The lowsider or lowside is a type of

motorcycle A motorcycle (motorbike, bike; uni (if one-wheeled); trike (if three-wheeled); quad (if four-wheeled)) is a lightweight private 1-to-2 passenger personal motor vehicle Steering, steered by a Motorcycle handlebar, handlebar from a saddle-style ...

bicycle A bicycle, also called a pedal cycle, bike, push-bike or cycle, is a human-powered transport, human-powered or motorized bicycle, motor-assisted, bicycle pedal, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, with two bicycle wheel, wheels attached to a ...

crash usually occurring in a turn. It is caused when either the front or rear wheel slides out as a result of either too much

braking A brake is a mechanical device that inhibits motion by absorbing energy from a moving system. It is used for slowing or stopping a moving vehicle, wheel, axle, or to prevent its motion, most often accomplished by means of friction. Background ...

into the corner, too much acceleration through or out of the corner, or too much speed carried into or through the corner for the available grip. It may also be caused by unexpected slippery or loose material (such as oil, water, dirt, gravel or leaves) on the road surface. In the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

it is referred to as a "lowside" rather than a "lowsider".

Causes of lowsider crashes

All horizontal

force In physics, a force is an influence that can cause an Physical object, object to change its velocity unless counterbalanced by other forces. In mechanics, force makes ideas like 'pushing' or 'pulling' mathematically precise. Because the Magnitu ...

s occurring between the motorcycle and the road (such as accelerating, decelerating and steering) are transmitted by

friction Friction is the force resisting the relative motion of solid surfaces, fluid layers, and material elements sliding against each other. Types of friction include dry, fluid, lubricated, skin, and internal -- an incomplete list. The study of t ...

in the

contact patch The contact patch is the portion of a vehicle's tire that is in actual contact with the road surface. It is commonly used in the discussion of pneumatic (i.e. pressurized) tires, where the term is used strictly to describe the portion of the tire' ...

es. There is a limited amount of force each contact patch can transmit before the tire begins to slide. Typically, the maximum force once sliding is slightly less than before sliding."Tire and Vehicle Dynamics", Hans B Pacejka When travelling in a curve, the tires provide the

centripetal force Centripetal force (from Latin ''centrum'', "center" and ''petere'', "to seek") is the force that makes a body follow a curved trajectory, path. The direction of the centripetal force is always orthogonality, orthogonal to the motion of the bod ...

needed for the acceleration towards the center of the curve. The capsizing moment provided by gravity acting on the motorcycle's center of mass when leaning into a corner is balanced by a righting moment generated by centripetal forces in the contact patches when all is working correctly. If, having reached a given lean angle, the centripetal forces are reduced then the motorcycle increases its angle of lean until it touches the road surface, usually unseating the rider in the process. Lowsiders are caused by exceeding the lateral friction limit or by exceeding the combined lateral/longitudinal friction limit in one or more of the following ways: * Braking force plus turning force exceeds friction available on either tire * Turning forces exceed the friction available on either tire * Acceleration force exceeds friction on the rear tire * Bodywork or peg hitting a road surface lifts the bike causing less friction on either wheel * Rapid deflation of one of the tires causes grip levels to reduce Lowsider crashes are not usually caused by braking in a straight line in dry conditions. It is more likely that the rider will go over the handlebars through too much front wheel brake force or will lock the rear wheel resulting in a straight skid. The name derives from the fact that it is the low side of the motorcycle that hits the ground.

Injury risks

Riders are usually advised to do a lowsider rather than a highsider if neither can be avoided. The lowsider has the advantage of the motorcycle sliding before the rider, thus not threatening to crush them. Also, a lowsider tends to send the rider sliding across the road whereas a highsider is considered more severe as it violently throws the rider from the motorcycle with a higher probability of broken bones. Laying down a bike can still result in significant injuries. When a bike is sliding on its side, the rider has no traction or control. The main injury risks are: * Gravel rash due to sliding across the road surface at speed * Hitting traffic coming in the opposing lane * Impact injuries on the side the rider goes down (usually an elbow, shoulder or hip

contusion A bruise, also known as a contusion, is a type of hematoma of tissue, the most common cause being capillaries damaged by trauma, causing localized bleeding that extravasates into the surrounding interstitial tissues. Most bruises occur clo ...

, but the bike landing on an ankle can cause injuries, too) * Hitting static objects on the side of the road such as

street furniture Street furniture is a collective term for objects and pieces of equipment installed along streets and roads for various purposes. It includes bench (furniture), benches, traffic barriers, bollards, post boxes, phone boxes, streetlamps, traffic ...

or signage

References

{{reflist Motorcycle dynamics Road incidents

Causes of lowsider crashes

Injury risks

See also

References