You need to practice panic stops on a dresser. It is really easy to lock up the rear wheels, compared to a lighter bike. My first two stops for a yellow light were hairy. I had to practice grabbing hard on front and lightly on rear. Scared me so much I took the Rider's Edge Skilled Riders Course. Everyone with over 3k miles in experience should do it.

If you ride like your invisible, hopefully you won't need to panic stop.
It's a zoo,be careful out there!

OP, was this a suburban, urban or rural setting? Hope you feel better.

 

It is always wonderful to be able to walk away from those with only very minor injuries. Glad you and the bike weren't hurt too bad.

 

Glad you are OK.

"Slamming on the brakes" and stripping yourself of control by locking up is almost never a good idea. If you haven't had a MSF course, it might be a good idea. If you have, take the advanced course. They work on controlled panic stops and crash avoidance maneuvers.

Get back on the horse and stay safe.

 

To the OP. I am glad you are ok with only a few minor injuries.

As everyone else has said, all of us can benefit from a little practice on the "emergency" stops. We all know the best place to practice this is in a controlled environment like a large parking lot. We also need to remember that nothing will take the place of an actual "panic" situation but practicing a "emergency" stop in a controlled environment will help condition you to react differently

AS others have mentioned the front brake is your friend in EVERY stop from speed but practicing will give you a feel of just how much front brake you can get away with before it becomes you enemy. (to much will put you down also).

I am sure that everyone realizes that once you hit the front brake hard the weight of your bike transfers forward making your rear brake almost useless other than to create the pendulum effect and giving you good look at your rear end as it passes you.

On a bike with floor boards I think it is easier to come down hard on the rear brake. After years of driving a car and only having one brake pedal your natural instinct is to hit that pedal hard when in panic situation.

One thing that has helped me greatly in these situations is years of riding motocross. (i realize that not everyone has that experience). It teaches you to constantly look for the angles of escape from idiots as well has how to incorporate downshifting, weighting the front end and proper use of the front brake as you have to do this in almost every corner. (it is also more forgiving when you error. LOL)

I am by no means trying to put myself out there as and "expert" because until you in the specific situation that the OP was in none of us no how we would have reacted or what options he had.

I will tell ya I have always been confident but cautious in my riding skills but i had a Black pit bull run under my front wheel at night and i never saw him other than a blur till i walked back to see what caused me to go down. I was very fortunate that only the bike was damaged.

Anyway get back out there and practice some emergency stopping using that front brake and some judicious use of downshifting and clutch play to minimize the rear end end locking.

Best wishes,

Jim

 

welcome to the club.
you are now one of the other kind of bikers.
I hit the TOP of a pine tree on my baptism
laid unconscious for hours woke up in the dark with a broken bike and the coyotes moving in on me.
since time slows down so much while it happens try to learn from it.
glad to see you are alive

on a more moving forward note

I got a turn signal and bar clutch lever grips and h bars and a mirror what else you need?
pick her up and go

 

Good thing is that you are ok and there is not much wrong with the bike. Try going 80 and have a back tire lock up on you. Managed to get the bike down to 30 before it threw me off. Insurance company totaled the bike out. I will never secure anything to the rear with just bungees ever again.

 

Well, sorry to hear about your accident, but glad you ar OK. Did the other guy get a ticket?

 

Sounds like about the best outcome you could have had considering the circumstances and your reaction! Glad you are OK, and the bike is not wrecked up worse.

 

Glad to hear you made it out OK. Make it a learning experience.

 

It is good to hear you are OK! As a new bike owner it is no fun to hear about these situations...I am glad you shared this with us as the information given by everyone in this post will hopefully prevent someone's future scare. OP hop back on and ride safe!