Be Careful out There on the Highways


F

fstrthan_uthink

New Member
Thought I'd share my experience on the 408 (Orlando East-West Expressway) this past weekend. I was just out riding for the weekend, so I figured I'd do some highway miles. Well, after some time on the highway headed West, I decide to get off and head back East. I check my mirror, put on my right blinker, head check real quick and get into the exit lane for the off ramp. This highway has had a lot of lane additions and upgrades lately and there was essentially no warning of how quickly approaching the off ramp was. It was about 100 feet in front of me and was a 25mph off ramp. I was going ~70 mph. Had to brake HARD and had no time to downshift, came into it doing somewhere around 45 still in 6th gear. This was in a matter of seconds. It went something like "oh sh!t this off-ramp is short!" *see 25mph ramp speed limit sign* *quickly but gently apply front brake ONLY and squeeze harder while applying rear brake once under 60* *prepare to take off ramp at 45mph in 6th gear* *succeed, downshift, allow heart rate to return to normal, and ponder who engineers these roads*

:thumbup: :america:

Please, be careful out there guys (and gals). Realizing you're about to take an off-ramp at 3x its recommended speed without IMMEDIATE braking is pretty intense.
 
Z

zig308

New Member
They seem to engineer them for people that are going exactly 55mph, which nobody is.

I was going to catch some highway miles for the first time this weekend, but I was getting a bit cold just out on the country roads. Maybe in the spring...
 
F

flyingminno

New Member
Yeah that seems like a common problem. If anyone from SoCal knows the 110, you know how short those off ramps are, they are basically a 50 foot lane that goes to a sharp 90 degree corner and a stop sign.
 
K

KADO

New Member
I will share my experience that happened to me this weekend as well. A few of us went riding on a country road called white lighting. This road is very curvy and has many blind spots that you don't see until they pop up right in front of you. Now many people have been on this road and well the road has won most of the battles with people. All was going good until I came up on this hill and then suddenly the road took a sharp right turn without any prior knowledge from signs or anything. It caught me such off guard that I went into the oncoming lane to prevent from running off and there was a truck coming my way. So long story short, I applied some front and rear brake and got it back under control. After my heart rate return to normal all was fine. Too close for me in any case.
 
H

Heineken

Senior Member
Elite Member
I believe that I read somewhere that the #1 cause of motorcyclist deaths are caused by misjudging turn entry speed. Then again I might be wrong.

I am extra cautious (read: I slow down) whenever I ride on a road I don't really know.

Safe is smooth, and smooth is sexy. ;))
 
9

99vengeur

Administrator
Staff member
Heineken said:
I believe that I read somewhere that the #1 cause of motorcyclist deaths are caused by misjudging turn entry speed. Then again I might be wrong.

I am extra cautious (read: I slow down) whenever I ride on a road I don't really know.

Safe is smooth, and smooth is sexy. ;))
Click to expand...
+ infinity
 
D

dart1963

Super Moderator
Elite Member
Heineken said:
I believe that I read somewhere that the #1 cause of motorcyclist deaths are caused by misjudging turn entry speed. Then again I might be wrong.

I am extra cautious (read: I slow down) whenever I ride on a road I don't really know.

Safe is smooth, and smooth is sexy. ;))
Click to expand...
That's what they told us in the MSF course, most accidents are people riding straight off a curve from coming in too fast.
http://home1.gte.net/res0ak9f/mc-crash8.mpg
 
A

Allan

New Member
In SA we are preparing for the soccer world cup next year. As a result, the roads infrastructure is being upgraded all over the place. One gloomy and wet winter's morning, about 1 month after having started riding, I took my normal exit from the highway, and, taking the curve, got suprised by concrete barriers which actually decreased the radius of the turn. Having read quite a bit about grabbing the front brake, I watched the concrete barrier approaching rapidly, and applied the front brake in as controlled a fashion as I could. Fortunately slowed enough to make the turn, and since then, I've approached road works with extreme caution. Funny thing is, when I ride past those concrete barriers today, I can see the black marks that tyres have made as they hit them!
 
cbzdel

cbzdel

New Member

9

99vengeur

Administrator
Staff member
You must log in or register to reply here.


Top