Almost wrecked the bike today

Coming home from work im cruising down the road behind this guy whos pacing the car next to him. Its starting to rain a little when we come to an intersection. We are aout 150 feet away from the light doing 45 when it turns yellow. He slams on the brakes sliding into the intersection about 20 ft. Well it took me by suprise obviously. So I hit the brakes too. Immediately the front locks so I let go and hit the rears more it locks and I turn sideways instantly. I didnt have time to think so I somehow maneuvered the slide into the right hand turn off lane and came to a halt upright!

I considered getting off the bike and pulling the guy out of the car for being such a jackass but I was thankful for not have hit him or laid the bike down.

I do have a nice flat spot on the rear now.

Damn - be safe out there.

glad your alright. Ive always thought that riding a bike should be part of the test to get a drivers license because too many drivers have no idea how to deal with bicyclists.
slightly off topic: nothing pisses me off more than when some jackass motorist is about to pass me and thinks honking their horn real loud right behind me is the proper and safe way to alert me to the presence of some over sized SUV.

Nice Save Mike.

MikeFlynn74 said:

I do have a nice flat spot on the rear now.

Click to expand...

I'm glad it there instead of your head. :rockin:

Way to maneuver!

k1v1116 said:

glad your alright. Ive always thought that riding a bike should be part of the test to get a drivers license because too many drivers have no idea how to deal with bicyclists.
slightly off topic: nothing pisses me off more than when some jackass motorist is about to pass me and thinks honking their horn real loud right behind me is the proper and safe way to alert me to the presence of some over sized SUV.

Click to expand...

I thought they did that to see me jump. I espescially like the ones that yell out the window on the way by. For some reason, they all the same thing...

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

a$$h0les in suvs are the worst.

I'm glad it there instead of your head.

Click to expand...

This is very true!

Glad to hear your fine.

Glad to hear your ok. I've only dumped a motorcycle once on the road. Every other time it was in my driveway! I walk it around Dead Man's curve these days. Loose gravel, heavy bank, sloped = dump.

One thing I learned in California, is to never ride the first couple days of the rainy season. Sometimes you can't avoid it, though.

glad you didnt go down the scenario was perfect for doing a highside.I have modified the rear brake on my bikes so it wont lock unless the rear is unloaded.

Glad you're alright, Mike.

This is why I'll never own a motorcycle. You get into a fender bender in a car, the worst that happens is you get whiplash or something...but on a bike...a rear-end collision means serious injury or death with almost absolute certainty. Even if you're the most safe, conscientious driver out there, there are way, WAY too many retards that I figure must have learned how to operate their automobiles at the Hellen Keller Driving School. "Turn already, dickhead!" "Wah-wah?" Ugh.

Glad to hear you are ok. Locking up the wheels is a helpless feeling.....I know from experience. Main reason I have ABS on my current bike.

I had done this before. Although, it my own fault.

Like an idiot I took my eyes and mind off the road for a second to switch my odometer over to the trip odometer. Why I felt I needed to do that at that moment is beyond me because I am typically an overly cautious bike motorist.

Anyway, I raise my gaze up off the odometer to the road to find the car in front in a dead stop. Without a thought I lock up the back wheel and start a sideways slide. In a flash, I let off the brake, goose the throttle and the bike corrects by darting into the next lane and off I go past the nightmare.

To this day I can't be certain if I was concious of any trafiic, or lack of, in the lane next to me. I simply responded without a thought and I am surprised I didn't end up as a hood ornament.

I keep thinking about getting a bike for my warm-weather commuting but everytime I read stories like that I seriously think about scrapping those plans.

Glad to hear you came out ok!

GilaMinumBeer said:

To this day I can't be certain if I was concious of any trafiic, or lack of, in the lane next to me. I simply responded without a thought and I am surprised I didn't end up as a hood ornament.

Click to expand...

I happen to believe in guardian angels.

Glad you're okay (all).

I'm dying to get a bike, but it would be strictly for cross country cruises through small towns on Sundays.

I'm dying to get a bike, but it would be strictly for cross country cruises through small towns on Sundays.

Click to expand...

THAT would be fun

Ive been commuting for a year now and I still love heading off to work in the morning.

Well I cant afford not too-

Bike payment- 220
Gas 30
Thats 250 a month where my truck cost 400 a month to drive

Very glad you are OK, there are many many idiot drivers out there that make it scary to ride. I was in a motorcycle accident a year ago, got hit while sitting in a left hand turn lane. God was with my wife and I though as I was fine, she is just finishing up physical therapy now but is mostly back to normal.

Always wear your safety gear, my armored jacket, leather boots and helmet saved me a lot of pain. Really glad you didn't go down

What type of gear do you wear?

MikeFlynn74 said:

Coming home from work im cruising down the road behind this guy whos pacing the car next to him. Its starting to rain a little when we come to an intersection. We are aout 150 feet away from the light doing 45 when it turns yellow. He slams on the brakes sliding into the intersection about 20 ft. Well it took me by suprise obviously. So I hit the brakes too. Immediately the front locks so I let go and hit the rears more it locks and I turn sideways instantly. I didnt have time to think so I somehow maneuvered the slide into the right hand turn off lane and came to a halt upright!

I considered getting off the bike and pulling the guy out of the car for being such a jackass but I was thankful for not have hit him or laid the bike down.

I do have a nice flat spot on the rear now.

Click to expand...

Wow... isn't it amazing when your body just takes over for your brain and eeks out a safe ending? As I see it though, it's like playing with a tiger. If the tiger swats at you or takes a chunk of your flesh, it's not the tiger's fault- it's the tiger's nature. Ditto with BDC's (Brain Dead Cagers), there's more of them than there are of us. They are the norm and their stupid antics must be predicted, no matter how unpredictable, or it is us who have failed.

Sounds to me like you assumed the driver wasn't going to slam on his brake at a moment that was obviously too late to stop for the light. Just out of curiosity, do any intersections around there have red light cameras? You REALLY need to watch your following distance around RLC's. People will do anything they can not to run those, safety be damned.

Anyway, whether out in the middle of a farm country road or a yellow light in the heart of the city, you should always assume somebody might slam on their brakes and come to a complete stop. Granted, random panic stops for no reason don't happen frequently enough for you to seriously always expect it, but in my experience, it happens just enough that anyone who doesn't expect it ain't gonna be riding for too long.

Glad you kept the shiny side up. If you're interested, I'm working on a series of Advanced Art of Riding pamphlets and would be happy to get your input on them. Intersections and dangerous assumptions are two of the topics to be covered.

i've had far too many friends wipe out on motorcycles for me to consider one, but i try to be as considerate as possible. Even driving a car, keeping a good following distance is important. even with a little traffic, i use my brakes less, i waste less gas, it's not as hard on my transmission...i basically save money just by keeping a good following distance and not playing that on-your-ass stop-and-go BS.

glad you didn't get hurt, i had a guy wipe out in front of me a while back. he was fine, but...scary stuff.

Joe Rocket textile jacket and HJC helmet.
The military requires us to wear this gay ass thing http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=109776

As well as gloves and boots.

Theyve actually found the MilSpec vest has increased accidents because riders feel more secure. This luls them into a sense that the other cars on the road actually pay attention.

MikeFlynn74 said:

Joe Rocket textile jacket and HJC helmet.
The military requires us to wear this gay ass thing http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=109776

As well as gloves and boots.

Theyve actually found the MilSpec vest has increased accidents because riders feel more secure. This luls them into a sense that the other cars on the road actually pay attention.

Click to expand...

I work on a military base also and have to wear pretty much the same thing. I went with a cheaper version of that vest though. Doesnt really matter though, we could have chartreuse neon strobing all around us and drivers would still say they didnt see us

MikeFlynn74 said:

Joe Rocket textile jacket and HJC helmet.
The military requires us to wear this gay ass thing http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=109776

As well as gloves and boots.

Theyve actually found the MilSpec vest has increased accidents because riders feel more secure. This luls them into a sense that the other cars on the road actually pay attention.

Click to expand...

Pretty good gear.; That's a definite plus. If you recall, the HURT report done in the 70's found that white helmets are overrepresented in accident statistics. The authors of the report just write it off as an anomaly, but I'm not so sure. Target Fixation (on the part of cagers) makes much more sense as to why bright visible colors might be over represented.

On the other hand, I do tend to ride a little more aggressively when I'm in my two-piece leathers than when I'm just in a jacket and helmet. I don't think a vest would change my riding behavior though unless it were like magical and like allowed me to fly or something... lol...

Good save Mike...A good friend of mine's son was killed Sat on his, he hit a car at 110, needless to say it will be a closed casket at the funeral Thurs.
I ride mine everyday to work and it amazes me how people, including some riders, have their heads up their butt's and don't pay attention. It makes riding very difficult to enjoy.