Hit it or Lay it Down??
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Road Warrior
Joined: Oct 2015
Posts: 1,333
Likes: 355
From: San Diego
Hit it or Lay it Down??
You cannot stop a motorbike in time. Is it better to ram into the object (car) or fall to the side? If by fall to the side you mean lay the bike down and slide rather than remaining on the bike until a collision with something, I can categorically say that remaining on the motorcycle and using maximum braking power gives you the best chance.
You see, when you prematurely abandon the motorcycle a couple of things happen (trust me). First, when it goes down the bike slides. And slides. And slides, until it hits something. You might be surprised how far. In my case, about 90 feet.
Guess what, if youre lucky youre now sliding too. Not as far, nor as fast, but theres a good chance that youre leaving a trail of whatever material youre wearing (or your skin). Until YOU hit something. Luckily, I didnt.
But the other likely option is that rather than sliding you might be tumbling. That outcome increases the likelihood of substantial injury.
Once the motorcycle and you are down, theres no concept of maximum braking like youd get while upright and using the motorcycles brakes.
Stay on the motorcycle and if you have ABS, nail the brakes. Maximum braking might prevent maximum breaking
EDIT: Some answers posit that laying a motorcycle down is the preferred choice if an accident cant be avoided.
Lets be clear: LAYING A MOTORCYCLE DOWN IS NEVER A GOOD IDEA!
WHY? Lets start with the physics.
What would be the best procedure for laying a motorcycle down that minimizes the risk to the rider? A motorcycle without ABS could conceivably be laid down by locking the rear brake and letting the rear slide around. Not many riders practice that and when done incorrectly, youre flirting with high siding the motorcycle, which puts the rider between the motorcycle and the obstacle. And if not that, then just being hit by the motorcycle. But in any event, an awkward and potentially dangerous dismount.
You see, when you prematurely abandon the motorcycle a couple of things happen (trust me). First, when it goes down the bike slides. And slides. And slides, until it hits something. You might be surprised how far. In my case, about 90 feet.
Guess what, if youre lucky youre now sliding too. Not as far, nor as fast, but theres a good chance that youre leaving a trail of whatever material youre wearing (or your skin). Until YOU hit something. Luckily, I didnt.
But the other likely option is that rather than sliding you might be tumbling. That outcome increases the likelihood of substantial injury.
Once the motorcycle and you are down, theres no concept of maximum braking like youd get while upright and using the motorcycles brakes.
Stay on the motorcycle and if you have ABS, nail the brakes. Maximum braking might prevent maximum breaking
EDIT: Some answers posit that laying a motorcycle down is the preferred choice if an accident cant be avoided.
Lets be clear: LAYING A MOTORCYCLE DOWN IS NEVER A GOOD IDEA!
WHY? Lets start with the physics.
What would be the best procedure for laying a motorcycle down that minimizes the risk to the rider? A motorcycle without ABS could conceivably be laid down by locking the rear brake and letting the rear slide around. Not many riders practice that and when done incorrectly, youre flirting with high siding the motorcycle, which puts the rider between the motorcycle and the obstacle. And if not that, then just being hit by the motorcycle. But in any event, an awkward and potentially dangerous dismount.
Popular Reply
Dec 21, 2020, 12:18 PM
Most of the time, I like to lay it down before I hit it.
But sometimes I like bending it over a table before I hit it. Just to mix things up.
But sometimes I like bending it over a table before I hit it. Just to mix things up.
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Apr 2015
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Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 21,736
Likes: 17,577
From: Driftless Area
I never tried to "lay it down". That just happened while I was sliding the rear while aiming elsewhere at the same time.
I had two minivans crash right infront of me. My contribution was that I was too close to go from 45mph to zero when the guy in front of me impacted the other guy. There was a liitle room between him and the curb, so I headed there while hard on the brakes. Before I could straighten the bike up, it slipped out from under me, and landed on my left knee. When I stopped, my front wheel was next to the curb, bike still up on the floorboard, two inches past his bumper (I would have hit him, but didn't). Bike wasn't damaged, thanks to my knee, but my knee and lower leg were busted deluxe.
Disclaimer: I found out later that my exhaust pipe on that side was cracked under the chrome heat shield...right where it landed on my knee.
I don't know how it answers your question, but the only thing I could have done better is not ride with traffic when it's busy, and maintaining more space would have saved a lot of grief. The only reason I didn't was that I thought another car would switch lanes to get in there. Traffic was that bad, that day. I'm lucky I wasn't run over either.
I had two minivans crash right infront of me. My contribution was that I was too close to go from 45mph to zero when the guy in front of me impacted the other guy. There was a liitle room between him and the curb, so I headed there while hard on the brakes. Before I could straighten the bike up, it slipped out from under me, and landed on my left knee. When I stopped, my front wheel was next to the curb, bike still up on the floorboard, two inches past his bumper (I would have hit him, but didn't). Bike wasn't damaged, thanks to my knee, but my knee and lower leg were busted deluxe.
Disclaimer: I found out later that my exhaust pipe on that side was cracked under the chrome heat shield...right where it landed on my knee.
I don't know how it answers your question, but the only thing I could have done better is not ride with traffic when it's busy, and maintaining more space would have saved a lot of grief. The only reason I didn't was that I thought another car would switch lanes to get in there. Traffic was that bad, that day. I'm lucky I wasn't run over either.
HD EFI Guru
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 4,490
Likes: 4,776
There is no answer that is right all the time. My case was two cars coming up a mountain two lane road. The road was cut into the side of the mountain so you had one lane with the mountain going up along its side and the other lane was on the outer edge so it was a cliff going down several hundred yards or more. Cars were traveling up with one in the wrong lane around 50 mph and I was traveling down in my lane about 45 mph. As I came around a sweeping corner there they were. No place to go other than into them or off a cliff! Using the brakes wasn't going to do **** for you (other than get you dead) so I laid it down and jumped as high as I could off the bike. I hit the top of the car windshield and tumbled off the roof of the car to the ground. Ended up in the hospital for 45 days but still alive. Physics had everything to do with laying it down to save my life! The bike ended up completely under the car from what I was told.
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 21,083
Likes: 19,245
From: The Wasteland
I might ride one down but I'll never lay one down. If there's something I cant avoid, that's my fault for following to close or riding beyond my capability. If that ever happens I'm steering and braking that bitch until I ride it out or crash. I'll never intentionally lay a bike down.
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Apr 2013
Posts: 32,851
Likes: 17,888
From: Newcastle, OK
You cannot stop a motorbike in time. Is it better to ram into the object (car) or fall to the side? If by fall to the side you mean lay the bike down and slide rather than remaining on the bike until a collision with something, I can categorically say that remaining on the motorcycle and using maximum braking power gives you the best chance.
You see, when you prematurely abandon the motorcycle a couple of things happen (trust me). First, when it goes down the bike slides. And slides. And slides, until it hits something. You might be surprised how far. In my case, about 90 feet.
Guess what, if youre lucky youre now sliding too. Not as far, nor as fast, but theres a good chance that youre leaving a trail of whatever material youre wearing (or your skin). Until YOU hit something. Luckily, I didnt.
But the other likely option is that rather than sliding you might be tumbling. That outcome increases the likelihood of substantial injury.
Once the motorcycle and you are down, theres no concept of maximum braking like youd get while upright and using the motorcycles brakes.
Stay on the motorcycle and if you have ABS, nail the brakes. Maximum braking might prevent maximum breaking
EDIT: Some answers posit that laying a motorcycle down is the preferred choice if an accident cant be avoided.
Lets be clear: LAYING A MOTORCYCLE DOWN IS NEVER A GOOD IDEA!
WHY? Lets start with the physics.
What would be the best procedure for laying a motorcycle down that minimizes the risk to the rider? A motorcycle without ABS could conceivably be laid down by locking the rear brake and letting the rear slide around. Not many riders practice that and when done incorrectly, youre flirting with high siding the motorcycle, which puts the rider between the motorcycle and the obstacle. And if not that, then just being hit by the motorcycle. But in any event, an awkward and potentially dangerous dismount.
You see, when you prematurely abandon the motorcycle a couple of things happen (trust me). First, when it goes down the bike slides. And slides. And slides, until it hits something. You might be surprised how far. In my case, about 90 feet.
Guess what, if youre lucky youre now sliding too. Not as far, nor as fast, but theres a good chance that youre leaving a trail of whatever material youre wearing (or your skin). Until YOU hit something. Luckily, I didnt.
But the other likely option is that rather than sliding you might be tumbling. That outcome increases the likelihood of substantial injury.
Once the motorcycle and you are down, theres no concept of maximum braking like youd get while upright and using the motorcycles brakes.
Stay on the motorcycle and if you have ABS, nail the brakes. Maximum braking might prevent maximum breaking
EDIT: Some answers posit that laying a motorcycle down is the preferred choice if an accident cant be avoided.
Lets be clear: LAYING A MOTORCYCLE DOWN IS NEVER A GOOD IDEA!
WHY? Lets start with the physics.
What would be the best procedure for laying a motorcycle down that minimizes the risk to the rider? A motorcycle without ABS could conceivably be laid down by locking the rear brake and letting the rear slide around. Not many riders practice that and when done incorrectly, youre flirting with high siding the motorcycle, which puts the rider between the motorcycle and the obstacle. And if not that, then just being hit by the motorcycle. But in any event, an awkward and potentially dangerous dismount.
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Cruiser
Joined: Aug 2016
Posts: 201
Likes: 57
From: Gorham NH
How exactly does one "lay it down"? I need to practice in case I ever really need to do it. I find it rather humorous when somebody says, "I had to lay it down." To me that just means they crashed somehow but say, "I had to lay it down" just to save face.
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Thread Starter
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Road Warrior
Joined: Oct 2015
Posts: 1,333
Likes: 355
From: San Diego
