Almost dumped her!!
Almost dumped her!!
Well, tonight I came as close as I think a person can come to dumping a motorcycle without actually doing it! Man, what a close call!! I made a turn down a side street with crumby, broken pavement. I took it easy, riding slowly in 2nd gear. I pulled up to an intersection where I stopped for a stop sign, using both breaks and coming to rest on my left foot as I always do. There was a couple of pokey pedestrians crossing the intersection so I decided to drop my right foot and "center" the bike vertically while I waited. The problem was that my right dropped into a depression in the pavement and suddenly the bike was tipping quickly to the right. I think the bike was very close to the point of "no return" and I felt like it was going down. Thankfully I still had control of the front brake and the tires did not slip and I was able to pull it back from the brink with the last ounce of strength my old body could muster!!
The incident turned out to be just another learning experience and a minor blemish on an otherwise dynamite 90-mile cruise!!
The incident turned out to be just another learning experience and a minor blemish on an otherwise dynamite 90-mile cruise!!
Road Captain
Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 531
Likes: 4
From: Chile Flats, AZ
Test or Surprise
Congrats... you passed that test; or came through that surprise...
I've had a couple of 'put foot down nearly sliiiiiide out from under' moments. Really brings one back to focus on where and how the foot goes down.... at least for awhile until solid footing becomes taken for granted again.... then, time to relearn the lesson, by surprise...............
I've had a couple of 'put foot down nearly sliiiiiide out from under' moments. Really brings one back to focus on where and how the foot goes down.... at least for awhile until solid footing becomes taken for granted again.... then, time to relearn the lesson, by surprise...............
Congrats... you passed that test; or came through that surprise...
I've had a couple of 'put foot down nearly sliiiiiide out from under' moments. Really brings one back to focus on where and how the foot goes down.... at least for awhile until solid footing becomes taken for granted again.... then, time to relearn the lesson, by surprise...............
I've had a couple of 'put foot down nearly sliiiiiide out from under' moments. Really brings one back to focus on where and how the foot goes down.... at least for awhile until solid footing becomes taken for granted again.... then, time to relearn the lesson, by surprise...............
Road Captain
Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 532
Likes: 21
From: Louisville, KY
I have to be honest. I hate, at the moment these things happen, but, in the long run I learn to appreciate them. It's kind of like a permanant wake up call how quickly crap can happen. It never leaves your mind and in my opinion, makes you a better rider, one that anticipates all of the possibilities. I have two that I will share (many more that I keep in my mind). First one is I'm riding my Honda, brand new bike, to get a hair cut. (i'm 20 yrs old I think) Turn into the barbers parking lot, doing all of 10 mph and all of a sudden the bike drops. Come to find out, the just laid new gravel the day before. I knew it was a gravel lot, didn't have any idea how slick new gravel was. The second was my brother and I were driving on back country roads that we weren't familiar with. Came to a 90 degree curve that wasn't marked with a sign. Went straight through the curve and stopped in the grass. If a car had been coming the other direction....well, you get the point. Being 46 yrs old now, I find myself looking at what the drivers around me are doing, anticipating their mistakes. Just tonight, I came up on an on ramp that in often congested. I was in the fast lane and had a cager in the merge lane. He was on his cell phone and new he wasn't ready for the oncoming traffic. I let off and sure enough, he jerked his wheel left at the last minute. You have to be a totally defensive driver on a a bike
Stellar HDF Member
Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 2,404
Likes: 11
From: Southern Nevada (Pahrump)
Yep, & it happens FAST too. I think most all riders can relate to what happened to you at one time or another. If not, they're turn is coming.
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Road Master
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 1,096
Likes: 107
From: Joplin, MO
Dropped mine when I put my foot down on some ******&^%r's discarded, flattened skoal can lid. Foot went out from under me like it was on ice. Now I watch every stop.
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Road Warrior
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 1,945
Likes: 3
From: Victoria, Australia
That "near point of no return" feels awful and seems to last forever before you bring it back up with that last ounce of remaining grunt.
Been there done that but it was with my son on the back. (Not the son or the bike in the pic btw.)
Been there done that but it was with my son on the back. (Not the son or the bike in the pic btw.)
