Whoa, that was close

7

77Impala

New member
So I went for an evening ride with the girlfriend because it was so nice out tonight. We cruised around for awhile and it was dark out. For some reason when I ride with her though, I worry more about her than myself. I find I am always making sure that she doesn't get hit by a car that I see doing something stupid or dangerous. However, she is a perfectly competent rider so I don't know why I do this.

Anyways, we were coming up to a light, and I saw a car backing up from the light into my lane for some reason. I passed him safely in one lane, but had to glance over my shoulder to make sure she made it by because as we know the mirrors are worthless. When I turned around, I noticed that the light was red and I was about to enter the intersection going 35-40mph and there was a ford SUV turning left right in front of me. Thankfully, I didn't panic but went into reaction mode, pulled in the clutch and grabbed a hand full of Brembo. Needless to say I got down to about 2mph in 1 second, all the while with my rear wheel in the air a few feet. God I love the brakes.

It just goes to show that if you don't pay attention for half a second and you can end up hurt or dead. You don't have to be speeding or stunting, just not paying attention. This is uncharacteristic for me to not be extra cautious, but I'm sure we have all done something stupid before. I was so concerned with the gf that I almost did myself in.

I think this is a good example for inexperienced riders, you don't have time to think, just react. That's where experience comes in. I must admit I am amazed how quickly we as humans can do so many things in just one second without even thinking about it. Anyways, be safe out there and pay attention always. Oh, and thank god for Brembo
 
good to hear youre okay tapit...damn

and extra nice to hear how much u love and look out for your lady

could have been an awful learning curve tho...hope your lady gets the benefit of your ever so slight mistake....and takes it on board for herself..

yep...its so easy for us 2 wheeled guys and gals to come undone
again...glad to hear that u guys are okay!!
 
Glad it worked out but since you're sharing i have one critique. Why did you pull the clutch? The bike will slow much quicker with it engaged. Try it sometime, get going 40mph or so and stop with and without the clutch pulled. You'll see what I'm talking about, the bike will almost feel like it accelerates when you pull the clutch plus you have to use the brakes that much more.

Just an observation.
 
Thanks for all the well wishers.

10-6, I knew someone would make that comment. I do understand that the engine helps brake and slow the bike, but I didn't have that much time to even think about it. I think I reacted that way because I knew that when I was taught at the safety course, we were told to do that. The reason being, if I hadn't pulled the clutch in, did an endo and stopped in the intersection, I would have stalled the bike. Not the end of the world when talking life and death, but that is what my dumb brain decided to do in that 1/2sec. Still not as experienced as some. Besides, that was my first endo ever

Funny thing after I pulled over to await the gf to catch up and yell at me for being stupid etc...... a group of 4 baby squids drove by at high speeds in shorts and t-shirts. Hope they don't do something dumb like me or the story may end up different
 
with the safety courses i have done, they teach you to pull the clutch in in an emergency situation. The reason is so that when stop, you dont stall the bike. If you stall the bike you may not escape the car/truck that is behind you unable to stop as quick as you
 
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