Intense

Member
Jan 22, 2001
2
0
Supposedly one is making a left turn and could not brake fast enough to make a safe turn. And the rear wheel starts to skid while
turning left.

What could be done to avoid highsiding or even better, recover from a sliding rear wheel?
 
S

Saratoga

Hit the front brakes? How did you arrive at that answer? I think you would wake up in the hospital if you hit the brakes at high speed.

I would give it gas to keep the bike upright then straighten it out. Whenever I get out of shape giving it gas works best for me.
 

wardy

2005 Lori Nyland Award Winner
Nov 12, 1999
2,681
9
not often is there time to correct or recover from a highside type crash. I can say from experience to try to low side out if possible, of course this not very often that you would have time to do this.
I would not use the front brakes in a highside situation since this would only accelerate the problem.

anytime one goes over the bars, high side or endo it isn't pretty. if you are going to ride a long time limit these two types of crashes as much as possible!

wardy



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"don't wake me.......I am working."
 

krash133

Member
Feb 2, 2001
41
0
I would agree with Wardy and say that when you are too far sideways its best to lowside.

An important point to say here would be that there is a way to control your slide to keep from getting the bike so sideways that the only options are to hi-lo side.

When you get the bike in a good slide with the brake or gas, the natural reflex is to turn the gas off. This is precisely the wrong thing to do!!!! This unloads the rear wheel and makes the bike slide around even more.
The right way to handle the slide is to actually start applying a little more throttle to load the rear wheel to get traction to stop it from sliding. Be carefull not to apply to much throttle or the rear wheel will keep spinning and come around anyway.
With practice and experience you will be able to control the slide and hopefully avoid anymore hi-lo sides.
:)


[This message has been edited by krash133 (edited 02-18-2001).]
 

Danman

LIFETIME SPONSOR
Nov 7, 2000
2,211
3
I think that I have done this, but I did not know what to call it other than painful. Could some one clear me up on what a high-side or low-side is and if you have time could you also explain a tank-slapper. Thanks

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94 dirt only DR350
 

bud

Member
Jun 29, 1999
433
0
If you could recover from a highside, it wouldn't be a highside since you wouldn't crash.

The highside crashes I've had happen when the rear slides while cornering, but then finds traction suddenly, sending me out of control. It has always happend to me when I've just attacked a corner too fast for my skill level, so I'd say the best way to avoid highsides, and lowsides for that matter is to practice good cornering technique more often :).
 

Kav

Crash Master
Damn Yankees
LIFETIME SPONSOR
Jan 20, 2001
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Danman,

High-side: lets say you are coming up a left hand turn too fast as you lean the bike over to turn the rear tire starts to slide you try to bring the bike up to prevent from falling over the rear tire gets traction casing the bike to flip violently to the right (in a left hand turn).

Low-side: now you are coming up to a right hand turn too fast, you start to turn the bike and the bike is leaned over far enough that the front or rear tire loses traction causing the bike to go from a controlled lean to falling on its right side (Right handed turn) and sliding on the ground. Going to slow and leaning to far and falling over because of it can also cause a low side.

Tank- slapper: I think that is extreme headshake. It is so bad it causes the riders thighs to slap the tank.

In Super Bike racing a high-side usually destroys the bike as it flips out of control. :eek: (They end up on the 11:00 news sports highlights ). Low-sides usually mess the paint up and will allow the rider to continue the race if they can.

P.S. If you could, would you e-mail me with what if anything you have you done to your DR? I'm getting ready to get a Thumper Racing 435 kit and a few outher goodies for it :p

------------------
'01 YZ250
'92 DR350S

Lessons will be repeated until there are learned.

[This message has been edited by Kav (edited 02-19-2001).]
 

Intense

Member
Jan 22, 2001
2
0
http://www.msgroup.org/TIP001.html

Check out the above link.
The author recommends a lowside instead which is "safer" than a highside crash.

The author suggested turning the front wheel to point in the direction of the rear wheel slide but however, once the steerer is maxed out and can't be turned, a highside will occur.

So does it mean that jamming the front brake while maintaining the rear brake lock will ALWAYS cause a lowside and is the safe way out? From the given scenario, it seems that there is no way to recover from a rear wheel slide while turning.

[This message has been edited by Intense (edited 02-19-2001).]
 

Keltracer

Member
Aug 27, 2000
12
0
Originally posted by Danman:
I think that I have done this, but I did not know what to call it other than painful. Could some one clear me up on what a high-side or low-side is and if you have time could you also explain a tank-slapper. Thanks


A highside is when you crash and go over the bike. You are flying over the "highside," putting you ahead of the bike. The bike is behind and following you.
A lowside is when you crash and hit the ground before the bike, thus you are trailing the bike's path. Highsides are more dangerous, because they tend to throw the rider more violently through the air, and the rider has to worry about the massive machine that is following.
A tank slapper is when the bike goes into a bad headshake, where the bars are shaking violently to both extremes, "slapping" the tank. Keeping your arms loose and gassing it will get you out of the headshake.

P.S.:Sorry for the horrible descriptions, I have a bad headache.

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You get the best thrills on two wheels!
 

jamesdavis

Member
Feb 19, 2001
1
0
While an earlier poster suggested that my TIP001 article was responsive to the question about how to avoid a highside when the rear wheel begins to slide in a corner, and I appreciate the reference, that article speaks only about highsides resulting from slides of a LOCKED rear wheel.

The question is better addressed with the following article: http://www.msgroup.org/TIP101.html
which deals with a sliding rear wheel in a curve that is NOT LOCKED.

In summary, you don't have to do anything in almost all cases and it corrects itself. Second choice is to MODESTLY increase the gas in order to get slightly more traction - but that takes skill and a deft touch.

Ride smart y'all.
 

krash133

Member
Feb 2, 2001
41
0
Posted by Intense:
So does it mean that jamming the front brake while maintaining the rear brake lock will ALWAYS cause a lowside and is the safe way out? From the given scenario, it seems that there is no way to recover from a rear wheel slide while turning.
_____________________________________________

The article you are talking about is in reference to a slide on the asphalt. While both are motorcycles, the applications are different. The difference between traction and no traction on street is much more than in the dirt. In the dirt if the rear wheel does get traction again, in most cases the bike will not highside because the speeds are lower and the suspension can absorb it.

I also believe the author is wrong in the article to say to grab a handfull of front brake. If by some chance the front end gets traction when doing this, the result could be worse than a highside. I think the best thing to do is to start to apply throttle and slowly release the brake. By gaining traction slowly the slide can be controlled.

Remember, rear wheel slides are not all bad. They can be very useful when enough skill is learned to control them. A controlled slide is hard to master, but very rewarding when done right. When used correctly slides can make corniering faster. Just watch the dirt trackers back the rear into a hard, flat corner at 100mph. Its a beautiful sight. Through time and practice you can do this too.

Good Luck! :)


[This message has been edited by krash133 (edited 02-22-2001).]
 

WoodsRider

Sponsoring Member<BR>Club Moderator
Damn Yankees
Oct 13, 1999
2,812
0
I was hauling a$$ down a paved road at an enduro when I saw an arrow pointing left into a field. I turned left and locked up the rear brake at the same time. As I'm sliding across the road an F-250 4x4 starts coming right at me. I did not want a blue oval tattoo so I went into survival mode and remembered everything from the MSF class for street bikes. I steered into the skid pulsed the rear brake and used enough throttle to get the rear tire to slide dirt-track style. Once on the soft shoulder I was able to control the slide and got the bike straightened out.

I did have to clean my shorts out at the next reset though :eek:

[This message has been edited by WoodsRider (edited 02-22-2001).]
 

Danman

LIFETIME SPONSOR
Nov 7, 2000
2,211
3
I did the basicaly the same thing a Woodsrider. I was trying to catch some people down a dirt road and when I noticed that they turned left down the trail. I locked up the rear and tried to make the trail. when the back end got where I it needed to be I used throttle to try to staiten it would. I did not work and I even tried turning into it. I did not make it and it spit me over the top of the bike and into the road. I was thrown clear of the bike. I have tried to it going that fast again. I did highside. Thanks for the explaination.

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94 dirt only DR350
 

Smitty

Alowishus Devadander
Nov 10, 1999
707
0
Heres my 2% of a buck. I think it's important to sit far forward in this situation for a couple of reasons. I'm looking at this from the point of making the turn fast rather than avoiding a crash. One you can never have to much weight on the front end if the ground is suitable. This avoids losing the front end and lowsiding. Two and most importantly to me is that sitting forward unloads the shock. When a highside occurs it typically involves a traction spike and resultant shock compression and excessive rebound sending the bike UP and OVER! If you are on the front and keep the rear wheel in a controlled spin, any traction variations will be less exaggerated on the shock travel and hopefully avoid a disaster.
 

FMX_novice

Member
Jan 5, 2001
161
0
If you have more weight and are leaned over further (up to 40 degrees) the chances of highsiding are higher. The further you lean towards 40 degrees the more momentum it can gain in hurling you over the high side. The heavier it is the more effort it takes to stop the weight that is moving in highside direction.
 

KXsteve

Member
Apr 10, 2001
22
0
Hmmm, I laughed when i read the title of this thread, only because i have only just high-sided TWICE last weekend. Man am I sore, i think I have stuffed a rib :eek: I was gassing around an uphill right hander, with the tail out in a nice alide. It was wet sand, and then there was a patch of compressed rocks, or sandstone type stuff. Anyway, it was VERY slippery. You can imagine what happened to the rear end once i was on this, round she came..... till I hit the ever so grippy sand again........FLIP, over the high side I go, and CRUNCH, into the ground, shoulder first. This all happened so quick, that even if i knew what I was doing, i couldn't have gotten out of it.

I picked myself up, continued along the track, over a section with 3 jumps in a row. Over the last one, which has a blind landing. Seeing that it was wet and muddy, there were some big water ruts in the landing area which head off to the right of the track, diagonally. I land right in the rut, so the bike automatically goes RIGHT on the landing, but momentum makes ME go straight........over the bars and onto the SAME shoulder again :scream:

Safe to say after that I called it a day. Sorry for the long post, but i had to tell someone about my lack of skills!!

Steve
 

Zoomer

LIFETIME SPONSOR
Nov 17, 2000
835
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Originally posted by Intense
Supposedly one is making a left turn and could not brake fast enough to make a safe turn. And the rear wheel starts to skid while
turning left.

What could be done to avoid highsiding or even better, recover from a sliding rear wheel?
I tested this question for you on May 27th. The answer I came up with is. After "High Siding" for the next 3-4 weeks move slowly, don't make any quick movements, if you do something and it hurts don't do it:scream: go out and look at your bike as much as possible, because it's laughing at you :think (I actually heard mine laughing just before I augered in)
In reality, if you are going to high side, there is not going to be any warning, keep the throttle on and hope for the best:cool:
 
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