Hi-Side starting out at 75 MPH
Well, overall I can say it was a fun ride this past Sunday. I rode out with a great group of riders. We traveled westbound in the general direction of Steamboat Springs. On the return ride things didn't fair so well.
While traveling eastbound on State 134 over Gore Pass I had to take evasive maneuvers.
The turn: uphill, right-hander, off-camber at the top 1/3rd and there was sand in between the wheel tracks. Not heavy but enough to create an issue for the uninitiated (knew of this sand as I had been on this road three times earlier this year).
The pace: Quick, er, very quick. Spacing between bikes was, for the most part, good enough to keep the en eye on the action ahead without having to ride up each others tails.
Traffic: Very light, but there just happened to be a cruiser coming in the opposite direction.
My friend, in front of me, (as he later noted) fixated on two things… the sand and the cruiser. Now the sand in itself was not that bad. But, it was the first sand to be seen on this stretch of road. The cruiser was having a hard time with the turn and his footboards were touching down (remember, this is an off-camber turn, so it makes it easy for the inside gear to touch down. Especially if one is off the gas, not keeping the body’s centerline inside the bikes and on the brakes, as it appeared the cruiser was).
Suddenly, my buddy in front crossed over the yellow line and just behind the cruiser (lucky for him there was no oncoming traffic). Traveling behind him I had a good line and was well set in the left wheel track. My body position was correct and I was on the gas keeping the suspension in the sweet spot.
I was looking through the turn and watching the action in my periphial vision. As my buddy started to regain control he cut back across the yellow and into my line. He had nearly reduced his speed by half and my approach speed was now double his.
I had a hard choice to make and make it fast indeed. I had two options: one, to t-bone him at around a 35 MPH closing speed or, two, go to his left. There was no oncoming traffic so I chose the lesser of two evils. Trust me, If there had been a car coming the other way I would have got hard on the brakes, counter steered more into the turn and hoped for the best if I had hit him.
I had a split second to do the following:
I immediately pushed hard on the left grip while at the same time rolling on a bit more throttle. As soon as the bike was upright I moved my body back to neutral and squeezed my knees hard on the tank.
Next, I rolled off the throttle while at the same time inversely applying the brakes. I only had about 30 feet of pavement to get hard on the brakes without overdoing it and ending up in a tank slap.
Now the edge of the paved road ended and I was traveling over forest access road 11 which just so happened to intersect 134 at that turn. At this time I stood up moto-cross style and kept my weight on the balls of my feet and my hands firmly but ams relaxed on the grips. The bike, all 675 pounds of it, was now pretending it was a Dakar. Well, the little bit of dirt road I was on soon ended and there was a drainage ditch (swale) on the far side. I immediately compressed my body to ride through the ditch. At this time I’m guessing I was doing about 60 MPH! Somehow I managed to make it through the ditch but I did feel my forks bottom out on the other side.
Next, the bike and I un-weighted off the suspension and I had no braking whatsoever for about 20 feet. When gravity took effect I cranked hard on the rear brake to let the tire start to dig in. I realized that if the front were to lock up I would pitch over going way too fast and there was a stand of aspens looming ahead. Luckily for me, I had a bit of a clear path through the trees and I did my best to steer right of the first stand of sticks.
A low hanging branch was blocking my view and as my helmet passed through I saw what looked to be a 10 inch diameter aspen in my direct path. I knew that my closing speed was so great that if I were to hit it head-on that me and the bike would be in bad shape. By now my speed was down to 30 to 35, I’m guessing.
All that training I’ve been taking (Lee Parks- Total Control, Fast Freddie, Ricky Orlando, discussions with friend and fellow riders, not to mention several books, movies and countless miles) continued to act upon me. Some call it muscle memory or “go with what you know”. I didn’t want to do the following but I had no choice.
I pushed hard on the right grip while at the same time punching on the front brake. This immediately caused the bike to dive out from under me. As soon as it started to fold away and friction made it do that fast, I let go of the handle bars, pulled my arms up and across my chest, tucked my helmet’s chin bar tight into my chest, pulled my legs up into the cannonball position and went for a high-side ride.
I saw the words Kawasaki on my tank drop out from under me and out of the corner of my left eye the dusty bark of the aspen flew by. As soon as my forward momentum decreased and gravity won I sank toward the ground my feet snagged into the dirt and rocks and I must have tumbled end-over-end 3 to six times. I came to rest on my ass still tucked into the fetal position.
Again, training took over and although I wanted to jump up I began to methodically do things step by step. I looked around with my eyes, not my head, to see where I was. Then I began to “feel” my body. Nothing felt out of place. I started to wiggle my toes and fingers and then move my arms and legs a bit. No issues. Then I checked my neck and back. Once I felt I was in order (this all took about five seconds) I looked over my right shoulder to see what was going on with the other bikes.
They were coming to rest and kickstands were dropping down fast. I looked at their faces and they (three riders) were all bug-eyed. I guess it was kind of a shock to see what had just happened. I then looked back at my poor bike. There she was upside-down covered in dirt, rocks and weeds—just barely resting with her nose cowling against that aspen
.
We got her back up on her feet and pushed her through a ditch and back up on the road. The rest was the usual stuff, check the mechanicals and get her up and running for the ride back, some 125 miles, to Denver.
How did it feel you may wonder? Well, first off I felt very comfortable through the whole thing. Hell, I may have been laughing and yelling WOOHOO under my visor. No, my life didn’t flash before my eyes. My eyes were too busy assessing the situation. It all happened soooo fast. My guess is that it all too about six seconds from beginning to full stop. But it was in Techincolor!
Training and safety gear paid off big time. Not to mention the ruggedness of my big-ass ride. Thanks Kawasaki for making it a tank.
The end result: some cracked plastic, a broken mirror stem and sore shoulder.
You might think, man, that was one hell of a day and glad to be done with it. At least I did. But, nooooo, not to be had. Later, on the way home at I-70 and the
Empire exit one of the other riders in our group went down and his bike got run over by a car. But, my friends, that is another story.
I guess I’ll end up with this thought for you. Next time you’re wondering what you should spend your money on, that cool gizmo, or rider training, go with the latter.
Regards,
Pilot
P.S. pics to follow
Suspension Academy Graduate 1 + 1 = 3
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2010 ZX-10R
Originally Posted by konichd
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