To roll or not to roll?

[Louise]

If...IF... I someday get swiped on my bike do I


Roll up into a ball and go with the flow
Stop myself if I can asap
Or let my body go numb and just wait till I come to a stop without my help.


We was talking in work about it, I would of rolled, or tryed to roll into a ball - To stop my arms/legs getting bashed even more so - But then someone said I could roll into on comming traffic.
What did you or would you do ?
I am looking for personal experiances

[Sparks!]

[Wafer_Thin_Ham]

[G]

First off is don't try and stand up until you've come to a stop if you're going in a straight line in control. Probably not a problem on your bike on the road, but coming off at 100mph+ on the track it's easy to think you're fine for getting up, get up and find you're actually still doing 30mph+!

Generally, you want to be as loose as possible - definitely don't stick limbs out intentionally to stop yourself.

[Noggin]

When I came off last year, I kinda just let myself go with the flow. I was sat up sliding along on my arse, it was quite funny to be honest, though not at the time! I waited til I had completely stopped before getting up. I came off ok, and my leathers were fine too, slightly scratched but not too bad.


Craig G(Noggin)
____________________
Current bike: kawasaki zx12r 2002
Track bike: yamaha r6 1998
Old Bike: honda NSR 125 1998

[Flip]

What Sparks said. When you're coming off you forget to plan things. The first thought whilst in the air will be "f*ck man, my bike". Second thought will be "Ow ya b*stard".

[Sparks!]

Anyway who needs to roll when you can fly?

https://www.onewheelonly.co.uk/gallery/albums/userpics/10001/sparksbov4.jpg

[stinkwheel]

Sliding is good, less chance of your limbs and head flailing about and breaking stuff. You'll find yourself kind of shifting about as bits start to get hot.

To an extent, what happens is decided by what you are wearing. Leather will tend to slide, cordura will tend to grip and roll you.

Having done both, I would far preferr to slide than ragdoll but ragdolling has its merits because you stop in a shorter distance, less likely to hit anything.

In any case, if you land up rolling, you'll reflexively protect your head by tucking it in and bringing your arms and hands up in front of your face. Probably exactly the right thing to do anyway.

When people say "It went earth, sky, earth, sky, earth, sky." they aren't joking. That is as much of an impression as you get of what is happening, very disorientating. Whereas you can see where you are going and 'steer' a slide to a certain extent.

So advice. Do what I did. Slide unless you are heading for something solid, in which case, tuck-in and roll. Worked for me, I walked away unscathed from a 70mph highside.

Oh, and what G said, don't try to stand up until you come to a complete halt. You see GP racers do it all the time on the telly, they stand up only to find they are still doing 70mph and promptly crash back down again, right on their face.

[Misc]

You won't have time to think, i came off a few days ago & the first thing i thought to do was what i was already doing & that was to keep hold of the bike, this way the bike takes most damage & you won't be all over the place.

It was the same sort of crash on my moped, i slid along the floor holding onto the bike.

[doggone]

You most likely won't have time to decide to do anything, just expect a sudden bang and it will be too late!
I'd try to tuck in arms and legs if possible while sliding as breaking bones is painful and if you bust more than one limb getting mobile again will be a nightmare.

[Dazbo666]

I believe the basic theory is that the more relaxed you are, the less you're likely to break bones....
that's obviously much easier said than done if you and your bike part company - you're likely to be less than relaxed whilst flying thru the air, or sliding on your 'arris.
Also you're unlikely to have enough time to plan your route... just go with the flow and hope for the best.

or improve your riding, and adjust your riding so that it's less likely to happen in the 1st place?

Sorry to sound sarcastic, but HTH
____________________
1st bike (Sept'06 - May'10) : 1991 GPZ500S / Current bike (since Nov 2009) : 2003 Suzuki Bandit 600N
Word of the day : DILLIGAF

[stinkwheel]

[Essex_Mike]

i came off at about 55-60mph i just slid on my arse and luckily stopped very quickly with no vehicles around me.

had cut up knees. and luckily the bike was fine.
____________________
CBT - Passed - 14/07/2006 Theory - Passed - 19/08/2006 A2 test - Passed -19/07/2007
Previous Bike - Suzuki EN125
Current Bike - Suzuki GS500F

[Whosthedaddy]

I slid under the bike for a while and then let go to remove to from on top of me.

It happens so fast, yet appears in slow motion. Just relax and try and go with the flow
____________________
Current : MSX 125 Past : CBR 900RR Monkeybike : c50 LAC : ZXR750 H2 : FZR600 : ZX7R P3 : YW100 : TRX850: Trophy 900 T309 : GSXR 600 L0: Monkeybike : XJ6S Whosthedaddy

[Clanger]

I still 'to this day' dont even know what happened in my big crash. All I know is that it must have been pretty amazing for me to end up where I did in relation to my bike.

Luckily the body has its own shut down mechanism's, my doc sayes I'll probably never remember...and now 8 years later, Im not all that fussed about knowing to be honest.
____________________
Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter won't mind - Dr. Seuss

[Clanger]

[cagiva gezzer]

As said, don't try and hold on to the bike.

I remember trying to keep my helmet off the ground.
____________________
"because one stroke isnt enough and four strokes waste two"

[G]

[Clanger]

[Essex_Mike]

i put my crash down to inexperience, if i had known about how sharply the slip road curved i wouldn't have taken the bend like i did. i know how to improve for the future from this.
____________________
CBT - Passed - 14/07/2006 Theory - Passed - 19/08/2006 A2 test - Passed -19/07/2007
Previous Bike - Suzuki EN125
Current Bike - Suzuki GS500F

[Whosthedaddy]

God knows ho I did mine, but porbably due to being an arse and noob
____________________
Current : MSX 125 Past : CBR 900RR Monkeybike : c50 LAC : ZXR750 H2 : FZR600 : ZX7R P3 : YW100 : TRX850: Trophy 900 T309 : GSXR 600 L0: Monkeybike : XJ6S Whosthedaddy

[ram_doom]

Sorry but all this controlled sliding and planning, have never been applicable to my crashes, in which I've been spat off into a piece of scenery, or slid into a kerb and up over that into a wall, had arm dislocated by jarred handlebar during a crash etc

Crashes happen far too quickly and the forces involved are usually to violent to allow for controlled slides or falls
____________________
TL1000s, KDX200

[syl]

[Misc]

[ram_doom]

The worst part of course is looking up at the sky, and seeing birds, then it fades into reality, and you suddenly become aware of the sounds around you like some sort of cheesy film sequence oh and the fact that your arm is broken
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TL1000s, KDX200