Never say never..........exceptions to every debunked myth Years ago, I was on the way back from Daytona one evening during a couples group ride on a dirt bikes, with about 5 other couples, back when I was into enduro's in and dirt bike riding. We decided to relax and ride the beach home. My wife was on the back and we were the lead bike. About the same time my headlights picked up what appeared to be a rusty bar directly in our path, because its blended into the sand color I didn't see it until we were less than 50 ft. away. I realized I could never stop the bike in time.
Surprisingly the first thing that immediately entered my mind was a discussion I had a few months earlier with an older English gentleman. He was talking about the instructions and the tests they had to pass in the motorcycle English corps during the war. They were all instructed the safest way to get off a bike on gravel or dirt was to lay it down in a real emergency. They all were required to lay their bikes down at 50 mph on a gravel road as part of their training. In almost a reflect reaction I laid the bike down remembering his comments. We slid right up to the obstruction. If I hadn't we would have definitely hit it real hard and it would have been a real mess. That conversation probably saved our lives. The obstruction was a rusted railroad steel rail fence set up earlier by the PonteVedra beach club to keep dune buggies away from their section of the beach on the Atlantic. It would not have moved an inch if we hit it. They removed it soon after. I called my friend soon after thanking him for saving our lives. Without question we would have hit the rail if I didn't lay the bike down. hawke > From: "Phil Benson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Subject: Time to debunk a myth (was Re: Advice on a purchase) > > >> This is not directed at Mark specifically, but at the rather widely held > view >> that "layin' it down" is EVER an appropriate emergency procedure. I take > the >> STRONG view that it's not. >> >> Folks, the rubbery parts will always, ALWAYS give you a better out in an >> emergency than the non-rubbery parts. To intentionally "lay down" a bike > is to >> admit defeat. Period. Stay with the bike, USE the massive and wonderful > front >> brake our GTSs have, and try to regain control. Swerve if that's > appropriate. >> >> "Layin' it down" is a technique we DON'T teach at MSF. We do teach > swerving and >> braking. Accident involved motorcyclists often lack those skills. >> >> My take? Most people who claimed to intentionally lay down a bike > actually used >> inappropriate braking technique, lost control, and hate to admit to wives > and >> girlfriends (may they never meet) that they're really pretty shitty > riders. >> >> Phil >> >> >> Mark Steiger wrote: >> >>> acouple of people did mention it would be tough to bring a GTS down in > an >>> emergency because of how nice it looks, and I do have to agree on that > one.. >> >> >
