Close Call - Looking for Critiques

[emptysea]

I'm not an expert brakes, but it appears that you went from about 40 to zero in less than 3 seconds without locking the front and with minimal locking of the rear and you remained upright. An excellent job of avoiding the crash. I think, though, that if you noticed the front wheel turning, you were looking in the wrong direction. That said, if it had stopped turning, that would have meant you locked the front and you almost assuredly would have been off. I do not know if better pads would have made the situation better and the front very well could have locked with less pressure at the lever than you gave it, which may actually have made things worse. Just my uneducated opinion, though. Glad you survived and again good job at maintaining control.

[The Spaceman_imp]

I hesitate to be critical because I wasn't there, but since you asked, I'll throw this out: from here it looks like you target-fixated and rode straight into the truck. Regardless of if you could stop or not, it seems like steering away from the truck would have been a better strategy.

Again, I wasn't there, and arm-chair riding is a lot different from the real world.

[ThomWill_imp]

I hesitate to be critical because I wasn't there, but since you asked, I'll throw this out: from here it looks like you target-fixated and rode straight into the truck. Regardless of if you could stop or not, it seems like steering away from the truck would have been a better strategy.

Again, I wasn't there, and arm-chair riding is a lot different from the real world.

Everything Spaceman said... without being there, or at least having a helmet mounted angle it did look like a bit of target fixation.

[rboe]

Agreed, target fixation. Common, very hard for some of us to avoid too (been there done that). I'd recommend riding a wee bit slower through congested areas to give you more time to react to crap like that. This time it was an SUV, next time it could be spilt oil or antifreeze, a kid chasing a ball or my favorite, some yahoo talking on a cell phone while walking across the street and simply not looking.

When I practiced emergency stops in class I always locked up the rear brake; with the weight transfer this is very hard to avoid unless you don't use it at all. I thought the Griso had good front brakes until I got the CB1100. They are just a wee bit better so now I'm considering upgrading the Griso. A buddy has a Griso he has heavily modified and does track days from time to time; he put on a fancy new master cylinder. In any event; you didn't lock the front brake and stopped in plenty of time so you did good. As Naval Aviators say; any landing you can walk away from is a good landing.

[CIP57_imp]

Agreed, target fixation. Common, very hard for some of us to avoid too (been there done that). I'd recommend riding a wee bit slower through congested areas to give you more time to react to crap like that. This time it was an SUV, next time it could be spilt oil or antifreeze, a kid chasing a ball or my favorite, some yahoo talking on a cell phone while walking across the street and simply not looking.

When I practiced emergency stops in class I always locked up the rear brake; with the weight transfer this is very hard to avoid unless you don't use it at all. I thought the Griso had good front brakes until I got the CB1100. They are just a wee bit better so now I'm considering upgrading the Griso. A buddy has a Griso he has heavily modified and does track days from time to time; he put on a fancy new master cylinder. In any event; you didn't lock the front brake and stopped in plenty of time so you did good. As Naval Aviators say; any landing you can walk away from is a good landing.

I respectfully disagree with target fixation. Once he compressed his front end the bike told him were he was going at which point he was in no mans land. Had he been doing 50-60MPH he would have been over the double yellow and if lucky in the grass on the opposite side of the road.

[Ack-CB11_imp]

Good riding, glad everything is OK. That camera works sweet.

[PowderToastMan_imp]

Seriously good job keeping the shiny side up on that one. I bet your heart rate went up at least a little bit there.

I can't imagine most riders being able to do much better in that situation. It looked ideally like it could have been good to get on a course that didn't point you so close to the car while braking, but you didn't know if they were going to keep moving in that direction or not, so just getting on the brakes and getting to a full stop ASAP was a good choice, and as mentioned above, that probably didn't leave you much choice as to which way you were going.

[wildezt_imp]

thank god you are safe..! all those drivers not using the turn signal.. well its always safe to expect the unexpected.. its not a perfect world..!

[HikerToo_imp]

Sorry, I have to disagree with most everyone here.
That car looks like it was and did stop as soon as they realized someone was coming.
I would think I would have went for my brakes, but then let up and continued to ride right by them once I saw they stopped.
If I am seeing it correctly, the entire time you are rolling up to it head-on, they had already stopped.

[Deanohh_imp]

Blind corner, crest of hill, with headlights at night, fog, following another vehicle........same concept. You increase your safety if you don't drive faster than your ability to stop for something beyond your view.