Slippery when wet
Strife in the fast lane
The engine room
Damage control
Other tips

Talk to someone who's had one: a crash is painful, costly, and embarrassing. And most occur as the result of taking inappropriate action, rather than lightening bolts being thrown from upon high by the Biker Gods.

So if you're involved in a crash, chances are it will be at least partly your fault. Even if it isn't... you'll still be the one left feeling the pain.

Taking on-road responsibility is about stacking the odds back in your favour. Changing the things you can right now, before the moment you can't arrives. A solid skill base, good observation and keen anticipation are all learned behaviours. They are your closest allies in difficult situations.

Slippery when wet

Skids
Caused by a number of factors, excessive acceleration or braking and an excessive banking angle the most common. They are always more likely to occur on poor surfaces.

A skid can affect your front or rear wheel separately, or both wheels simultaneously. Front-wheel skids are by far the most dangerous and difficult to rectify. When a bike is upright, rear-wheel skids are much less serious and normally readily corrected.

Reaching for your brakes during the skid itself is fatal because your tyres have no grip to spare. Their search for adhesion is the priority. Brake only once you've regained control of steering.

Front wheel
The most obvious answer first. Any front-wheel skid while you're travelling in a straight line is usually due to over-braking. Ease off brake pressure then re-apply the front brake progressively.

If you are braking and banked over, ease off the brake. Again, increased braking will only worsen the situation. Some front-wheel skids are caused by overloading the tyre when cornering. In these instances, adding a little throttle should be sufficient for adhesion to be regained.

Rear wheel
Due to a loss of grip when accelerating or braking, rear-wheel skids are common enough to be induced for show. Steering towards where you want to go and easing the throttle (or removing rear-brake pressure) should be enough to arrest the real thing. If you're overloading the tyre whilst cornering, ease the throttle gently.

Two wheels
Whenever both wheels are sliding in a straight line, over-braking is the probable cause. Release brake pressure then re-apply it progressively. On slippery surfaces, ease the throttle - or if it's already closed, de-clutch and allow the bike to coast while you concentrate on maintaining balance until adhesion is regained.

Any two-wheel slide when you're banked over is also due to surface problems. Ease the throttle, steer gently toward the skid direction in the hope of stabilising the bike in time for it to negotiate the corner.

Aquaplaning
Aquaplaning occurs if you ride too fast onto a very wet surface. This is because there is too much water on the road for the grooves of your tyres to channel away, preventing the tread blocks from making contact.

In wet conditions, if the rain is heavy enough for you to see water moving over the road surface, there is a high risk of aquaplaning. Best to assume any puddles are deep enough to be a problem.

If you sense your front wheel is not making proper road contact, continue steering straight ahead, close the throttle smoothly and lean forward to load up the front tyre. Avoid braking because the wheels are likely to lock and skid.

If riding around a water hazard is not possible, dismount and test the depth. The crown of the road is likely to be shallowest. Ride through in first gear - slowly enough to feel your tyres making contact with the surface below, slipping the clutch if necessary to avoid stalling or water entering the silencer ends.

Once you're out the other side, ride with the brakes lightly applied to dry them off.

Strife in the fast lane

High-speed wobble
Instability brought about when the front wheel and handlebars oscillate from side to side making steering difficult or even impossible. AKA a 'tank slapper' because the handlebars move from lock to lock and come close to slapping the fuel tank in the process.

If your bike exhibits wobble tendencies, especially when the front wheel becomes light or airborne over uneven surfaces, check the adjustment of any steering damper fitted, as well as the front tyre and looseness in the steering-head bearings.

Regardless of the exact cause of a high-speed wobble, there are two counter measures which can be tried:

1) Slow gently and increase the load on the front wheel.
Use this for a gentle wobble caused by air rushing under high mudguards, such as the ones on dual-purpose trail bikes:

• When you feel the handlebars oscillating, resist it, close the throttle gently, and move forward on the seat and lean forward to increase front wheel loading. Sitting on the tank works well on some bikes.
• A touch of the rear brake can help, but avoid applying the front because this is likely to lock the wheel or worsen oscillations.

2) Accelerate to decrease the load on the front wheel.
Use this for violent front-wheel wobble:

• Lift off the seat, pull back on the handlebars and open the throttle as though attempting a wheelie. Once airborne the forces causing the wheel wobble should dissipate, so that it touches down running straight and evenly.
• Avoid the front brake while the wheel is airborne. Apply the rear instead. This ensures that the bike will be travelling slower when it lands, making a recurrence unlikely.

High-speed weave
The rear of the bike oscillating from side to side. Much less dangerous and easier to control than high-speed wobble, but still disconcerting.

High-speed weaves can occur during straight running or when cornering under particular conditions. In both cases the remedy is to close the throttle gently and softly apply the rear brake.

Although the causes are not always easy to identify, loose wheel or rear-suspension bearings and ineffective suspension units are frequently to blame. Fitting poorly designed, rear-mounted luggage systems is another culprit.

That said, some bikes simply have a disposition to high-speed weave given particular speeds or conditions. This can be difficult to eradicate yet never bad enough to cause real problems. If your motorcycle falls into this category, learn when to expect it and adjust your load and riding patterns accordingly.

High-speed wheel-bounce
Occurs when either wheel (usually the front) bounces up and down rapidly, causing severe vibration.

The remedy? Slow down, easing back the throttle and applying the rear brake gently. And check your wheel balance. Badly out-of-balance wheels are invariably the cause, although even well-balanced ones can be prone to wheel-bounce where in-tyre puncture-sealing liquid has been used.

As with aquaplaning, the front brake is a big no-no, as it's likely to lock a wheel no longer in proper road contact.

Punctures at speed
A puncture travelling at pace is potentially lethal.

If you sense more than a momentary squirming or lack of steering precision which doesn't appear to be caused by a poor road surface, slow down and pull over as soon as possible. A front tyre puncture demands rear-brake-only application, and vice versa.

Front-tyre punctures are less common than rear ones, which is just as well because they can cause the steering to become vague, or in extreme cases surge wildly out of control. Apply the rear brake gently, push-steering to correct involuntary direction changes, which may be violent.

A rear-tyre puncture will cause the rear of the bike to wag from side to side or 'crab' to one side. Apply the front brake gently and again push-steer to correct the direction changes which are likely.

Once you've safely stopped, if there's no obvious problem with the tyres, check the pressure (which should be a little higher than when cold).

When total air loss occurs at speed, expect to have to replace the tyre involved. While they require wheel replacement if the air-sealing surfaces get damaged, tubeless tyres are far less likely to suffer sudden air loss than tubed ones.

The engine room

Seizure
Once a regular pitfall with two-stroke engines (especially air-cooled ones), engine seizure is today uncommon in modern water-cooled and four-stroke engines.

Still, loss of coolants or oil remain to haunt riders. Working a new engine too hard and incorrect parts can also lead to trouble. If a bike is not running out of fuel and the engine starts to slow without misfiring when pulling, it may be about to seize.

The best evasive action: close the throttle and pull the clutch lever in, holding it in until you are stopped. Failure to de-clutch can cause the rear wheel to lock and skid.

Seizures can be partial or total. Partial ones may free-up once an engine has been allowed to cool. Totals mean you're walking home.

Gearbox
Seizure here is a potential killer. If it happens at speed, a crash is almost certain. Thankfully, because it's impossible to prevent your rear wheel from locking by de-clutching, gearbox seizure is also extremely rare. The smart solution is minimising the risk. This involves:

• Looking after gearbox lubrication.
• Tackling serious oil leaks NOW.
• Observing any mechanical problems and taking them seriously. Have the cause identified and remedied.
• Regular servicing and maintenance.

Running out of fuel while riding
Be prepared isn't just for boy scouts. A reliable fuel gauge or low-fuel warning light will ensure draining your tank dry remains a distant possibility. If your bike lacks these, re-set the trip-meter every time you gas up to determine the distance you can safely ride without re-filling.

The worst possible scenario is a loss of power while overtaking or with another vehicle following closely. The key is to recognise what is happening early.

If your bike has a manually operated fuel tap with a reserve position:

• Activate the hazard lights.
• Select reserve and hold the throttle a bit above closed. The bike will slow and stop or continue slowly at reduced power until normal fuel flow resumes.

If the engine slows and threatens to stop:

• Activate the hazard lights.
• De-clutch and coast to a halt roadside. It might take some cranking to re-start the engine, unless your bike has a tap with a priming position, which allows fuel to flow without the engine running.

Damage control

Don't abandon urgency in an emergency. In the split-seconds before impact, there are still actions any rider can take to greatly reduce the chances of serious injury. Here are the basics.

If a crash appears likely, the immediate response will involve one of the following:

• Emergency braking without changing course.
• Heading for your escape route and emergency braking as soon as you are aimed.
• Altering course to avoid the hazard and restore your safety zone.

However, if a crash is unavoidable concentrate on two things:

• Reduce speed. The slower you crash, the better.
• Keep your bike upright, braking right up to the last moment. Don't try to lay your bike down.
• Aim for the softest landing place.
• If there is a gap, go for it.
• Aim for the side of the road rather than an oncoming vehicle. Anything is preferable to a head-on collision.
• Choose a glancing blow in preference to a direct one.
• If hitting a car, aim for the lowest part. Being thrown grants you a much greater chance of survival than a full-on impact.

Other tips:

• If you go down at high speed wearing proper protective gear, you'll probably escape serious injury providing you don't hit anything solid.
• Sliding, try to keep as much of your body as possible in contact with the road. This will spread heat friction and slow you down faster.
• If you start to tumble, gather in your limbs to stop them from flailing about and hold the top of your helmet to reduce neck loading.
• In a long slide on your back, some degree of self-steering may be possible by spreading an arm to create a friction bias.
• After parting company from your bike, always try to get away from it by kicking it or spreading yourself on the road to slow down.
• In a slow-speed crash, keep your feet on the footrests and grip the bike with your knees. This is likely to keep them out of serious trouble.