I had to lay 'er down

I had a friend of mine return to riding after a bit of a break. He had an old old 440 cc (?) Kwak of some sort years ago as an A.F. serviceman, but having greatly prospered lately, he decided nothing but an H-D would do. My initial comments that maybe he needs to get a 250 cc or at most, something like a KLR or Versys to return were shut down hard by him.

No, he needed that H-D to show his prosperity and his 'custom' style.

It took him maybe 3 months of pain before his body could tolerate more than 50 miles of that idiotic 'clamshell' riding position which H-D riders think is so cool. Oh, and in those 3 months he had maybe 8 slow speed falls including the classic where he went to pick the bike up and it over balanced so he ended up with it toppled onto the other side and him on top.

Figuring to bond with his now slightly ragged but still new H-D he embarked on a 200 mile trip which needed liberal doses of both aspirin and breaks to complete. After a bit of a struggle, he made it to a beach resort where the H-D's were on parade.

To fit in, he bought a shorty helmet and joined in the cruise for a day or two reveling his membership in this styling club. After a bit, worked called so he set off for the 200 miles homeward bound.

However, by this time, the fatigue had built up him him so his reflexes weren't what they should have been. Finding himself needing to stop fairly hard to avoid making a groove in a Yukon XL, he lost it and ended up under his bike which itself was under the Yukon XL.

He gave me a call while sitting in the ambulance and actually said, in a put on cowboy drawl, "I had to lay 'er down." Note, he did not say "lay it" or "lay her" but the real "lay 'er".

I need to ask this group. Is there an H-D school where these riders learn this phrase and the logic that they didn't really fall due to losing control of one's bike but instead heroically sacrificed himself and his bike to save the Yukon? Or what?

Anyway, I didn't let him get away with this and drilled into him what happened in the crash. I did he feel the rear swing out? He finally admited that he did feel that swing. I explained what caused him to crash (locked rear wheel released to high side him) and now he agrees that he didn't intentionally "lay 'er down" but lost control of his bike due to lack of ABS and poor riding technique.

Still, where does this crap come from? How many riders have crashed like this and then, instead of learning to brake and/or get an ABS bike, figure that they did the best they could by "laying 'er down".

Good grief.

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Some friend...
All you could do was draw his attention to the lie...

You see, they do that to absolve themselves of the responsibility of mishandling a riding situation.

The least you could do is let him have the delusion.

Yeah, that was what I was trying to do by forcing the analysis of his crash. He started out as if he were some sort of hero for having slid under the Yukon but by the time we'd finished with the deconstruction, he realized that he hadn't needed to crash if only he was a better rider.

Still, I have to wonder if he were of a different bent and instead of buying an unsuitable H-D, he'd bought an even less suitable Gixxer, if he'd used that *&#& phrase.

This weekend I had a doofus in a cute ute (yes, a female driver--stereotype reinforced) drop in reverse and immediately pull into my path of travel.

I would'a "layer down" my bike too.

Except I can flatfoot my DR650 and was able to not hit the cute ute nor "layer down" my bike.

What model of Harley did he have? I think you can get ABS on any Dyna, Softail, or touring. Also, how old is he? 'Cause he sounds like a geriatric klutz.

Hardly geriatric. It's called a 'Slick Back' or 'Switch Back' or something similar. He was rueful about the ABS when I explained how it would have prevented his rear wheel sliding which panicked him into a quick release which high sided him.

I suspect the rueful tone was based on his declining the option when offered. I can't be sure. I figured I'd pushed enough.

My rule of thumb: never exit the bike unless the bike is exiting the Earth, e.g. you have permission to "lay 'er down" if within the next few feet you're about to plummet off the side of an alpine pass.

Otherwise, brake and/or maneuver like you're supposed to.

I'm with you on that!

Jim

Hi all ! This is my favorite motorcycle "myth" . I always say " the last thing you want to do on a motorcycle is crash , so why would you do it on purpose" . I always get blank stares back .

The implication, and I get this only from H-D riders, is that laying 'er down is a form of emergency braking which, while it does work better than brakes, is a last resort.

That's what I had to work this fellow through - that he did NOT stop shorter for having crashed than he would have had he braked properly while remaining upright.

I call people out on it all the time:
"You mean you/he/she locked up the rear wheel and crashed? Why don't you just say so instead of using that tired old euphemism?" I've only ever had a couple of people insist it was a deliberate act, at which point I ask "How DO you do that?" They can never explain the "technique".

Just be glad your buddy didn't use the front brake... He might've flown clear over the Yukon and landed in froont of it getting run over in the process.
The way I see it, it's a good thing he had the presence of mind and training to "lay 'er down". It probably saved his life!

yeah, I can't believe mfgs still leave the front brake on bikes after all the mayhem they've created.

Naw, the front brakes aren't that good...

I had a close call where I almost laid 'er down. I was following too closely, and grabbed too much rear brake when I realized the flatbed truck in front of me was stopped. The rear kicked out about 8 inches before I could ease up on the back brake, and but the bike ('83 XL600) didn't high side when I regained traction. I stopped with just a few feet to spare, but it could have been ugly had I gone under the truck. With practice, I've gotten a lot better at panic braking.

I still prefer not to have ABS, since I don't trust it on steep dirt hills. I have had situations in my pickup where the brakes deactivate at the first loss of traction, resulting in a speedy trip down the boulders.

Did your buddy have any formal training?

[embarrass] he's a former MSF instructor.

you called him out for wrecking and calling it lay er down.
I'm calling you you for being a pompous ,arrogant , elitist a -hole.
I'll be sure to check in with you to on my next purchase so i 'll know what brand and model motorcycles meet with your approval.

If you ain't riding Harley, you ain't riding shit.

...and I'm elitist?

I've learned to ignore his often BS. I suspect he is an aging man losing his ability to filter!

Personally I think you did the right thing, especially in light of the fact your friend was an MSF Instructor!

Jim