The Stupidest Statement In Motorcycling | The Shop Manual 

Try practicing some techniques for safer riding: rvz.la/3tpdcCK

"I had to lay her down" is what people say when they have a near miss, but manage to crash anyway.

“I had to layer down” is actually incredibly helpful information, because it immediately lets you know to ignore literally anything that person says after that point since they’ve demonstrated they’re an idiot.

Im a riding instructor, this is what 90% of riders aren’t ready to hear. Thanks Ari for clearing the air.

Ari.... Best explanation of "I ran outta talent" I have heard. I am a professional motorcycle safety trainer, and have had this rationale delivered to me many times. Thanks for steering away from panic reaction, and towards practice and training. Well done, sir!

Had to lay her down? I’m doing anything and everything to NOT lay her down 😂🤣

Hey Ari! Could your next shop manual episode tackle the common noises motorcycles make and which ones we should be mindful of? As a new rider, it can be quite difficult to recognize if something's wrong woth the bike by sound alone. Something experienced mechanics are really good at.

As a MC instructor, I used to have a rubber puck and a metal puck. I would use them to show that you can stop a LOT faster on rubber than metal. I also mention to my students that, as you mentioned, we ,just practise our emergency braking and swerving so that we can stop our bike as quickly as possible. As I tell students, we may not always be able to avoid a collision but with our practised skills , the collision will hurt a lot less at 10mph rather than at 40 or 50mph.

I've heard this lie in certain motorcycle circle more than others. I'm not naming any names, but in my experience the number of "had to lay her down" stories is directly proportional to the amount of chrome on the bike.

The "layer down" phrase has its usefulness. It's one of those key things I listen for when swapping biker stories with potential riding buddies that immediately tells me I should avoid group rides with that particular person. That and talking about practicing figure 8s in a box and see if they have a confused look on their face or their eyes immediately glaze over. All the folks I ride with get absolutely competitive about how tight a slow-speed turning radius they can manage on a big bore bike.

The only time I've seen someone lay er down for a good reason was to slide under a wire hung across a dirt road that wasn't visible from a distance. It was actually extremely impressive.

"I had to lay it down" is prong #2 of the Gas Station Trifecta, the three statements you hear when you're filling up and some guy approaches and talks about motorcycles. *_"I used to own a __________"_* = I used to own a __________. *_"I had to lay it down"_* = I panicked and totaled said __________. *_"I quit riding when I got married"_* = My wife controls the money and refused to let me buy another bike after I panicked and totaled said __________.

As a retired police officer that has heard countless idiots claim "I had to lay 'er down", and as an expert-licensed motorcycle road racer and motorcycle road racing instructor, I call B.S.. It's a LIE that they make up AFTER they crash themselves out because they didn't actually know how to ride, and because they didn't know how to ride, they had no idea how they ended up on the ground.

I find it more funny than anything. “WHET LEAVES ON THE GROUND SO IHADDALAYERDOWN”

My MSF instructor several years back covered this very topic as a teaching point and mentioned that exact phrase. He solidified in everyone’s minds that there’s always a better option than laying it down. Glad you guys covered the topic too.

The Canadian version of this is "I hit some Black ice" it wasn't their fault they were on their cell phone or driving on bald summer tires, it was the impossible to control ice of dooooom that spins cars into the ditch the moment you touch it (on 4 contact patches no less!)

I had to lay it down to watch this video.

Personally, I find it easier to lock up the back wheel, bring the rear round and get it to get grip at just the right moment to throw me OVER what has just pulled out. (All deliberately, of course)

Sooo much truth in this. I've been hearing it (mainly from the HD crowd) for years, and yeah, the line usually fits in with the equally WTF theory of "the front brake will just get you killed". So many myths and so much misinformation still perpetuated in motorcycling it's bizarre.

“I call bull****.” As I’m taking a drink of coffee, start to laugh, and the coffee goes down wrong. Thanks Ari.

Thankfully only laid down my bike twice, and both times were my fault. The first was when I was on my learners permit, and I pushed into a corner a bit harder than I usually would, ran over a stick on the road with the front tyre and got lowsided. The second one was just after I switched from a sports bike to a cruiser. I was leaving a friends place who had a steep driveway with a 90 degree bend just after I got moving. Muscle memory was still there for the sports bike, so my feet weren't far enough forward when I went for the floorboards, I clipped the up shift (rocker shifter), popping the bike into neutral as I started to turn. The bike stopped, and was leaning too far for me to catch, and decided it wanted to lay on its side. I've since corrected that muscle memory so I don't repeat that mistake.

When I hear anyone saying "I had to lay it down" when discussing an accident, their riding ability is immediately questioned...

A dude once told me he had to lay it down because the car in front of him slammed on the brakes and he went on his brakes but ABS engaged and he knew he would smack into the back of the car so he decided that it's better to slide into it than to crash into it so he dropped tje bike and ultimately did not slide into the car. At the time I was fairly new, and I didn't really believe him but I wasn't exactly sure how to question him on it. However a few weeks go by and he gets his bike back from the shop, I take a good look at it and I told him, your bike doesn't have ABS. He then tried to tell me that I remembered his story wrong and made up an entirely different story about how he had to lay it down.

yeah, so my wife was practicing on my motorcycle and for some reason locked eyes with me instead of where she was going when ALL OF A SUDDEN a curb jumped out in front of her! In order to save the lives of all the school children riding to work that day in the curb, she bravely and gently laid the bike down by grabbing as much front brake as humanly possible for someone of her small stature. This is the story of why I now have to use the clutch with two fingers since half the lever is missing and have discomfort in my left foot because the peg will never be the same shape again that it ever was.

You wouldn’t believe it I met an older man today on my ride out. He was admiring my bike and we started talking. He was 87 and he was telling me about the bikes he had here in Australia 🇦🇺 in the late 1950’s. Lovely old gentleman was getting excited about how at that time going 100 mph (160 kilometres per hour) was a big feat. I said to him that my previous bike was a Hayabusa and that it was capable of basically twice that speed. He was astounded of course, but went on to say that his father had taught him some skills (apparently he rode as well) regarding “laying it down” if the going got tough or an accident was inevitable. I had to laugh ( inside myself) as I just watched your video a day or two ago. I didnt think it necessary to point the facts about it, and left this memory ( I am sure good in his eyes) with him. Just saying..... Thanks for the video 👍

Fabulous and important video. Thanks for posting this Ari. Riding schools teach techniques for crash avoidance. If you ride and have not taken a course, it's a great idea to sign up. If you have taken courses, there is always more to learn. Look for a different course. They are always fun and a great use of time. Besides, riding school is usually lower cost than the deductible to repair your "laid down" bike.

Last year, no kidding, I heard the President of the local ABATE tell me, in all seriousness, that helmets are dangerous. "Had to lay her down" might be number two. Good vid, thanks for posting.

I'm 75; at age 17 I learned on a '47 WL with my father instructing. The bike was his old ride as a motor officer, left hand throttle etc. He used to say that if you have a "near miss" you weren't paying attention. I've had several refresher courses over the years, helps undo bad habits that seem to just develop. At one class, during a break, one of the students mentioned that he had just gotten his bike out of the shop after having "to lay it down". I walked away. Another "old timer" looked at me with a knowing look...an accident looking for a place to happen. Thanks Ari, another reminder I needed.

I've been riding for over 40 years and have been extremely lucky to never "had to lay it down" except in a parking lot. The bike was not moving or even running. I was getting on it and my passenger jumped on at the same time. The bike leaned too far and I bailed! Lesson learned. 😄

I had someone say this to me once. I smiled and nodded, I just wanted to pay for my food and leave.

I worked at a motorcycle shop last year and heard many stories of "a car pulled out in front of me so I had to lay it down" yes this is BS. Most of them also wore a t-shirt and shorts while riding. The rider really just never learned how to stop in an emergency. Most of them were new riders and blame the car. Was the car hiding behind a tree and then all of a sudden they were in front of you? There are 2 factors here 1; you were not paying attention and 2; you never learned to stop fast. Locking up one or both brakes will make you lay it down but it won't slow you down. Staying on the bike and using the brakes correctly is your safest way to avoid the crash. Watch for cars because they are not looking for you.

ok 2:51 had me legit LOLing. I agree with this 100%. I am an MSF rider coach here in NJ and I always tell my students that if you are going to have an impact. get as slow as possible before it. this is done with solid progressive braking skills and staying in control of the bike as long as possible.

A friend was in an accident where he said he "laid the bike down". But being the a$$hole friends that we are, always re-tell the story with the "had to" part added.

its between that and 'loud pipes save lives' for dumbest statement.

About time someone addressed this bit of B.S. On hearing “I had to lay it down” I usually interject “tell the truth, you fell over”. If you’re going to tell a fish story make it believable, don’t start w/ “I hooked a mermaid “.

I am so happy that decades after my first ride, people are openly calling BS on this line, which to me stank of it when I first put a helmet on my teenage head. It simply never made sense to me.

Hooray - glad someone's finally said this. It's not really a phrase you hear much of here in the UK, but it always just seems like a macho translation of 'I crashed'.

I’d say the one *possible* exception to this is dirtbiking, and it’s less of a lay down than an ejection. Often to avoid going over a cliff or back down a hill you just climbed, and usually once a crash has already started.

Ari is hands down my favorite person to watch when it comes to motorcycle anything. Even over Fortnine….

I've had two cars with drivers looking at screens turn directly into me (not "seeing me") while traveling in the opposite direction. If I wouldn't have spent my formative years on motocross bikes (or wasn't on something nimble - FZ07) I'd be dead (twice). There literally are moments when a car going in the opposite direction, turning left into you, gives you VERY few options. But you always have options if you stay on the bike. Practice them, and them practice them some more. Your life may one day depend on it.

I did it. I took off from the light in the right lane raced two lanes to the left only to find the street curved right with a high curb on the left. I started to lean right but panicked and jumped off thinking I couldn’t lean it over that far without falling over the curb to oncoming traffic. I’ve since had lessons. 😁

I’ve been riding for 9 years. I’ve gone through 4 bikes. The only time I’ve ever said, “I had to lay my bike down” was during my early days of riding when I dropped my bike at a red light or at a stand still and tried my best to keep my bike from leaning over too much, but after a certain point I had to let it go.

I wasn't ready for that scream at 2:52 , fn hysterical...set me on a laugh-coughing fit

"Everything it's left to physics" is the correct way to say it, chance is less of a factor. Yes, I sometimes get to be a control freak.

When I crashed i didnt lay the bike down, the bike laid me down

Had to lay er down bud

Totally agree that laying it down a road bike to avoid an incident is the last resort! On the dirt it is the same. Case in point- some 40 years ago I was following a mate, at speed, on the dirt when he stopped his car before a creek, I didn't see it coming and had no good options. My bad! I dropped my bike on its side and slid under the back of the car. The result was some scratches on the bike and a sore knee for me, but it all ended well. On the road I've seen several instances of riders panicking, locking brakes and crashing, when some considered use of brakes and some situational awareness would have resulted in no accident. Many accidents on the road are due to no situational awareness, lack of rider training and the thinking that it's all good and its not going to happen to me!

That saying, like hanging a nut sac from your truck's hitch is an indicator I will never be their friend...

When I was starting out and heard that phrase I thought it really meant laying it down, which happened to me a few times. I'm very short legged so I can only one foot my bikes at stops and if the terrain is complicated sometimes the bike ends up at such an angle that I cannot hold it upright anymore and I have to lay it down. I don't drop the bike, I control the descent so I can then completely get off and pick it up.

I love how you used the bent frame cbr300 as a crash prop!

Well done cinematography.

Excellent episode! I had an accident in 2018 from applying to much back break. A friend said so you had to lay it down huh? I always told other riders what did wrong and how I learned from that mistake. I now practice proper break and warm up my skills every week or more if I have a long break from riding. Stay safe and practice.

The only time i've laid down my bike i honestly thought for 2 weeks that it was the loose gravel on a turning lane. After seeing an DDFM video i realized it was because i grabbed the front break too hard and locked it up. Now that i know what i did, i'm a better rider and i can pass this onto new riders.

CLIBBINS! GOBBLESS!

"I hadda lay er down wit ol Barb on da back cuz of da dam glass clibbins in da road!" is how it's said in my area. 😂

It’s an OLD SCHOOL SAYING from the ‘50’s and ‘60s when modded bikes and choppers DID NOT HAVE FRONT BRAKES! Back when going through an intersection took REAL COMMITMENT lol. Anybody saying that today is making excuses….

After a decade as a motor cop I learned that far too many motorcycle riders won’t take 5min to better themselves on their bikes but would love to tell you how they went 150mph. Nothing but a hazard to their own welfare. Ten tons of confidence and an ounce of skill and ability.

I thought Thomas was gonna be Ari wearing a mustache and a evel knievel jacket.

In 46 years, I have only seen "I had to lay it down" once be true, and that was a truck that had pulled out on a biker, who laid it down and skidded under the trailer out the other side, she got a broken leg for her trouble, but at least she did not face plant the trailer.

I've been riding various types of motorcycles for 33 years. Never have I intentionally laid one down.

My Man!!! I was literally thinking about Vinales bailing out at 290kmph at the start of the video and you had it all set for an example. Here in @india we don't bail out but definitely mess ourselves up while trying to save a pedestrian or a stray dog 😜

As someone who came off literally the day before you uploaded this due to lack of attention on my part, the "I made a mistake" reassurance is quite a loving touch. I overdid a corner, 50mph when for my ability I should've been doing 30 max. Luckily all good but it's nice to know that mistakes happen

Agree 1000%, been saying EVERYTHING mentioned in this video for YEARS. It is wonderful to see such an eloquent video produced, and even better to have the corroboration with Tom McComas to lend validity to the argument. Awesome job.

It was the third lap of a 5 lap motocross race. I jumped over a corner rather than go around it and thus crossed over ( while in the air ) the track marker tapes. A track marshall " black flagged " me so I lay to " lay her down " in order to run over the track marshall, while making it look like an accident. I sent him flying off his hay bale and didn't suffer a scratch to myself or my bike. One of my finer moments.

Thanks Revzilla! One of the best videos I’ve ever seen on motorcycles! There’s so much BS and machismo going around, it was truly refreshing to see someone who knows something - and a Hollywood pro - call it what it is. This may have implications far and wider than this video!!!! Great job!

Around here, a lot of cruiser *cough* Harley *cough* riders use this as an excuse all the time. No shade towards Harley guys, but own up to your mistakes. I "had to lay down" my first bike(a supermoto) and said that same thing when I was an inexperienced rider. I didn't have a way to avoid my wreck, but I still played macho about it and used this excuse. I learned later that I should have just taken responsibility for being a lower skilled rider. Now I've gotten a lot better and was even offered an instructor role in MSF classes being held at my state capital. It takes a ton of practice, but it can absolutely save your life to not just be a throttle twisting meathead.

Somebody needed to say this. “Lay it down” was the most nerve wracking statement I heard when I started riding.

That reminds me of the trick I did as a kid on my bicycle with coaster brakes, the skid turn… In my practice of emergency braking my non ABS motorcycle, I feel the squirm of the rear tire when it becomes locked… From my experience it’s perfectly rideable, no need to lay anything down.

SPEAK UP LIBRUL, WHEN YOU COME ARCOSS SOME GRAS CLIBBINS IN THE ROAD THERE AINT NOTHING YOU CAN DO BUT LAYERDOWN

3:36 ha jokes on you that move of “putting it down” as described by your guy sounds a lot like one of the few tricks a inexperienced heavy cruiser rider and pull off with ease

I've seen exactly one case of "laying'er down" actually helping and it was actually guy that ended up sliding mostly underneath a jacked up pickup that was uturning in a blind corner. However the guy admits that the laying down was just him locking his front wheel up and dumping the bike by accident rather than an intentional life-saving maneuver. Still broke an ankle and wrist too.

A friend of mine was riding at the speed limit of 70mph, when a VW camper travelling in the opposite direction suddenly, without any indication, turned right, placing it broadside across his lane! Without hesitation, he departed his Yamaha RD400E, which proceeded to punch its way through the left side of the camper before bulging out the right side as it came to a stop! He picked himself up, unharmed, and inspected what had been his beloved motorcycle. The traffic police agreed with him that had he not departed from his motorcycle, he would have sustained fatal injuries. I think it was the late 1970's that the US publication Cycle Magazine carried an article about when it becomes necessary to abandon ship and depart one's motorcycle in order to avoid extremely serious or fatal injuries. We Despatch Riders discussed this in great detail, as it wasn't something we'd previously thought of. We learned from that article, and some of us are still alive because we learned...

I hit a deer this sumer and I literally laugh when people ask if I had to lay it down. No, I applied as much pressure to my breaks as possibly made contact with that deer, knocked that dear over, because I was incontrol I road over that dear and the only thing damaged was from the shit in my drawers 🤣🤣 pulled over did a quick check and road home. They look on there face is usually priceless because ironically there usually the ones who say a 135 pound man (me) is not big enough to handle a roadking.

LOOK OUT FER CLIBBINS HOSS

Brilliant sponsor. Knives that last forever!!!! Great video. We need to accept our mistakes.

Well I've never heard anyone say "I had to lay it down", but I've definitely heard "Hadalayerdown". And if someone says that to you, the most entertaining thing to ask is "Did you have ABS brakes?".

bro, my body on the pavement stops me faster than the brakes 😎 trust me bro 😎😹😹😂😂

Well done Ari and Tom. I’ve heard that BS way too many times. This lays it all out. ;)

Back in 1980 when I took the basic motorcycle safety class 'laying it down' was part of the taught criteria. We got to watch a film of some guy being distracted by a girl, and laying it down to avoid hitting the back of a car. Later, during the range exercise we go to go into the high school's long-jump landing area and skid the back tire in the sand. The instructor considered this to be BS (he was pretty skeptical as I recall), but it was part of the class and we had to do it. I was on a Honda Twinstar at the time, and riding in sand on that bike was a big enough challenge (200cc and geared really tall). Thankfully they don't teach that anymore.

Excellent video Ari! I want to bang my head into the wall every time that I hear this phrase and you absolutely nailed it. Well done. You always have more control with rubber on the road than sliding along. It is as simple as that.

Ari’s really layin’ it down in this video.

Thanks, Ari. I've been calling BS on this for years. Its what people say when they are embarrassed by their crash.

"Learn by your mistakes" even when you think it was the other parties fault, was a lesson I was taught nearly 40 years ago by an instructor I knew. A car pulled out while I was overtaking it, as far as insurance goes totally their fault, the police weren't involved, but I'm sure they would also blamed the driver. However when I spoke to this instructor, he said "what could have you done to avoid it", at first I just kept saying it was the drivers fault, but as we spoke more about it and he explained his remark, I realised, I could have done more to avoid being in a collision, and its not much consolation being in the right, when your bike is wrecked, your gear is wreck and you're injured.

Tom touched on it, mentioning the rider locking the rear brake, and the bike sliding-out to one side or the other. Most roadways are crowned to some degree, for water drainage. This slope is usually too small for us to see, but it's there. When someone locks the rear brake, that locked rear tire will slide downslope, until like Tom said, the bike has reached an angle where hard parts are now touching. The classic "laid 'er down" crash. If the rider releases the rear brake during this slide, and the rear tire is still upright enough, it will start rolling, causing an immediate "high side" crash, because bike and rider are traveling in two distinctly different directions.

Sometimes its easy to forget that a massive portion of the motorcycling community is drenched in testosterone supplements and bro culture. Well, not that easy when you're one of the only female riders you know.

I got this from a Harley rider... "Always have firm grips on your handle bar, you'll be better on controlling your bike." Bruh........

This was a much needed clarification that no one else in the industry wanted to express so publicly.

The closest I ever got to laying it down was when I wasn't paying attention at a gas pump, forgot the kick stand, and just keeled over. A great way to get the most confused face out of someone reciting their greatest lay down incident. I ask "Oh, your front brakes gave out?" and the most common response is "What? No!" and a confused raised eyebrow. Finish off with "Oh, okay..." and let the awkward silence just oooooooooze.

I love the shop manual series! I have recently acquired a carburated bike and I'm wondering what's the best method to tune the carburetor properly. Could you maybe do an episode on that in the future?

“ I had to put my head to the back of that minivan” it absolutely had nothing to do with the fact that I was distracted, and was not very experienced as a rider with quick maneuvers.

I used to handle motorcycle insurance claims a a dealership and I once had a lady say “I have to sell this bike because it just tipped over going down the highway” I was speechless…

2:50 -- Ari and the bike "sliding" across the ground with that scream in the background made me spit out a little beer.

The only time I have ever heard people talk about "layin' 'er down", they have been big talkers who have never actually ridden a bike in their life. I think the image comes from rigid pegged bikes on dirt roads more than 50 years ago, long before disc brakes.

The full phrase should be "I had to lay her down...because I was out of control and had no choice in the matter." I had to do something because I mistakenly put myself in a situation where I had no time to think or react and lost control of the situation.

I once had a friend hide in a ditch behind trees on his four wheeler. As I approached on the road at speed, he abruptly pulled into my path as a "joke". I crashed when I ran out of skill trying to avoid him. Put another way, the abrupt directional change I needed to execute was cut short when I locked the wheels with the brakes. I low sided into the four wheeler, with no significant injuries except one friend with a broken thumb. I have skills now that would put my younger self to shame, but the real reason I'm better off is because I picked some new friends that make better decisions. Never once did I say "I had to lay it down".

Thanks Ari, you made me understand such a complex ego in a most gentle and simple way. 🙏

As a sportbike rider who has taught moto-gymkhana techniques to beginners and also led many spirited canyon runs, I've heard my fair share of stupid statements. E.g., "My sportbike can't turn in a small circle coz it's made for racing"; or "Always slide your butt over and counterlean on low-speed turns"; or "You should never start braking in the middle of a turn"; or "You should never use the rear brake in a turn." The problem with all of those statements is that they are offered as out-of-context absolutes. Similarly, "I had to lay it down" should not be accepted or rejected without context. We have to analyze each case on its own merits. Granted, a lot of riders may invoke the statement, as Ari pointed out, to gloss over a panicked overreaction. But there are legitimate, real-world cases in which a rider may make a split-second decision, in an actual lose-or-lose-worse situation, to crash one way rather than another. And that may mean, yes, "laying it down." It's not necessarily about "giving up and bailing out," as Ari characterized it. And it's not always ridiculous. I now have another stupid--maybe the stupidest--statement to add to my list, thanks to the stuntman in the video, at (appropriately enough) 4:20: "You don't want to crash until you're gonna hit the immovable object." Now that is ridiculous! Did he really say that? So if you find yourself leaned over in a turn on a canyon road, with about one second to choose between getting hit head-on by an automobile driven by Ricky Racer who crossed over the double-yellow, or intentionally going wide onto the dirt shoulder, knowing that you will be "laying it down," remember that "giving up and bailing out" is not a valid option. Stay the course and take the head-on like a man! We'll inscribe "He didn't lay it down" on your gravestone.

Thanks for posting this. I couldn't even count the number of times I've heard someone say this stupid phrase. I usually reply with something like, "Hmm, in my 40+ years of riding, I've never had to lay it down." They always call me lucky then.😆

Anyone that says that doesn't fully comprehend how much the bike actually wants to stay upright. I can't count how many times I've intentionally tried to swerve my bike to one angle of another, just to have the forces fight me to keep it up.

I had to “LAY ‘ER DOWN” once. On the gas station forecourt when I rolled off the centre stand without having the side stand extended and attempted to swing the leg over which ended predictably with the bike and myself on the ground. I was laughing at my amateur dismount while a fellow rider walked over to lend assistance while shaking his head and also having a chuckle at my self imposed misfortune.