So I'm on my usual commute home...in the carpool lane. I'm only about five miles from home. I'm not sure what's happened about 2 cars up, but it looks as though a minivan (go figure) has done something stupid. It's not uncommon for cars to stop DEAD in the carpool lane, because it's life or death for them to get over to their exit NOW. Why bother planning ahead when you can stop dead and almost cause an accident every time.

Well, tonight, I feel as though my moto radar is kicking in a little (or at least my body is going on auto pilot with some things). The car in front of me locks it up, as does the car in front of him. I'm all over the front brake (looking back, I didn't go for the rear brake at all), and I'm slowly skidding toward the car in front of me, and--as if in slow mo--my rear tire is going sideways...  

I never came to a full stop behind the car, though I did get sideways, but something told me to get OUT of that spot. I wasn't looking in my rearview mirrors at all...just something told me to get OUT of that spot. I was about two feet from the car in front of me, and I was sideways....

I pulled over to the left of the car in front of me, and as the driver and I are looking at each other, WHAM!!!!! The car that had been behind me was now stuck to the car that had been in front of me.

So, instead of two broken legs, a broken bike, and broken who knows what else, I was able to ride home...shaken and a bit stirred, but whole. I'm still shaking, but I think it's just cuz the A/C is on...yeah...that's it!  Thank goodness for the little voices in my head!  

(And y'all thought the little voices just meant I'm crazy!  :nana: )

 Glad your OK. "Never ride faster than your gaurdian angel can fly"  

holy crap Pandy. THAT was a close one. Good intuition.

Quote from: Phaedrus  Glad your OK. "Never ride faster than your gaurdian angel can fly"  

My guardian angel was working overtime today!!!      

Quote from: pantabloholy crap Pandy. THAT was a close one. Good intuition.

Finally! I was wondering when the biker intuition would kick in! *phew* just in time!    :mrgreen:

ahhh, that story started out terrifying but it has a happy ending.  

you're beginning to become clairvoyant, pretty soon you will have eyes growing out of the back of your head!

i am always wary of this kind of situation.. remember us bikes can brake faster than cars.

Sometimes i flash my brake likes right before i brake so people can see it. It helps a lot.

minivan moms suck!

glad to hear you're ok.... stupid people who can't drive.... :x

Quote from: The_good_guyi am always wary of this kind of situation.. remember us bikes can brake faster than cars.

I've seen motorcyclists say this a lot, but you'd be surprised. Now days, damn near all cars have 4 large disc brakes and fairly decent calipers. Most cars can stop within a cars length or two of a bike, sometimes even matching or beating the stop distances of motorcycles, depending on each. For example, (from Cycle World, October 2005) An MV Agusta F4 Tamburini (the top of the line, most awesome sportbike ever) has a 60-0 stopping distance of 126 feet.

Here are braking distances from 60-0 from some roadsters (Consumer Reports, October 2005)
Porsche Boxter: 112
Mercedez-Benz SLK: 118
hevrolet Corvette: 126
Nissan 350Z: 124
Honda S2000: 126
BMW Z4: 117
Lotus Elise: 117

Now I realize these are sporty cars, but fact of the matter still remains. The Porsche is a 3,015lb dry weight car, and it brakes in less distance than a top-of-the-line MV Agusta. Now while it may be true that cars USED to take more distance to stop than bikes, this was back in the days when cars were equipped with drum brakes.

Compare some of those numbers with your own thoughts about the GS. Single, small, 2 pot caliper front brake, single small disc 2-pot caliper rear brake... Do the math.

Also, do you think that you have the same level of skill that those testers that do the braking tests do? They repeatedly do hard braking in order to get the shortest distance. Do they get it every time? No way. It takes MANY tries to not only to get the shortest distance, but also not slide the bike around at all.

Next, consider your reaction time. The numbers in the magazines and stat sheets of the bikes do not include the reaction time between seeing, processing, and acting. They are simply the hard numbers. That half second of reaction time is a vital distance. If you're traveling at 60mph, per-se, and you've got a half-second reaction time every time all the time, in that half second, you would have traveled 44 feet. Now assume you're going 70 mph; 51 and a third feet in half a second. The numbers get higher and higher. And that's assuming you have PERFECT reaction time, EVERY time, ALL the time.

I'm trying to dispell this myth so that you can be aware of these things and be safe. Please, everyone, don't take your bikes for granted. Leave an extra margin of safety, JUST IN CASE.

Quote from: ginoeahhh, that story started out terrifying but it has a happy ending.  
you're beginning to become clairvoyant, pretty soon you will have eyes growing out of the back of your head!

   

(pssst....I've had my son convinced for years that mommies have eyes in the backs of their heads....Now I have something solid to back it up with! )

remember the swerving excersize from msf?  don't panic, react swerve over (f%$k the painted lines) then brake when you know you have enough room to stop.  once you touch the brakes you loose your ability to swerve from loading the forks so that you don't have the travel required to get the bike leaned over. good to know that you were able to control the bike though.

Quote from: davipuremember the swerving excersize from msf?  don't panic, react swerve over (f%$k the painted lines) then brake when you know you have enough room to stop.  once you touch the brakes you loose your ability to swerve from loading the forks so that you don't have the travel required to get the bike leaned over. good to know that you were able to control the bike though.

I don't think I had enough room to swerve..everything happened so fast...the two cars in front of me really laid on the brakes fast and hard..when I was beside the car that had been in front of me, all I could smell in the air was the burnt smell of brakes...blech.... the slide was kind of how I imagine a dirt bike slide would be....except that it was pretty slow and controlled, in a fast and crazy kind of way. Everything felt as though it were in slow motion....hard to describe, but I'm sure most of us have been there at one time or another....

The emergency swerving is something that I need to practice on...actually, I want to take the ERC now that I have some decent time in the saddle.  

there wasn't a escape route between the cars and the wall or between the cars in the carpool lane and the cars in the left lane?

Quote from: daviputhere wasn't a escape route between the cars and the wall or between the cars in the carpool lane and the cars in the left lane?

That's a good point.  I've developed the habit of angling my bike towards one side when I come to a stop in traffic.  I did it so I would only have to accelerate into a clear spot to get out of trouble.  An added bonus is that when I'm angled, I can more easily see what's going on directly behind me because my mirrors are now better positioned.

Quote from: The_good_guyi am always wary of this kind of situation.. remember us bikes can brake faster than cars.

Sometimes i flash my brake likes right before i brake so people can see it. It helps a lot.

minivan moms suck!

True-dat about soccer-moms, but i'm going to sorta disagree about the braking faster.   Though I completely agree that a bike has a shorter stopping distance than a car....   at highway speeds I think that cars brake a lot more safely than bikes do (and i think the difference in braking distances shrinks at those speeds as well).

In any case, pandy.... I am a total believer in guardian angels, and I think that yours certainly whispered in your ear.  Try not to work her too hard, ok?

After a few jaunts on the highway, I'm coming to the conclusion that large commuter  highways are probably best avoided on a motorcycle.  Its like playing a very large, life-sized game of chess trying to stay safe, out of blind spots, and away from potential hazards in the road.   Granted, I live in Atlanta, which has some pretty thick stretches of interstate... but insofar all the traffic i've encountered has behaved pretty well....  i shudder at the pretext of having to deal with some of the drivers i've seen while in my car.

Quote from: daviputhere wasn't a escape route between the cars and the wall or between the cars in the carpool lane and the cars in the left lane?

The cars were bumper to bumper in the lane to the right of the carpool lane...no escape there.... as for the carpool lane, I'm not quite getting across that the stop was FAST. There wasn't much of a space between the wall and the cars in the carpool lane. I was able to navigate it at slow speed, but I'd likely have hit the wall going faster. There are some spots where the carpool lane was created by reducing or eliminating the shoulder, and this was one of them.

The car in front of me had also pulled hard to the left in his efforts to avoid the person in front of him.

We were all going at speed, and then suddenly, a couple of cars in front of me...had just stopped.  :dunno: I couldn't see any reason, other than it was a minivan who suddenly decided they wanted to be in the next lane. And after traffic had started moving again behind them, they decided to stay in the fastlane.  

Usually, when I'm riding at speed in the carpool lane, I ride to the left to give me space to escape those who jump into the carpool lane. I was riding in the middle of the lane at this point, because I was preparing (about a mile and a half ahead of my freeway change) to start moving over to the right...

Quote from: TarzanBoyIn any case, pandy.... I am a total believer in guardian angels, and I think that yours certainly whispered in your ear.  Try not to work her too hard, ok?

I'm hoping to give her a good long break now!!  

Quote from: xtalmanThat's a good point.  I've developed the habit of angling my bike towards one side when I come to a stop in traffic.  I did it so I would only have to accelerate into a clear spot to get out of trouble.  An added bonus is that when I'm angled, I can more easily see what's going on directly behind me because my mirrors are now better positioned.

This is something I've started doing, as well. I used to kick him into neutral at stoplights, but after reading about some hairy experiences here, I keep an eye on my 6, and I usually keep him in gear at lights now.

As an added, added bonus, if you're angled, you present a larger profile to that car coming up behind you, and you can use all the visibility you can get.

I'm tempted to sew reflectors to my boo-tay!  :lol:

Quote from: TarzanBoybut i'm going to sorta disagree about the braking faster.   Though I completely agree that a bike has a shorter stopping distance than a car....   at highway speeds I think that cars brake a lot more safely than bikes do (and i think the difference in braking distances shrinks at those speeds as well).

I'm glad you're realizing this, and I hope it makes you safer. It's a myth that is dangerous to believe, and can cause undue pain for the people who don't understand the simple facts.