Dumping A Bike Is No Sin
By James
R. Dean
I have a suspicion that many here think that dumping a
bike is to be avoided at all costs. That dumping a bike is extremely dangerous.
That experienced riders simply don't do such a thing.
Nonsense! I do not
know anybody who has a few years of experience on two-wheels who has failed to
dump their bike, or who will not sooner or later do so.
To dump a bike
should be an embarrassment, and is the stuff we kid each other about, but it
need not be dangerous.
After a very long ride, I have seen very
experienced people stop, get off their bikes and start to walk away from them -
without having put their side stands down. I have seen people mount a bike that
was parked on a right-biased slope and have the bike fall over to the right as a
result. I have seen loose gravel cause a foot to slip away and the bike lay down
before an eye could blink. But in virtually every case, there was neither,
damage to the bike nor to the rider.
It is no sin to dump a bike, but it
is stupid and dangerous to end up under that bike!
The VERY FIRST riding
lesson I give a person who is moving up to a larger bike is how to dump it. If
they are not, yet, riding a big bike, I even let them learn this lesson using my
GoldWing.
I have them take the bike onto a grassy area with relatively
firm ground and, with the engine turned off, I have them lean the bike slowly
over to the left. I have explained before we do any of this that what I want
them to learn is that there comes a point in leaning the bike where the center
of gravity of the bike will move past the side of their tank and that most of
the weight of the bike will be on their 'down' leg. That at this point NOBODY
can hold up a GoldWing and that to try to do so can result in injury! That they
are to decide for themselves when they have reached that point, and then to STOP
TRYING TO HOLD UP THE BIKE. They are to let go of the lower grip, QUICKLY step
on the high peg and step as wide away from the bike as possible with their
'down' leg as the bike lays down.
If they do this correctly they will
find that they remain standing, one foot on the ground, the other on the high
peg, with the bike between their legs on its side. It usually takes no more than
two tries to get this right - the first try usually finds them landing on their
hands. (If they do, I remind them that they might want to let go of the lower
grip before it pulls them to the ground). But by the second time they get the
idea that they have to let go of the lower grip, shift their weight VERY FAST to
the high peg and step away with the other leg. This 'move' tends not to be
forgotten long after it is learned. With the bike down they then observe, at
least for Wings, that it usually does not even leave its wheels because of the
engine and saddlebag guards, and that neither is there damage to the bike. This
goes a long ways towards increasing confidence.
The next lesson, of
course, is how to pick up your bike.
By the way, I extend this lesson
into a discussion of when you should keep your feet on the pegs and when you can
safely step away from a bike that is going down: If the bike is moving faster
than you can walk, keep your feet on the pegs! If it is going slower than that,
stand on the high peg and let the bike fall between your legs and walk (hop)
away from it.
Submitted by:
Mark Luketic (Savage)
Chapter
Educator
