old motorcycles

[exeric]

The issue of brakes puts me in mind of the last bad accident I had. I was riding my '51 FL. I won't go into the details other than to say an old lady turned right in front of me and I had the choice of squeezing brakes or posturing myself for separation from the bike. Actually, I didn't make any decisions, I just reacted to what happened and got high sided. When I finally healed enough to go back to work, a Suzuki sport bike rider all but made the comment that the reason I got messed up is because I was riding an old dinosaur with horse and buggy brakes. Irony can be a fickle mistress because a few months later he had the exact same accident only his potential grim reaper was a young woman tending a baby and not her car. When he finally made it back to work he admitted that the best brakes in the world are useless against multi-tasking, or brain dead automobile drivers. In all of the motorcycle accidents I have had, brakes were never an issue, but I do believe that some kind of atomic disintegrator gun mounted on my handlebars would have prevented all of them.

[20scout]

" In all of the motorcycle accidents I have had, brakes were never an issue, but I do believe that some kind of atomic disintegrator gun mounted on my handlebars would have prevented all of them."



Unless you wher Buck Rodgers, they didn't have disintergrator guns back then eather so we still have to relie on our wits and luck just like they did back when. I look at it this way, if I have some up-dates on my old bike, it gives me a false sence of security and I may let my guard down abit. Perhaps enough to wher it may make a differance in my reaction time. If I know what my old bike can't do, I am less likely to push the envelope. Luck sometimes is a bigger factor in the game but I try to keep things in my favor when I can. Drive like the other guy doesn't see you (or care). Good luck!

[LouieMCman]

I broke my front brake cable on my Chief a couple years ago at a stop light on a four lane road and took the center lane between two rows of stopped cars. I went all the way to the light before I could stop it. Scared the H*** out of me and the car owners. I just nodded to them like I done it on purpose and l limped it back home.

[20scout]

OWW!!!! That hurts just thinking about it!! Atleast you lived to tell the story!

[cheifrider]

3 years ago i was out riding my'48 45 hd . all the sudden i got t -boned by a whitetail doe.managed to keep the bike up even tho i was going 50 mph or so .it knocked the deer down in the road,right in the path of my wife who was riding her 97 sporty. she doesn have a great amount of experience riding ,much less dealing with a situation such as that.but she managed to slow down and get around the deer . i doubt she would have been able to do that had she been on an old tractor like i was.i watched this whole thing unfold behind me ,THAT really scared the ,well, you get the point.as far as the deer hitting me , i saw the deer coming but before i cuold even think about brakes i was doin a "fan dance "down the road . im sure you all have been there . the bike was going crazy and i was just along for the ride.
i also have a buddy who has KILLED 2 deer and wounded 1 with his new harley!he wears 2 deer pins on his vest upside down

[exeric]

I have another brake story that I recall. I had a 1969 Pan Shovel Dresser that was a fantastic bike. It had a front disk brake that wasn't right for that year but a heck of a lot better than the drum brake that it came with. I was riding down a busy 4 lane road in Orlando in a light afternoon rain. I was comming to an intersection and I could see the light was yellow. I have always been a bit aggressive on bikes and in cars but I thought it would be a good idea to show some restraint and not run what was soon to be a red light. I lightly touched the front brake which instantly put the front end into a lock to lock motion that we all know cannot be recovered from. The expression, "tank slapping" suddenly makes perfect sense when you've been there. Needless to say I couldn't save it and got high sided (another expression that make a lot of sense). Of coarse everything went into slow motion as I went airborn and this is the cool part. I did a flip in the air and as I was comming back to earth I just knew I could land on my feet. Unfortunately I was wearing leather soled shoes that get real slippery when wet. I hit the road and my feet went out from under me and I landed flat on my back in the middle of this intersection. I wasn't hurt but I layed there for a few seconds to take inventory. When I got up to retrieve my bike I could see all of the spectators laughing from their cars. Anger and humiliation can give people super-human strength which I demonstrated by yanking that big hog up on it's wheels. I couldn't get out of there fast enough. It's an amusing story now but I often wonder if it would have been funnier if I had landed on my feet.

I know I've been on the forum a lot today and I apologize for clogging up the ether with my silly stories. I am all by myself in the office today which proves I can't be trusted to work alone.

[c.o.]

I live for stories.........there could never be enough........ Glad to hear everyone made it through their close calls........ I got one to post when I get time enough to type it out.........

[DWN]

Okay, you guys make some very good points. But, I didn't get to be a grey haired grandpa by not tipping the odds in favor whenever possible. I have several bikes that will loft the rear wheel with a one finger squeeze of the front brakes, and have become accustomed to them.
Where can I get me one of those atomic dis-ingraters in 6 v.?

[Tom Lovejoy]

If I had a motorcycle with a front brake good enough to lift the back wheel, think I would of totalled it along time ago - not that good a rider. Dont think my new Harley good do it if I had Arnolds grip. :-)

[AdminGuy]

Fear keeps me alive.

FEAR -keeps me alive.

I think the smartest thing an old iron rider can do at the start of the season is an emergency brakeing manouver in a parking lot or an empty street. Do 50 mph and just nail both brakes. Now (drop something) measure the distance it took to come to a complete stop. Now sit at the front marker and just look at the distance and add 20 feet for safety. YUP! It's a darn long distance - ain't it! Every year it really makes me think when you see this.

Heck, do the same with just the rear. Maybe even lock it up a bit near the end. Gotta control that skid.

Do it again and try to steer around something at the end. In the middle? Brake, swerve, brake. On a rigid -things are different. Gotta "USE YOUR COUNTER STEERING". Gotta muscle it sometimes. Get used to it again.

Now ride the same strip and visualize it. Add a few factors like road conditions, loose sand, wet, sun glare, down hill gravity and mass, other vehicles with smokin tires slidin sideways towards you, pedestrians, kids, animals, a passenger on the back of your bike-slammin into you screaming, a dog, a cow, a deer, a moose, a rolling boulder, a big fat woman on a bicycle suddenly falling into your path. Whatever....

I do this every year with every bike. It scares me. It scares me bad. I like it.... I'm a fourth generation rider.

And for added fun- get on an old bike in the mud or wet grass, and get used to slidin side ways. Power slide, slide brake, warms you up for the road. This scares me plenty also. Good lessons are learned here.

Ya, stuff happens on the road. Ya really gotta know the limitations of your machine. Doing it in a controlled environment could really save your ass. Or maybe save you from nightmares for the rest of your life (no joke). At the least -you will most certainly find something that needs to be fixed on the bike.

Ride safe - have fun.

I used to race bikes. I was a MC instructor. You gotta respect that old iron for what it is - and is not.

Oh Ya- had a couple drinks (real dumb) add alot more distance. Just see what happens. It ain't pretty. Why are people still doing this? whatever - just stateing a fact.

I ride hard and fast when the conditions are right. Knowing the limitations helps me a great deal.