Near Miss

[DIGGER]

I was riding up Muesche Rd out of Tomball yesterday, speed limit 45 and I'm probably doing 50....just cruising......had my head up my butt I guess went into an S curve and as I rounded the corner I look up and there is about 5 cars stacked up with the lead car turning left and waiting on traffic....everyone is dead stopped and I'm barreling down on them.   I went into mass panic and a crash stop.  I was slidding all over the place with the ass end coming around twice on me sideways....thought I was gonna hit the last car but came to a stop sideways about 10 ft from the back of the last car and the momentum started the bike over and I just stepped off and let it fall.  Scared the crap out of me.  I guess from the adrenaline flow I snatched that Valkyrie right up off the pavement with no problem.   I wouldn't even try that in my driveway under ideal conditions but I picked it right up.  The guy got out of his car and was an off duty Sherriff in uniform.   He came back and asked if I was allright and I told him "Yeah....I'm fine .......I never hit the ground but will be ok as soon as I get my heart out of my throat and back where it belongs...."    ha.     Got some scratches on my saddlebags and my crash bar got some chrome dings .....I can live with it.

[Jabba]

Glad you're ok.

Practice those panic stops people.  Practice them when you're in a safe place.  Learn how to use that front brake.  Learn how to NOT lock up the rear wheel.

That's the most common pre-accident rider technical error (rider stupididy excluded).  Underbraking the front ond over braking the rear.

I did it recently too, and I practice it fairly regularly. 

Please don't take my above liturgy as an affront to you... but rather, just a reminder to other readers to practice.  I don't have ANY idea if that was at play in your situation or not.  Peace.

Jabba

[DIGGER]

No affront taken, it's just that when you are in that situation things are happening fast and you are trying everything you can to keep from hitting that car.  You don't have time to think, I still don't know how I got that bike stopped in time.

[Jabba]

Well, I am glad you did brother.

Same deal for me... kinda groovin' along... spacing out.  Not like me at all...  suddenly traffic in front of me dead stopped.  in the race to react... my foot won, and got to the rear brake before the hand got to the front one.  and I was locked up before I knew it. 

Sometimes... even when you start it right... and you know how to modulate the rear to NOT lock up... when you get on the front brake, and the weight shifts forward when the nose of the bike dives... it'll take the weight off the rear tire... and it'll lock up on ya.

I still am adamant though about practicing that panic stop.  Because your brain and muscles WILL remember even when your consciousness is thinking "OH SH!!!!!T".

Jabba   

[solo1]

I'm glad that you got the Valk stopped in time.

I was out yesterday practicing on my new ride.  I probably got the brakes a little warm.  Left brake first,easy then hard to allow for weight and traction to transfer to the front brake, then try to modulate the back brake second, over and over,  I found that the Strom dives a lot on heavy braking, long travel suspension with somewhat weak and overdamped fork springs. 

I also try to keep telling myself is "Don't project"  To me that means don't be thinking about what plans that you have today.  The trick is to lay back (mentally) and enjoy the ride but be aware of what's going on, very hard to do!

[cutter]

Glad to hear your OK. I run that road home in the evening running north and that last turn to the right is a blind one. I have found them stopped several time waiting to turn into a drive..... 
Same thing can happen on Telge too.

[Spirited-6]

Digger, you are luckey you did not High Side with the Valk. sliding sideways.  Glad you keep it under control. 

[DIGGER]

Digger, you are luckey you did not High Side with the Valk. sliding sideways.  Glad you keep it under control. 

yeah, I don't know how I did it but I think the Gods just wanted to get my attention instead of hurting me.....

reminds me of the old saying.....

"A SEATBELT WON'T SAVE YOUR LIFE IF IT IS GOD'S WILL THAT YOU DIE IN AN AUTOMOBILE ACCIDENT.....BUT IT SURE WILL SAVE YOU A LOT OF PAIN IF ALL HE'S TRYING TO DO IS WRECK YOUR CAR."

[Redline +]

Practice those panic stops people. 

Jabba

Lets call them quick stops...hopefully no panic involved.

Redline 

[Jabba]

Practice those panic stops people. 

Jabba

Lets call them quick stops...hopefully no panic involved.

Redline 

I stipulate to your correction.

I stand corrected.

Jabba

[czuch]

 I live on a dirt road and practise the rear swing.
 Its good to know which way she'll likely go and how bad. Its controlled and you can get out of it easier without the dramatic end.

[Oss]

I seem to lock my front wheel in those situations never locked the rear up  Not fun hearing that skidding noise when you are just a few feet from another vehicle

My crash bar probably looks a lot like yours digger

[Quicksilver]

Sometimes it's the close ones that finally get through to us, I know from experience the feeling of locking up both brakes and having the rear end swinging back and forth chirping at me. Glad you're ok.

[Valkahuna]

As I have posted before, I am the Safety Officer of my local Harley Owners Group, and the single thing I constantly harp on is to go to an empty parking lot and practice emergency steering, stopping, swerving, etc., etc. 

The whole idea is to do it often enough so that when you have to do it, it is second nature and won't surprise you. 

Riding a bike is easy when all is going right! It's when s**t happens that people get hurt. Borrow someone's dirt bike, take it out in a field, and get all crossed up. If you've never felt it, you won't know what to do when it does.

It's no different than any other other physical activity - Practice makes Perfect!!!!

Glad you didn't get hurt Digger. We've all had our heads up and locked at one time or another, so don't blame yourself for that.