Topic: Tis the season people, be careful out there.*

[y2kc0wb0y]

Thank you for the post. Good reminder.

[Retro Rocket]

That guy on the bike was headed for trouble anyway, he had locked his rear wheel before he was hit. I can't believe the amount of guys that don't know how to use their brakes properly......

[petercb750]

Yeh, virtually no front brake..........der. And no attempt to go for the gap between the lanes. As an instructor we spend a lot of time showing newbies how to use the brakes, but some really fear the front brake - they get their heads filled with crap from know-alls who say they'll throw themselves over the bars etc etc. One young fella said to me "my dad said to never use the front brake...". FFS.
  What's the bet dad is a born again cruiser type.

I'd suggest the first vid is another example of poor braking and inattention. They were going at snails pace.

[Retro Rocket]

It just blows me away, the front brake is the one thats going to save your life. That guy couldn't change lanes with his rear wheel locked, actually, i bet he didn't even glance in his mirror to see if anyone was trying to stop behind him....Poor riding skills.....

[Gordon]

It just blows me away, the front brake is the one thats going to save your life. That guy couldn't change lanes with his rear wheel locked, actually, i bet he didn't even glance in his mirror to see if anyone was trying to stop behind him....Poor riding skills.....

I'm paranoid of that same thing happening to me when I'm on busy highways.  When the traffic in front of me stops or slows down quickly, the first thing I do after hitting my brakes is check the mirror to see if the person behind me is paying attention, and I'm ready to dart between the lanes if they don't appear to be slowing. 

[Retro Rocket]

It just blows me away, the front brake is the one thats going to save your life. That guy couldn't change lanes with his rear wheel locked, actually, i bet he didn't even glance in his mirror to see if anyone was trying to stop behind him....Poor riding skills.....

I'm paranoid of that same thing happening to me when I'm on busy highways.  When the traffic in front of me stops or slows down quickly, the first thing I do after hitting my brakes is check the mirror to see if the person behind me is paying attention, and I'm ready to dart between the lanes if they don't appear to be slowing.

Yep, its ingrained in me to look for escape routes after doing everything possible to avoid a situation, i know there will always be times where you just can't control everything but having a plan and knowing what to do WILL save your life.......

[petercb750]

It just blows me away, the front brake is the one thats going to save your life. That guy couldn't change lanes with his rear wheel locked, actually, i bet he didn't even glance in his mirror to see if anyone was trying to stop behind him....Poor riding skills.....

I'm paranoid of that same thing happening to me when I'm on busy highways.  When the traffic in front of me stops or slows down quickly, the first thing I do after hitting my brakes is check the mirror to see if the person behind me is paying attention, and I'm ready to dart between the lanes if they don't appear to be slowing.

Yep, its ingrained in me to look for escape routes after doing everything possible to avoid a situation, i know there will always be times where you just can't control everything but having a plan and knowing what to do WILL save your life.......

That's what we instruct - always have a plan B. And you get that from looking ahead and positioning yourself "just in case".
Sadly, there's a lot of riders out there who have been off bikes for 30 years and now getting back into it, just by being able to walk into a bike shop and say "I'll have that one". Invariably they go for the HD or jap cruiser, all about the image. They really should be made to do a referesher type course. They represent a big percentage of the casualties (the actual figure escapes me). Bike shops could help drive this by recognising the type of buyer and making helpful suggestions about re-training.

[dave500]

Yeh, virtually no front brake..........der. And no attempt to go for the gap between the lanes. As an instructor we spend a lot of time showing newbies how to use the brakes, but some really fear the front brake - they get their heads filled with crap from know-alls who say they'll throw themselves over the bars etc etc. One young fella said to me "my dad said to never use the front brake...". FFS.
  What's the bet dad is a born again cruiser type.

I'd suggest the first vid is another example of poor braking and inattention. They were going at snails pace.

my neighbour has a new vstrom and he got the abs brake option because hes always been scared of locking a front wheel,this bike replaces the gsx750 he had for 15 years and this guy rides all the time,commutes,in the rain etc,in that video you would think the smoke trail might at least grab the following drivers attention,,i think that was the biggest factor in that smash ,the lack of attention paid by the car behind him,fair enough the poor victim might not be the best rider but it still comes down to the dickhead who slammed him.

[noahspop]

The driver in front of him was tailgating, and the driver behind him was probably texting. Thats why I don't drive in the middle of the road. I always have plan a, b, c, etc. ready at all time. He had plenty of time and room to to move to the side, regardless if there was a car behind him or not.

[OneWheelDrive]

Yikes, here's another nasty example.  Glad the rider was OK.   

http://www.cnn.com/video/?/video/us/2011/04/26/pkg.motorcycle.crash.tape.KTV
T&hpt=P1&iref=NS1