The Personal Blog Of
Boston Motorcycle Lawyer

Do I Need to Know How to Lay My Bike Down?
August 28, 2009

In many ways, bikers are like old football players. As time passes, the stories they tell get more exaggerated making their past accomplishments sound more significant. Like football players, bikers can have very big egos about their bikes and their riding abilities. While these stories can be very entertaining, it is important to be able to discern fact from fiction.

A common biker tale is having to lay down a bike to avoid a potentially major crash as the best avoidance maneuver. The biker goes into great detail about how he considered all options in a split second, knew the only way to survive is to dump the bike, and as a result avoided major injury. Then at some point the biker feels compelled to show the road rash from the incident.

Here’s the real deal.

Motorcycles from the last 20 years have come a long way from post World War II bikes. Now bikes are highly engineered with suspensions, brakes, and tires that give the rider extreme control even in emergency situations. Riders who properly maintain their bikes should have enough confidence in their skills and the bikes abilities to control their bike in an emergency situation. Laying a bike down essentially says that the biker has relinquished control and is willing to let luck decide the outcome.

Laying a bike down does not make it stop faster.

Well maintained brakes and tires will stop a bike on a dime. Plastic, chrome, and metal will not. If someone says they dumped their bike to avoid an accident, there is a good chance the bike was not properly maintained or their skills are not very good.

A skillful biker rides defensively and anticipates potential hazards before they happen. Of course, no one can predict every situation but laying a bike down tends to indicate panic. Panic only happens when a biker is surprised.

There is a good reason why laying a bike down is not taught at any motorcycle safety courses across the country. It is not part of safe riding and should never be done as an avoidance maneuver.  The next time you hear someone talk about how they dumped their Harley to avoid a crash, remember they probably lost control and don’t want to admit it.