1st SH*# it my pants moment

Well, had my first near death experience today riding to work this morning. I was heading west on the 60 in Mesa, moderate traffic, about 75 mph. I was riding in the middle left lane (4 lanes) with my exit coming up at 1 mile. I decided to begin merging over to the far right lane. I signalled, checked mirrors - all clear behind me. Just a car in front of me and an SUV up ahead a couple car lengths to my immediate right lane. Looked over my shoulder to check blind spot - clear, so started to merge slower left. CRAP !!!!! Everyone's locking up there breaks and I'm halfway between lanes. Still about 2 car lengths directly behind the SUV now, didn't have time to look to see who was now in the lane to my left (the one I was previously in), I just know that I don't have enough time/distance to stop before hitting the SUV. So, in a matter of a half second, multiple things are going through my head on how to best deal with this. I slam on the breaks (not abruptly but definately quick, to keep my front end from sliding out) and try to swerve to the SUV's left (again, not abruptly so that hopefully I can keep the bike in a relatively straight line - I definately remember that from the MSF course). I contemplated the best way for me to hit the SUV if that happened (body position, etc). My front end is down, I have my eye on the SUV and watch my R mirror go under his mirror. I'm close enough to whisper in the guy's ear if he had his window down. I end up coming to a stop next to the car in front of him. Seems there was an accident ahead and everyone decided to lock em up - lucky me. Took a breather and continued the rest of the ride to work a bit rattled.

In hindsight I tried to evaluate the situation to see what I coulda/shoulda done different. for starters, we were taught to always look over our shoulder to check the blind spot. That has helped me once and this time almost got me screwed, so I'm not so sure anymore, maybe only at slower speeds? Secondly, the MSF course definately helped (also helped that although this is my first bike and have only ridden 3 months, I used to race dirtbikes and know how to handle a bike, etc when stopping quickly) - I didn't OVERreact. Third, I had my helmet and jacket on, that would've definately helped if it came down to it. Fourth, the bike !!!! 06 ABS VFR. Definately now the best bike ever built. The bike was solid during the entire second of time. Never wobbled or felt insecure and the ABS worked flawlessly (I felt and could hear the intermittent squeeks of the tires but the bike grabbed pavement like no other). Last and maybe most importantly - I was LUCKY !!!!. A couple inches here or there and it might have been a whole different story.

I write this so that maybe someone can give me some advice or maybe my story is a little bit of advice for someone else. I'm just happier than ever to be able to type this and fell in love with this bike all over again.

 

that whistle sound was your sphincter puckering up.

that is scary huh.

 

Wow, a real butt pucker moment!!! Time to toss out that underwear.
Sounds like you did OK, and congrats on keeping your head! Remember, you just used up some of your luck, hopefully you learned something to make a deposit in your "experience bucket".

I'll give you the standard spiel:
1) follow traffic using the 2 second rule (a lot more than 2 car lengths at 75 mph)
2) maintain good situational awareness - always know your escape route when mixing it up with other vehicles
3) practice quick glances over the shoulder for the blindspot check (turn head just enough so that your eyes can remain looking forward along the road, then glance back quickly just with your eyes)
4) practice those emergency stops!!!
5) try to look as far ahead as possible for brake lights coming on - look through/around/over the vehicles in front of you

I have a question about proper brake application with ABS - do you really need to modulate it (like, why were you worried about the front end sliding out)? Isn't the system supposed to do that for you? What happens if you just nail the brakes?

I wish I had ABS on my '04 so I could answer these questions myself...

 

During traffic, I also watch the cars ahead in the lanes beside the one I'm riding in. Due to limited visibility in my lane, I can see further down the lane beside me. If I see brake lights in that lane, it's more likely, my lane will brake also.

I normally ride in the right portion of the lane for two reasons:

1. Vehicles normally drift to the left because the drivers are trying to see past the car in front of them. Which means I can usually see 3-4 car tail lights lined up right next to each other.

2. Most driver's have their side mirrors adjusted to look behind them - not in their blind spot. By riding in the right portion of the left lane, I am putting myself where the driver can see me (if he looks).

Sounds like you did everything right. Not much else you could have done. I use my mirror's to say "no" to lane change. A quick look over the shoulder, using the corner of my eye tells me "yes" to lane change. When I merge into traffic and move to the far left lane - it looks like I have a very bad tick - with the quick snap of my head on every lane change!

 

For me the biggest thing is following distance, I leave alot of room just in case. If that means I'm holding folks up I just move over, but usually I'm going faster than traffic, just never close. Nice job, if you'd have panicked you may have impaled that SUV.

 

Glad to hear you made it safely. I'm with you, VaRollOn: I try to put as much space around myself as possible on all sides.

 

I agree, you need a sufficient amount of distance between you and other cars, and always try to maintain that, but with 5 lanes of traffic and early rush hour, that usually doesn't work out like that. I also try to stay in the HOV lane or far left, but again, that means merging through more lanes to exit.

I don't think I could've done anything differently, other than maybe avoid the highway, which I will probably do for awhile anyway. On a positive note, I think had I been in a car I would've definately been involved in an accident, there just would've been no place to go but into the back of the SUV.

 

I'm glad you kept your head and kept riding with the rubber part working for you... I'd hate to hear the "I had to lay it down" story again.
ABS: Anti-Brakin Sohardish!tmypants

 

You did good to stay out of an accident. The only 2 cents I could add is that you want to look for escape routes (between cars) and not stare at the SUV (you tend to go where you look). Swerve first and then use the brakes (not breaks) second in this situation. Never combine them. Somtimes braking first and then swerving might be better, but just don't combine them. Think about taking the MSF Experienced Rider Course after you have about 3,000 miles
of riding. Good luck. Bob (retired MSF Chief Instructor).

 

thanks for all the feedback. it definately helps. This close call definately has made me a bunch more appreciative. Thanks again.

 

I've just about given up on the "look over your shoulder to check the blind spot" thing. The incident you describe above, or something just like it has happened to me many times... and it always seems to happen just as you take a peek over your shoulder.

What I do instead is lean forward and get a more thorough look in my rear view mirrors. Lean closer to the mirror and move from side to side a bit and you can see everything behind you quite well.

 

My first "OH CHIT!!!" happened while on my learners permit.
Back in '77 New Jersey didn't have any formal riding classes. You learned from a friend by riding along side. And no passengers allowed.

Well, this time I was riding with the wife on back and no licensed rider with me.
It was Labor Day weekend and we decided to ride my Suzuki GS400 up to a local flea market. The market was on a highway that didn't allow for left turns into the facility. You had to travel another half mile, turn around and come back. At the turn around point it's similar to a traffic circle, but not quite. One road passes under while the other passes overhead. As I passed under and turning left to go back a lady with several kids in a station wagon were coming down the overpass from over my left shoulder. She shot out in front of me as I was coming around. She then stood on the brakes to make an illegal right turn onto a side street.
I stood on the rear brake and grabbed the front as hard as I could. The "G" force pushed me up on top of the gas tank, handlebars in my lap, and the wife wound up sitting where I was. I felt the back end lift and swing to the right. I knew then the back brake was useless and let off. As it swung right I naturally turned to the right following the rear just like in a car. This saved our butts. The bike stopped just to the right of her rear bumper with the axle center about 6" away from the bumper. I had visions of me flying through her back window.
Bike stopped, shut down, I collapsed on the curb, panting, eyes wide open, shaking like a leaf. Several witnesses stopped to see if we were OK and then proceeded to chew out the lady. We sat there for about 15 minutes, I gathered my courage and climbed back on.
We had a great time at the flea market.

This was my first street bike. Up till then I had ridden dirt bikes and made all my mistakes there. I guess all that riding helped my walk away from this.
I have one more, but I'll save it for another time.

 

Igy... your wife is quite the trooper to get back on. I'm not certain mine would have been able to have a good time.

 

Yeah, she was the trooper. She was more concerned about how I felt than herself.
She knew it wasn't my fault and that my reflexes kept us from getting hurt. I think it was just dumb luck myself.

Ex-wife now. And not from that.

 

Glad for you, man. Combination of skill and some luck!

Hard braking it is important to apply the front progressively at first to increase the size of the tire's contact patch, then use the grip of the larger contact patch to feed in more brake, further increasing the contact patch, etc.

Not sure about ABS but just grabbing a handfull of front brake might just create a battle between the ABS and the meager contact patch from the rolling contact of the tire.

 

My second "OH CHIT!!!" happened on my way home from work.

The road I was on is 6 lanes across but each direction is separated by half a block with homes making it closer to a pair of one way 3 lane streets.
As I was cruising down the center lane an elderly lady pulled up to a stop sign from my right. On her right was group of kids waiting to cross the side street. Well this ol' blue hair started saying something to the kids and never once looked left. Her car never came to a stop at the sign and continued to creep out into the road. I kept close eye on her ans I approached. Her car came out into the right lane so I switched to the far left lane hoping (assuming) she'd see me. Nope, she kept on coming.
Still hasn't looked left yet.
She came into the center lane, then into my lane. I swerved onto the left side shoulder to keep away. I crossed in front of her car so close I could have kicked out both head lights.
As I crossed in front, there on the hood was the cars make....D..O..D..G..E. How appropriate.

This one really rattled me. I didn't want to even look at the bike for while. A couple weeks later I climbed back on and rode to work.

 

My first OH CHIT! moment happened last fall.

It was a beautiful September day, I decided to take out the trusty '82 Yamaha XS400R Seca. We had a friend in tow on a Ninja 500. My future wife and I were riding the 45 miles south to Waitsfield to taste some cakes for our upcoming wedding.

The main road between the interstate and Waitsfield is VT Route 100. Apparently, this morning, there was a bike race going on, with tons of spectators, chase cars, and State Troopers keeping everything civil. Every few miles or so, in the oncoming lane, about 50 or so bicyclists would tear past.

I was following a minivan and a Subaru Outback wagon up a hill, just as another group of bicyclists crested that hill. The minivan slowed down to about 30 mph, and the Subaru checked up. Just then, a bright yellow chase vehicle crested the hill IN OUR LANE. The minivan slammed on it's brakes and swerved right to avoid. The Subaru also slammed on it's brakes. At this point, a collision was iminent for me. I grabbed the front brake HARD (a single disc), and slid way forward onto the tank as my future wife held on for dear life. According to our friend on the Ninja, the back wheel was two feet in the air as I did my first ever stoppie.

Unfortunately, that single disc brake didn't have the stopping power I had hoped (or maybe it was just too much mass), and I hit the rear bumper of the Subaru. Not even the slightest bit off skew - I hit that thing straight as an arrow. The rear wheel came down, and I was surprised that I was still standing with a running motorcycle between my legs. I shut it down and wheeled over to the shoulder, noticing the large black skidmark on the back of the Subaru.

BUT WAIT - IT GETS BETTER!

So I check on my future wife - she's shaken, but OK. I am shaking all over like a leaf in the wind. I still have the wherewithal to pop my seat and get my registration and insurance card to give to the other driver. So she walks around and starts chatting with me. She's about 45 and looks like a hippie. She tells me not to worry about insurance - "it's just a scuff". She just wants me to "ground myself". After determining that I'm fine, she hops in her car and drives off. Yup - she's a hippie. I love Vermont!

BUT WAIT! THERE'S MORE!!!

So just before we leave, my future wife notices that my pants are all wet in the inseam. She also notices me reach down to the wet spot, wipe it, and then sniff it. She thought I had wet myself during the accident...

...when in reality a gas cap seal that never worked really well, failed all together in this incident, soaking my pants with gas.:tongue:

We were married a month later, and still ride together as often as possible.

Moral of the story? Hit a hippie.:caked: