Panic Stop!

Last week, I was on my way home from work at 3:00 am on my ST1300 motorcycle. At night I don't ride very fast, about 60mph.

There was an oncoming vehicle so I dimmed my high beams and slowed down some. I use Silverstars H4 bulbs, so my high beams are pretty bright. One of them had burnt out, so put a stock bulb back in. It still lights up the roadway nicely. Unfortunately, low beams are not as impressive.

As the approaching vehicle got closer I saw some shadows move in front or their headlights. Deer! Several of them!

I instantly gripped the tank with my knees and applied every bit of brakes I had available. My ST1300 does not have ABS, but the linked brake system can help even out unequally applied brake action.

I could see the deer clearly in my headlights now. They were moving, and not just standing in the roadway. This is good. Moving meant they wanted off the road as much as I wanted them off the road.

The front of the motorcycle dived sharply as I braked and I could feel the rear move a bit to the right, the back brake had locked up. I knew if the rear continued to slide I would lose any control I had if I did hit one of the deer. Linked brakes to the rescue, the rear straightened out on its own and I was almost stopped, the last deer (at least I think it was the last one) right in front of me, and it kept moving. I had missed them all!

Now passing the other vehicle, I immediately clicked the high beams back on. Clear road ahead.

After the danger had passed, I realized I had remained calm during the whole event. I didn't panic. Not at all! Afterwards there was no adrenaline rush, no anxiety, I was just analyzing my actions and evaluating what I did right, what I may have done wrong.

I practice my riding skills a lot. From low speed maneuvering to high speed cornering and "panic" stops. Not life or death panic stops like I had just experienced, but stopping quickly and maintaining control. And it worked in real life.

Practice does indeed make perfect. I'm not saying I did it perfect, but I plan on practicing some more. I believe all of the practice I have done in the past definitely paid off and was a major contributor to my calmness. If I had panicked, I might not have done all the right things in the right order.

The lesson here? Get some formal rider training, even if you have been riding for years. You can't get too much motorcycle riding skill. It could save you life.