Low siding save? | GTAMotorcycle.com

Low siding save?

R

rha

Member
Hey all,

Now with riding season back again, I'm hearing about a lot of people low siding their bikes at low speed due to gravel.. like 40km or less.

If you get yourself into that kind of situation and you feel the bike start to slide out from under you, is there a save you can do, like giving it more controlled throttle? Or ILM ILM??
 
As far as my experience goes, if one of your tires slips out while on gravel, giving it more throttle probably won't help you (no traction).

I've low sided already this year due to some car driving too close to the guard rail and pushing sand towards the middle of the road. It was while riding the forks of the credit coming from belfountaine. That bloody downhill left hander thats leads into the hairpin...
 
In my experience, it happened so fast that I don't even remember the part between me hitting the brake and me lying on the ground. I guess the best way to stop a lowside would be to not put yourself in a situation where there is a great potential for that to happen. Ride safe and be aware...
 
In the words of John McGuinness, "it's very hard to low-side if you're on the gas.." Having said that..if you're going too fast, or you give it too much gas, you may crash anyway.
 
The best save if you're falling off anyway is to stay out from under the bike; it can be repaired more quickly than you can.
 
if i start to slide i grip the tank hard with my knees, roll of the throttle and try and steady the bike. if you add any input while this is happening chances are youll fall. sometime just ride it out i guess?
 
invictus43 said:
In the words of John McGuinness, "it's very hard to low-side if you're on the gas.." Having said that..if you're going too fast, or you give it too much gas, you may crash anyway.
Click to expand...

He must be talking about something specific there because too much throttle while cornering will certainly cause a low side.
 
sircastic said:
He must be talking about something specific there because too much throttle while cornering will certainly cause a low side.
Click to expand...

His quote is specifically referring to high performance riding which takes out the dirty track/road factor. Usually a low side in his case is caused by overloading the front while entering the corner. His reference to being on the gas is to try to keep the weight more equally distributed between the front and rear tire. Hence his comment about being on the gas so that load is taken off the front and transferred to the rear.
 
The only thing that will save a lowside is getting the bike more upright... whacking open the throttle will get the bike more upright... and then you run out of corner.
 
There are many different types of lowsides (Front gives out, rear slips out, newb trying to drag a knee....)
The way to save it will be dependant on what type of lowside is happening.
 
Chopping the throttle mid turn is a recipe for disaster that many riders will do in a panic situation. Keeping it on and possibly rolling on slightly keeps the weight balanced between the front and rear. Chopping mid turn forces the bike to dive putting more weight on the front and can cause it to slide out even on good traction situations.

Download or find Twist Of The Wrist II and learn about cornering from a pro. Most of it is on youtube. See the 10 min point on about traction in this clip from the movie.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8crgeHGsnlQ&feature=related


Get the whole video to get the big picture though!
 
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Judicious use of throttle almost always helps. Front end lowside is cause by the front tire losing traction because its overloaded for the amount of available traction. Adding throttle moves the centre of gravity rearwards unloading the front and giving it a fighting chance to gain traction. Rear loses traction and starts coming around. Any action other than adding throttle risks a highside. Get on the gas and keep the back sliding until you are able to get the bike more vertical and pointing in the direction of travel.
I live about 1 mile off the pavement on gravel and regularly ride 60-80kph on all sorts of bikes. Let the bike stay a bit loose and the gyro effect of the wheels actually helps with stability. The people who seem to have the most problem coming out to my place are going too slow and trying to correct every slip of the bike. More than one drag their feet at little more than walking speed.
 
My rear tire almost low sides were saved by quickly counter steering into the slide, preventing the rear from sliding out even further. If it's already slid out past where your clip on's would let you countersteer enough you're screwed. When my back tire starts to slide out I snap it quick to the lock countersteering, if over compensating for the slide the rear will start to come back under you very quickly so abort the countersteer and off you go. Squeeze with your knees, don't let it buck you off.

-Jamie M.
 
Yeah, lots of good points to think about here. I'll definitely have to watch both parts of the YouTube video!
 
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