Of all the crashes we investigate, over-braking the rear tire is one of the lead causes to loss of control.
Additionally, using only your rear brake will extend your stopping distance significantly.
The following advice is given in the event you should find yourself in a rear wheel lock-up and to demonstrate that you can ride through it. Please remember, the best avoidance is not to allow yourself to get into an emergency braking sequence by employing a riding strategy that will allow you to be in the correct position, speed and gear to handle the impending hazard.
How to Ride out a Rear Wheel Skid
With the motorcycle upright (do not attempt this if you are leaning/banking):
- Keep your head and eyes straight looking at the horizon. DO NOT look to the sides or at the impending hazard. DO NOT look down (doing this will cause you to go where you look). It may also cause your rear to swing and induce a low side.
- Keep your handlebars straight with you arms locked straight.
- If you lock the rear (which we did intentionally in the video to demonstrate how to ride it out) keep pressure on the rear brake and ride it out. DO NOT release the rear brake, this may induce a high-side.
Distances
At 40 mph, my partner, Steve Nordmark, demonstrated a full rear wheel lock-up and rode it out. The distance to stop was 138 feet 10 inches.
Later in the video he performed threshold braking with both the front and rear brakes and was able to come to a stop in 80 feet 5 inches (not bad Stevie, but there is room for improvement, the winter must have made you a little rusty…lol).
In the video you will see:
- 20 mph rear wheel locked, no front braking
- 30 mph rear wheel locked, no front braking
- 40 mph rear wheel locked, no front braking
- 3 runs with both front and rear braking, close to threshold braking
10 responses so far ↓
NewBeRider // 05/03/2009 at 2:52 pm
Awesome demonstration and tips, thank you both. Nice smooth U-turns as well.
mq01 // 05/03/2009 at 5:09 pm
fantastic blog and post. thank you for the great info, you have given me a ton of reading material
!!!
Canajun // 05/04/2009 at 7:20 pm
Great demo and advice. Spot on.
One observation though. We always taught our students to do a quick shoulder check as soon as they were stopped, just to make sure there was no one bearing down from behind them. I noticed the demo rider didn’t do that. It that not considered part of the procedure any more?
rubenandjoann // 05/04/2009 at 8:27 pm
Good point! Life savers were not emphasized during our Basic training, only mirrors, hence, we did not develop the muscle memory through training.
Used RV // 12/18/2009 at 4:55 am
We forever educated our student to do a rapid shoulder check as soon as they were stopped, just to make sure there was no one bearing down from behind them.
Alfred Brand // 02/02/2010 at 1:41 pm
hello, I was wondering : why is it important not to release the rear brake during a rear wheel skid and what is a low-side or a high-side ? my instructor keeps on telling me to look in the mirrors after I have stopped to make shure the traffic behind me is taking notice and will stop in time .
rubenandjoann // 02/03/2010 at 1:32 pm
Hello Alfred and thanks for your questions. If you release the rear brake during a rear wheel skid you may cause a highside crash. For an explaination of a highside look at this link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highsider and a Lowside http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lowsider
It is important to note that a highside can and often does occur while negotiating curves and can be induced while the bike is leaning either by braking or accelerating. It can also occur in a high speed straight line skid during emergency braking.
Rodrigo Montero // 02/07/2010 at 12:23 am
Hi! I keep reading the comments that you have a video about these rear skid exercises, but I see no videos anywhere. Can you help?
Thanks from Costa Rica,
Rod
alfred brand // 02/08/2010 at 2:03 pm
okee I understand , Ive seen it happen in motorracing , thank you great site !
rubenandjoann // 02/09/2010 at 12:05 am
It is embeded in the post at the bottom. Just checked it, still there.