OCTOBER 2006 SAFETY ARTICLE

GRAVITY GAME

Gravity is truly a remarkable part of physics. It’s what keeps our Harley’s and us from just floating away. In the same instance, gravity can be a menace.

Take for example and suppose we drop our bike at slow speed. For most of us, dropping a bike can be a source of embarrassment and experienced riders cannot do such a thing. We will be hard pressed to find an experienced rider that has not dropped their bike at some point.

It is not the end of the world to drop our bikes, but it is also not necessary to end up underneath the bike or hurt ourselves trying to keep the bike upright.

Most bike drops occur when the bike is stopped or at very slow speeds. Our bikes are much less stable at no speed or very low speeds. So when gravity appears to be winning out, don’t let yourself become a part of the damage.

Several factors can contribute to a slow or no speed drop including stopping on grade, slick pavement, loose gravel/sand and the list goes on……

But for whatever reason, if the bike starts to lean so that its center of gravity moves past the tank, most of the bike weight will end up on the ”downside” leg. At this juncture, no one can possibly hold up a bike!! Trying to do may result in personal injury.

A good approach to handle an inevitable bike drop (assuming the bike is moving slower than about 4 miles per hour):

• STOP TRYING TO HOLD UP THE BIKE
• LET GO OF THE LOWER GRIP
• SHIFT YOUR WEIGHT TO THE HIGH FOOR REST/PEG
• STEP AWAY WITH THE OTHER LEG
• ONCE CLEAR OF THE BIKE, TURN OFF THE IGNITION

Our chapter offers free to its members the Rider Skills Course every Sunday following the Chapter meetings from October through May. The course helps members to develop and master their slow speed riding skills and reduce the likelihood of playing the gravity game. Next month, we will address the pick up technique.

In the mean time,

Ride Smart, Ride Safe and Most of All have Fun.

David

10/06