The Lowside
Crashing — every motorcyclist’s worst nightmare. It happens to all riders at some point. My friends and I like to say that there are two types of riders: those who have crashed and those who haven’t crashed yet. Unfortunately, my first crash occurred on the same track day as the first time I got my knee down. It was probably not a coincidence.
Filled with confidence, after finally being able to drag my knee, I started cornering faster and breaking later going into each turn. My second track day was turning out to be the most fun I had ever had… until I bit off a little more than I could chew going into Turn 1 at Summit Point. Turn 1 comes after the longest straight away in the circuit, at the end of which your speed is most likely approaching 145–160mph depending on skill. Needless to say, knowing when to start breaking is important in this turn.
As my confidence grew, I began to break later and later going into each turn, which increases corner speed. Overconfident due to the new skill I had learned, I entered Turn 1 faster than I was capable of handling. I grabbed a handful of break and leaned the bike over praying for the best. The front tire can only do so much with its grip and when that grip runs out, the bike will slide. If you are leaned over when the front starts to slide, the bike folds over on itself. This is called a lowside crash.
The crash happened in slow motion, probably due to the adrenaline that flooded into my veins during the panic situation. My front tire folded in on itself and the motorcycle went down, sliding across the pavement then into the sand trap at about 60mph. My body was numb as it slid after my bike.
Afterwards, I walked over and picked up my bike. It was in surprisingly good shape given the speed at which it went down. So I did what any completely sane person would do, I got back on and finished the track day. However, Turn 1 still gives me the creeps to this day.
Works Cited
Cottingham, Darren. Highside and Lowside Motorcycle Crashes Explained. Oct 06 2014. http://www.drivingtests.co.nz/resources/highside-and-lowside-motorcycle-crashes-explained-video/
