Glad you're safe dude. I always read these to learn something, thanks for putting yourself out there. I sometimes think well meaning jerks come across as jerks, but they still mean well.
As for braking, at high speeds there's plenty of momentum to keep disc slipping through the pads. As the bike slows the same amount of pad pressure can ****** the disc tight. There might not have been anything on the road, you might have squeezed the lever with all your might as you saw the back end approaching.
All this is 1/2 experience, 1/2 engineering and 1/2 my humble opinion.

 

Glad your ok and here to tell the story.

 

thats too bad SUBLIME but at least your still above ground.

ahhhh where are these switch backs your talking about? i might want to ride them.

good luck on the repairs for your bike.

 

When I see women driving cages I stay far the heck away from them! When I see women driving a Hog I speed up to them! Live by that simple rule & you will be better off! LOL

 

With all due respect, the poster named Checkers hit the nail on the head. OP made several comments that concern and worry me, for OP's safety in the future.

Before getting my own drivers license - for a car - my father made sure I had it burned into my brain that "I" have to watch out for "the other guy". This is equally if not more true for when we drive our motorcycles. Sure, none of us are perfect, but, I make it a point to know what is going on ALL AROUND ME. This includes not only what is directly in front of me - but the sides and the back - and I consciously try to plan for what "should" be the unexpected. In this case - seeing these two vehicles coming onto the freeway - it would've been MY responsibility to avoid them at all costs and NEVER assume they are going to come onto the freeway at speed, stay in their lane, etc.

I avoid cars, trucks (and the potential of their cargo - not to mention car/truck parts falling off) and areas where animals or other objects could somehow get into the roadway. And so far, I've been fortunate and not "gone down for the first time".

That saying of "...it's not a matter of IF you'll go down, but WHEN..." is pure and udder horse crap. I know many riders who've been riding well over 20 years and have never so much as scrated their bikes. Of course, the contrary is true as well.

So for the OP to say "My street glide took it's first fall tonight"...and then go on to say "...my mirrors aren't worth a ****...", and "...something in the road caused my front tire to lock up...", and then call a car that didn't hit him that HE almost hit - well - looking at this incident with this type of attitude makes me think there WILL be a second time (or more) where his bike will get laid down with him on it.

If I heard him say something more along the lines of "I laid my bike down today; I was on the freeway, mistakenly road my bike without having proper mirrors set up, and then made the additional mistake of assuming what other vehicles were doing & ended up overbraking and losing control" - I might have a bit more sympathy and chime in with a "Good thing you're ok - get the bike fixed up & ride safe". But no, I am concerned that he is not owning up to his mistakes - and in the spirit of a public forum, feel those of us with some hindsight should do our part for our fellow rider to have him take a different look at what went down when he & his bike went down.

Better mirrors, better riding gear & ABS likely wouldn't have helped in this situation from the way I read it. Situational awareness, planning for the unexpected, and giving yourself "an out" at ALL times while riding would've been the key takeaways from this experience IMO.

Bottom line - stay safe. Your safety is ultimately only up to YOU.

***Missed the post where OP has his panties in a bunch about the tone of those giving their opinion on the OP's original post; OP is CONTINUING to go on and deflect blame...you were tired and shouldn't have been driving an 800lb bike now? But, still giving blame to someone else IN FRONT OF YOU? I've come to a crawl and made all the cars behind me come to a crawl due to another vehicle driving slow - whether that car was having a mechanical breakdown, or it was a little old lady who could't barely see above the dashboard. Again, if something is coming up in front of you - it is YOUR responsibility to avoid it. You were going to fast and did not have the situational awareness of what was behind or next to you (your words) - and so you "had" to brake hard (too hard for what you were driving on) and went down. It sucks - but was COMPLETELY avoidable. Even being rear-ended while stopped at a traffic light is avoidable!

 

I openly admit to making mistakes, again you were not there, you don't know me and your condescending tone is laughable.

I spent a couple hours in the parking lot practicing "panic stops" yesterday and will not do two hours of canyon riding and get on a busy freeway in the future. Sheesh. Like I said, I have thought about this incident more than you ever will. Take your advice and stuff it

 

Ride up to Lick Observatory from San Jose and over the mountain to Patterson, you will be tired by the end of the ride. Guaranteed. Be careful.

 

ride your own ride.......
none of us were there, easy to point fingers after the fact. it is what it is & you went down also sounds like you are learning from it too.

 

If you wanna see the ride I did about 15 minutes before the incident.. Here it is...


You need to be careful on this ride, it is challenging, there are lots of bumps in the turns, lots of gravel and dirt in the turns and the turns are tight.. They don't let up.

As for your advice guys, seriously, I am taking action to improve and am aware that it likely could have been avoided, it still doesn't mean I can't be pissed at the stupid cager. Sorry if you don't agree, the stupid b!tch was the primary cause of the accident, that yes I could have avoided had I been on the ball.

OK...

 

that doesnt look OR sound like a street glide....LOL

dont sweet everyone else just ride how you feel like.