I'm Down, I'm DOWN, I'M DOWN!

[kaosbandit]

I hope you guys never have to hear I'm Down, I'm Down, I'm DOWN coming through your communicators.My buddy got his new bike and lowsided it last weekend. Check out the full story here:

http://www.spiritstrike.com/blog/201...-guard-testing

[Motofool]

Originally Posted by kaosbandit

I hope you guys never have to hear I'm Down, I'm Down, I'm DOWN coming through your communicators.My buddy got his new bike and lowsided it last weekend...........

It is not clear how much riding experience Jeff had.

"I was in the lead, Andrew in the middle, and Jeff bringing up the rear. We came around a fairly tight decreasing radius turn and for some reason Andrew got freaked out and panic braked. Jeff was a bit too close and when Jeff dodged Andrew it put him in a dire situation. Jeff managed to scrub off some speed before he crossed the outside lane and went into the grass. Over the headset we heard “I'm Down, I'm DOWN, I'M DOWN!” My heart sank!"

[kaosbandit]

Originally Posted by Motofool

It is not clear how much riding experience Jeff had.

"I was in the lead, Andrew in the middle, and Jeff bringing up the rear. We came around a fairly tight decreasing radius turn and for some reason Andrew got freaked out and panic braked. Jeff was a bit too close and when Jeff dodged Andrew it put him in a dire situation. Jeff managed to scrub off some speed before he crossed the outside lane and went into the grass. Over the headset we heard “I'm Down, I'm DOWN, I'M DOWN!” My heart sank!"

Jeff has been riding for decades and he is actually a very good rider. One little mistake will get you sometimes.

[Motofool]

Originally Posted by kaosbandit

Jeff has been riding for decades and he is actually a very good rider. One little mistake will get you sometimes.

I see.
Good thing that he didn't take Andrew down.

[jeffb502]

I hope Jeff heals up well. I have a friend that broke both lower leg bones (tibia and fibula I think...might have spelled something wrong there) a year ago and it's definitely no fun.

I'm a noob and had a bit surprise on one of my favorite frequent corners the other day (pictured below) that reminded me of this type of scenario.

NB101 off ramp to CA135.jpg

Coming off the off ramp I was way behind a car, so I figured I could take the turn at a reasonable speed for the conditions (sunny, dry) and skill level (minimal). I was coming home from about an hour ride on the back roads where I had been practicing fundamentals (especially taking care of downshifting/braking before entering the corner, looking through the corner, leaning, rolling on the throttle), and did the same on this corner. As I was exiting the corner I realized the car that I thought had been way ahead was not accelerating, and was doing about 15-20mph on the straight portion of the road just past the exit of the turn. There is a turn off to the left for a parking area that nobody ever uses, and sometimes people will pull off to the right shoulder at that spot when they're lost, so swerving around the car was a last resort at best since they could move either direction at any time and slowing down there implied they may in fact intend on turning. I straightened up before putting in any major inputs (like they taught us in the MSF class) and rolled off the throttle while preparing to emergency brake. By then the car started accelerating and I was able to slow to its speed with engine braking only.

I think if the car had stopped in the middle of the lane I would have been barely able to stop in time without hitting them, but it would have been close. I don't like things to be that close. I learned that I need to leave a bit more of a safety margin because other road users can do unpredictable things like slow down in a corner or after exiting a corner.

[kaosbandit]

Originally Posted by Motofool

I see.
Good thing that he didn't take Andrew down.

I agree and that in fact was his split second decision. Try and save the turn and possibly hit Andrew or dodge Andrew and go off the road.

It ended with injury, but ultimately I think he made teh better decision.

[kaosbandit]

Originally Posted by jeffb502

I hope Jeff heals up well. I have a friend that broke both lower leg bones (tibia and fibula I think...might have spelled something wrong there) a year ago and it's definitely no fun.

I'm a noob and had a bit surprise on one of my favorite frequent corners the other day (pictured below) that reminded me of this type of scenario.

Attachment 28834

Coming off the off ramp I was way behind a car, so I figured I could take the turn at a reasonable speed for the conditions (sunny, dry) and skill level (minimal). I was coming home from about an hour ride on the back roads where I had been practicing fundamentals (especially taking care of downshifting/braking before entering the corner, looking through the corner, leaning, rolling on the throttle), and did the same on this corner. As I was exiting the corner I realized the car that I thought had been way ahead was not accelerating, and was doing about 15-20mph on the straight portion of the road just past the exit of the turn. There is a turn off to the left for a parking area that nobody ever uses, and sometimes people will pull off to the right shoulder at that spot when they're lost, so swerving around the car was a last resort at best since they could move either direction at any time and slowing down there implied they may in fact intend on turning. I straightened up before putting in any major inputs (like they taught us in the MSF class) and rolled off the throttle while preparing to emergency brake. By then the car started accelerating and I was able to slow to its speed with engine braking only.

I think if the car had stopped in the middle of the lane I would have been barely able to stop in time without hitting them, but it would have been close. I don't like things to be that close. I learned that I need to leave a bit more of a safety margin because other road users can do unpredictable things like slow down in a corner or after exiting a corner.

Glad that didn't end badly and you are definitely doing the right thing. Look at the situation afterwards and learn from it. I know we all 3 did that after the crash that day.