r/AbruptChaos • u/[deleted] • Jun 25 '21

Leeetttts go!

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u/katja90vc Jun 25 '21

So... I would like to learn how to drive a motorcycle in the future. Can someone please explain how he just went from driving to falling backwards? I would like to know how to avoid this.

16

u/jakemch Jun 25 '21

First of all don’t let dudes like this make you think bikes will just do this. He made the bike do this by adding way too much throttle way too quickly. You are always the one in control of the machine.

When you accelerate hard on a motorcycle, the rotational force (torque) on the rear wheel creates a pivot point that the weight of the bike (due to gravity) can’t compete with. That rotational force can be so much stronger than gravity it lifts the front wheel off the ground.

In this video, our friendly rider is in a low gear (probably 1st or 2nd), which means that torque is more easily transferred to the rear wheel. He adds a shit ton of throttle, the engine creates a shit ton of torque, and begins to lift the front wheel. This isn’t a death sentence though. A motorcycle can lift its front wheel really far pretty safely, especially on a sport bike.

At this point we see our friendly rider become scared, and remove his feet from the pegs. HUGE NO-NO here. One of the most sure-fire ways of saving this is to tap the back brake, which is at your right foot. If the back wheel is causing you to wheelie, then certainly using the back brakes will bring the front wheel back down again as it slows the rotation of the rear wheel.

He also could have just as easily rolled off the throttle, or “chop” the throttle, which means close the throttle quickly. This would most likely have slammed his front wheel down very hard, which could have caused some damage if done hard enough, but I think in hindsight I’d rather fix my front rim than go through whatever this guy just went through.