On My Way to the Hospital

[Unit 5302]

The front brake does almost all the stopping on a motorcycle. No suprise there, it's much the same on a car. That has to do with weight transfer. Obviously it's a more severe transition on a bike. When's the last time you saw a car that could do a stoppie? LOL.

The argument that it's never the bikes fault is pretty valid, but again, it works the same for cars.

Sometimes I wonder why riders/drivers push over the limits so hard. I was a lot crazier back in the day too, but I could always tell when things were getting a little hairy. The road isn't a racetrack, it's dirty, loose, poorly maintained, and bumpy. Not at all consistant, but people seem to think that they can do the same thing every time on different surfaces, and expect the bike's special attributes to save them. It's not like people don't usually get a little warning about what is going on before they push it too far, but both cars and bikes are designed to push the limits with so much less effort now. I suppose a person could mistake how small the gray area of the limits are, and continue to ride the edge. Sometimes you may get away with it, sometimes you won't. I do disagree with the idea you WILL crash on a bike. Both my dad and my dad's friend rode for decades and never laid it down, or wrecked the bike. My older bro rode for years as well never to lay it down. The biggest rules of thumb I have are:

• Don't push it when you don't know the road.
• Don't push it when there aren't good conditions.
• Don't push it when the cops are around
• Keep the brain in gear and focused on the road, not the hot chick two cars up.
• Always respect the bike, never fear it.
• Keep your eyes open enough to cover yourself, and the other guy on the road because chances are, he/she's not paying attention.
• Understand why bikes are hard to see, and hard to judge tailing distance from. (Depth perception is a big deal in this case).
• Understand the basics of what forces act on a bike, and why they act that way.

Lots of rules, but when you know what the heck is goin on, you can stay a lot cooler when adversity rears up. The key to getting out of a lot of hairy situations is to remain calm, be prepared, and react quickly. You'll have plenty of time to feel your heart race and get light headed later. My biggest pet peeve is people who freeze when they encounter a major problem. I've seen it happen way too many times.