I know everyone here has seen this video. I have been riding for over 5 years now. I have about 60k miles under my butt and have put over 14k miles on my 14 Ultra. Most of the time I do scrape is on a cloverleaf on/off ramp. When I scrape I immediately back off on the throttle and "try" to stand the bike up some.

I go to the mountains once a year and love the twisties. I ran the Dragon for the first time last year and scrapped a few times but nothing scary.

Besides hanging the curve too fast for a lowered bike, would this guy had been ok if he applied some rear brake and slowed down a little.

What's the best thing to do in this situation?



I guess my question sounded dumb. Does applying the rear brake make sense in this situation or just let off the throttle and no brake?

 

I can only say never put yourself in a stituation that calls for a response that you are incapable of. If you want to go fast in the twisties,use a bike made for it.

 

First off I think this guy was riding above his ability. Secondly, when you watch the slo mo part of the video you'll see that his foot getting drug off the board is what causes him to go down. When riding twisties you feet should be firmly planted inline with the boards. Not hanging off the side like his was. That's just my perspective.

2010 Limited with some stuff

 

I agree. No way a body part should touch first unless you are racing a crotch rocket and dragging knees. Keep your feet inside on the boards and let them fold up as they are designed to do.

 

I guess my question sounded dumb. Does applying the rear brake make sense in this situation or just let off the throttle and no brake?

 

I ride quite aggressively sometimes, but there comes a point when one can override the capabilities of the motorcycle and oneself. It appears that the rider in the video did just that. At some point the foot board support will contact the road, lift the rear wheel off the pavement, and cause the rear-end to pivot. No amount of trail braking braking or anything else will correct that problem. The best thing that the rider in the video could have done was to have gone into the curve slower. It looks like he simply over-rode the curve maybe showing off for the guy taking video.

 

Getting out of it (throttle and rear brake) on the first touch may have saved him but by the second touch he was out of room so the third time was a crash.

 

It looks to me like he actually leaned to far and lifted the rear tire, not much you can do when that happens.


Edit:^beat me to it

 

No your question was not dumb. Once the motorcycle is loose in a curve any rapid change in the weight ratio of front and rear can cause it to go out of control. It depends on the circumstance whether the front, rear, or both brakes are applied. I don't think the rider in the video could have recovered because I believe that the frame contacted the roadway and pivoted the rear. Once the rear wheel lost traction he was in deep trouble. Any braking on a wheel that has lost traction will make matters worse.

 

Definitely looks like the rear tire lifted swinging the rear of the bike around.