Gained more experience today, Almost died doing so

[fz6Soldier]

About 15 minutes ago I had just entered onto the freeway and was doing about 65 MPH when all in a sudden the van in front of me slams on the breaks and all I hear is squealing tires from the traffic ahead. I guess I grabbed too much brake and my bike started squealing and the back end started to fishtale wobble. I thought for sure I was going down hard. I let off both breaks and I loosened up my body (preparing for crash) and at the same time the van in front pulled off to the shoulder to make room. Well I'm glad to say that I stayed up right some how. It's like no matter how hard gravity tried to pull me down the bike stayed up. I bet the car behind me thought I was about to bite the dust too.

I guess if it's never happened to you, be prepared to let off the brakes if you have space. Everything happened so fast that I'm suprised I remembered to let go when it started to fishtale. I'm also in the habit on using both brakes when I stop. I know everyone is different, but I truly feel if I would have used Just one over the other, then things would have been a lot worse.
I could also smell my brakes and tires when I came to a stop.

 

[nimzotech]

Good job staying up!

 

[Kriswithak]

Good to hear you came out of it okay, and managed to react in time!
Nothing worse than being behind large vehicles with no vision and suddenly having them do something unexpected.

 

[abacall]

So what did you learn?

 

[Adirondack Jack]

That's why we take the time to practice those panic stops. Great job keeping it on two wheels!

 

[fz6Soldier]

So what did you learn?

I learned,

Keep even more distance than what I thought I needed, Learned to not panic when braking. I think some people panic and hold their brakes when they don't need to. I think staying loose and not trying to over control the handle bars also helped.

 

[necrotimus]

your not stopping till you turn it sideways

glad you are ok... make sure you watch the following distance too

 

[RJ2112]

How far ahead of you was the van, and what was in front of it?

Where were you, in respect to the van? If you broke your lane into five segments numbered left to right, which part of the lane were you riding in when this started?

 

[reiobard]

glad you mad it out ok.

 

[taki]

i always thought that if you lock up the rear, you should keep holding the rear brake until you are stopped. as soon as you release the rear brake, the fishtail turns into a highside....

am i forgetting something from my MSF course?

 

[VDITRAINING]

I guess letting go of the brake and avoiding a high side depends on how sideways you got.
I myself stay on the brake if i lock up the back, but i don't mind the little fishtailing anyway.
I find the only time i do lock the back is when I'm super hard on the front, have slid forward slightly in the seat and unloaded the rear suspension. Releasing the rear, and the rear probably has little effect on stopping under those circumstances anyways.
It's just another fun ride for me.

But to avoid the OP's situation....don't follow a car you can't see beyond....and maintain the proper distance. easy to say, yet sometimes hard to accomplish under ever changing conditions.

 

[Iethius]

Glad you made it out Ok, how does that that FZ6 seatfoam taste? Minty fresh?
I have heard of a term called billboarding, which is when you follow a vehicle that is too big to see traffic around it. Bad news in a car, double so on a bike.
Get in a different lane or make a huge space between you for reaction time are the solutions, although with the second someone usually takes the space and is still dangerous, so many people steal the space for following distance that there are signs up on the freeway in my area that declare it illegal to do so to a truck, wish people thought of bikes the same way, they stop like a loaded truck sometimes.
:rockon:

 

[08-FZ6]

i always thought that if you lock up the rear, you should keep holding the rear brake until you are stopped. as soon as you release the rear brake, the fishtail turns into a highside....

am i forgetting something from my MSF course?

You are right, they teach you in MSF to ride out a rear wheel skid and release the brake during a front wheel skid. Every situation is unique though.

 

[fz6Soldier]

You are right, they teach you in MSF to ride out a rear wheel skid and release the brake during a front wheel skid. Every situation is unique though.

It was kind of any odd situation, I wasn't at an angle when I let go of the brake. Maybe I was wrong to let go. But if I didn't let off the brake, I know I would have went down for sure. Maybe you shouldn't listen to me because I'm still new. I take back my advice.:ban:

 

[MRGM]

Someone else using too much rear brake? When are we going to wise up here and acknoledge that the rear brake needs to be avoided?

 

[taki]

It was kind of any odd situation, I wasn't at an angle when I let go of the brake. Maybe I was wrong to let go. But if I didn't let off the brake, I know I would have went down for sure. Maybe you shouldn't listen to me because I'm still new. I take back my advice.:ban:

no, no, i mean no disrespect. im glad youre ok, and that, since you were not at an angle, its probably was ok to let go of the brake.

like 08-FZ6 said, every situation is different.

 

[lupusobus]

Glad to know you made out unscathed.. :thumbup: going down sucks. Got rain grooves as a reminder.. :thumbdown: Stay safe.

 

[sxty8goats]

i always thought that if you lock up the rear, you should keep holding the rear brake until you are stopped. as soon as you release the rear brake, the fishtail turns into a highside....

am i forgetting something from my MSF course?

I was taught the same. But if the bike is going straight, you can let off the break. If you are sideways and going low, there is a good chance that letting off the rear will suddenly give the tire traction and the bike will high side. At least that is what I was taught.

 

[08-FZ6]

It was kind of any odd situation, I wasn't at an angle when I let go of the brake. Maybe I was wrong to let go. But if I didn't let off the brake, I know I would have went down for sure. Maybe you shouldn't listen to me because I'm still new. I take back my advice.:ban:

You didnt crash so I would say you did the right thing. :thumbup:

 

[Spideyrex]

Glad you are ok. In some tight situations I also noted that by staying calm, one can react accordingly. There were a few times where a car would come to a quick stop in front of me and I was able to just think of it like an academic problem,"ok brakes on, look for a way around, off brakes move.etc" all in a flash. Afterwards my heart is racing and as I replay things. But if you ride expecting that to happen at each moment, you can think and act well. Practice practice.