Had to lock 'em up for the first time today

[VStarRider]

Lots of good advice / reminders here...thanks for those.

In retrospect, I probably was on the pedal a little harder than I thought I was, causing the rear lockup. I am glad my reaction time was so quick and that I went for both brakes. During my accident in 2012, I panicked and jammed on the rear only. The accident probably could've been avoided if I had grabbed a handful of front brake. Either that, or I would have collided with the 83 year old cager at a 45 degree angle and tumbled over his hood. Maybe it is better that I got some road rash rather than the alternative.

[RickJ]

These are the scenarios that call for a change of clean underwear immediately afterwards. As far as trying to avoid a deer if it's directly in front of you; is to drive straight through them. Trying to maneuver around one is a almost completely unpredictable situation; based upon the deer's reaction/movements.

Glad that you came out on top of the event.

As far remembering evasive maneuvers.... let me quote one of Murphy's laws of combat operations:

16. No PLAN ever survives initial enemy contact.

As I'm sure you know, it wasn't Murphy!! Helmuth von Moltke the Elder

[Audiochris90]

Man i have yet to have a close call like that. I tiped my VTX over once in a grocery store parking lot, and that shook me up for a few days. I jumped off with out the kick stand down. I could only imagine the deer issue. Sound like you did it right , max brake in a straight line. Ive heard you never know if the deer will move so a dodge might have not been efective. I regularly practice the handel bar push i learned in bike school. The advanced class covered max braking in in turn. It was really a tough exercise. I was not too good at it on my vtx. The b is more nimble and avdvanced in the brakes. Some even think no abs is better in a panic stop. I really dont know ? Larry? Guide us?

[willtill]

As I'm sure you know, it wasn't Murphy!! Helmuth von Moltke the Elder

Very interesting. Who said Murphy wasn't a plagiarizer?


Moltke's main thesis was that military strategy had to be understood as a system of options since only the beginning of a military operation was plannable. As a result, he considered the main task of military leaders to consist in the extensive preparation of all possible outcomes. His thesis can be summed up by two statements, one famous and one less so, translated into English as "No plan of operations extends with certainty beyond the first encounter with the enemy's main strength" (or "no plan survives contact with the enemy")[3] and "Strategy is a system of expedients".[3]

Excerpt above from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helmut...ltke_the_Elder

[53driver]

Man i have yet to have a close call like that. I tiped my VTX over once in a grocery store parking lot, and that shook me up for a few days. I jumped off with out the kick stand down. I could only imagine the deer issue. Sound like you did it right , max brake in a straight line. Ive heard you never know if the deer will move so a dodge might have not been efective. I regularly practice the handel bar push i learned in bike school. The advanced class covered max braking in in turn. It was really a tough exercise. I was not too good at it on my vtx. The b is more nimble and avdvanced in the brakes. Some even think no abs is better in a panic stop. I really dont know ? Larry? Guide us?

I'm not Larry and I didn't sleep at a Holiday Inn Express last night......but I am an MSF Instructor.

Deer - they will move out of sheer panic eventually - straight line braking right towards them is statistically your best option. If you stop before you reach them - great. If not, they will hopefully move. If you want to get precise, aim for their posterior region as that will be the first point of clearing - assuming they go in a generally forward motion. At night, the "deer frozen in the headlights" concept changes the game a bit. I brake towards their tail. Opinions will differ. Corollary: can you ever go into a turn too slowly? Especially at night and you don't know what is on the other side? Nope.

Braking while not exactly going straight: if your tires have "100 points" for traction, some get used by cornering, some get used by braking. The trick is not to exceed "100." Easy braking whilst in a turn (yes, both brakes - "trail braking" does NOT mean rear brake only) while then straightening the bike for the final stop is a technique to be rehearsed again and again. As your tires wear, brake pads wear, etc, all the mechanical performance parameters are constantly changing, so must your skill set adapt. It's not a science, i.e. I can't tell you that 5 psi from your two braking fingers is appropriate for your bike in a 25 degree angle turn to begin the slowdown sequence. It's a feel, it's the dance that you and your bike are doing and guess what? You have the lead - she can only respond. If you are not a good lead dancer, maybe joining the 1.5 mile weekend barhopping crowd and dressing like a pirate is your next logical step. Learning to dance is easy. Much easier to lead a motorcycle than an irritated female who figured out you can't find the downbeat, let alone who one doesn't like her toes stepped upon occasionally ....but I digress.

Don't practice until you get it right - practice until you can't get it wrong. For me that means constant practice.....

[RickJ]

I'm not Larry and I didn't sleep at a Holiday Inn Express last night......but I am an MSF Instructor.

Deer - they will move out of sheer panic eventually - straight line braking right towards them is statistically your best option. If you stop before you reach them - great. If not, they will hopefully move. If you want to get precise, aim for their posterior region as that will be the first point of clearing - assuming they go in a generally forward motion. At night, the "deer frozen in the headlights" concept changes the game a bit. I brake towards their tail. Opinions will differ. Corollary: can you ever go into a turn too slowly? Especially at night and you don't know what is on the other side? Nope.

Braking while not exactly going straight: if your tires have "100 points" for traction, some get used by cornering, some get used by braking. The trick is not to exceed "100." Easy braking whilst in a turn (yes, both brakes - "trail braking" does NOT mean rear brake only) while then straightening the bike for the final stop is a technique to be rehearsed again and again. As your tires wear, brake pads wear, etc, all the mechanical performance parameters are constantly changing, so must your skill set adapt. It's not a science, i.e. I can't tell you that 5 psi from your two braking fingers is appropriate for your bike in a 25 degree angle turn to begin the slowdown sequence. It's a feel, it's the dance that you and your bike are doing and guess what? You have the lead - she can only respond. If you are not a good lead dancer, maybe joining the 1.5 mile weekend barhopping crowd and dressing like a pirate is your next logical step. Learning to dance is easy. Much easier to lead a motorcycle than an irritated female who figured out you can't find the downbeat, let alone who one doesn't like her toes stepped upon occasionally ....but I digress.

Don't practice until you get it right - practice until you can't get it wrong. For me that means constant practice.....

Hey 53...Thanks for taking the time to post some of your knowledge gleaned ans rider and instructor. I have TRIED to find an advances MSF course here and am unable to get a response from anyone from MSF I have tried to contact. In the meantime, your posts re: safe riding techniques are appreciated. Now I have to get off my complacent intellectually self sufficient ass and PRACTICE.

[Ginfla]

Just got it up to 60 mph, not completely paying attention to my peripheral vision, and, hello, a deer right in front of me.

Got on the front brake hard, hard enough, to lock the rear (had my foot on the pedal but I don't think I was on it hard enough to lock it, so I think it was the linked system that did it). It got squirrely under me for just a half-second, but I dropped a lot of mph pretty quickly.

I am pleased with my reaction time, how I modulated the brakes to maintain control, but I did catch myself staring at the deer rather than looking for an escape route...Meatloaf said two outta three ain't bad...but I still need to practice some evasive maneuvers.

Man, I wish these things had ABS....one less thing to think about in a panic situation.

What really burns me is the f6b has been available in Canada with abs for a long time. Come on honda, get your act together...

[VStarRider]

What really burns me is the f6b has been available in Canada with abs for a long time. Come on honda, get your act together...

I believe I have read here that ABS is a requirement on bikes sold in Canada, Europe, Australia???

[VStarRider]

Hey 53...Thanks for taking the time to post some of your knowledge gleaned ans rider and instructor. I have TRIED to find an advances MSF course here and am unable to get a response from anyone from MSF I have tried to contact. In the meantime, your posts re: safe riding techniques are appreciated. Now I have to get off my complacent intellectually self sufficient ass and PRACTICE.

Rick, there is a company in Groton that offers MSF courses. Here is the link:

http://www.1stmsp.com

[53driver]

Hey 53...Thanks for taking the time to post some of your knowledge gleaned ans rider and instructor. I have TRIED to find an advances MSF course here and am unable to get a response from anyone from MSF I have tried to contact. In the meantime, your posts re: safe riding techniques are appreciated. Now I have to get off my complacent intellectually self sufficient ass and PRACTICE.

You are quite welcome!

Regarding an MSF course: if that link doesn't work out, PM me and we'll get this sorted in record time.
Cheers,
Steve