I agree with the OP 100%. I also have posted the same thoughts in the past.

Rubber and brakes stop faster than paint and skin every time.

It is from a total lack of emergency braking skills. And that comes after not doing something else properly. Most often it is following too close?speeding.

On the last post on "I had to lay it down" , the poster claimed it was his fault them blamed it on every thing else. The truck ahead of him in the left lane was going to slow. The approaching car in the right lane was going too fast and he "had to jump out fast". The approaching traffic signal's timing must have been changed because it went red faster than before.

It was all BS he screwed up and couldn't really admit it like his post title said. He was blaming everything. Oh, also it was his second accident in a year. He must have one heck of an insurance premium.

What is my record? I started riding in 1956. I have never had a close call because of skills practiced over the decades. If there is a cross road ahead with stop signs for the side road, I still slow and watch the cars approaching the sign while being prepared to stop or maneuver. I had a Illinois State trooper at a side road stop sign pull right out. I had let off the throttle and went to the center line when he finally looked left and stopped into half way into the lane. I have had many left turners. Just last week in Savanna, Il. a young lady (loose term by me) on a phone making a left turn into a supermarket. Again, I had expected it and came almost to a stop as she wizzed by me.

I am an extreme defensive rider/driver and I don't use the ride like your invisible thought. I use the idea that they all see you and want to hit you. So I ride accordingly. I readily give up the right of way. That is a major contributor to not having an accident. I give a little more than 3 second intervals when following. Sure someone will pass and get right in front of you. I just back off to 3+ seconds as often as it takes. Learned that on the Dan Ryan in Chicago.

Emergency braking is a must practice monthly skill. Another is emergency avoidance. Some thing like a box or large rock on the road. The ability to instantly counter steer around it and counter steer back again on the original line is also a monthly practice. Doing these practices WILL have you ready for your first emergency encounter. OSHA testing has shown the repeated practices will result in the person doing the desired reaction every time.

By the way trained folks don't panic. Does a NASCAR driver panic when a tires blows? No he goes into the trained mode to control it as much as he can. Does a pilot panic when he goes into a spin? No he begins the procedures learned in training.

The only folks that panic are the ones that don't know what to do.

 

Have you personally ever had to make the choice of hitting something or sliding ? Have you bounced off a car at 40mph ? Ever had the bike come out from under you in the oil slick in the middle of the intersection when trying to evade some dipshit who blew the red ? I have so a few times and walked away from them all a bit bent & bleeding but on my own , so unless you've lost a little hide and trashed a bike or 2 you got nothing to contribute to the facts , it's all lip flapping till you do .

Not saying a controlled stop isn't the way to go but like I said it isn't a perfect world and Murphy will reach out and ruin your day on a whim .

 

Yes, you are correct. They don't panic. They do crash. I did not panic when the guy in the truck pulled the u-turn in front of me. That's why I was able to slow as much as I did before the bike went down. My bike was stopping one of two ways-under the driver side of the truck or with my wheel planted in his driver side door. Which would have been better, who knows?

But you can be the most extreme most experienced rider on the planet and you still cannot plan for every situation out there. If you think you can, then you are the biggest accident waiting to happen. You've just been lucky so far. The best emergency responders I know and work with are the ones that can think and improvise. Because you know what, no matter how much training we do, it won't prepare us for every situation.

As an avalanche professional, I train hard on avoiding avalanche and keeping myself safe. No matter how much training an avalanche pro has, everyone I know that has been working for several years in the field has been caught in an avalanche of some type.

So you can sit there on your ultra high horse and say that everyone who has been in an accident has themselves to blame. I would say that those who walked away and lived to tell about it did everything right.

 

I've never laid my bike down, but I threw it down in disgust once.

 

**** happens.....btw, wtf is an avalanche professional?

 

........

 

I've never laid my bike down, but I threw it down in disgust once.

^^^^LOL This thread needed a little humor.

 

Beat me to it with this statement. I'm not going to get into the pissing match of how much it hurts to hit something upright or sliding, because both are poor outcomes.

However, either choice requires reaction time. So my perspective is if you have time to react and make a choice, you have reaction time to use your brakes. Hopefully, you have the time before this worse case scenario to practice threshold braking (maximum braking).

Find a LARGE area where you can sequentially practice using your brakes to their threshold (i.e. not skidding/activating ABS). Start at 20, then 30, then 40 mph. Do each speed repeatedly until you can reach that threshold. Get to know your bike.

Does this mean you'll avoid every circumstance? No. However, you can diminish the odds in your favor for a bad outcome.

I'm not arguing the point of the inevitable happens and that Murphy's law doesn't come into play, but I do believe that we can be as prepared as possible. We owe that to ourselves and to the folks who love us. Riding involves risk, we accept that by riding. We as riders, though, can do all we can to mitigate the risk as much as possible. We can still enjoy our passion without just "accepting" we're going down at some point.

Do we all have a chance of having a one on one meet and greet with the pavement? With a cage? With an immovable object? Of course, but since we know this, let's be responsible for ourselves and prepare a little.

I also agree with the above statement by Shopewell that no matter how much you train and look at every scenario, you will get a "surprise" moment. However, that same preparation will still help. Better to be prepared for the possibilities to help you with those truly "surprise" possibilities. (I'm in Emergency Services so I get your point exactly.)

Okay.....soapbox tucked away!

Ride safe and enjoy the ride.

 

To those who think laying your bike down is a good idea, heed the above advice and practice your emergency maneuvers. Take your bike to a parking lot, get up to speed, and lay 'er down a few times

 

Which is all I've been saying!

Of course it would be better to stop the bike with it upright. That's a no-brainer!

All that I'm discussing are those situations, and they do occur, where stopping it upright is not an option or even possible, no matter what your skill level.