|
dietcokefiend posted:3. ABS is the most awesome feature possible on a motorcycle The first time, I was cruising down a 5-6 lane plus shared suicide turning lane highway approaching an intersection. Someone in the left turn lane decided at the last moment that they wanted to go straight through the intersection instead of waiting for the light to turn green. I was in the left-most lane, and had taken right lane positioning in the event that someone would decide to pull out in front of me. Everything was fine, until the car 2 car lengths in front of me yanked out of the turn lane and into mine. By that time, I was approaching slow traffic in the middle lane, so my exit route towards the right was slim, if not close to nil. I nailed the brakes hard, and narrowly avoided the idiot who saw me midway through and halted their vehicle. I heard the ABS engage in the rear, sighed, and counted my blessings. At the next intersection, my intended turn-off, I had assumed left lane positioning, but it still didn't matter. I'd had a clear avenue into the left turn lane until another idiot in the middle lane decided that their lane was too long, and the left lane was shorter. Problem is, pulling into the left lane shut off the easy avenue into the turn lane, and they never checked to see if I was there or not. I nailed the brakes again, and felt both the front and the rear ABS engage. I was able to scrub off enough speed to make the narrow entrance into the turn lane and continue home. That day made me carefully examine my riding habits, and cross-reference them with the lessons taught at the MSF to see if there were better ways to avoid these incidents. Outside of scrubbing off more speed in anticipation (particularly in the second instance, but which I was already doing in both instances), it would be hard to say what better situational outcome was available. And that furthers my thirst to learn more about safe riding. But had I been on the R80RT, a non-ABS bike, I would have been road pizza.
|
#
¿
Jun 29, 2009 04:47
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 3, 2024 17:24 |
|
|
While not on par with most of this thread, I dropped a bike for the first time today. Skipping the reasons why, I was on a friend's bike riding to a parking area where he and another friend were waiting for me. We were parked on gravel, relatively fresh and not packed down hard. Not my first time on gravel, and certainly not my first time on gravel today (or my first time on gravel on his bike today, for that matter). For some stupid reason, as soon as I slowed down to enter the gravel and began turning, I must have grabbed the front brake. The bike went down to the right. I nearly caught it, but the bike used my right leg as a fulcrum and the front tire just slid left in the gravel. The only damage was a small scratch on the mirror of his Suzuki Intruder, and large bruises to my pride and ego. After the bike hit the ground, it's momentum combined with my awkward stance resulting from my failed attempt to save it caused me to fall on the right knee of my BMW Motorrad Summer pants. The knee armor prevented me from feeling any of the rocks underneath. But not even my Rallye 2 Pro jacket could soften the blow of that sinking feeling of dropping your buddy's bike right in front of him at less than 2 miles per hour. I really need to get a dirt bike and learn how to ride on things not made of asphalt and concrete. I've been telling myself this now for a few months, so hopefully this will be the impetus to actually do it.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 9, 2009 02:34
|
|
|
Bugdrvr posted:I have no dirt experience, but I've kept mostly upright by never using my front brake at all when not on pavement. quote:Or the proper way to crash gracefully into the ground in front of everyone.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 9, 2009 15:24
|
|
|
Dwight Eisenhower posted:Insurance discounts for wearing gear would be a nightmare to effectively police for the insurance companies. Sure, proper riding attire could be argued, but that's what the pamphlet with all the fine print is for.
|
|
#
¿
May 17, 2010 21:08
|
|
|
redscare posted:I've heard of companies cancelling warranties over track time, but not insurance companies canceling policies except in cases where it was fraud (e.g. guy wrecks on track, makes it look like he wrecked on a street to file a claim since insurance doesn't cover track time)
|
|
#
¿
May 17, 2010 22:26
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 3, 2024 17:24 |
|
|
redscare posted:What makes no sense is why an insurance company would cancel your policy over a track day since they don't normally cover track days anyway. I seriously had never heard of this before now.
|
|
#
¿
May 18, 2010 02:07
|
|