First real emergency stop

[detpilot]

So I was heading home after a St. Patty's day party (No, I didn't drink :thumbup: ), at about 1:00AM. Pretty major strip in Kalamazoo, by the college, but it was mostly deserted with a few partygoers driving around. Most of the lights around here switch to flashing yellow on the main roads, and flashing red on the crossroads at night.

So, I've got a flashing yellow, and I notice a car pulling up to the flashing red on the cross-street side of the light (To my right). Apparently, they were going to cross the main street.

I had a bad feeling about this car, so I was rolling off the throttle when they pulled out right in front of me. I was going about 40, and I'd say the car was 3-4 bike lengths ahead of me, perfectly perpendicular (crossing the road).

I slammed on the brakes, being very careful about the front one, and being careful not to swerve. I guess I wasn't as careful with the rear brake, because I felt it lock up, and the bike kicked to the side slightly.

I slowed down enough, thank God, to not hit the car (barely missed the back end of it), shook my head at a couple of pedestrians that were walking and saw the whole thing, and kept going.

It was a car full of girls in green hats, probably had been drinking. Still don't know if they ever saw me, I didn't even have time to get on my horn at all.


Oddly, after this, a car catches me at a light to tell me my tail light is out. I check all the lights before each ride, so this must have happened during the braking incident, pretty strange. I thank the guy, immediately pull over to investigate. Sure enough, no tail light or brake light!

I cut the bike off, and back on, which somehow fixed the problem. Everything worked fine for the 20 mile ride home.

Got the juices flowing tonight, whew!

 

[VEGASRIDER]

Good job of identifying the car, and the way you described things, your emergency stop was executed very well. Intersections are the # 1 areas for bike accidents. Did you use your horn?

 

[detpilot]

Good job of identifying the car, and the way you described things, your emergency stop was executed very well. Intersections are the # 1 areas for bike accidents. Did you use your horn?

Thanks.

Still don't know if they ever saw me, I didn't even have time to get on my horn at all.

..........

 

[abraxas]

You listened to that bad feeling :thumbup: and remained calm.

PS, i always have a spare brake light, i'm paranoid about those.

 

[alanrim]

You listened to that bad feeling :thumbup: and remained calm.

PS, i always have a spare brake light, i'm paranoid about those.

I changed my standard bulb for an LED bulb exactly for the reason of being paranoid about my tail light. It ought to be that all motorbike tail lights have two bulbs for added safety.

 

[cv_rider]

Good response to a stressful situation! And your tingling spider sense seem to be fully tuned. There's a case to be made to not use the rear brake at all on this bike due to ease of lockup in an emergency stop. I try to just touch it lightly while stopping in everyday riding to hopefully be in the habit of doing the same in an emergency situation, which hopefully slows me down more without lockup. We'll see.

This is part of the reason that I try to avoid riding at night: drunks (especially late at night), hard to see (as the hitting-the-6"-rock thread highlighted), and because it's doubly hard for a cager to figure out how far away you are when all they see if two headlights close together. Could just as easily be a car 100 yards away or a motorcycle 20 yards away, if you only take a quick glance

Not riding at night earns points with the other half, and is likely part of the reason she believes I ride in a safe enough manner that she tolerates it. That's a good tradeoff for me!

 

[Red Wazp]

What do you mean "Careful about the front brake"?
This brake should be doing most if not all your braking so you can swerve if needed.
It's hard to use the rear lightly to avoid lock up.
Gald you are ok, I'm sure the pucker factor was a high.

 

[Hutchmaster34]

What do you mean "Careful about the front brake"?

Probably meant that he didn't want to "grab" the front brake and end up doing an endo over the handle bars.

 

[playbygolf]

Don't have experience, but I would imagine grabbing the front brake at that speed would just lock it up and the tire would skid, but not go ov erht ehandlebars. I remember when I first started riding on a Honda Rebel 250, for practice at about 10 mph, i grabbed the front, and it just skid. Obviously the setup and weight distribution on the bike are very different, but any thoughts on this? I have always wondered if that time came to really get on the brakes would I go endo over the handlebars...?

Good job on the paying attention to traffic and not zoning out that late at night. :rockon:

 

[bledubd]

it always helps to practise these maneuvers before you need them. glad you came out with out a scratch.

+1 for listening to your gut feeling, i'd say the gut forms a major part of our riding experience.

About the front brake, my 2 senses is that you should not be afraid to use it. Its more often than not the back brake which make riders tumble. There are quite a few times I have been faced with a similar situation to the one you described and i try to hold off the back brake until the latest possible time.

 

[Wavex]

Going from 40mph to 0 in 3-4 bike lengths (less than 10 meters) is very impressive indeed, that's some amazing braking... I could not do it when a very similar incident happened to me... glad it all worked out!

 

[VDITRAINING]

Going from 40mph to 0 in 3-4 bike lengths (less than 10 meters) is very impressive indeed, that's some amazing braking... I could not do it when a very similar incident happened to me... glad it all worked out!

meh....you know how it is....it sounds more impressive than saying he was half a city block away and panicked.

Which is one reason why i really don't pay attention to personal descriptions of stressful incidents. full of inaccurate information, but thats how it was perceived at the time.
Two different people with different tolerances for stress under the exact same scenario will describe it totally different.

 

[ddg]

Braking distance = reaction time + braking time. Reaction time could easily double your braking distance which is why being aware is so important. I find when you kinda expected someone to do something stupid your not as angry as when they surprise you. Sometimes its even funny if you see their face when they realized they just screwed up. Good job detpilot on seeing the car first and predicting what may happen. If the first time you realized the car was there was when it was in your lane, valuable seconds would have been lost.

 

[dako81]

Sounds like you were riding down the road by where I live.

I was out late last night taking a friend home and nobody knew how to drive, or were sober enough to be driving in their lane.

There sure were plenty of cops out though.

That's odd that someone actually told you your tail light was out in Kalamazoo, I've never seen someone be that nice to someone else around campus. Usually they jus flip you off or rear end you.

 

[Wombat1940]

So I was heading home after a St. Patty's day party (No, I didn't drink :thumbup: ),

I slammed on the brakes, being very careful about the front one, and being careful not to swerve. I guess I wasn't as careful with the rear brake, because I felt it lock up, and the bike kicked to the side slightly.

Do you know about counter steering. It requires only reaction time and no braking time. In fact you mustn't brake. It takes a lot of practice because it has to be involuntary. Check it it out if you are unsure about it. I have some different methods of implementation of my own but that for discussion at another time.

 

[detpilot]

Going from 40mph to 0 in 3-4 bike lengths (less than 10 meters) is very impressive indeed, that's some amazing braking... I could not do it when a very similar incident happened to me... glad it all worked out!

Not to zero, I slowed down just enough to miss the back of the car as it pulled out perpendicular to me. I was probably still going 20+ when I passed them.

meh....you know how it is....it sounds more impressive than saying he was half a city block away and panicked.

Which is one reason why i really don't pay attention to personal descriptions of stressful incidents. full of inaccurate information, but thats how it was perceived at the time.
Two different people with different tolerances for stress under the exact same scenario will describe it totally different.

I didn't measure the distance, but with my maximum braking i literally could have kicked the back end of their car. Trust me, in my line of work, I know how to keep information accurate even in times of severe stress.

Sounds like you were riding down the road by where I live.

I was out late last night taking a friend home and nobody knew how to drive, or were sober enough to be driving in their lane.

There sure were plenty of cops out though.

That's odd that someone actually told you your tail light was out in Kalamazoo, I've never seen someone be that nice to someone else around campus. Usually they jus flip you off or rear end you.

Yeah, campus is pretty bad. I was actually on the downtown strip when the car pulled next to me. And I do have LED tail-lights, including the brake light flasher.

As a side note, PM me, I desperately need a riding buddy in the area. All my friends are still cagers...

Do you know about counter steering. It requires only reaction time and no braking time. In fact you mustn't brake. It takes a lot of practice because it has to be involuntary. Check it it out if you are unsure about it. I have some different methods of implementation of my own but that for discussion at another time.

I do, and I suppose I could have swerved to the right, however I didn't know if the car would stop when it saw me, blocking the whole lane. She wasn't pulling into my lane, she was cutting across the road perpendicularly. If she hadn't kept accelerating, I would have definitely hit her (Since I wasn't able to come to a stop).

 

[Wildcard]

I have grabbed a hand full of front brake going about 35mph, and it just locked the front. (I was an idiot and not thinking at all! and decided let me just grab this front brake...seriously. No one around, I was just curious (nooblet at the time))

 

[ddg]

I just installed a set of steel brake lines for the year and was thinking about a set of HH brake pads as well but decided not to just in case I "grab" as opposed to "squeeze" the brakes in an emergency.

 

[damnpoor]

I changed my standard bulb for an LED bulb exactly for the reason of being paranoid about my tail light. It ought to be that all motorbike tail lights have two bulbs for added safety.

Same here. It's a ton brighter at night too.

I have grabbed a hand full of front brake going about 35mph, and it just locked the front. (I was an idiot and not thinking at all! and decided let me just grab this front brake...seriously. No one around, I was just curious (nooblet at the time))

I've gotten the rear wheel off the ground doing that. I didn't realize it had lifted off the ground until I released the brake and felt the rear thud back down to the pavement.

 

[Smittyboy]

"I've gotten the rear wheel off the ground doing that. I didn't realize it had lifted off the ground until I released the brake and felt the rear thud back down to the pavement. "
I'm so glad I'm not the only one to accidentally lift the a$$ end without realizing it until stopped... The brakes on these bikes are awesome! Congrats on not hitting the dizzy B*tch! Riding anywhere near a campus is just beg'ing to become a hood ornament.