OMG this motorcycling thing is serious freaking business.

Today.  Was on the freeway.  Fast lane.  All the cages decided to stop (I should have known, traffic always stops there -- 15N just S of the 91).  I hit the brakes.  I can't remember, but I'm pretty sure I just grabbed a bunch of front brake, but it's possible I stepped on the back.  I dove into the little gravelly emergency strip (but not into the dirt median).  A tire locked, cause I was definately skidding with that not-cool screechy noise.  Not sure if it was the front or the back. ?

Bike did this wobbly wobbly thing and it was like I was in slow motion.  I panicked and let my hand off the brake and all I could think of was I am a dumbass and now I am going to highside and I am only wearing jeans.    Luckily, I guess I had already bled off enough speed that the bike stayed up and I was able to brake again, more gently.  Whew.  Put me in my place.  Time to go practice hard braking in a parking lot again...

had you locked the front you would have gone down.

Quote from: jen_OMG this motorcycling thing is serious freaking business.

I'm SO glad you're ok!!!  :kiss:

Now...about that gear, young lady...  :x  :dunno:

But STILL very glad you're ok!!!!!!  :kiss:    :mrgreen:

edit: I've done this lock-up thing before, and it is truly terrifying. I need to go back and practice emergency braking, too...

^ditto the practice.

Riders, seasoned or not, need to take one hour out of every week of their riding season to practive emergency manuevers.

Quote from: makenzie71had you locked the front you would have gone down.

You can lock the front without going down, if you're alert and have good balance (I've done it more times than I care to admit and haven't dropped it).  Letting go, as she did, will get you back on track again.  Locking the rear is generally a fairly blase experience, compared... wobbly wobbly makes me think front.

locking the front and pulling through is something done accidently and by the cycling gods only...especially with any side/side movement of thebike.  She said the front was wobbling...with a locked tire that would have spelled going down.  With half of your gyroscopic forces eliminated, any kind of movement and literally slam you down.

the wobbling was likely a mild slapper resulting from evasive movements and heavy braking.

Quote from: makenzie71... With half of your gyroscopic forces eliminated, any kind of movement and literally slam you down. the wobbling was likely a mild slapper resulting from evasive movements and heavy braking.

please translate

Quote from: subc

Quote from: makenzie71... With half of your gyroscopic forces eliminated, any kind of movement and literally slam you down. the wobbling was likely a mild slapper resulting from evasive movements and heavy braking.

please translate

which part?

Quote from: subc

Quote from: makenzie71... With half of your gyroscopic forces eliminated, any kind of movement and literally slam you down. the wobbling was likely a mild slapper resulting from evasive movements and heavy braking.

please translate

Translation:

Haha.  I think Makenzie is saying the wobbling was due to operator actions more so than a locked up front wheel. At least thats what I got out of it.  

Quote from: makenzie71

Quote from: subc

Quote from: makenzie71... With half of your gyroscopic forces eliminated, any kind of movement and literally slam you down. the wobbling was likely a mild slapper resulting from evasive movements and heavy braking.

please translate

which part?

"With."

I thought if you lock up your front tire, then you lose the ability to steer.  The rear causes the wobble effect, right?  Or did i remember things backwards from the MSF class?

Quote from: Roadstergal

Quote from: makenzie71

Quote from: subc

Quote from: makenzie71... With half of your gyroscopic forces eliminated, any kind of movement and literally slam you down. the wobbling was likely a mild slapper resulting from evasive movements and heavy braking.

please translate

which part?

"With."

do any of these fancy you?

con
avec
Mit
Met
com
с
med

~or my personal favorite~

具

Oh, you'll wobble when the front locks.  They had a nifty slow-mo replay video of the front locking that they showed at the MSF.  I've locked the rear and it really was pretty low on drama; the front is a crazy sickening very fast wobble.  Dunno the physics of it.

Quote from: RoadstergalOh, you'll wobble when the front locks.  They had a nifty slow-mo replay video of the front locking that they showed at the MSF.  I've locked the rear and it really was pretty low on drama; the front is a crazy sickening very fast wobble.  Dunno the physics of it.

Why not???

I slept through that bit?

Congrats - It sounds like you did fine on your braking - you stayed upright, let off the brake a little bit to release the "lock up"  and manage to keep control of your motorcycle!

Don't beat yourself up  - learn from what you did and perhaps what you could do better in the meantime (like not get into the circumstance in the first place).

Go practice some - that never hurts.

BUT YOU DID GREAT!!!!

Good job on not laying your bike down - I realize it's California traffic, but next time leave yourself some more space to the car in front of you, and pay   more attention to the traffic ahead of you (these concepts are taught in the MSF class, if you took it).

Generally, If you lock the front wheel, let go of the brake and then reapply.  If you lock the back wheel, keep it locked.

those freeways are really terrible, especially on the 91 where traffic will be moving just fine and then all of a sudden everyone is braking from like 50-0 in like 100-150 ft.  anyway, the rear brake tends to lock up VERY easily, i've accidentally locked up when braking from like 10 mph, so be very gentle on it.  could be that u locked the rear, causing the screeching noises, had a handful of the front but not enough to lock it up, and the gravel plus braking plus weak front suspension gave u wobbliness.  oh well, just glad another 951er didn't go down

~facio

My evasive maneuvers were subtle, sortof like changing lanes.  And I'm not positive I stepped on the rear brake, I was just thinking I *must* have since it is so much easier to lock up the back than the front.  I have locked the rear before, on wet pavement.  That wasn't scary like this; didn't have that "out of control" feeling.

Regardless, I scared the crap out of myself.  I guess it's good, since it spooked me back into paying more attention to everything.  I have been getting comfortable in the GS...too comfortable.

Makenzie71-- I like the idea about taking an hour week for skills practice.

facio57- Yeah, me dropping my bike on that 15/91 interchange would do wonders for everyone's evening commute.

I've been riding for a little over 20 years. When I first started riding, there was an article in one of the motorcycle mags that talked about playing the mental game "WHAT IF?" while you ride.

You would come up with scenerios in your head and solutions for them:

- What if ...that guy in the SUV doesn't see me and cuts into my lane?

- What if ...a deer runs out into traffic?

- What if... that car turning left in front of me doesn't see me?

- What if...that mattress that guy is hauling on top his car flys off?

It's a great excercise and I still use it today and teach it to my newbies.