How to Crash - An Unexpected Lesson @ the Touratech Rally 

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Three points: 1) Using one's own mistake to teach a valuable lesson is nothing but class! 2) Great lesson on how to handle an unintentional rapid dismount and 3) Marquez would have saved it :)

Been a fan of yours for a while, but I have even more respect for you showing yourself fall in slow motion over and over and turning it into a learning opportunity instead of demanding that the footage be deleted and never spoken of again. You’re an incredible teacher and a great guy 👍

5:41 and this kids, is why soft luggage is better then hard panniers when off-road

The slow motion is a great ad for soft bags, easy to see the right leg go under the bag. Long time ago I went into a field on a sport bike at speed, remember seeing the bike over my head as it flipped and rolled over, fun day. Getting up slowly is very good advice.

I'm starting to think that there's a secret ingredient in motorcycle riding that's hiding in plain site and while unnoticed draws people to it from the daily slew of their unnaturally stressful lives ... Basically to do anything worth doing on a bike the right way, you need to be laid back and go with the flow, so in time you end up chillaxed and content ... Zen on wheels baby, zen on frikkin' wheels.

I fell out of a canoe once, while teaching a how-to paddle class. It happens. Thanks for sharing.

Handle bar muffs. The most under rated bike accessory ever. And one of the most effective. Kudos.

This is one reason I avoid hard panniers...

Respect for showing your crash and not trying to cover it up.

As a long time martial arts student, dispersion of energy in a fall will make a big difference. And as you point out, responding the way you did takes consistent training and discipline. Very glad you were not hurt.

I love seeing how people who know how to ride crash (and not get hurt, I’m no monster). Because it is eye opening. To some people it’s just crashing, but in reality a whole lot of experience is showcased

Loved it :) I also call my crashes as "Uncontrolled gravitational iteractions"

Unintentional Rapid Dismount (URD). Love it! Maybe add Technical or Tactical to that moniker and call it a TURD! Yup! Just had a TURD out there! Like you said, relax and have fun with it! Glad you were unharmed except maybe some momentary bruised pride. Thanks for keeping it real!

A great rider/instructor let its students learn of every situation also falling down. Very good video👍🏻

Adrenalin is a crazy thing. I had a small crash last week and it was two or three hours later before the pain of a minor muscle strain started to kick in. I like what you said about keeping a positive attitude. As long as you're okay, that's the main thing :)

Credit teaching from a crash, not many people will want to share a stack, been watching a lot of your vids in prep for my fist adventure bike trip next year. Glad to see you're OK.

Everybody needs a refresher once in a while, and cheap lessons are always the best kind.

Mad props for throwing this out there And using your own mistakes as a teachable moment. No one is invincible, not even the best. Glad you didn't hurt yourself.

"Nothing like PURE ADVENTURE!" (laughs maniacally). Love it! Thanks for the rest as well, continued excellent content.

on july 1st of this year i had a rapid dismount when rain and wind hit blowing straight across hte highway started going into the ditch because of the wind , but since i had been watching past videos and beening a new rider i had learned to relax in afall, from other sports i had done. whose iwas able to get back up with only road rash to one arm and a highly spraped up visor, got the bike up right started it and drove it out of the ditch with minamle damage, so i thank you from a new rider.

It takes big balls to make a vid of a crash and then great instruction to create valuable lessons.

More videos on how not to crash please.....I'm already awesome at crashing

As I go down I'm always thinking "I can save it" right up to when the mirror explodes. Sometimes I'm right!

Brett, your fall was interesting and a good learning opportunity, but my primary reason for this comment is to compliment your production team on the lovely intro reel. Very nicely done....and the fall was well executed, too;).

I've been hemming and hawing about getting soft panniers for a while now. Thanks for making up my mind Bret! Mistakes are always opportunities for learning and growth. Well done!

Great breakdown. Thanks for sharing.

Love the lessons Brett. Well done for using a crash as part of the learning.

Great real world lessons. Your genuineness & integrity shine thru. Thank you for sharing. Hopefully no injury for you.

This is another reason it's so important to wear the proper gear. I could imagine a fall like that on a paved surface with unprotected skin. I see a number of riders in my area, especially now that it's hot, riding with shorts, no sleeves and sneakers, and many without helmets. Something like this with head contact could be disaster and lots of skin donation.

I was there... what a superb class. Brett & Paul run a great class. PSSOR / MotoTrek are great free on RU-vid, but so worth it to get it “in vivo” as nothing beats practice and a few “dirt naps” especially when you get immediate feedback and get to try it again. The day after the class, we went and did Advanced Level Rally #12 which was mostly single track - and we rocked it!

That’s a great video. Glad you put that out there. Some good takeaways!

The way you describe your actions when you touch the ground reminders me of the parachute landing fall (PLF) that I was taught in in the Air Force. Use your whole body to absorb the fall and dissipate the landing. The key is don’t brace and roll with the fall.

Love it, it takes guts and integrity to show your own mistakes and try to learn from them. Something very rare these days.

Thank you for your knowledge and humility. At some point it's likely to happen to all of us. Best to know exactly how to deal with it. Excellent tips!

Simply, Thank You. I learned something here.

That you actually made this video instead of trying to hide your flaws shows a lot of character. More impressed by you now than ever before!

Still the best tutorials, explanations, whatever you call them... Thanks again!

As always its so simple to understand ur video bret...thanx for demonstrate it. 👍🏻

Sage advice there, Brett... thanks for sharing the URD protocol Glad you’re all good. Cheers mate Steve.

Great lesson by a GREAT instructor. I didn't have any doubt before, but after using own experience and public share on video.....no words, pal. Perfect!!! Thanks Bret

Hey.. that's me at the 1:46 mark... cooking up something hot.... rally was awesome, nice meeting you Bret.

This is gold! I love your content and delivery! Thank you!

l'm glad he was on grass and had soft panniers. Also guys please get some good quality high boots even if you don't ride off-road, l see people rocking gs1200's while wearing sneakers. Drive safe.

Brett, I love watching your videos. Always learn something from them or reinforce what I already knew. I feel I'm a better motorcyclist since I started watching your videos, and have been practicing a lot. This is a great video to show how to handle things when things go south! Thumbs-up!!!

Absolutely top notch work, as usual!

True to form, Bret, this video is filled with valuable information. Well done my friend. A class act all the way.

I also use HORIZONTAL PARKING to the list!!! And yepz some things are inevitable like Death, Taxes and you ARE going to Crash (URD) an ADV bike!!! One of my best was this spring riding a tough trail through a usually swampy but then frozen-ish MUD but as it began to warm up the top MUD began to melt while under was icy. Naturally I had my front wheel go into just a small running rut and then the back wheel decided to take its own path and hit the perfect blend of MUD/ICE COMBO! So at that point my rear end began to pass me in an effort to get home first. A kinda fun spin around happened but the bike still decided to take a break and lay down for a while. No injuries. just a story and becoming really muddy! 40+ years of riding has a lot of stories!! Way to use a great teaching moment my friend! Always excellent advice from your vids. Thank you!!!

Great instruction and advice. Wish I’d known “then” what I know now as I had a similar experience at the same venue (and event) but I did suffer a broken collarbone. Thanks for the work you do!

Great lesson Bret! I will be scheduling a ride with you soon. I was sad to miss the touratech rally this year, but maybe next year.

A must see video for every biker. Thanks for sharing. No need to mention I'm glad you're fine.

Great class! Thanks again Bret!

Great that you turned an accident into a learning experience. I had never really thought about best ways to handle a crash - I've always focused on preventing crashes. Good stuff!

On an RTW and riding through Indonesia on a very wet day and a wonderfully twisty road (and a little too fast) and did an unintentional dismount. It was just two days ago. Looked exactly the same as yours, I hit wet grass, bike tucked under, and we ended up in the jungle together. I wound up laying on my back and laughing for about a minute. Thankfully a couple of truck drivers came along and me get her out of the jungle and back on the pavement.

It happens to everyone one time or another I like watching your videos even more now. We all are human thanks for sharing the good and the bad

Glad you were unharmed in the making of this video. A valuable lesson to all riders, that irrespective of their ability things do go unexpectedly.

Very very good video! I've been riding for the past 25 yrs,watching your videos tells me I still got a lot to learn in my riding,thanks Brett,new subscriber from the Philippines!

Even when he crashes it looks intentional! To teach a lesson!

AMAZING lesson Bret, thank you very much for sharing it...and now I`ve made up my decision about the type of panniers I'll get in future!! Safe Travels Bret and pls keep it up!!

I've told my grandsons the same thing while we're mountain biking. Try not to crash for as long as you can while you're crashing. When you see someone give up early on in a crashing situation, it generally ends up being much worse.

Very nicely done! including the video presentation!

Great video as always Bret. Still waiting on that two-up standing up video though ;)

Another fantastic video ty

Very good tips indeed especially about having a positive attitude, laugh it off and don't try to brace the fall. Reminds me of how to land with a round parachute with our two feet relaxed with knees slightly bent and then roll to the side and over

The good old PLF, parachute landing fall!.. and if you visualize how to fall you'll naturally do it when it happens. You're awesome Bret👍

My worst fall had my motorcycle (a cruiser then) landed on top of my ankle. Around 210 kg right there and then. I of course didn't have boots, only a jacket. After kicking the bike off of me, I cursed the dog that came in front of me (and was thankful that it wasn't hurt) but only after around half an hour later I realized I couldn't stand, not to mention use the rear brake; my right ankle had a second "bone" on the wrong side. Adrenaline is a double edged sword. I'm glad everything went well and you managed to laugh it off.

Brilliant advice and glad you’re OK.

Your falling was great. I've played soccer (yes I know it's not the same) for many years, and when you go down, the best thing to do is just roll with it. Luckily that muscle memory translated to when I crashed once, I just rolled and hurt nothing. BUT that foot man, I don't know if there's anything to be done at that point, but that foot was very close to getting VERY messed up, specially if you have had hard luggage and/or no boots. That was scary, and I wonder if you could train yourself to lift it up more, or something.

Cosa que pasan aveces 🤷🏻‍♂️ Pero eres un maestro hasta en las “caídas” 😉👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 Saludos desde Argentina 🇦🇷

Great teaching moment!👍🏻

Funny, I had this exact situation yesterday, the bike unrecoverable when the front wheel hits the ground at an impossible angle, slid off and rolled my body without bracing. This is where a few teen years of Judo training pays off, the drop and roll reflex never goes away.

No Instructors on RU-vid talk about this enough. I fall twice on my bike in a very similar way as you shown, and in both accidents I got my right foot injured in the same spot. I made the same mistake in the second accident as the first accident and after that I said to my self that what ever I’m doing to avoid injuries, or at least minimise it, is definitely wrong. Searched RU-vid for anything that shows how to fall and here you are. Thanks so much for sharing this and I’m sure it will help a lot in my future falls ✌🏼

Great review & teaching Brett 👍 Glad you were ok

Great tips.....even better attitude......thank you for sharing.

I had a very similar "off" Saturday in an Adventure Bike class practicing braking in wet grass. I pretty much came off at the same point and rolled the same as this video. I'd watched this several times before and I think you possibly saved me from injury by sharing this with us. Thanks!!! Neither bike or rider were hurt. I was back in the saddle and continued the braking drills.

Huge Respect! Thank you Brett for the amazing content.

Also shows us how tough these adventure bikes are! Do that on your pocket rocket and its a write-off! Haha

This is an awesome video, especially for any deprived of growing up on The Fall Guy. A good refresher for the rest. I'm hoping to get some dirt riding soon,I know it won't be pretty.

Great video. Excellent points. Side note: I dig the backing music, all tasty trum tracks, nice

Near impossible to find the limits of your ability without going beyond once in a while.

Great advice Bret. Thank you for sharing. Peace 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

starting this Monday for my first adventure ride 3-day trip thanks for all the advice enjoy the channel have not ridden a bike in 35 years

When I taught my brother to do downhill, the first thing I taught him was to fall. Excellent video, thanks for sharing, the place is incredible.

I understand you hear you you’re a beautiful teacher thank you Sir well done 👍

Very nice info and hints or tips.. i recently crashed from my bike because of a car not stopping at the Stop sign.. so i crashed rolling like you teach and now i'm here to tell you .. the tips are absolutely right ..

Do I love to hate or hate to love, the drums?? The most asked MotoTrek question ever!!

Very clear explanation Bret, usefull video for all off road bikers! Maybe the most important is the positive attitude. thanks a lot!

Kudos for showing this. Riding off road with the big BMW is really an art and when it goes wrong it all happens so fast ther is nothing you can do. Shows me soft panniers are definitely the way to go , or just ride very slow!

I had my first ever (in 20+ years of riding) Unintentional Dismount on my 3 month old Triumph Tiger Explorer (fortunately in soft wet grass) earlier this year. While I laid on the ground collecting my thoughts and swallowing my pride I wondered; how would I ever practice this? Thanks for posting the video and sharing your URD. I'm hoping one of these days you can schedule a midwest event.

Thanks for the honesty

Its also important to remember to give the bike a once over after you pick it up before you start it and ride off. A lot of the time something east to fix can become more damaged and difficult to repair if you ride with it and some times even cause safety concerns.

Very valuable, clear, well explained and understandable things to keep in mind as a rider! Either it's about big heavy R1200 Gs bikes or mountain biking, other than the weight and speed it's basically same physics.. 👍

Like your Vids as i learn a lot - never thought that you'll fall in the flat given where you ride usually - thanks for sharing & stay safe

Practice the falling or how to fall must be a lesson on every motorcycle school. At least a theoretical part. With practice it's better to leave the professsionals do it and show it to the students. More videos like this one are more than appreciated

I have to say i love your content. as i am barely starting my adv riding being on 2 wheels exclusively on pavement for whole my life, the differences are big as is the mentality . i like the on the spot and the addressing of attitude towards mishaps. very well done

Thanks for the useful lecture

I normally do not watch motorcycle crash videos, but I watched this because I knew it would come with a valuable lesson. To watch a crash without some sort of analysis on why it happened and how to prevent it is just sad. I don’t find wrecks entertaining in the least.

That video was like an intentional fall to make the students understand. But i know it wasnt. But the explanation made so much sense. Roll with the fall. Take a lot of falls to make these things a reflex. Great lesson as always.

Amazing how with the right narration even as an instructor dumping the bike in front of an entire class it can be made into a skilful dismount 🤣

I love your channel and the way you teach. Saddly I had back on Feb-25 an “unintentional rapid dismount”. I was going at about 40 mph pavement, on the right lane, when the car on the left just changed lanes and I had no time to react. As you say, I do not practice “how to crash” and my reaction was absolutely natural and by no means practiced procedure. But thank God I was contious all the time and did the very last part of your video: stay calmed, alert (did not have a head hit) and start moving very slowly beging with the parts that seemed not hurt. Assess damage and stay cool. I wqs able to call ambulance, direct the heavenly helpers to move me the right way and cause nommore damage. Saved by God, my lovely wife and three doctors, 2 weeks in the hosp’edage’ I have a removed spleen, 8 broken ribs, reconstructed knee and reconstructed ankle all on the left side, but alive! Still building strength on the leg to ride again. If you may ask, the moto was much more fortunate. My BMW R1100gs’99 just had a scratched left cylinder head cap, smashed crash bar (it’s purpose), broken front -left turn light and bent mirror post. I told my frinds “You have to take care of your bike” :). God bless.