We Sometimes Fall Part V

Filed in archive ATV Safety on January 21, 2007

This is part V of a multi-part series of discussions which will cover some of the things we CAN control when we ride to help us prevent a fall.

We Sometimes Fall Because we give up. Chances are you've heard of somebody going into a corner faster than they could handle. Perhaps you've done it yourself. I have, more than once. If you're new to riding, chances are you're going to do it if you haven't already. How you react to it will likely determine the outcome.

You're screaming into a corner way too fast, and don't think you can make it around without sliding or flipping over, so you stand the bike up straight and run it off the road thinking you can stop before you run out of road. You usually can't.

That's what we call running it in "too hot".

There are times when there's not much you can do when you lose it in a corner. But until you've tried everything, don't give up on modern technology. Part of the analogy of "too hot" is that there was still some hope of making it through the pending disaster even though your brain is telling you it's physically impossible.

The biggest thing stopping your sport bike from leaning over (besides your own false sense of security) are solid parts scraping on the ground because you're leaned over so far. I'm not talking about foot pegs either, they fold in. I'm talking about pipes and fairings.

If you think you might over shoot a corner, and you're not scraping parts on the ground, you're not leaned over far enough and your bike CAN turn sharper. Your bike will usually warn you before it loses traction. You have to decide if you'll have a better chance of making it through the corner than you will stopping in a straight line in the given amount of run-off.

Your perception of how quickly you can stop the bike is likely close to reality than your perception of how tightly you can wrap it around a corner without losing traction. In an emergency, try to look forward through the turn, and lean it over until parts are scraping on the ground.

Part VI