By James R. Davis
Copyright ©1992-2001 by The Master Strategy Group, all rights reserved

I have a suspicion that many here think that dumping a bike is to be avoided at all costs. That dumping a bike is extremely dangerous. That experienced riders simply don't do such a thing.

Nonsense! I do not know anybody who has a few years of experience on two-wheels who has failed to dump their bike, or who will not sooner or later do so.

To dump a bike should be an embarrassment, and is the stuff we kid each other about, but it need not be dangerous.

After a very long ride, I have seen very experienced people stop, get off their bikes and start to walk away from them - without having put their side stands down. I have seen people mount a bike that was parked on a right-biased slope and have the bike fall over to the right as a result. I have seen loose gravel cause a foot to slip away and the bike lay down before an eye could blink. But in virtually every case, there was neither damage to the bike nor to the rider.

It is no sin to dump a bike, but it is stupid and dangerous to end up under that bike!

The VERY FIRST riding lesson I give a person who is moving up to a larger bike is how to dump it. If they are not, yet, riding a big bike, I even let them learn this lesson using my Gold Wing.

I have them take the bike onto a grassy area with relatively firm ground and, with the engine turned off; I have them lean the bike slowly over to the left. I have explained before we do any of this that what I want them to learn is that there comes a point in leaning the bike where the center of gravity of the bike will move past the side of their tank and that most of the weight of the bike will be on their 'down' leg. That at this point NOBODY can hold up a Gold Wing and that to try to do so can result in injury! That they are to decide for themselves when they have reached that point and then to STOP TRYING TO HOLD UP THE BIKE. They are to let go of the lower grip, QUICKLY step on the high peg and step as wide away from the bike as possible with their 'down' leg as the bike lays down.

If they do this correctly they will find that they remain standing, one foot on the ground, the other on the high peg, with the bike between their legs on its side.

It usually takes no more than two tries to get this right - the first try usually finds them landing on their hands. (If they do, I remind them that they might want to let go of the lower grip before it pulls them to the ground <G>.) But by the second time they get the idea that they have to let go of the lower grip, shift their weight VERY FAST to the high peg and step away with the other leg. This 'move' tends not to be forgotten long after it is learned.

With the bike down they then observe, at least for Wings, that it usually does not even leave its wheels because of the engine and saddlebag guards, and that neither is there damage to the bike. This goes a long ways towards increasing confidence.

The next lesson, of course, is how to pick up a 900-pound bike.

By the way, I extend this lesson into a discussion of when you should keep your feet on the pegs and when you can safely step away from a bike that is going down: If the bike is moving faster than you can walk, keep your feet on the pegs! If it is going slower than that, stand on the high peg and let the bike fall between your legs and walk (hop) away from it.

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Assuming It's Inevitable

Of all the Tips I have posted here, this one is clearly the least credible in the sense that I have no experience in the matter, nor can I imagine a way to practice that makes any sense to me (nor would I want to).

Still, I will post the thoughts in the hope that the reader will not take them as advice, but purely my opinions on the matter. Further, I suspect that in real life one does not have time to do anything deliberate until after the first impact, and then there may be no decisions possible. On the other hand, since I have personally witnessed a deliberate and life-saving maneuver by a woman who had just suffered a high side accident, I know that at least some people retain enough presence of mind in an accident that the following couple of ideas just might help.

The objective should always be NOT to fall - even if the bike is going down. That is why I teach my friends how to dismount their bikes (at slow speeds) if it is dumping, or to stay with it until after first impact at higher speeds, if possible.

DO NOT TRY TO BREAK YOUR FALL WITH YOUR HANDS!!! In other words, try to impact with as much of your body at the same time as possible.

If you are doing a low side the bike is ahead of you and you want it to stay that way. Since the coefficient of friction between you and the ground/asphalt is higher than of a metal motorcycle, you want to get as much of your body on the ground at the same time as you can to slow you as quickly as possible so the bike will slide away from you. In other words, arms overhead, feet first, butt down. Stay LOOSE (relaxed, in as large a configuration as possible.) LET GO OF THE MOTORCYCLE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!

If you are doing a high side you will be in front of the bike when you hit the ground. You want to move as fast as possible - in the same direction you were going and for as long as you can - in order to try to avoid getting crushed. In other words, you want to 'tuck' and roll as soon as you can after you hit the ground. Stay TIGHT (in as small a configuration as possible).

Before you try to get up after taking a spill you must be sure that you have come to a stop first! Wait a couple of seconds until you are sure.

I don't think most people will have time to do anything deliberate at all by way of falling. But perhaps I'm wrong and the above thoughts can in some way be of assistance.

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Following the posting of this Tip I received many e-mail messages, which argued that a person simply does not have time to do anything that could affect the outcome of a fall. I responded with the following:

My comments had very little to do with how you hit the ground following a 'get off' as I don't think there is sufficient time to do anything very deliberate until after the first impact, and then there may be no decisions possible. Rather, I was trying to suggest that as you are coming to rest (assuming you can function at all) then you should try to END UP either loose (as much body contact as possible with the ground) or tight (as little body contact as possible with the ground - tuck and roll posture) depending on if you went down on the low side or the high side.

Despite the fact that I don't think most people would have either the time nor the presence of mind to do much 'thinking' during a 'get off', some do. I have personally seen, for example, a woman in her late fifties do a 50 MPH high side and when she landed, because (I believe - she can't remember) she was so afraid that the bike would land on top of her, began a rapid rolling maneuver that saved her life (the motorcycle stopped 1 foot short of where she did.) I have personally witnessed this same woman (honest) respond to a huge wind gust that knocked her bike over just as we were coming to a stop at a pullout on the top of a mountain and she was thrown over her bike, this time at about 5 MPH. During this latter 'high side' she actually did a summersault before hitting the ground - a clearly deliberate move on her part (we all watched as she tucked her head down and 'kicked' away from her bike which allowed her to land on her curved back and then she 'unwound' and stopped her roll by spreading her legs. (She had gotten away from the bike that was following her, but wanted to stop rather than keep going.) Good thing, because had she gone another five feet she would have had a SEVENTY FOOT fall off the mountain. (There was no fence or guardrail that would have stopped it.) Incidentally, Elaine saw both of these 'high sides', too.

Anyway, I mention these events because they left a very strong impression on me that some people DO have the presence of mind to determine how to END a fall; despite how fast things are happening to them. I'm not at all sure I'm one of those people, but at least I have thought about it and know that if I'm in front of my motorcycle I want to keep moving until I can't move any more - and I want as small an exposed profile as possible, just in case that bike catches up with me.

As to the low side concept of trying to end up on your back, arms over your head, feet first - this was originally told to me by a motorcycle 'stunt man' in LA a couple of decades ago about how he tries to stop after a dismount. (Not that any of us are into that sort of thing, of course.

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Picking Up A big Bike - By Yourself

OK, so most motorcyclists go to a parking lot to practice riding skills, not to dump their bikes so they can have the pleasure of picking them up again. I guess Elaine and I are not exactly 'normal' - we like to think of ourselves as 'odd ducks' - because a few weeks ago we did just that.

After Elaine practiced driving the Wing by herself I had her dump it on its left side for me. Though she was not going to try to pick it up herself, since she had never dumped the Wing before I wanted her to learn how to do it without ending up under the thing.

She dumped it on grass covered firm ground and then I approached the bike and considered all I had heard about how to pick up 900 pounds of bike by myself. I weigh in at only about 160 lbs. and am only 5'8" high. Frankly, I wasn't at all sure I could do it and had studied the advice of others to try to avoid doing something that could hurt me.

Virtually everything I had read in the past on the subject argued that you are not to try to lift the bike with your arms or back - that you should use the largest muscles in your body instead - your legs. So that is exactly what I intended to do - and this practice event would be more learning than practice for me as I had never before tried to pick up a down Wing by myself.

Let me tell you that a dumped bike on grass is harder to pick up than one on the street for two reasons:

The case guard and rear guard dig into the ground just a little, but that makes the lean angle of the down bike significantly more than it would be if it were lying on pavement.

Getting good traction with your feet on grass can be iffy at best.

The significance of the fact that the bike rests lower when on ground versus pavement is that you are often unable to get a low enough purchase on it to bring it up without lifting. That is, the secret to 'picking up' a big bike by yourself is that you PUSH it up rather than LIFT it up, and if it is laying over at more than a 45 degree angle you will have to do some lifting!

The smaller the angle of lean (relative to vertical), the easier it is to make that angle still smaller. In other words, it is the first inch or so of movement that is the hardest. So, the very first thing you should do is try to get the lean angle to be as small as possible. If you are on an incline, for example, twist the bike until its tires are facing downhill.

The next thing you do is to turn the front wheel as far as possible TOWARDS the ground. If possible, turn it to its stop and lock it in place. (I found that on the ground I could not get mine turned all the way - perhaps I am not strong enough, or the bike was leaned too far over.) You may have to jerk hard on the handlebar to get the wheel turned, but this is a very important step. Why? Because by turning the wheel towards the ground the frame of the motorcycle is lifted off the ground. This means you are reducing the lean angle before you even begin to try to pick up the machine.

If the bike happens to be on its left side, you should check that the side stand is up, if possible. If it is on its right side, you MUST make sure the side stand is down (before you pick up the bike!)

If possible, insure that the bike is in a low gear or, in the case of some Gold Wings, in reverse, so that there is minimal chance of the bike rolling when you get it back on its wheels.

Next, you are going to plant your butt (not your hip) on the seat. So, face away from the motorcycle and lean against the seat such that the top half of your cheeks are above your contact with the seat and the bottom half are pressed solidly against the seat. Your feet should be spread no wider than your shoulder width and planted FIRMLY (you are wearing RUBBER SOLED boots, right?) on the ground away from the bike by about three feet. Your knees should be bent at about a 40 to 50 degree angle - anything more than that and you will probably not be able to straighten them. Indeed, though you want some bend, the less bend in your knees that you can manage, the easier this effort will be - what limits your choice is the length of your legs.

Now you need to grasp your motorcycle with your hands on both sides of your body. You need to hold onto firm structures, but because you should not be doing anything with your hands other than guiding and possibly a little lifting when you start, they can be parts of your fairing, a firmly mounted part of your backrest, a passenger handrail, under your seat, or handlebar. What you hold is not very important except that it is firmly attached (no give) and is conveniently located.

Now simply walk backwards as you PUSH against the seat. (I remind you that if the bike has a lean angle of 45 degrees or more you must also LIFT - be careful!)

As you approach vertical the vast majority of the bike's weight will be on the tires. Proceed slowly so as to prevent going too far and causing it to fall over on its other side. Once vertical, still facing away from the motorcycle, fish for the side stand with your left foot and bring it down. Then just let the bike lean over onto the stand.

If the bike had been on its right side when you started you already made sure that the side stand was down. So, in this case you simply ease the bike past vertical and let it come to rest on that side stand. Please note that if you are on an incline, my earlier instruction had you twist the bike such that the wheels face down slope. In this case you will need to be VERY careful about how fast you let the bike go past vertical or you may find yourself having to pick it up again from the other side! Indeed, it may be impossible for you to ease it past vertical without losing control of the bike again. (In this case I would try to change my body position so that it is facing the front of the bike (while it is vertical) and try to push the bike to a more level location - but REMEMBER that your side stand is down!)

So now you know what I learned out there on the parking lot with Elaine. I was successful in picking up my Gold Wing by myself after she dumped it on its left side - but because of the very severe lean angle caused by the fact that the guards dug themselves partly into the dirt I had to do considerable lifting at the beginning. This left my upper thighs sore from the effort. Still, I had done it and the feeling of success was more important than the slight quivering of my thigh muscles.

I had Elaine dump the bike again, this time on its right side. After insuring that the side stand was down and locked I successfully repeated the lift maneuver by myself. Again, my upper thighs were sore as a result. But let me tell you how happy I was to discover that I could actually pick up a dumped Gold Wing by myself!! It was not easy, but nobody expected it to be - though it was easier than I expected it to be.

This is after all why we went out to the parking lot - to practice what we each felt was hard for us individually - so that whatever it was would become easier.

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