Dude,I'm pretty squidish. However, if that was the kind off riding I was doing I'd have a full face, and at Least knee / elbow armor. I mean shite, some knee and elbow pads from sears / home depot would be better than one layer of jeans.
Or it could be a mechanical failure that locks the front wheel. Unless the guy was already on the breaks during that corner, his wrist never moves, hard to see the fingers. To me it doesn't really look like he hits the break.
Watching the video it did not look like he had his fingers on the brake lever. I also noticed that the front wheel never appeared to stop its rotation. The rider did seem to turn the bars an awful lot though, maybe that is what caused the front end to tuck. The front tire just washed out from too much steering input.
AZXB9R Steering input to the left usually means a right hand turn at that speed. I just watched the video in slo mo,he most certainly has his whole hand on the brake lever. Just as he hit the ground is the best frame to see it. OK now I feel like a prick watching somebody fall more than once,hope is ok.......
You can see the forks compress. You can also see a difference in the speed of the spokes just before the front tucks. The wheel hasn't locked completely, but it is sliding. This is the sort of thing that makes me seriously consider the benefits of ABS. With ABS he would likely have cruised right through that corner.
I know... YOU really are that good that you don't need ABS.
Spdrxb- I wouldn't feel too bad at all. Some of the best training in life is from studying the wrong way to do something. Some people can't make the connection until they see the error and its effect.
Sifo - at first I was going to disagree with you, but after watching the slow motion bit, I'd agree. The frame rate of the camera makes the wheel spokes an easy indicator. Before he nails the front brake (BTW, he clearly has two fingers on the lever the whole time), both the spokes of the front and rear wheel are moving at the same speed. As soon the nose dives, the rear changes slightly, but the front changes drastically. This wasn't a complete lockup, but may as well have been as the front was spinning slower than the rear and the loss in traction is the same.
Every bike has ABS. It's the rider's ability to determine what is going on and make the correct inputs. Is that perfect?? NO. Is mechanical or electronic ABS perfect?? NO
But if you don't have the ability to apply the correct inputs without ABS, then you certainly won't have the ability to determine what the correct inputs are when ABS fails!
I just don't understand how people think a jacket and helmet is the only thing they need to wear for protection when riding sport bikes... I rarely leave on a sport ride without total gear from head to toe. a good pair of riding boots, and riding pants will go a LONG way in protecting you, in addition to the jacket and helmet.
a VERY good thing that guy was wearing a helmet, his face would look like hamburger...
Glad the rider only sustained what appear to be minor injuries.
Watch the riders body just before the front goes. You can see his whole body shift forward. Then look how far his bike has to "fall" before getting to the ground.
Too much front brake, not enough lean angle.
It's entirely possible if he would have just leaned over at the point it was at 1.10.30 in the vid he MIGHT have saved it. ABS MIGHT have stood him up and caused him to go into the guard rail with a possible sudden bike deceleration, with rider still in motion over the bars scenario.
IMO, ABS is a poor idea for inexperienced riders. To me, riding a motorcycle is a technically demanding activity and should not be taken lightly. If you're not willing and able to learn to use the brakes properly, maybe motorcycles aren't for you.
My last two cars have had ABS and I'm not a fan. It works great, but it makes me lazy. In low traction situations, it's so tempting for me to just stand on the brake pedal and wait for ABS to come and save me. Then on those rare occasions when I can more more effectively modulate the brakes than ABS can, I've grown accustomed to letting the electronics do it for me, so proper control of my vehicle is a foreign concept.
If a brand new rider learns on a bike where grabbing a fist full of front brake yields no consequences, how can they be expected to learn to respect their machine?
It is a front end tuck. Nothing new. Loading up the front end in a turn and losing traction, the wheel always turns IN. Happens on the track, you CAN open the throttle to regain traction - or change your line (meaning you run off the track but under control... been there, done that) - or you just tuck the front end and have a dirt/sky/dirt/sky event. There is less than a half second to respond.
I don't think that ABS would have saved the guy in this situation. Since the front tire did not completely lock, the load that caused the front end to tuck would be about the same with or without ABS. Trusting the bike to take the corner at the speed he was going instead of panicking would have made the difference.
That is easy to say sitting at a keyboard, but I have had times where I just tell myself to stay quiet and let the bike do its thing.
it wasnt me, I would have flattened the corner and probably dropped her attempting the off pavement section up the dirt hill just beyond the guard rail..... and the ZTL on dirt, gravel, shale - NOT your friend.
He was definitely covering his front brake. Thing is I wonder if that cop was parked up around the corner and he saw it and spooked him? I have never ridden Mulholland and seems to be a lot of crashes on this corner. What is the deal with it? It doesn't look that difficult.
I don't understand the idea that ABS is a bad thing for a beginner, or any other rider for that matter. Most beginners are told about locking the front wheel and wind up so spooked they rely way too much on the rear brake. Even experienced riders can find brake management difficult.
Speaking for myself, it would be nice if I ever got into a situation where I lock the front to just get the feedback that comes with the ABS rather than the feedback you get from a face full of asphalt. The road is a place where it's easy to overreact to surprises that come up. This has all the earmarks of exactly that happening, where a handful of brakes gets applied to quickly at an inopportune time. Sure it was bad technique, but I bet this guy would love to have had ABS if he could go back in time and do that again.
Did anyone happen to notice what happened to his left foot when it touched down. That looked really painful. I like my toes pointing in front of me.
The cops will ALWAYS station themselves near the known locations of camera operators. Not hard to find out where they are. Crashes are virtually guaranteed when people will hot-dog it for the camera. Easy money for the cops and heck, it's a "green" police operation - they don't even have to go looking very far for tickets to write with ALL the willing volunteers.
Y'all think you gotta hit the brake to tuck it? The cops will ALWAYS station themselves near the known locations of camera operators. Honestly, where better a place?
That braking system is really easy to over react with if you are not used to it... I almost endo-d my City X at Homecoming last year when I realized I completely ran a stop sign... and I grabbed the brake really hard. Good thing I have a lot of riding experience or that would have hurt. It only takes one half a second of mis-judgement to go down, especially if you are new to the bike. JUST bought my first pair of Kevlar re-inforced jeans btw... they are kindof itchy, but I am gonna wear them.