Minor crash

[wanderr]

Last night I was riding to meet some friends, and some guy stepped out into traffic I guess without looking. If it was during the day I'd think maybe they just didn't see me, but it was at night and of course the lights were on.
Anyway, it all happened so fast that I don't really remember, but I guess when I saw him in front of me I just grabbed onto the brakes hard, I don't even remember skidding just the next thing I know I was on the ground and getting back up. I was probably only going 15mph. The bike is a bit scraped up on one side and my boot is a bit scuffed, but otherwise I'm fine and so is the bike, my motorcycle pants and jacket are not even scuffed so it was really minor; I've had worse bicycling accidents for sure. I also did not hit the pedestrian, he apologized profusely and kept asking if I was ok. Yeah, I'm fine just stay out of the road!

I feel like I'm pretty lucky this time, but not sure how I feel about continuing to ride the PCX. Ideally in the future I will just not brake so hard, but in a split second emergency situation, there was no time for thinking, no time to notice I'm skidding and adjust, just wham, on the ground. Besides just not riding, what are my other options? Should I adjust the brakes to be weaker even if I grab them hard...is that even an option, is it safe at all? Should I upgrade to a newer model with ABS? If ABS stops the bike faster without skidding will I end up just sliding off the seat in the next emergency? I'm also considering switching to something louder like a 250cc dirt bike to at least decrease the chances of people not knowing I'm around. I'm in a city with a lot of traffic and pedestrians so I feel like scenarios like this one are bound to happen again.

[RuffStuff]

My mate killed a guy that stepped into the road on a crf so itd make no difference, he might of thought your light was the car behind you.
The newer model only has abs on the front so you could still lock up the back and drop it.
I think you did it right, you missed the hazard and could ride home.
Id go find a quiet car park and practise over and over again braking to the lock up point, then next time you need it youll stay upright, do figures of 8 aswell, thatll help with swerving.

[pcx man]

With abs if you hit someone it will still through you off balance which still could make you fall. The question becomes did you fall from a skid or from a off balance caused by contact or a combo of both.

[Mel46]

I have had multiple accidents throughout my life, on different machines. In every case, the motorcycle or scooter did not stay upright after emergency braking, and I ended up on the ground. Still, I walked away or rode away from every one of those accidents. If you think about seat belts in cars you will note that if you stop quickly the straps hold you back from going into the wheel or through the windshield. You don't have those on a scooter or a motorcycle. Also, any two-wheel vehicle will be less stable than a vehicle with four wheels. If you do an emergency avoidance, followed by an emergency stop, your bike will NOT hold itself up and more than likely you will keep going while the bike stops. This is the nature of the beast.

Your best bet is to be prepared for the crash and practice to avoid it. This includes dressing for the crash, not for the ride, which it sounds like you did. Plastic is cheap. Body parts are not.

[tjupille]

Back in June I low-sided my Royal Enfield C5 under analogous circumstances (avoiding an oncoming car decided to turn left from a stop in front of me) at about 20 mph). The bike suffered only a bent footpeg and scraped crashbar, and I had gorgeous bruising from my groin to my tush, but no major damage. Like you, I don't remember the actual fall, but got back on the bike and rode home. What it amounts to is that the combination of abrupt steering input and hard braking was almost guaranteed to upset the bike (I don't think I actually lost traction on the rear tire, which means that ABS probably would not have made any difference).

In reflecting on what I could have done differently:
1. Be more alert to my surroundings; if I had been paying attention, I should have seen his front wheen start to turn in time to simply steer clear.
2. Spend time practicing stops so that the my reflex response to the situation is more nuanced than the instinctive "grab and stab"

[Jge64]

]People turning left in front of you and not seeing you, accounts for almost 80% of all the accidents that bikes are involved in. In addition to the couple actions you noted above, I would add some fork lights to the front forks, easy to do, a lot of us here are using the Kawell light off Amazon ....effective and super cheap. You need to get more visible.

[fish]

Not a bad idea to look at 2 wheel ABS scooters, and add a sporty exhaust to alert pedestrians.
No clutch to deal with in emergency stops. Just squeeze the heck out of the ABS brake levers and try to steer out of the situation.
"Laying her down" is never the answer now that we have modern 2 wheel ABS available.
Fish

[gn2]

"Laying her down" is.....

....what people used to call "having a crash"

[gn2]

The newer model only has abs on the front so you could still lock up the back and drop it.

Rear lock is unlikely to cause loss of control, its far easier to control a rear lock than front.
Normally when rear locks scooter keeps going in a straight line.

[gn2]

Should I upgrade to a newer model with ABS? If ABS stops the bike faster without skidding will I end up just sliding off the seat in the next emergency? I'm also considering switching to something louder like a 250cc dirt bike to at least decrease the chances of people not knowing I'm around. I'm in a city with a lot of traffic and pedestrians so I feel like scenarios like this one are bound to happen again.

If you can afford to do upgrade to ABS model and want to, then do it.
ABS does what it says on the tin, it stops wheel lock.
In 99.99% (or more) cases front wheel lock = crash.
Noise isn't directional.
In a built up area it is impossible to know where noise is coming from.
Noisy bikes just piss off other road users.
"Loud pipes save lives" is a blatant lie.

[HondaC110]

Ah, San Francisco.
We have the world's most unobservant pedestrians. I am amazed that they can find each other to reproduce- oh, that's right, they use their cellphones....
Not to mention the LRVs and their tracks...

Be safe out here!

[springer1]

The newer model only has abs on the front so you could still lock up the back and drop it.

Rear lock is unlikely to cause loss of control, its far easier to control a rear lock than front.
Normally when rear locks scooter keeps going in a straight line.

+1

[springer1]

Anyway, it all happened so fast that I don't really remember

As do most.
Especially in rain or better yet ....... in rain on roads with painted lines
ABS isn't the solution, armored jackets and pants are partially. But unfortunately, some riders can't effectively pose while wearing them
.

[Jge64]

In the advanced course of the motorcycle safety foundation, which I took in 2004, they spent a huge amount of time teaching you “constant situational awareness”...That is, looking 30-50 feet beyond the upcoming intersection, and quickly identifying every car in front of you and behind you that could be a problem. Do this continually, every minute that you’re on the motorcycle.

If I am coming up on the intersection where I have a guy that will to be turning left in front of me and/or is slowing, I do everything I can to avoid him Even slowing and moving side to side to get him to acknowledge me. I also use my headlight flasher several times as I’m going through that danger zone.

Proper clothing is absolutely essential, but I think even more important is how much situational awareness you gather every minute that you’re on the motorcycle.

[alx123]

let me guess, you dropped on the right side of your PCX?

Iv'e crashed my PCX last month after 3 years of riding it due to my rear brakes locking too.

After the accident, I suddenly started to notice that a high numbers of PCX has signs of side fairings damage due to skidding and brake locking.

So, I made it my mission to collect photos of PCX with side damage now (mostly right side, dont know why). I'll release my photos once Iv'e reached a significant number, which I'm guessing won't be too hard to reach considering how many I've come across as of now.

I've repaired my PCX now, but here's the photo right after I crashed it.

82253242_2994871117212468_1987952284700508160_o.jpg (98 KiB) Viewed 1627 times

[alx123]

The newer model only has abs on the front so you could still lock up the back and drop it.

Rear lock is unlikely to cause loss of control, its far easier to control a rear lock than front.
Normally when rear locks scooter keeps going in a straight line.

Agree, but it seems that the PCX tends to crash with higher percentage during brake locking. I'm gathering photos now as the numbers of PCX I see with side damage due to skidding here is alarming.


ABS is not the answer, I agree, but I believe it could've prevented me from crashing the bike when my rear tire fishtailed and I suddenly found myself hurled off the scoot. I used to be able to control other motorcycles during fishtails in the past, even intentionally locking the brakes to play with it.

Do you guys think CBS has something to do with it?

Or maybe just me losing my riding skills as I age.

[you you]

The newer model only has abs on the front so you could still lock up the back and drop it.

Rear lock is unlikely to cause loss of control, its far easier to control a rear lock than front.
Normally when rear locks scooter keeps going in a straight line.

Agree, but it seems that the PCX tends to crash with higher percentage during brake locking. I'm gathering photos now as the numbers of PCX I see with side damage due to skidding here is alarming.


ABS is not the answer, I agree, but I believe it could've prevented me from crashing the bike when my rear tire fishtailed and I suddenly found myself hurled off the scoot. I used to be able to control other motorcycles during fishtails in the past, even intentionally locking the brakes to play with it.

Do you guys think CBS has something to do with it?

Or maybe just me losing my riding skills as I age.

I think you might be overthinking it. Learn from it, forget about it and move on.

[Haarek]

ABS will prevent the front wheel from locking.
Locking the front wheel will in most cases lead to a crash.
If you "grab a handful" of brake with no ABS your front wheel will lock up.

How is ABS not the solution? Not the only solution, but A solution.

ABS is not a replacement for training, but it sure is a mighty good piece of tech.

I will never buy another motorcycle (or car for that matter) that doesn't have this vital piece of equipment. And before anyone feel the need to claim that their ninja skills provide better braking than a ABS system in an emergency. No. No, they don't.

[alx123]

I think you might be overthinking it. Learn from it, forget about it and move on.

your'e right, i'm overthinking it.

I should've just said that ABS would be a welcome addition. End of story.

[alx123]

ABS will prevent the front wheel from locking.
Locking the front wheel will in most cases lead to a crash.
If you "grab a handful" of brake with no ABS your front wheel will lock up.

How is ABS not the solution? Not the only solution, but A solution.

ABS is not a replacement for training, but it sure is a mighty good piece of tech.

I will never buy another motorcycle (or car for that matter) that doesn't have this vital piece of equipment. And before anyone feel the need to claim that their ninja skills provide better braking than a ABS system in an emergency. No. No, they don't.

+1 But I went down when I locked my rear brake, so both brakes should be ABS imo.

The new ADV150 is both front and rear ABS equipped, hopefully the next PCX will have it too.