General biking discussion approved.

Thank god, you are safe now, While riding many face such problems not only on bumps but also in some surprise pot holes, still bumps raise you a lot. IMO we have to control the speed to our level best by reducing gear and by applying both the breaks.

If in case happen to JUMP we should not get scared we should handle the situation just like a rider does on a mud rally. depending on the road condition.

I am not able to understand why these authorities never bother to keep a warning board some safe distance in advance! Bumps are made to save lives and not to hurt. Most times only bikers suffer.

Good to hear that you managed the Bump. I am waiting to hear some expert opinion on this topic.


I would not second the potion of applying both the brakes. Applying brakes at times is more bad ( Worse) as compared to going with throttle on. The reason being, when we apply brakes, the shock absorbers compress, leaving too less on the travel, which in turn would pass the jerk on to the entire vehicle resulting in dis-balance and things alike.

Always try to practice target fixation, as discussed on a related thread on the forum, which tells us to look for the escape route rather than focusing on the trouble.

Read this to know the Right Dimensions for a Speed Braker.








dcs

I did got disbalanced when I landed but I was able to control the bike by holding on to the handle bars very tightly.. But it was really scary and I never thought I'd make it properly

Each and every biker faces this situation atleast once, if I am not wrong .. err I mean riders in India thanks to the road conditions.. better, we be careful than blaming others for not doing their job(I mean the R&B)

I would say from my experience that braking hard will produce the worst effects, I think just releasing the throttle if we are at a very high speed and then try not to bend the bike to any inclination and keep the handle straight...

And if we are at slow speeds better not release the throttle this may tend to stop the engine as we will not be riding with all the alertness.

Well I encountered this when I used to ride my kinetic honda. I was going at around 60 kmphr and suddenly a speed breaker came in front of me. I grabbed both the brakes and shaved off whatever speed i could and about a meter or so before the speed breaker I let go of the brakes and held on the handle bars very tightly. The poor scoot was air borne for a sec I think, and then it came down. I thought I'm gonna crash but I survived that day.

Same thing happened to my friend almost at the same spot and he was riding his fz16. He didnt let go of the brakes and went down.

I'll say never be holding your brakes in such a situation. Try to shave off some speed before the speed breaker/bump in the road and then hold on tight and pray for the best. Also, I'd like to mention that if the vehicles does get air borne, the part where the tires touch the road again does tend to be the part when the whole vehicle and the rider kisses the road. To avoid this, get off the seat and stand on the foot pegs, when the tires will touch the road again, your knees will act as shock absorbers and wont transfer the shock of returning to earth :P to your upper body and hence your arms will stay straight causing the handlebars and the bike to stay straight. All in all the probability of you surviving the jump will increase.

Well, the worse case is when there's a shallow dip on the road, which is like a depression (or a internal cave in which is covered by the tar on the surface)and it is not visible even when there's no one infront of you...

Its scary once the bike encounters such dips... cause then, the only thing you can do is hold on to your dear life and the handle bar of the bike....

Best way I guess, is to make sure you are seated on the bike and keeping it straight and NOT touch brakes.... like DCS bhaiyya said... rest.. well, I dont know what else can one think of as such instances can best be handled through instincts...!

Very well said. Fellow riders, just remember the way the moto-Cross riders stand on the foot pegs when go over the terrain. Getting of the seat slightly while maintaining the handle bars as steady and straight (in-line with the bike) as possible is the way to tackle a road bump when you are at a high speed. Try not to lean forward once the bike is air-borne, the rear tire should make contact with the tarmac first.

Standing on the footpegs really works. Trust me on this. Just make sure that you don't sway sideways when you are standing.

I have learnt this the hard way. Braking is the worst thing you can do in this situation. I've braked hard into potholes&bent my front forks on my Fiero.
As for the speedbreakers/bumps in the road, get your butt a couple of inches above the seat, by standing up a bit on the footpegs so as to avoid most of your weight falling on the bike when it touches the ground again.
Like the others said, hold onto the clips/handlebar, do not turn, keep your body, line of vision straight and it will be fine in a second or two.
I've more or less got used to it now, considering the condition of the roads we have.
But yes, doesn't mean that you do it all the time-if you can manage to slow down to a comfortable speed, do it. But in emergency, DO NOT hold the brakes!

Last week while returning from Nashik to Mumbai the initial toll road was awesome I was continuously driving around 90-100 KMPH later on I saw a sign toll road ends and immediately I was not able to control my bike……I went through a village of potholes just after the “TOLL ROAD ENDS HERE” board.
While going through the pot holes I somehow managed to balance the bike with my pillion else both of us would have surely gone for a toss at that speed. I grabbed my bike handled so tightly which I had never done before.
Immediately took my bike aside and checked for anything unexpected. Just found one thing, the ROAD full of big pot holes.

Have done three bumps at very different locations at speeds of 120+..and each time has been saved due to some good fortune!!...

Most of the times the problem happens due to the rider not spotting the bump owing to vehicles in front of them or unmarked bumps.



The best way is to

1. Brake hard before the bump (front brake/rear brake combo, dont lock the wheels)
2. Release the brakes,
3. Freeroll, before you hop on to the bump,
4. Begin to stand up as you approach the bump
5. Hard hands for a split second on hitting the bump
6. Soft hands on the front wheel landing on the handle bars to allow the bike to correct itself from the tank slapper!

1) In short, if you got 20-30 meters before the bump (depends on your speed, high speeds more distance required)- Brake>Freeroll>Begin to Standup>Hard Hands(for a split second on hitting the bump)>Take Bump>Soft hands

2) If you got less than 5-10 meter or so, do the above thing without braking...There is no point in braking..Braking might end you up on the tarmac.-Freeroll>Standup>Begin to Standup>Hard Hands(for a split second on hitting the bump)>Take Bump>Soft hands

This has saved me atleast three times...But learnt it pretty hard the first time!

The main thing to note here is that when taking the bump do not over do it....

Points to note:

1) Standing up at the right time is one of the keys. You should stand up just in time you hit the bump so that your legs act as shock absorbers and also you can hold the handle a lil hard for a split second when you hit the bump so as to keep the handle straight at the moment of impact.
If you stand up late, the back seat of the bike will hit your bums...
If you stand up early..the chances of you falling over the bike are high.
Bcos of the loss of momentum of the bike on hitting the bump, the bike would lose speed, the rider would go front (bcos you are standing and you are catching the handle with soft hands) and sometimes your nose would touch the wind screen (happened to me the first time).

2) Remember to brake before you begin to stand up and not the other way around. Never ever hold brakes on hitting the bump.

3) When the front wheel lands after hitting the bump, always hold with soft hands, so that the bike can correct itslef from any tank slappers which are very likely to happen.

4) It is much more difficult to do this on bikes with clip on handle bars and aggressive riding positions than the normal bikes..


Hope this helps you..You can try practising this on bumps at slower speeds..so that you get the sequence right and its ingrained in your mind for your body to respond when taking the bump at high speeds accidentally.

Oh man, experience a tank slapper on an Indian make bike, and you're definitely gonna taste the tarmac. The only possible way to counter a big bad tank slapper is to have a steering damper installed, and since no manufacturers have one for Indian bikes, we have no option but to pray that we may never have to encounter a tank slapper.

@^^^ not true ! i have experienced tank-slappers many times . key is to not panic and hold steering too tight or too loose . in most mild cases we can recover from the situation