realizing I was either going around the car to the right (behind the truck) or off into the grassy ditch beside the road. Rear brake locked up. I tried to let off and re-apply with a little front, but it still locked.

I ended up slowing enough (getting a little squirrely along the way) that I was able to drive the bike into the ditch and stop. Bike fell slow as I caught it and wife was able to more or less just step off as I let the bike down. No damage to us, and none to the bike that I can tell. I'll do a thorough inspection this evening.

AAR:
1. I realize that I can handle an emergency situation a little better than I expected. I remained calm as I tried to first stop, then get around/away from the vehicles in front. Very proud of my wife that she also remained calm and in place.
2. I need to improve my vigilance and situation awareness. This is a road near my home so I may have been a little lax in my SA. I also may have given the driver in front of me too much credit/leeway to keep moving at some nominal rate of speed as things became less than normal.
3. I need to improve my braking skills. I do practice before or after most of my rides (in the local elementary school parking lot). Though, realizing I was going to have to turn the bars I instinctively managed the front brake lightly. Not sure if this was exactly right. I did not attempt to down shift either - not sure I had any time for that. The shoulder of the road was not smooth with a few inch drop-off so I had concern it would throw us sideways if I tried to rid the edge. I actually went off at 45 degrees or more.

Questions:
1. With the rear brake locking up like it did, is my ABS not working? I did not feel any pulsing of the brakes, nor did I hear/feel the ABS kick-in like I have in a car. My ABS light does not come on to indicate malfunction.
2. After I picked the bike up and started to get going again, I could not find neutral. So I started with clutch in and drove up to the shoulder. I easily found neutral then. Seems ok now. Any concerns with that?
3. With this sort of mostly upright slide off the road and dump-in-the-grass, what should I be looking for as far as damage?

 

Doesn't sound like you hurt anything. In a slow/zero speed lay down like that, the worst that's going to happen is you scuff the bottom of your crash bars. No biggie. Since you went over on a soft surface, I'm sure it's fine.

The clutch/neutral stuff: I'd just chalk that up to post-incident nerves and not worry about it unless it starts happening consistently.

I don't know anything about HD ABS, but I didn't think it would allow you to lock the rear wheel like that. Certainly worth a trip to the shop.

Always watch the car in front of the car in front of you. Increase following distance if you are behind a large vehicle you can't readily see around.

 

I agree you should have the ABS looked at. Look the bike over and ride it to check for any steering or suspension problems. It's probably fine just take it easy for a little while. Good write up. Thinking about what you did right and wrong got me to thinking about my abilities.

 

I would want that ABS checked out. Does not sound to me that is operating correctly. ..... Other than that, good job in a bad situation!

 

The front brake is where the majority of the stopping power comes from. You can squeeze that lever pretty aggressively at speed and stay in control. Then when it's time to turn, ease off the front depending on the maneuver. Didn't see your scenario, but that's what I imagine doing. Glad everybody is OK, bike included, and you can walk away from it wiser.

 

Yeah. That. Always hang back far enough that you CAN see around what's in front of you.

It always amazes me to see people driving right up to the back of a large truck. (Not commenting on you OP). They can't see anything apart from the **** end of the truck.

And with a bike, at least you have the acceleration to get around a truck on a clear but of road - even if you are hanging back. Plus you'll get past faster as you can actually see when the road ahead is clear to overtake.

 

How do you know the rear locked up? Was there smell, smoke and a solid black skidmark?
Is the ABS working now? (test in the school parking lot)
Proper front brake application would have saved the visit into the ditch.
Live and learn.

 

From time to time we all need to be reminded to keep our head out of our asses and pay attention to what we're doing.

 

Yep, skid mark. Sound of squealing tire. Feel that the bike was on ice.

Agreed on the front brake. My lack of experience. I'll test the brakes tomorrow, then drop off at the shop next week if necessary.

Thanks all for the positive responses!

 

This may sound a little harsh but you really need to get on that front brake. Even and especially through corners (fyi braking hard in corners will stand up the bike so you'll have to work a little to keep it over). You are obviously a very prudent rider or you would never have survived this long being afraid to use the front brake (I mean 'USE'). No vehicle brakes effectively relying on the rear.