Hey postal, you're a poser wannabe? J/K

I layed my ride down when I hit the front brake too hard on a sandy road. Definatly was not fun. I didn't see the sand, or that the cars had stopped real fast, but still all my fault since I should have been more aware.

Personally, I never would do that again on purpose.

 

Sorry to upset you so much........Your handle fits you well.....I see you just bought yourself a new Harley. I'm wondering if you have ever been in the situation you are trying to defend, or if you are just trying to sound like you know what you are talking about. Give yourself a few years on the new bike and I'm sure you will have a better understanding. I have been in this position more than a few times in the 25+ years of riding Harley Davidson Motorcycles.

 

Lapis,

I realize that you have decided to be the resident a-hole around here lately... But you know what.. I have been riding for a while now. All bikes weighing in over 600 lbs. Nothing new to me.

Have I dropped one? Yep. Have I avoided crashes? Yep.

Just because you are a crotchety old coot does not make you right.

 

You know what...

I will apologize for call you an old coot... I am not going to be a coward and edit my post or anything but I will apologize.

And the reason for the apology is because of WHY this particular topic is annoying the heck out of me.

All the monday morning quarterback crap that is going on. All the "I know more than you" nonsense that is going on in some of these posts.

Lapis, I am glad you are a better rider than me and obviously a traffic collision forensics expert. Much like a lot of other people around here. I think the inital question on this post was answered a long time ago and it has spiraled downward ever since. And I will accept my responsibility for helping that spiral.

So in 25+ years I will gladly chime in on this type of thing since I apparently don't know which end of the bike is up.

Until then... Sorry for calling you a coot...

Me personally... just glad that ANYONE that has ever laid a bike down, if they meant to or not, is able to get up and walk away.

Oh and btw... This hits close to home because a good friend of mine died because he was trying to be a "man" and not drop his bike. Had he dropped the bike he would have had road rash but still been around. Instead he tried to control the situation and wound up doing a superman into traffic. I guess he didn't know how to ride either because if it had been you that never would have happened. Whatever.

So... you keep your bike up and be a "real" rider if you want. If I ever HAVE to choose and/or I have the ability to make that decision I will do what I think is right even if it is to lay it down.

 

Postal, sorry about your buddy!

IMHO, everyone is entitled to their opinion. You spoke yours.

See you on the road!

 

OK, I read the post, now let me say none of us were there and we are speculating BUT, he said he was blowing the horn then realized he couldn't stop so he put her down. He never mentions even applying the brakes.
Also, the "skidmarks, you can't control a motorcycle that is skidding with both wheels, and tires skidding means you have already lost traction.
He would have been better off applying the brakes, SMOOTHLY, scrub off as much speed as possible then release the brakes and swerve. Tahell with the horn, you see where that got him. That's what I would have done because it would be a REACTION as I have practiced it. yes you can practice this stuff, and it WILL save your bacon.

DC.

 

Ya know what..........CHIT HAPPENS...........No two situations are the same. TX laid the bike down because he judged that as his best course of action.
And now I say:
[IMG]local://upfiles/2376/DBBBC2CE56AC411BBB0F41936D8AA86F.jpg[/IMG]

Let's move on shall we?

 

Making up stories doesn't make your line of BS more credible...............

 

Laying down a bike to avoid a crash is highly recommended by the IAMBPM (International Association of Motorcycle Body Part Manufacturers), the MMU (Motorcycle Mechanics Union) and the AMAMSG (American Medical Association for More Skin Grafts).
We should all lay our bikes down more often to help support these fine organizations! Very often, stopping or swerving to avoid a crash does absolutely no damage to the motorcycle or the rider thereby depriving the shops and hospitals of repair work. Let's all quit being so selfish and do what we can to help the economy, so lay down your bike for the good of all (except, of course, yourself, but it's a small sacrifice to make)!
Tire rubber has immense traction; plastic, steel, and chrome have next to no traction at all. If you’re on your bike and in control, you stand a much better chance of stopping in time or swerving out of the way than if you just let the bike slide.
One of the tests in the MSF Basic Rider Course practical exam covers swerving. You ride at ~20 MPH directly at the instructor. At the last moment, he points to one side or the other and yoru'e supposed to swerve the bike in that direction. If you swerve in the correct direction, you get ten points for the question. If you swerve in the wrong direction, you get eight. If you fail to swerve at all, you fail the course. The MSF does not teach you how to “lay her down.”

 

by Jerry Palladino (MOTORMAN)

A couple of weeks ago, I was at a bike gathering at a local Harley Dealer when I struck up a conversation with a guy who was taking delivery of a new Anniversary Edition Ultra. The guy was into his mid to late 40's and he tells me he's been riding for 20 years and this was his 4th new Harley. He said he had an 02 Ultra, but some clown turned left in front of him and he had to "lay her down". The bike was totaled and he had a broken leg which he said was now in good enough shape that he could start riding again. I then asked him if he had ever taken any rider training courses. He looked at me like I was crazy and said, "I've been riding 20 years, that's enough training for me". I then watched him as he duck-walked his bike around a U-Turn a Greyhound bus could have easily made, and then saw him drag his feet about 100 yards through the parking lot and out onto the highway.

It made me think of something an MSF Instructor recently told me. He said he teaches the MSF Experienced Rider course and that he sees a lot of people who think they are good riders because they've been riding 20 or 30 years. The instructor said what they really have is one years experience 20 or 30 times.

That made a lot of sense. In other words, a rider gets to a certain level and then, never improves any further, but instead, keeps repeating the same mistakes over and over again. Now, if you're driving a car, you can get away with a lot of mistakes for a lot of years before it catches up with you. But, on a bike, there's usually no such thing as a little fender bender. In almost every crash on a motorcycle, you're going to get hurt or even killed and your bike is going to be a mess, if not a total wreck. The point is, don't fool yourself into thinking you know what you're doing just because you've been riding for a lot of years. Look at it this way. If experience was all you need to be a good driver, then that 80 year old guy blocking the left lane of the highway with 60 years of driving under his belt, should be able to easily win the Daytona 500 should he choose to since he has far more experience than most of those young whippersnappers in NASCAR, right? Of course not!

Those young experienced NASCAR drivers have received the best training available and constantly practice and improve their skills. Now, the old guy with all the experience, like you, the experienced rider, can cruise on down the road just fine, until something unexpected happens. Then, all he and you can do is jam on the brakes and hope for the best. The highly trained driver or rider can rely on his skills and training and probably can avoid the crash altogether instead of "laying her down", (in other words, to avoid the crash). Now, it's true, you can't avoid every crash, but it sure would be nice to avoid most of them.