What to do in the event of an off?

Originally Posted by missyorkie_chris

...

• In the event of a lowside you should spread out your arms and legs as much as possible.
• In the event of a highside you should "dive" off the bike and then try and spread arms and legs out.

I think this is what you do if you have an off and land on quick sand

[Dave20046]

I basically thought 'oh ****' 'not my head' etc. etc. There was no time to do owt else, smashed on the brakes, parted with the bike connected with the car,bounced,flew,rolled.

Nice thread this one, I had previously thought about starting such one myself. I think Red Herring's post is very useful. I have had one off on the road, and I do believe that after the shock of realising you are off the bike and scraping along down the tarmac your brain switches to the primevil 'survival' mode and you start to make decisions at 100 times the normal rate.

My off was a slide due to a patch of gravel, and so didn't really have chance to do anything before I realised that I was actually off the bike and although it was only a low speed off, I seemed to be sliding down the tarmac for what seemed like minutes.

At the time I was wearing boots and a jacket but didn't bother with the leathers that day and instead was wearing jeans - one thing that flashed to mind is what a friend of mine had told me previously about what he had done when he had came off his bike, that was to get his legs of the road by lifting his body up and making a 'bridge' between his ankle and elbow. This is what I did and so ending with a huge chunk missing from my left boot and my elbow armour destroyed but my body vertually unscathed - even the jeans were still completely intact after!

I know that every off is different, but i'm sure that most end with you scraping down the road - and it is definately true that you brain is working so quick that you do have the possibilty to alter what happens even after you've left the bike!

Originally Posted by missyorkie_chris

Bit of a pessimistic thread I guess but I was chatting to Berlin t'otha night about how basic but vital information about what to do in an off just isn't a fundamental part of a CBT or bike test anymore.

Now if I remember rightly (and do correct me if I'm wrong!) but:

• In the event of a lowside you should spread out your arms and legs as much as possible.
• In the event of a highside you should "dive" off the bike and then try and spread arms and legs out.

There was another one I was told but I can't remember it now!


A lot of people have unfortunately had offs on here (as is bound to happen!), some have got up and walked away, others not so much and I'm curious as to what you might have done on looking back, or what you did that you think may have helped you avoid further injury.

Those that have been, do you even get time to think about what position to get into? In retrospect, what do you think would have been the best thing to do?

Those of you who've had tests of recent months or years, were you taught anything at all in this area?



I'm hoping this may be a useful thread to some people, it will be at least to me!

See! You were drunker than you thought!

This is what I told you:

In the late 80's, I attended a race school and as part of the lessons we learnt how to fall off

Depending on what kind of crash we were facing we were given different methods of "Falling with Style" so that injuries were minimised and chances of getting clobbered by a following rider (or car coming the other way) were reduced.

I've done a bit of checking and can't find anywhere that still offers this kind of thing.

In a high side we were taught that we should not straighten out and roll upon landing. Keep arms in and don't lock your arms.

In a high speed wipe out (Like in losing the front end into a fast corner) we were told to get onto our backs and spread out so we didn't roll and just slid gracefully to a stop (and even when to get back up, whilst still sliding so we could run back to the bike)

In a regular off we were given a position like a Z shape body with Gloves (fisted hands) pressed against the visor and of we rolled the contact points were Knees, bum and forarms.

If sliding feet first down the track we were taught to roll as we slid away from the racing line so as we slid we moved sideways too. handy if you're sliding towards an oncoming car.

In a T bone Situation we were taught to jump up and off the bike so we flew over the obstacle we had just hit (gate, fence, car , barrier etc) as the most serious injuries come from an abupt stop. Sliding down the road on the other side of the obstacle is the safer option.

It took a while to get them ingrained but once learned they were a reflex action depending on situation. You just did them instinctively as soon as you leave the bike. Even now, I find myself priming my legs to jump if a car driver looks like pulling out.

You can see that the GP/Superbike racers have had these lessons when they come off.

Does anyone know if these courses are still available?

from this thread...
http://forums.sv650.org/showthread.php?t=96017

Served me well. No serious injuries despite far more than my fair share of tumbles (see, trying to ride around the outside of a FZ750 on a LC250 at the last corner isn't such a good idea, no matter how many times you try it )

Fastest off was about 140mph at the end of Knockhill straight racing a borrowed (oops) GSXR1100 and didn't even have a bruise. Didn't even make the corner either

C

Cheers for the replies guys, some really useful stuff!

Berlin: Maybe I was a bit drunker than I thought but you didn't tell me allll that I certainly stand corrected, my memory fails me too much these days Thankyou for clearing it up though!

I've come off just the once while pillioning but that was at ~20mph, I just remember us jumping off it and me scraping a thumb But like others one of my immediate thoughts was "get the bike out of the road!!!" and feeling so sorry for it! My first thought was if Chris was ok lol!

Originally Posted by RichT

Pray.....

I wouldn't ever spread out my arms and legs, seems like a stupid idea. The best thing to do is go limp. But i think in the event of an accident, people tend to tense up anyway, so what ever you plan to do will probably be forgotten in the event of an emergency.

[dizzyblonde]

Originally Posted by missyorkie_chris

In the event of a lowside you should spread out your arms and legs as much as possible.

• In the event of a highside you should "dive" off the bike and then try and spread arms and legs out.

hmmmm let me just slow time down enough to remember to do this

except it kinda goes

oo cack...oo feck me head..sh!t thats a new helmet. Get up quick out of road, and run towards bike upside down, next to a wall facing you...and shout nnoooooooooo in slow motion. Turn it off, and try picking it up, realise your in shock and sit on the floor and sulk, til someone nice runs over and picks it up! Inspect damage and curse for the next 12 hrs about how expensive your fairing is.

Originally Posted by Jester666

& 7. Try to get out of your leathers before the 'nice' ambulance man insists on cutting them off!! Grrr!

Ahh now Im Indoors tried this, then collapsed only to wake up x amount of days later and be told he nearly lost his leg in surgery cause it was smashed to pieces.
on another note spreading your arms and legs whilst diving (read thrown) off a pillion seat in the fast lane of the m62 would really work, maybe you could sprout a cape and fly over to the hard shoulder thus ommitting the brown trouser moment when you realise your head is going to get squashed by the next car,as its laying on the lane markings!

A mate's advice to me is just to get away from the bike asap, even before an impact if its unavaidable (and you see it coming) Ride with the balls of your feet on the pegs, and be ready to jump!
He is quite an experienced crasher.
Haven't tested it out though..

[ophic]

Originally Posted by dizzyblonde

maybe you could sprout a cape and fly over to the hard shoulder thus ommitting the brown trouser moment when you realise your head is going to get squashed by the next car,as its laying on the lane markings!

now your on to something there. Instead of these silly airbag jackets, we could have some of those wing suits. So instead of hitting the brakes when you're about to crash, you pin the throttle, spread your arms and gracefully swoop off above it all.

The drawback, of course, is that you might not realise when u get it all wrong... until the light starts to shine from the sky...

I like to watch common crashers from the wold of motorcycle racing to learn how to fall.

Sete Gibernau and Checa seem to favour the "hold arms in" approach

Xaus has limbs all over the place (he is 100 foot tall though)

James Haydon always looked like a flying squirrel