I admire people that race motorcycles largely because I know that I am incapable of doing it. I have seen land speed racers and drag races on two wheels a lot this year and I am always impressed with the performances that they are able to wring out of their machines while hanging in the breeze and relying on those two narrow bands of rubber to keep it all stuck to terra firma. Of course, things don’t always go according to plan and that’s when the good riders and the great riders are separated. That doesn’t necessarily mean that the great riders save their run, but it means that the live through the aftermath of a scary situation. I had the misfortune of seeing a couple of those this summer as well, further cementing my mindset that it would not do much for my life expectancy if I decided to pick up a motorcycle habit. Look folks, I struggle to negotiate side walks on my own two feet, let along traversing the ground at high speeds on a machine that requires balance, a deft touch, and natural instincts to control. I fall short in all of those categories.
This video is pretty crazy. What you will see is a rider’s eye view of a Suzuki Hayabusa making a pass down a quarter mile drag strip. Once into the shutdown area the bike begins to slow and then INSTANTLY lays over on its side at about 100mph. The speedo is metric, but doing a quick conversion says that the rider hit the asphalt while making triple digit speed. According to the rider (who posted the video) he only got a bruise or two and a minor scrape. Sounds like a guy who knew what to do once he got off the bikes. I think of myself in this situation and picture my giant noggin detaching and rolling into the next county somewhere.
The rider says that he made 20 passes throughout the course of the day and this was his 21st. He thinks that he may have grabbed a little too much front brake, locked the tire for a split second and then down she went. What do you think?
PRESS PLAY BELOW TO SEE A HAYABUSA RIDER EAT SOME ASPHALT — ON BIKE VIDEO!
front brake induced lowside? Happens really fast but it feels like slow motion when you’re the one climbing up on the tank. 🙂
I always held on to them unless they want to tumble. I may have been wrong. Hell, the fact that I though you should pull your leg up and let the bike stay on it’s side says I don’t exactly know what I was doing! haha. The other side of that coin is there are people who have laid a bike down, and there are those who haven’t done it yet.
Looks like he nearly hit 150 on the big end
My buddies always told me I was nuts racin a drag bike . But I always said it was safe cause I had my training wheels [ wheelie bars ] on the ground all the time.
been there-done that-quit 25 years ago–lay down at speed not that bad unless you come to an abrupt halt-that is bad
He should’ve waited to turn on the second return road ….