Motorcyclists asked to enjoy wide-open terrain, stay safe

  • Published
  • By Todd Amon
  • 95th Aerospace Medicine Squadron
EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  As luck would have it, the location of Edwards AFB in southern California provides motorcycle riders with virtually year round riding along with a diversity of riding environments. We as riders adapt to these environments and adjust our riding styles to fit each situation, be it open desert or curvy mountain roads. It's when we feel comfortable, safe and within what we consider our comfort zone that we sometimes let our guard down and do not even realize we've done it. That's when the luck runs out.

I was coming on base through the West Gate, with a passenger after dark. I was running the speed limit with no other traffic in sight. Immediately in front of me a coyote came into view standing in the middle of the lane. I reacted and swerved towards his tail end, he turned around and ran the opposite way, directly in front of me again. I swerved back the other direction. That's when I realized the coyote had been standing between me and another coyote that was dead in the lane. I had no choice but to hit it, luckily the bike went up and over and I did not lose control.

Here is what I concluded was the primary factor that could have changed the situation.

I was doing the posted speed limit but sometimes that isn't slow enough. Going that speed at that time of night contributed to the situation in three ways: 

-I over rode my headlights...doing the speed limit is for optimal visibility times only, I did not have safe visibility beyond my headlight for the speed I was traveling. 

-I had a passenger on the bike, thus the added weight increased my braking distance. 

-Riding with a passenger also affect maneuverability - my passenger was unaware of the situation unfolding in the seconds prior and was not holding tight, had she been, I probably could have thrown more steering into it and gotten around the object - I would have risked her being thrown from the bike.

What could I have done to mitigate the situation? 

-I should have dropped down at least 10 MPH below the posted limit after dark. 

-Something as simple as reducing speed would have given me less moving mass which in turn would have taken much less time and distance to stop in.

What worked in my favor? 

25 years of experience in maneuvering a bike, which should've prevented the first mistake, but it happens it happens. As a motorcycle monitor for the 95th Medical Group, I'm required to take the Motorcycle Safety Foundation Enhanced Riders Course, I cannot recommend this enough. No matter how long you've been riding, this course refreshes the skills you may not have used in several years. One of those skills taught is how to properly hit an object you cannot avoid. I was riding a full dressed touring style Harley-Davidson, with two riders; that equates to around 1000 pounds. That's a half ton of weight, had I been 2 up on a light weight sport bike, it may not have ended the way it did.

It's easy to get complacent riding here with it being so open, but remember, we are in the desert, and there are indigenous animals that cross our paths daily. Your riding experience will change based on what you do safely. You may never even know the situations you've avoided by doing things the right way the first time. Seconds count!

Ride Safe, Ride Smart.