If/when you fall, what's the best way | GTAMotorcycle.com

If/when you fall, what's the best way

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Went snowboarding for the second time recently and had some painful falls. I feel like l a lot of the pain could of been avoided if I fell "properly". Got me thinking how much more painful a bike fall would be. I would think tuck and roll would be best. Sooo let's here so stories and pro tips on falling
 
Keep your arms to your chest and let go of the bike. You really have no control beyond that as the crashes happen fast and your body will go whichever way it wants. It's entirely a helpless feeling, you're at the mercy of physics.
 
this guy puts a new spin on it...

[video=youtube;40Q8iLqQibY]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40Q8iLqQibY[/video]
 
I have limited experience: a couple of slow speed offs where I slid, one over the bars onto a car and one higher speed airborne get off.

Slower speed slides I want as much of me on the pavement as possible to spread the friction out and get my speed down. But, if you start to roll you need to get your arms tight in or your gonna break things.

Airborne I think you need to stay relaxed (odd to say but it worked for me) and keep your arms in.

Time slows when you're crashing and you actually do have time to think things like "hmm, I'm upside down and spinning, better get my arms in and hope for the best..." before you return to earth at speed and gravity, velocity and ballistics are no longer your friends.
 
try to look cool, cause you're probably being filmed by someone, somewhere


and dont forget to yell " yabba dabba doooooooooooooooooooo "
 
The other important bit is to be wearing suitable protective gear in the first place.

Best is a full body armor suit under a full leather suit with full-face helmet, gloves, boots. Two-piece zipped-together leathers are fine for street riding.

Shorts and T-shirt and sandals ain't gonna help. Full body armor without the leathers around them (seen this on the road many times) ain't gonna do it, either. No gloves = no good, instinctive reaction when you fall is to extend your arms to cushion your fall - bad thing to do, but good luck preventing your instinctive reaction.
 
Being ready for the impact is the key.You will never be fully ready for that coming off a bike.I've a few skydives where i knew the landing was going to be rough,and keeping the feet and knees together with the knees slightly bent while you roll from feet to leg to hip to shoulder and then over on your back prevented a lot of injuries.It's called a "plf".Parchute landing fall.
You could never be that prepared when your altitude is only 3 ft.Brian is correct.Gear is the only thing that is going to save your ***.However,i have gone down enough to know not put a hand out to break the fall and consequently break it.
 
Brian P said:
The other important bit is to be wearing suitable protective gear in the first place.

Best is a full body armor suit under a full leather suit with full-face helmet, gloves, boots. Two-piece zipped-together leathers are fine for street riding.

Shorts and T-shirt and sandals ain't gonna help. Full body armor without the leathers around them (seen this on the road many times) ain't gonna do it, either. No gloves = no good, instinctive reaction when you fall is to extend your arms to cushion your fall - bad thing to do, but good luck preventing your instinctive reaction.
Click to expand...


Yep, more gear = better result for sure.

Certain parts you can't prevent from grinding if you slide: shoulders, hips, thighs, arms are all going to grind. If the only thing covering those bits is skin you're in for a world of hurt. It's possible to keep your hands off the pavement but as Brian points out, I wouldn't count on it.

I had a fair amount of training in falling (martial arts) but there are bits that will hit and no training or luck will change that.

For those that think they'll never go down it seems to me akin to driving a car and expecting to never have a fender bender. It's possible, but not probable. A fender bender on a bike means you go down.
 
Lol, best thing to do? Scream holly **** and brace for a world of pain.
 
one of the best things to do is to learn how to do a somersault. serisouly. i know adults don't usually do that, but it will help you learn to move when you're out of control.
 
sure gear will help. a body bag ( leather suit ) makes it easier for the paramedics and coroner to clean up.

its not the fall that kills you, its the sudden stop by the light pole, truck, tree, car, guardrail,etc.....

if your lucky, you wont hit any of those things. if if you do go for a tumble. STAY DOWN.

the adrenaline surge takes most of the pain away, and you might think you're not hurt, but you most likely are.
 
There was a myth busters episode where they made the professional rider lowside on purpose. Interesting thing is that he kept his arm out (in the air, so he didn't land on it), but he fell on the bum/back/shoulder (a lot of area). I keep looking for pointers on what to do when you lowside, because when I "landed" in the fall, I had my arm out, and of course, it broke :(
 
braveheart said:
sure gear will help. a body bag ( leather suit ) makes it easier for the paramedics and coroner to clean up.

its not the fall that kills you, its the sudden stop by the light pole, truck, tree, car, guardrail,etc.....
Click to expand...

While it's true that normal protective gear isn't of much help if you strike a fixed object, excessive road rash can lead to excessive blood loss and even if that doesn't get you on its own, it can compound the effects of other injuries. Good armor can stop sharp objects from penetrating through. In a normal, gentle low-side where you just slide on the road to a stop, having good leathers on can make the difference between a world of hurt (plus the involvement of ambulance, police, etc), and being practically uninjured to the point of being able to pick the bike up and keep on going. Seen it many times.
 
yes, what you say is true. some superhero suits can sometimes stop road rash and its quite obvious that gear will help more than no gear.

i get a laugh out of the morons that wear a spine protector with a wife beater and track pants. i think that if someone is that worried about their personal safety that they dress up in a batman-like suit everytime they go out for a ride, they should maybe take a car instead. cars are safer and have seat belts. lol
 
Yeah when I fell boarding I put my hands out and my wrist really hurt after because it bent the wrong way a little. I wanna drill the thought of tucking my arms in so when the time comes ill be ready
 
Coming home from Calabogie last year in a friends truck with two wrecked trackbikes and no injuries,we saw a guy on a KTM motard with a pair of Puma race boots over trackpants,back protector with no shirt and full race gloves.I think his helmet was a MX with goggles.We laughed so hard our sides hurt.Wish i had a pic.
 
when I had a get off @ SMP (front wheel slid out in the hairpin) I was glad to be wearing the full one piece suit. When I hit the ground i was rolling so I held my arms in rather than try to stop my self from tumbling. yeah i was going slower than 401 speed for the turn, but even at that speed pavement is going to be acting as a cheese grater on your skin. Once I got my mechanical damage sorted I was back out the next day riding. Some one else had a 360 zip 2 piece and some one crashed into him the next day and where the jacket and pants meet he had road rash...

Just because riding is inherently risky doesn't mean we shouldn't do something to mitigate that risk.

when I was hit from behind by a car, I ended up on the hood. I was wearing 2 jackets, both with the foam back protectors. The guy's hood had a dent in my shape in it... I would have faired worse with out them. The road I was on was chip and tar, which makes the pavement at SMP look smooth as glass). My outer jacket was all torn up from where I landed on the pavement. Another thing with road rash, it can be a vector for infection and enough of it can lead to shock.

When my sister crashed years ago she got rash on her elbow because all she was wearing was rain gear. She was given the brush to scrub the rocks out her self at the hospital, I'm not very masochistic, and this does not sound like a fun time.
 
Brian P said:
No gloves = no good, instinctive reaction when you fall is to extend your arms to cushion your fall - bad thing to do, but good luck preventing your instinctive reaction.
Click to expand...

Exactly how I wrecked my rotator cuff playing hockey - full tilt face first slide to the boards - got up to my knees in time to extend my arms trying to take some of the impact.. destroyed my supraspinatous muscle in the right shoulder. Instinctive reactions really do suck sometimes...
That's why so many snow boarders and skate boarders end up with broken wrists etc.
 
I just land on my feet running and slowly come to a stop or keep going if I am in a hurry.
 
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