Almost Highsided Saving a Lowside

[brownwa]

Was doing a 30mph turn coming downhill on a mountain road and my back tire kicked out. Saved it by push steering the outside handlebar in desperate panic. The bike stood up so hard it bucked and waggled but I kept my dignity... until I saw a tricked out Nissan 370z in my mirror had seen the whole thing. To his credit it didn't pass me on the following straight.

Thoughts on whether I did the right thing, the wrong thing or just got real f***ing lucky?

I've done controlled real wheel skids before because of aggressive rear braking but this was different. It was bone dry, clear asphalt, no brakes, steady throttle, conservative lean angle. My guess is that I must have blipped the throttle unconsciously at just the wrong moment and the damn Bridgestone Battlax stock tires decided to have a bad day. If anything I think push steering got the front wheel to save the back wheel but standing the bike up. That and I was going 30mph, which was too slow for a dramatic highside, just a hop and a wiggle.

 

[lytehouse]

That "hop & wiggle" is enough to scare the 5hit outta ya though! Glad you recovered.

 

[FastFreddy]

I'd put it down to all those skids you did as a kid going down wet grass slopes. All kids do that right ? Go as fast as you can down a grass hill and then lock up the rear and see if you can control it, if not gracefully do a controlled sliding loop ? Maybe it's not allowed in parks now.

It happens to fast, to think what you did, when it happens like that. A push on the bar, a roll off, a bit of everything all at once.

 

[Final Impact]

Off hand, the issue once the pair are no longer on the same trajectory and you made your correction, is that your input up front was held too long. It only takes moment for the two to sync up, then you have the same issue but caused by the front and WAM - you get thrown.

Think of "blip" input correction as unlike the grass field or the snowy road, you were NOT looking to maintain that slide angle. So the BLIP, steering input aligns them and you continue on.

Wet chip tar - I know!

 

[brownwa]

The blipping suggestion makes sense now that I think about it. The wet grass explanation was instinctually what I did when I felt the back go, but I held the push too long. Heaven forbid if there is a next time I will just punch the outside bar to push steer the tires in line, just a blip, no holding.