I know there are seasoned riders among us, and would like to have a concensus of ideas.

The question is...
THE WRECK IS INEVITABLE, WHAT WILL YOU DO?

I can not call my self a seasoned road rider. But I am convinced that the longer I am able to stay on the breaks the slower I will be going when the crash happens. When you lay it down you will go faster because there will be less traction. I also think that if I am ever in this situation, I will have to fight my instincts which well be to lay it down.

Tough question. This is one of those where you have to pick choice D "not enough info". What you'll do depends on the circumstances: In some cases it'd be safer to bail out and in others to hang on. It also depends on your bike. Crash bars, etc? That being said, in most accidents you won't have enough time to think about it, if you did you'd likely be able to avoid the crash.

After I mess my drawers.... I almost had a broadside (driver made a left turn in front of me at 1:30am) once and I think only my experience kept me on my wheels. Hard breaking with rear wheel lockup at the last few feet. Ended up sideways but did not hit the car, I even closed my eyes at the last second and when I opened them I was shocked to still be in one piece and upright. It's a tough call to make in a split second.

That is a tough question!! I believe depending on the circumstance I would be inclined to Lay it Down!!!

If a crash is imminent, I say lay it down for road rash is better than blunt trauma. Ahhh the joys of leather :)

Speaking from hitting a car 5 years ago I would say hold on and ride it out. I hit the back of a car in a rain storm while going to a Hog for the Rhein Valley Region Chapter in Germany. The car two cars up was lost and found the street he was seaking. He slammed on the brakes and the car behind slammed em on too. I did my best to slow down but in the rain the bike just did not stop fast enough. I remember aiming away from the guys tow hitch and hitting square. I put an enormous dent in the back of his opel omega(4000 Marks) and put a little scratch on my bike where it fell on the side. I smashed my balls(they were ten shades of purple) but have since had two kids so they still work fine. My wrist was sore from the death grip on the bars and I got the stuff scared out of me. At the end of the day I was fine and I probably would not have been had I chosen to lay it down and have my legs mangled by the car. MSF teaches to always try to avoid until it is over. I for one will take my chances on the impact. I have also gone off road at about forty in unfamiliar territory because the road t'd without warning(I was going to fast to see the sign). I went through a ditch and into the woods. I finished upright in between the trees, scared but uninjured. I also saw my buddy leave the road on a slammed fatboy at about 70mph. He road it out through a rain ditch for 150 yards before finally sinking to a quick stop in the mud. Each incident would probably been far worse if we had chosen falling off and really getting hurt. Rottenralph Maybe we just got lucky.

I would do an emergency breaking but if the bike goes down ... who cares.
I have a very good insurance who covers 99% of the damages.
Well, a bike its only a piece of engineered iron and can be replaced. My body not .... :rolleyes:

ride her through screamin' like all hell broke loose

I personaly have never even thought of layin' her down and I've been through a lot of close and too close calls , but I'm always lookin' for an out in all riding situations

Laying her down is not a shame. A high side may cost you your life when you try to keep her straight. Less damage to the bike and to you.

This is a link to a thread in a forum on Motorcycle Safety tips. His opinion is that laying your bike down is a crash.

http://www.msgroup.org/forums/mtt/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=152

At my age and considering my own reaction time, my throught processing might go:

"Oh, gosh golly geewhiz, I do believe an accident is about to...crash boom bam bang scrape................ah ugg happen..somebody uh get this bike off of me"!

Billy

Tough call

It depends entirely on the circumstances.

I've got a titanium rod in my leg from one I held and slid into the car....I nearly stopped and put my leg up to push off...The bike hit it when the leg was fully loaded and snapped it..I still had the bike held upright and only let it go when I realised my foot was pointing the wrong direction.

I put one down in a corner goin up the mountain (only time I've ever layed one with a motor down in a corner)
Concious descision... my mate had high sided into that same fence a few weeks earlier and I just said to myself stuff it lets slide as the fence was too close.
NO probs hopped up, picked the bike up as the car driver (who was the reason I had no bloody road in the first place) came over apologising profusely.

I know of a young lady that started racin bikes...very good/experienced street rider BUT she lost it in corner and tried to keep it up. Went straight into the fence and broke her back.
If she had of layed it down and slid she most probably woulda been fine.
As most experienced racers do on that corner.


AT the end of the day it's difficult call that depends on the circumstances.

Try and brake as MUCH as possible while still keeping control....ya wanna wash off speed.
Try and steer into the gap.
A low side is WAY better/safer than a high side.
AND don't stick ya leg out when ya run inta something :( 'cos it never heals properly. :frownthre
Ya can't save everything...sometimes ya just gotta lay it down....no matter what it cost you..it's only a bike...ya can buy another.
Unfortunately ya only get one life and one body....and the injuries stack up over the years (pun intended...as an ex BMX and downhill mountain biker I've stacked HEAPS and the body is startin to feel it :yikes )

My philosphy has been to ride it out.
Mac from McDanials Harley Davidson South Bend, Indiana explained to me some 25yrs ago, the same thing SixMilesFromHell said. It still seams to be reasonable today.

rottenralph, I did T-bone a car. It passed me on the left and turned right in front of me. I held on for the ride. Thanks to the crash bars, I'm sure they saved my leg.
Minor damage to the bike or me... but it damn sure wiped out the side of that old Grand Prix.

My opinion: It is better to crash under control than to lay 'er down and have no control.

The two times i have been on the ground, once for 60 feet the other for 150 feet, there was no choosing. Both times i slid in a straight line, there were no obstacles, the leather litterally saved my hide.

Both times i remember feeling my helmet hit the ground hard, like a sledge hammer!

I never ride out of the city without helmet and full leather gear: jacket, chaps, gloves.

I think that the particulars of the situation would dictate which would be best. I guess I'm too damn hard-headed, but I would prefer to ride it out rather that laying it down. I think it gives me the feeling of being in control (yeah, right!) or that I might just be able to avoid crashing. Sometimes laying it down would be the best, but the situation has to be right.

first of all I never think of goin down much less gettin in to an accedent so I never contimplate how I would do it , I just react when it happens and hope like hell I did the right thing

I'd pull out my power ranger suit and fix it all right up. At least that what my 3 yr says.

Flathead45's comment reminds me of a line from the movie Top Gun...

Kelly Mcguinness (sp?) asked Tom Cruise what he was thinking up there. He said, "You don't have time to think; if you think, you're dead."

I think there's more truth in that statement than people realize...

yeah Red

I've had a few close calls over the years and people often say "did ya shit yaself".

To which I reply nope was too busy concentratin on gettin out of it.......

When I thought about it later I did :yikes


FUnny thing I've noticed, I seem to have the ability to slow things down while they are happenin and can concentrate on all the little things as/before they happen

Hind sight is a wonderful thing, but during you just react. I quess you won't know until it happens. Hopefully never!

I was woke up once by some firefighters that told me to get the hell out of there cause a fire was coming so I jumped on my bike and hauled ass. A gust of wind hit me and forced me off the road, I bailed off as the bike went over a cliff. I would say if you have to bail, bail. Other wise, ride her out. A slid you can try and gather up, just let off the brakes.

I know there are seasoned riders among us, and would like to have a concensus of ideas.

The question is...
THE WRECK IS INEVITABLE, WHAT WILL YOU DO?

Realy depends on the specifics of the inevitable wreck.
Its amazing the amount of information your brain can process in an instant when it realy counts.

Ill use the space I have for braking, most the time.
Yesterday I had no time for brakes, I would have had 10 feet at 40 mph. The car decided to go straight and came out of the left hand turn lane, I swerved around them and then gave them the bird.

KE=1/2 MxVsquared! The slower you're going the less energy (by far) involved. Stay on the brakes IMHO.
Matt

Been down twice in 41 years.

First time I laid her down...........Best decision.
Second time I rode it out..........Best decision.
Depends on circumstances.

Luckly, Was able to ride away from both w/dammage to bike only.
Few bruises and soreness later though.

I got pushed onto a 4" elevated center island once in Texas......Rode it out and hopped off it
after the cager left the scene. Sore knee and leg bruises from his door only. No bike dammage.

Well would you rather go INTO something or UNDER something ??

Every situation is different, But the last thing I am think of is getting off the bike !!
I can drive the bike ! I just havn't found any way to drive the bike if I aint On It !!!!

I have been riding for over 30 years without laying the bike down. Did get pushed off a berm by a Semi while sitting still, but that's another tale.

Twice I faced the inevitable wreck, once at 25 mph and another at 40 mph. Both times chose to stay with the bike. :eek: First time went up on the curb and through University Campus and second time over 40 foot drop in Colorado. :yikes Kept the chrome side up and no damage to bike. Both times on BT. Would do the same on my Sporty. :clap

~Webb~ :tour

I went under a tractor trailor truck that pulled a u-turn in front of me. Locked up the rear wheel and made a left. Down I went. I fit between the tractor wheels and the trailer wheels. Nobody likes to lay it down. But I didn't die.

Interesting how many people think that laying the bike down will result in less injury than staying on the brakes to the last moment. Laying a bike down at speed and coming out with only road rash or sprains happens, but only fools would actually count on it in 99% of incidents. Curbs, boulders, sprinkler heads, fire hydrants, trees, telephone poles, sharp branches, guy wires, guard rails, and other moving traffic are more than happy to add "blunt trama" to the hazards of the fall itself.

Its a crap shoot

Depends...
1972 I was on a 4 lane highway going to work. Crusing along at 55-60 mph. I'm in left hand lane and car in front darts to the right. I see 5-6 cars stopped in front making left hand turn. I look to the right, semi beside me. I look to the left and thinking about crossing oncoming lane to lay 'er down in some grass, but there's a couple of cars too close for comfort. In the mean time, I've got her braked up tight. Decide best thing is to lock it up and take my chances. I have her crossed up like a good flat tracker then ease it down to the pavement. We landed and I kicked off. Slid about 50-60 feet and ended up underneath a 1968 Chevy Bel-Air on my back side. Kicked off the rear axle and held my breath hoping the idiot behind me had enough room to stop and not rear end me or the Chevy. Heard the bike leave me scraping and sliding thinking "I still owe for thing!" All this happened in a span of about 4-5 seconds. To this day it's still slow motion. Broken ankle, cuts on my forehead, and my britches literally ripped off my back. Big holes in my a$$ and side from the slide. But otherwise ok.
Depends.... different situations require different actions. Had I tried to cross oncoming traffic to lay it down in the grass...who knows...

There is no best way. When I had a car pull from the right, directly in front of me - I had the choice to swerve head first into oncomming traffic, hit the car and go over the bars, or what I did - I laid hard into the back brake, brought the bike around slightly sideways and started to lay it down. My side (leg, ankle, hip) hit the cars fender and I rolled up onto the windshield.

It couldn't have worked out better. I'm just fortunate that instincts took over and I was back walking within a few months, plus I had the opportunity to develop a great Percocet addiction. :smoke

I would try to ride it out.

Usually the choice is not yours to make. You never really know what the outcome is going to be until the last nanosecond.

Laying it down is a WRECK! Don't stop riding the bike, you have no control when you're sliding.:doh :censor

Laying it down is a WRECK! Don't stop riding the bike, you have no control when you're sliding.:doh :censor
Exactly where I was going to go with it. In my earlier years of riding I had a racer of many years (both dirt and paved track) explain 'having' to lay it down to me like this:

"What gets better traction on pavement: chrome & steel, or rubber? I'd rather have rubber on my side of keeping control. As soon as you go down you have no control."

She (yes, she) made a lot of sense to me while discussing this and many other defensive maneuvers of street riding.

Just my $.02...but when adjusted for inflation it's only worth $.0193...

I would never intentionally crash. That crap only happens in the movies.

I would say not enough information. My reaction to the situation would totally depend on the facts at hand. Different situations require different responses and I can't just say that I would do one thing or another.

Glad to see so many new threads on "surviving a crash" this type of info, You can never hear it too many times!!!
PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE

Next time you ride practice some emergancy stopping. Many people will do a monster burnout to finish off the back tire before replacemnet. But instead, Go out and do some rear tire lockups. Get a feel for how she rides when the back tire is sliding. Burnouts are fun! But this one might save your life !!!

(Beside New tire burnouts make much more smoke!!LOL)

I remember being in my mid teens (early 70's) and hearing my older cousin talk about having to "lay it down." He made it sound like some sort of macho man thing, something you did if you got in trouble while riding. Back then "laying it down" may have been a realistic option because the brakes on motorcycles were so poor. With todays brakes and the knowledge of how to use them, I'll never choose to "lay it down." I was told in an advanced rider course that if you can't stop then swerve, and if you can't swerve then you were going too damn fast. So part of it is good brakes, the other part is having the ability to properly execute a swerve, and the final part is possessing the wisdom to keep the speed down in the first place. "Laying it down" is nothing more than choosing to crash. I heard years ago that motor officers are taught the technique of laying their bikes down. So maybe there is something to it. But in my 30 plus years of riding and seeking knowledge and instruction about riding I've never run across anyone who recommended "laying it down" as a proper course of action.
DougT

I think that if we had ABS, we might not even be having this discussion. I say loose the fuel injection, and give us ABS instead.

yeah Red

I've had a few close calls over the years and people often say "did ya shit yaself".

To which I reply nope was too busy concentratin on gettin out of it.......

When I thought about it later I did :yikes


FUnny thing I've noticed, I seem to have the ability to slow things down while they are happenin and can concentrate on all the little things as/before they happen

yeah, that's weird isn't it? every thing sorta goes in to slo-mo.

After I mess my drawers.... I almost had a broadside (driver made a left turn in front of me at 1:30am) once and I think only my experience kept me on my wheels. Hard breaking with rear wheel lockup at the last few feet. Ended up sideways but did not hit the car, I even closed my eyes at the last second and when I opened them I was shocked to still be in one piece and upright. It's a tough call to make in a split second.
Left turn in front of you! Quit the BS, that never ever happens.Seriously,though, I read an article years ago in one of the scooter mags that most people on bikes simply "freeze'" when confronted with a situation like this, they just panic and ride right into the situation! The moral of the article- Practice hitting your front and rear brakes at the same time-as if you were getting into a situation like this. I do it all the time, it keeps you sharp!

I didn't vote, cause I'd like to say I could lay it down, and slide bike first into the crash, but I have had some close calls, and locking everything up and hanging on, usually wins over.

I can remember all my street crashes, but only remember the worst off-road crashes. If your body hits anything solid at 30 mph or over, broken bones are just about guaranteed, unless you are really lucky. Keeping the bike upright with the brakes on hard will get you down to 30 mph quicker than sliding on your side. I can't remember how many times I have gone over the bars on dirt bikes, below 30 mph, got up and kept riding, although sometimes a lot slower. Once I slammed into the opposite side of a ditch at 30 mph and didn't walk again for 10 weeks. If a car pulls in front of me, there will be tire skid marks to the point of impact, over the bars and car and then to leather and helmet. Amazing what a little adrenalin can do.

Once I blew a corner on dirt bike, heading straight into a solid rock cliff. Slide the rear around so both tires hit the cliff. The impact was absorbed by the suspension, downshifted powered out. Doubt I could do that on a Roadster though. There are exceptions to every rule.

I do not want to go there!
I see your point. I read somewhere that made sense to me.
Slow down as much as possible before the wreck, because it is better to crash-wreck at lower speed than higher speed.

Hope and pray to never see an still obstacle in front of me when my bike is moving.

Good luck.

Cameron, 2005 XL 883 SS (Standard Stock):tour

Just another point about cages that pull out in front of you !! When the adrinalin(?) Kicks in your competitive genes turn on and you have an instinct to try to "Beat It" Meaning try to get around it at the front. If you can get the notion in your head to aim behind them you'll likely just drive around them or maybe do a little ditch witching. Still better than a T-Bone or a Head-on!

Turning left in front of you has got to be the worst ! Theres not a lot of choices there. If you go left you may be into oncoming traffic, If you go right your racing the car for the room, And you already know he doesn't see you. That has got to be the worst case. I will try to remove all the speed I can with the brakes / gears before the hit, Then try to protect my head as much as possible. Thats about all you can do ! I would rather fly over his hood than slam into his undercarrige! And If I can get up I'm likely gonna kill someone!!:shhhh

Just another point about cages that pull out in front of you !! When the adrinalin(?) Kicks in...
And If I can get up I'm likely gonna kill someone!!:shhhh

:laugh When I got hit, adrenalin, piss and vinegar all kicked in. I kept trying to stand up, but couldn't figure out why I kept falling over. I don't think I really realized what just happened. Anyway, some guy kept trying to keep me on the ground. I got pissed and punched him in the jaw (then I fell on the ground again). Oh well, at least I was able to apologize later. ;)

I think you'd be hard pressed to find an MSF instructor that would tell you there's ever a good time to lay it down.
Hopefully I'll never come to that decision point.

I think you'd be hard pressed to find an MSF instructor that would tell you there's ever a good time to lay it down.
Hopefully I'll never come to that decision point.



Love the AVATAR Dude !!!!

Laying it down is a WRECK! Don't stop riding the bike, you have no control when you're sliding.:doh :censor
this is a true statement. lay it down and you've placed your body at the mercy of pure luck, may be good but usually bad. stay on and control the machine, don't let it take you where you don't want to go, at least with out a fight. the longer you stay in control the longer you put off the accident. most of the lay-downs are done by a combination of incompetence and panic and not a premeditated maneuver. Skippy panics, Skippy locks rear brake,ass end of scoot passes front end, Skippy lowsides, gets lucky and walks away from it and brags it up in the bar( how he had to lay er down). now you can argue with me all you want but Ive been there- done that- bragged about it. most people could stop faster if they didn't have a rear brake and had to learn to panic stop with the front only. the smart money here has been telling you to practice panic situations till it becomes second nature. damn good advice.

This is a been there done that situation for me, too many times.:rolleyes:

Whether dirt or street, whether boulder, brush, car or van, I've never layed it down. I've braked to slow the impact as much as possible in whatever moments were available.

... and here I am typing.:clap

As said earlier, when you lay a bike down (I wonder how many could actually do it if they tried?), you've lost all control. Learn to use the front brake and throttle to avoid accidents. Sometimes gettin' on the gas will save you! Of course, sometimes nothing you do will avoid the inevitable. That's when it pays to be wearing something on your head besides a black "tupperware bowl" helmet.

Lot's of good advice here. I'm in the "hold on and ride it out" camp. I've had my share of scary situations too. I've never laid the bike down.

A couple years ago I was passing a slower moving vehicle when a young feller in a pickup truck came down a driveway and made a rigth turn without even looking in my direction. Fortunately, he stopped. Unfortunately, he froze.

I had about 50 or 60 feet to make a decision. On the left, a fairly steep ravine with lots of bolders. On the right, the car I had just passed, and I wasn't sure where that was. Things definately seem to happen in slow motion. First thought I had was "OMG, my bike!" Second thought I had was "This is really gonna hurt."

While all this thinking was going on, my reflexes had kicked in and I was applying brakes. Both wheels locked up, but I kept the bike upright and straight. I don't know how fast I was going, but I was accelerating to pass the car. I figure I was going about 25 or 30 when I impacted the front of the pickup. (Did I mention it had a snow plow rig on the front?)

I never left the bike. The front end absorbed the brunt of the impact. I got a little cut on my left pinky, broke a small bone in my right hand where your thumb joins to your hand, and got a few scrapes on my shins, but that's it. The impact pushed the plow frame over a foot to one side.

The hardest thing to do in a panic situation is to avoid locking up the brakes. Adrenalin kicks in and you just squeeze harder than you need to. That's why practicing panic stops every now and then is a good thing.

JC

If the point, where collision is "inevitable" were to arrive, I have missed :doh a number of "signs"; my speed, my speed to the possible traction available, my relative speed to those around me, my relative distance to those around me, thier relative speed and distance to me, ect, ect...
If all these fail to tell me "its comming"...my reflexes do thier stuff, and I relax. :wonderlan

I've been riding for well over 20 years and I have strong feelings about this.

To me it is ridiculous to lay it down. There is no way of knowing what the outcoming is going to be, or even if you'll be hurt, so to purposely crash (lay down) doesn't make sense to me.

The again, I think I love my bike more than I do myself :tour

It's been mentioned a couple of times but bears repeating - learn to control and use the front brake to it's maximum potential. That's where most of your braking force comes from but a lot of riders won't use it hard enough.

And yeah, ABS and balanced braking systems make a huge difference in panic brake maneuvers, especially in poor traction conditions.

I cant vote here, there are situations where laying the bugger down is the best thing, and there are situations where you need to just hang on for dear life. It has been said though, the longer you can keep the rubber down and the wheels turning with the breaks on, the slower you will be going when you finally hit the pavement with other parts of your body and or bike.

never stop steering, braking, trying to avoid.....

never, never, never

Ww

I cannot think of many reasons to lay a bike down. It seems to be an old time school of thought. Even the MSF course instructors say never lay the bike down. Once you lay it down, you have lost 100% control. Yeah, the crash is inevitable, but I'd rather stay on the rubber and use the brakes until the very last split second.

When you start thinking that the crash is inevitable then it becomes inevitable... there is almost always something you can do. For a real inevitable crash you don't have time to think about it. Keep your feet on the pegs and use your riding skills. Practice your riding skills. Take the MSF class if you haven't.

Hi all.

I had my little incident last may, Laying it down is for Hollywood stunt riders and only in the movies.
Once you lay it down, you are no longer in any type of control, you are, for all intentional purposes, a projectile.

I would say neither is the right answer, ride it as long as you can, and as you hit, jump over.
I cleared that Honda Accord, and walked out of the hospital 4 hours later.
If I had somehow laid it down, i would have hit full force into the side of that car, and most likely not be here to pass this on to you now.

I read something a while back and it stuck with me.

Here, check this out..

The Greatest Oxymoron Of All-I dumped my bike to avoid a crash (http://www.msgroup.org/TIP092.html)

I will first admit that after the first four to five pages, I tended to only skim the answers. That said, I only saw a couple of mentions of hard braking with both front and back brakes. Locking up the back brake will not give near the slowing or stopping ability as clampin' down on both brakes. Approximately 70% of a bike's braking efficiency is in the front brake. That is why when they started puttin' discs on scoots, they put them on the front...that is where they were gonna do the most good. Stay upright, gear down, and squeeze the crap outta both brakes while you look for an out. If you do hit, you'll be goin' a lot slower than if you just lock up the rear. Just mho.

I know there are seasoned riders among us, and would like to have a concensus of ideas.

The question is...
THE WRECK IS INEVITABLE, WHAT WILL YOU DO?

The situation calling for laying it down is very rare - like imminent impact with a semi-trailer. Lay it down and pass under - possibly. But even then, maximum reduction of speed will help reduce injury.
Years ago in Montana, a young man and his girlfriend were riding his bike on some back roads. They came to a cattle gate with the fence closed which he thought would be open. He wisely figured they should not run through the barbed wire, and "layed it down" onto it's side in the gravel. He was ok with a bit of road rash. However, the bike caught and flipped high into the air, landing on his girlfriend, killing her. If only he had stayed on the brakes to the last possible moment. The, "I had to lay it down" comes from watching too many 1950's biker movies instead of learning how to ride for real.

I would try to do what ever would cause the least amount of physical damage to me. If I get too busted up, I may not ride again.

I had a friend who laid his bike down once. I believe it was the best decision he could make. His choice was to hit a guard rail with leg between that and the bike, or to just lay the bike down and follow it into the guard rail. Bike was messed, he wasn't and was he was riding the following we on a new bike.

IMO, 99% of the "I layed it down stories" are pure bull poop excuses for poor riding skills. The other 1% are highly suspect. Like mentioned earlier, sliding under, rather than broadsiding a semi trailor is a rare movie type occurance.
I have been riding since the early 70s and have had my share of close calls. Never have I considered "laying it down." Looking back, can't see where it could have made anything better.
Ted

From the looks of the poll 23% of the people responding should seriously think about attending a good motorcycle course.

This is old thread... not to bring it all up again, but......:doh

In my experience, (this fall), I went off the side of the road into the berm, and did a quick assessment of what I could/should do next... So I very gingerly applied both brakes (as the front is wobbling & I'm trying to hold onto the handlebars), then gradually try and lean the bike back into the road...
Well, that proceeded to put me further into the ditch, with a fence row as far as I can see and pavement to the left....
Next thing I know I feel the front wheel lock in a split second, then over the bars (I think) and WHOOOMP, as I land... slide.....slide...slide... face-first in the ditch parallel to the road and fence, feeling the front of my helmet and face bury in the grass.... (lucky :D ) I hear the bike land a few feet beside me next to the fence row, and stop sliding. Get to my knees, realizing somethings wrong with my right arm... either broken or dislocated. Take off my helmet, try to stand, get dizzy, go back to a knee... Get out the cellphone, (no signal naturally), wait for a car....

So in my situation, I like to believe I did the right thing. But truthfully, I guess I was just happy to be able to walk away with a broken arm, and NOTHING else wrong with me ( I may have broken my nose as it bled profusely for a bit), not even a scratch (amazing)! And I was doing about 55mph when it all started...

I suppose I could have laid it down, but who knows, where I would have landed... maybe I could have slid on my back and not taken the blunt trauma to the shoulder... but maybe I would have slid onto the road or into the fence then... who knows.

If you're up you have some control; if you're down nada. And as mentioned before, there is really no time to decide at the time.

IMO, 99% of the "I layed it down stories" are pure bull poop excuses for poor riding skills. The other 1% are highly suspect. Like mentioned earlier, sliding under, rather than broadsiding a semi trailor is a rare movie type occurance.
I have been riding since the early 70s and have had my share of close calls. Never have I considered "laying it down." Looking back, can't see where it could have made anything better.
Ted


Yep, but it also depends on the situation at the time,

With that said, it actually makes it worse in most cases, not only are you trying to control one thing (motorcycle) now you have 2 un-controllable objects, body sliding or tumbling as your body actually accelerates when you seperate from the bike.

Best to stay with motorcycle as long as you can, if you can!!:censor

is code for crashed. i will attempt to avoid a crash at all cost.

Ya know, I've seen and heard in many places that you go faster when you lay it down. Now we didn't talk about this in my college physics classes, but it seems to me that unless there is energy being added (going down a steep hill or over a cliff, etc...), you can't speed up if you lay down the bike. You will not go any faster than you were going when your friction was lost or substantially reduced. You just won't slow down very quickly, until you impact something relatively immovable (stopped vehicle, guard rail, brick wall, mountain, etc...).

All that being said (just being picky today for some reason), when the bike is laid down it has just been in an accident. If the bike then slides into some solid object, then there has just been a second accident. If you separate from the bike, then there will be a third accident 'cause you have hit the solid ground at a minimum. If you tumble, and most likely you will, expect to have multiple injuries to the extremities as they flop around while you roll/tumble.

as long as you're still on the bike you have options and you have control of where it goes and what happens. laying the bike down is foolish. i laugh every time someone tells me a story that ends with "I had to lay the bike down"

I would have to say depending on situation,thus high speed an going to hit a tree than bail take your chances my body is worth more than my bike will ever be. i agre with the practice brake check rule you never know when some idiot on a cell is going to pull out in front of you! live free and ride forever

Another old thread resurrected. Must be winter. But anyhoooo, first time out in the spring, practice controlled panic stops. Practice counter steering, especially when braking.
Someone quoted one of my posts from 2004. It still stands. My opinion is the same.
Ted

How do you go about laying a bike down whilst avoiding a dreaded high-side?

Tough question. This is one of those where you have to pick choice D "not enough info". What you'll do depends on the circumstances: In some cases it'd be safer to bail out and in others to hang on. It also depends on your bike. Crash bars, etc? That being said, in most accidents you won't have enough time to think about it, if you did you'd likely be able to avoid the crash.

You hit the nail on the head. I have done both, ride it out and jump for your life. They must have been the right thing to do as I am still here! Once a car was turning into me so I jumped. I had nowhere to go to miss him. The other was a pileup and I stayed on the bike sort of on top of the side. I came out good on both. Some road rash from jumping off. and nothing but a messed up panhead chopper on the other.

The only other time I fliped the bike in a hard left turn. Kickstand dug into the road. Somehow I ended up ahead of the bike. That one hurt!!

How do you go about laying a bike down whilst avoiding a dreaded high-side?

Squeeze the front brake till it locks and hold it in. Down you go.

A high side only happens when you lock the rear and then release it after it has slid out to the side more than about 10*. When you let off of the brake the rear wheel will start to spin again and try to realign with the front. That sudden acquisition of rear wheel traction it what causes the high side.


However, I must (my conscience) advise you/anyone to never try either of these. Just hold on and ride it out. The only place I could ever see "laying it down" being a realistic option would be if you were going to go over the wall of an elevated roadway (bridge). It would be hell to try to keep the bike up and wind up leaving it on the bridge while you plummet 100' or more to your demise.

(Lay It Down) is code for crashed. i will attempt to avoid a crash at all cost.

This the best answer for this question I have read.

: Mike :tour

The only place I could ever see "laying it down" being a realistic option would be if you were going to go over the wall of an elevated roadway (bridge). It would be hell to try to keep the bike up and wind up leaving it on the bridge while you plummet 100' or more to your demise.

Yup, staying on a bridge would qualify as one of those moments.

It is my opinion that "laying it down" strategy is only valid in the last 2 seconds of options. I did this once, and am still glad I did.

I say ride it out till the end. AlsoIhave never thought Um should I lay it down? I think sometimes people accidentley "Lay it down" .

Back when I raced motocoss I would hold on sometimes I could ride her out other times I paid for holding on. I think I would try to ride her out whats the worst that happens you wreck. Well if you let go you will for sure wreck. Be a man hold on.

I've laid 'em down a few times over the years, never intentionally though. :doh

Depends, question is too vague. My reaction in the wreck I had before Christmas was to reduce my speed as much as possible in control, blunt force impact got the better of two ribs. But I feel I did the right thing. Had I layed down the biker behind me who crashed into my bike would have surely ran me over and so would the car that followed him.

I stay on the bike to the end.
I have crashed before on a 50cc and on a dirt bike too a couple of times.
Invoking the protection of God, and hoping to don't attract bad mojo to me.
Here, a guys from a very well known m.c has the custom of never letting you let your helmet on the floor, to dont attract bad mojo. (I knew the first time I visited their house, I was going to put my helmet on floor like always do, and they insisted to set it on the table).

I would have to agree with the idea ot staying with the bike however, I laided mine down recently at Sturgis when I was involved in a 3 bike crash. 4 of us riding staggered, I was second, were coming down a 4 lane, when a bike on our side of the rode pulled out, of course we all thought he would stay in the right lane and go with the traffic flow, he didn't , we moved to the left lane to go around him and he kept coming straight across, by the time we realized WTF he was doing we were almost in the on coming lane. My friend hit him almost broad side, all I saw was bikes and bodies flying every where, I locked them up and threw the bike to the right and put it on the pavement, did not hit anybody or anything. This much I will say, the scaryist part was sliding to a stop and seeing a bunch of bikes coming at me, I thought I was dead, but everyone missed me, thank god, my friend lost his foot and part of his leg as a result of the accident, the other guy was banged up pretty bad as well, but didn't loose any body parts. I had a fair amount of road rash and banged up shoulder, but will be back to work soon. Did I do it right, I don't know, but I'm alive to ride another day and have been doing so....I pray to god that I don't ever have to make that choice again

i crashed once on the street. on a street bike, full race suit, and all the gear that goes with it. long sweeper, 95-100mph, knee down, reducing radius turn, and the bike had no more clearence. peg grabbed and lifted the rear end. yes i did have enough time to think about it, thought process whent something like this.......highside=hospital/ bail bail bail........ahh shit, my bike is flipping down the middle of the street, i gotta catch it.......think it's ridable, o hell ya, and i'm bleeding again.............


ps. this is mostly the reason, i ride the harley more often then the honda

i'll hang in there with my girl till the end, there is always a possibility of pullin a save outta yr ass or making the wreck less than lettin it go.

that being said there is a time and place for everything and if i'm sliding twards the side of a cliff or some crazy shit........ by by babby

I guess i have been lucky, out of hundreds of near misses and what should have been a crash, i have always stayed with the bike and avoided the serious end. Short of the "bridge ends soon scenerio", i will elect to stay with her.

Short of the "bridge ends soon scenerio", i will elect to stay with her.

Probably me, too, even though the thought of high-siding scares me. The thought of crashing in general does, too, especially since I frequently carry my lovely wife.

In situations that have become suddenly unforgiving (rare, and always my own fault) I have found myself looking at the way out, counter-steering and breaking to get there. I honestly believe it would not occur to me to "lay it down," even if that were the appropriate action.

I don't even know how to lay down a bike. I doubt it would come to me in a fast-moving, dangerous situation.

:us:

Unless your going to T-Bone a car, tree, guardrail..whatever... by all means bail out,

just to lay it down like some Hollywood movie bullshite is the lamest thing you can do, as you actually end up putting
yourself in MORE danger had you stayed with the machine and tried to control it to the bitter end..

I laid my bike down yesterday. Briefly, I wasn't paying attention, was going 30, looked up and saw that the car 10 yards ahead of me was stopped. I jammed on the brakes reflexively (probably hit the clutch and downshifted reflexively too, the whole thing happened in about one second, who knows what happened?), and I thought "holy sh*t, I'm gonna slam into it!" Next thing I know, the bike has laid itself down. In that short amount of time I had slowed the bike enough that by the time it hit the rubber bumper of the car it was probably doing about 4 MPH, which is normal walking speed. It slid out from under me, and I did a three-point landing, one hand and two feet. I was unscratched, a stunt man couldn't have done it any better. Of course I take no credit, it just happened. I was wearing shorts, t-shirt, skate shoes, no gloves and no helmet.
Did absolutely nothing to the car which just drove away -- no one in this town has insurance, and judging by the age of the car, it was likely owned by an illegal -- not putting any group down, that's just how it is here. I righted the bike, collected the sheared-off pieces, and walked it a few feet to a lot. A guy who saw it was nice enough to circle around and see if I was okay.

snapped the stud on my new cool home-made forward peg, needs a $5 weld
wasted my new Flyrite mini-apes, $35
need a new axle bolt, $2-3
broke my new flyrite clutch lever, $7.50
Everything else is cosmetic, will take a few days of sanding, painting, restoring and polishing.
Learned a valuable lesson for cheap. Believe it or not, the reason I wasn't paying attention was because I was waiting to see if the bike coming toward me was going to return my wave.

I was wearing shorts, t-shirt, skate shoes, no gloves and no helmet . . . . Learned a valuable lesson for cheap. Believe it or not, the reason I wasn't paying attention was because I was waiting to see if the bike coming toward me was going to return my wave.

Holy :censor

there are a lot of circumstances that could get you killed on a motorcycle, agreed. i've really never had the situation arise where i felt i had to make a choice to lay it down. it's always been "stay with it, stay with it, stay with it...". call me paranoid, but there's never a time when i get on my bike and don't think to myself that it could be the last time i'm riding, walking, or breathing. call me paranoid, but i try to stay out of blind spots, and basically think that every other vehicle on the road doesn't see me. i watch for those "situations" and try to avoid putting myself into a position without an escape route, allowing me to not have to make the choice to slam into something, or lay it down. now don't get me wrong, i'm not all uptight about riding. i'm all for being crazy, i just stay in control of the situation. man, i talk to much...