Almost Crashed

So I rode my bike into work yesterday and ran into a little issue.

I was on a rode that I take everyday to work. I decided to change lanes and then the light changed, no issue there, I figure I will just stop. There are two cars stopped at the light in front of me.

So I go to stop and the back tire breaks loose. I have no idea why. Maybe I hit the back brake to hard. The cars are coming up on me fast. I end up downshifting through all the gears. I let up the back brake and the back end still wouldn't catch. I am off the throttle at this point too. The bike is going back and forth. I end up going in between the two cars and over the line into the intersection. Luckily the light for the oncoming traffic hadn't turned green yet. At this point I an in first and just go through the intersection. I have no idea how I didn't crash (someone had their hand on me - :)) the bike since I only had 800 miles on the bike and this is my first bike.

I am more cautious now when stopping because I am worried the back tire is going to come loose. I now feel like my bike is riding sideways all the time. I hope I get over this soon.

Is there any reason the back tire came loose? (Could I have hit a rock, grease spot, or wet spot on the road).

Did I do the right thing by going in between the cars?

I noticed you never mentioned using your FRONT brake. 90% of your stopping power comes from the front brake, if you use the back only, the tire almost always will slide before the bike stops. Even at slow speed the rear tire can lock up. YOu should use front and back brake together for maximum braking but rely on the front the most. If you notice on a lot of bikes there are dual disks on the front wheel and only ONE on the rear.

Did you do the right thing by going between the two cars?? hmmmmmm well you didnt hit either one and had you not split them you would have crashed .............yeah ya did the right thing.

I used the front brake. I should have mentioned that. I always use both brakes.

Wow, glad it turned out the way it did. Let me see... you down shifted... you used both front and back brakes applying far more pressure to the front then the back... You didn't think you were going that fast.... Perplexing, did you rub your hand across your rear tire checking for any grease/oil residue? What were the road conditions, was the road wet, were the tires cold, meaning the hadn’t warmed up yet?

Wow, glad it turned out the way it did. Let me see... you down shifted... you used both front and back brakes applying far more pressure to the front then the back... You didn't think you were going that fast.... Perplexing, did you rub your hand across your rear tire checking for any grease/oil residue? What were the road conditions, was the road wet, were the tires cold, meaning the hadn’t warmed up yet?

I'm starting to think it was meant as a learning experience - :P

I checked the tire for any oil and checked the brakes. I am thinking I just happened to hit something in the road at the right time. There must have been something in the road. I checked today in the road and didn't see anything.

Problem now is I am worried about braking. I now feel like my bike is sideways when I brake like this / instead of it being straight.

That sounds like a very scary experience. A lot of new riders have trouble getting over their first accidents, but when you lose your confidence in your braking ability, that´s really scary.

I hope you shake it off.

Schools are out for the summer so, find yourself an empty parking lot and do that MSF braking drill over and over. The one where you mark a point in the distance and practice coming to a smooth stop at that precise point while increasing your speed on each cycle to the point where your about to skid. Using mostly your front brake with the rear brake as a trailing brake to keep your bike straight, anyhow that’s what I was taught back in the 80; things may have changed since then, good luck.

I plan to practice some. Yeah it was scary, and I am trying to shake it off.

From one newbie to another I have found it difficult to judge speed at times, but with practice it is becoming more and more natural. I only have a couple hundred miles more than you, so our experience level is likely very similar. I found around 800 miles I started gaining a lot of confidence.... but be careful with the newfound confidence. I am reading "Proficient Motorcycling" and read a famous study (they study) that showed the rate of accidents actually increase around year 1 or 2 (I forget) for new riders. The stats (in the big picture) suggested that new riders get in fewer accidents once they get the hang of things UNTIL they THINK they have the hang of things and get overconfident.
Hang in there, be safe, accidents do happen.... sometimes they happen TO us, but we can control a lot of them.

I had a firearm accident once (obviously my dumb fault), and when I realized no one was hurt I literally got down on my knees and thanked God not only for keeping me safe, but for allowing me to make a mistake that would wake me up... needless to say, like motorcycling, these things have a way of making us deal with complacency.... never forget.

Let's just say I was praising God the rest of the way to work - :)

I think I know why it happened, I was getting to that confidence level and I think I needed to be knocked down a notch or two.

Just the weekend before this I went out on some curvy roads and had a lot of fun (was scary, still getting used to leaning), and started feeling more confident on the bike.