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Ok, Saturday morning I'm cruising down the highway at about 90mph. I'm always alert and ready, and prepared for anything in the 2, 4 and 12 second ranges.
There is a car in front of me that is passing an 18 wheeler to his right. We're the only two cars for a mile or two. I'm following behind him at a safe distance. He gets about half way along the 18 wheeler and then slams on his brakes, in order to take the exit coming up. He didn't look in his mirrors or anything, I had no warning. I'm shocked that he didn't lock up all four wheels on his car. I think he was going to try and pass the truck and then get over and exit. He realized he wouldn't make it and so he slams on the brakes in that little Honda to get over. I mean 90mph to about 20 mph in a blink. I had to brake EXTREMELY hard and fast. This was no big deal, but I was furious at the moron. He could have killed someone in a car or on a bike, he could have killed me.
What I'm trying to get at here is this. Never let your guard down, ever!!! This was a quiet, early Sunday morning with no traffic and no cars. You just never know what the morons around you will do.
If you're going to ride at certain speeds, then you better be able to stop quickly from those speeds. It doesn't matter how fast it is. I like to ride fast at times
Because of this, since day one of riding, I have practiced emergency braking from those speeds that I ride. I started at slow speeds and worked my way on up to speeds that are well above the century mark. I have practiced this many, many times on both bikes. I was prepared for this. I didn't panic, didn't lock up the brakes, didn't do anything out of the ordinary other than stop very quickly. When you practice something over and over it becomes automatic or second nature.
So, next time you go out on a ride, find some road with no cars and practice your emergency braking. Do this regularly from faster and faster speeds until you have practiced at all the normal speeds that you ride.
It is easy to pin a throttle and go fast, but can you stop NOW from those speeds without locking up your brakes or losing control. This is a very important exercise that should be practiced regularly, your life may depend on it.
Please practice this, start slow and gradually increase your speeds as you get comfortable. If I hadn't prepared myself for this by doing this MANY times, I probably would have ate the a$$ end of a Honda this morning
There is a car in front of me that is passing an 18 wheeler to his right. We're the only two cars for a mile or two. I'm following behind him at a safe distance. He gets about half way along the 18 wheeler and then slams on his brakes, in order to take the exit coming up. He didn't look in his mirrors or anything, I had no warning. I'm shocked that he didn't lock up all four wheels on his car. I think he was going to try and pass the truck and then get over and exit. He realized he wouldn't make it and so he slams on the brakes in that little Honda to get over. I mean 90mph to about 20 mph in a blink. I had to brake EXTREMELY hard and fast. This was no big deal, but I was furious at the moron. He could have killed someone in a car or on a bike, he could have killed me.
What I'm trying to get at here is this. Never let your guard down, ever!!! This was a quiet, early Sunday morning with no traffic and no cars. You just never know what the morons around you will do.
If you're going to ride at certain speeds, then you better be able to stop quickly from those speeds. It doesn't matter how fast it is. I like to ride fast at times
Because of this, since day one of riding, I have practiced emergency braking from those speeds that I ride. I started at slow speeds and worked my way on up to speeds that are well above the century mark. I have practiced this many, many times on both bikes. I was prepared for this. I didn't panic, didn't lock up the brakes, didn't do anything out of the ordinary other than stop very quickly. When you practice something over and over it becomes automatic or second nature.So, next time you go out on a ride, find some road with no cars and practice your emergency braking. Do this regularly from faster and faster speeds until you have practiced at all the normal speeds that you ride.
It is easy to pin a throttle and go fast, but can you stop NOW from those speeds without locking up your brakes or losing control. This is a very important exercise that should be practiced regularly, your life may depend on it.
Please practice this, start slow and gradually increase your speeds as you get comfortable. If I hadn't prepared myself for this by doing this MANY times, I probably would have ate the a$$ end of a Honda this morning
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