Emergency Maneuvers / Reactions

jay-d

jay-d

Well-known member
Site Supporter
Forum Sponsor
Last night, I got to thinking while in bed. I was out all day yesterday riding how I normally ride (lane splitting, in and out of cars, speeding like a crazy person, etc... jk :D) and thought even though we're told to watch out for other drivers, make up for their mistakes, etc etc.. how do we train ourselves to react just in case we need to make an emergency maneuver?

We've read it says, give yourself two seconds of space, blah blah blah.. and that's easy in theory but if I'm leaning over just a bit on that long sweeping left hand curve and there's an on coming car that strays out of it's lane on to mine.. even though I have two seconds of space, going the speed limit.. I've never practiced these maneuvers, in my head I know what I should do but if I really need to do it.. will I be able to not having any practice?

This thought kind of shook me because in reality, I've practiced low speed maneuvers and I'm confident with them but hi-speed maneuvers? Damn.. the theory in my head all makes sense but without practice.. uh.. how can I be sure? :confused1:

So to the veteran riders, what's your advice? How can I practice to know to make the right emergency maneuver to save my life if I ever need to?
 
You can't ride by a formula, have to take that .01 second and decide what to do. You can practice maneuvering your bike, emergency braking, turning, braking in turns etc.
 
Depends on the situation.

Do you have a lane beside you that you can escape to? If so, then force yourself to look in the (hopefully) empty lane and push-steer yourself into it. This is probably the best-case scenario.

What is distance and closing speed of the vehicle? On the non-divided roads, especially the ones with good sweepers, the legal closing speed is 160 km/h, but in reality it's probably closer to 200 km/h. If you don't have an escape lane to your side, and you're too close to signal the driver with your hi-beams and horn, the worst-case scenario kicks in and you're going to have to fixate on the white line that separates your lane and the shoulder and try to push-steer away from the oncoming car without getting your tires too close to the gravel of the ditch. Unless the oncoming car is heading into the ditch in your lane, you should have room to squeeze by.

If the distance is far enough, warn the driver with your horn and lights, but scrub off speed and pull onto the shoulder, hopefully you'll be slow and upright enough, and the shoulder will not be too slippery to cause you to lose traction.
 
Last edited:
Just practice emergency maneuvers at all speeds whenever you get the chance to. Im a new rider this year and I think about situations like that. So when safe to do so, practice avoiding the sewers, potholes and whatever debris is on the road but do so at the last possible second. Avoiding something from a distance in a smooth sweeping line is not an emergency maneuver in my mind. You really get to learn the bikes true weight at speed which is completely different than slow maneuvering and how to handle it. Its actually more difficult at speed so its worthwhile doing it as part of your learning year. The bike wants to stay upright at speed and you really have to push and lean. Good luck and keep your head up!
 
Good question. I once read that there are 3 responses to any emergency. The first is to over react. On a motorcycle this would typically be grabbing a big handfull of brake with the result being sliding down the asphalt. The second would be to under react. The typical under reaction is target fixation with the result being the bike hits whatever the rider is looking at. The third is the correct reaction with the result being the rider gets away as unscathed as possible.

In my opinion people seem predisposed to one of these three (genetics possibly?), and I think the only way to overcome this is practice and experience. The problem is how do you get experience in dealing with emergencies while minimizing the consequences of an improper reaction? Answer: Ride in a controlled environment such as a trackday or off road racing. Many riders will tell you that off road riding has little correlation to asphalt as the bikes and terrain are so much different, however the ability to deal with poor traction and make split second decisions do cross over. If you choose not to ride off road or go out for trackdays practice will still help. You just need to get mileage under your belt, in all types of roads and in different conditions.
 
You learn these things by practicing them...try changing up your line while you're leaned.

Some schools offer advanced rider training....I took one at RTI years ago, was pretty challenging. Don't regret it one bit. (they did an exercise of changing your line at speed)
 
BrianZ said:
Good question. I once read that there are 3 responses to any emergency. The first is to over react. On a motorcycle this would typically be grabbing a big handfull of brake with the result being sliding down the asphalt. The second would be to under react. The typical under reaction is target fixation with the result being the bike hits whatever the rider is looking at. The third is the correct reaction with the result being the rider gets away as unscathed as possible.

In my opinion people seem predisposed to one of these three (genetics possibly?), and I think the only way to overcome this is practice and experience. The problem is how do you get experience in dealing with emergencies while minimizing the consequences of an improper reaction? Answer: Ride in a controlled environment such as a trackday or off road racing. Many riders will tell you that off road riding has little correlation to asphalt as the bikes and terrain are so much different, however the ability to deal with poor traction and make split second decisions do cross over. If you choose not to ride off road or go out for trackdays practice will still help. You just need to get mileage under your belt, in all types of roads and in different conditions.
Click to expand...

+1
I used to be the over-reaction guy, when I first started on the dirt, anything went wrong I was on the brakes, even if it was better to gas it and go around.
After a few years experience of motocross, and a couple race seasons, I'm no longer a brake first guy, it's go with the flow and I'm now more likely to make the proper call instinctively. Usually its other riders banging bars with me or a guy I'm pressing will make a mistake and slide out and you have to decide where you are going as he's sliding up the track.

My offroad experience makes me comfortable on the street that I can react fast and appropriately to the spontaneous instances of anal pucker.
I'm used to braking hard on slick surfaces and can recover a front or rear end slide out, and hanging it sideways on the accelerator is common practice, it's no longer a thought it's an instant reaction and I will have done it before I mentally took note that I was sliding.

I've said it a bunch of times on here, I wish everyone would spend some serious time trying to go fast in the woods or the MX track for a summer before they got on the street, you'll be a much more confident rider than if you just go for the sticky pavement right away.
 
rmemedic said:
I've said it a bunch of times on here, I wish everyone would spend some serious time trying to go fast in the woods or the MX track for a summer before they got on the street, you'll be a much more confident rider than if you just go for the sticky pavement right away.
Click to expand...

I've loved dirt bikes growing up, but I could never afford one so I missed out. Where can I start this? I'd love to get on a dirt bike and regain some of my missed youth and develop my skills!
 
There are off road riding schools in Ontario that supply the bike and gear. A Google search should turn something up. Also search for the Ontario Federation of Trail riders (OFTR) or Ontario Dual Sport Club (ODSC).
 
Today i used what i trained my self to do. For most ER situations i have 3 step procedure i always use. 1) Pick it up much as possible (durring this time i look where i want to go) 2) scrub speed Asap and gently , even slowing 5-20 kms/h helps,. (By this time i've picked a new line) 3) Steer hard and gass it accordingly).

I practice this at real speeds when road's clear.
 
Try the "Surviving the Streets" course that's done at Toronto Motorsports Park. You get to practice these manoeuvres real time in the safe environment of a closed track, on your own bike. Great course for new riders or old ones.
 
Last edited:
go somewhere safe and ride past your limits till something bad starts to happens, then try to fix it before you get hurt.
 
Well.. Borrow a friends dirtbike and rip the dirt. Get ready to take a dive into the sand or hit a fence or tree, because if it happens, it IS going to hurt. Knowing the dirt skills reallllly puts you at an upperhand, take a dirt course in the Ganaraska or a weekend or something. Learning to be out of control only puts you even more in control BUDDEH!
Forum Sponsor
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom