Can A Motorcycle Rider Control The Bike If A Front or Back Tire Blowout Occurs At High Speed?

Question

I've always wondered about how a motorcycle and rider would control and survive a tire blowout, cruising on the freeway at 65-75 MPH? Although it is probably an unusual situation, as most riders do a "flight check" prior to a long ride.

A blowout on a four wheel auto is one thing, but with only two tires, I don't even want to think about it. A small leak which could cause the tire to go flat, unnoticed until a flat tire would be another situation of safety

If this has ever happened to any of you riders out there, can you give us the details on the road conditions, type and weight of bike you were riding and what damages occured to you and your bike. Thanks

Answer 1

I had a rear tire sidewall blow on my 1996 Goldwing Interstate. I was traveling south on I-275 in Tampa in the inside lane doing 70 MPH at 9:30 AM. Traffic was moderate & I was VERY lucky.

Never touching the rear break, and feathering the front, I hit my turn signal to the right, checked my mirror,and looked over my sholder seeing it was clear I crossed 3 lanes to the sholder gradually. On that diagnal move across the pavement the cars were spaced out just right that I has a smooth merge all the way across. By the time I was on the sholder, I was down to 20 MPH and the back started to get REAL wobbly, but I was able to get the bike stopped standing up.

After I was off the bike, it took a few minutes to get my heart rate back down to normal & my hands to stop shaking. I can assure you I found muscles in my butt I never knew I had grabbing that saddle as tight as I could.

Upon inspection, it was found that the sidewall failed, the manufacturer of the tire replaced the tire at no cost and covered the shops charges as well.

So Yes you can survive a blowout on a motorcycle...if you are VERY lucky.

Answer 2

Harry Hurt's research in 1982 indicates:
3. Vehicle failure accounted for less than 3% of these motorcycle accidents, and most of those were single vehicle accidents where control was lost due to a puncture flat.

Tires have come a long way in 25 years.


I've had the front and rear go flat (at different times) due to cracked valve stems on a +700 lb cruiser.at over 55 mph. All times the bike remained stable but steering became difficult. The tires weren't even damaged beyond the valve stems.

Answer 3

An actual blowout at freeway speeds, you're going down. A blow out is the sudden loss of all the air in the tire. I'm sure there have been cases of riders maintaining control, but they would be at best limited. The rear tire you may be able to at least reduce your speed before going down. A front tire your best bet would be try to decide how you're going to land. I mean try letting all the air out of your front tire and then push it by hand. Then multiply that difficulty by 65 or 70 times. The possibility of controlling that much wobble are slim.
Even a brand new tire can fall victim to road debris, nails, glass any sharp object. But take heart it's never happened to me or any one I know, 34 years of riding on the streets.

Answer 4

a true front tire blow out, is gonna get you hurt bad. You immediatly lose all control of the bike. A tire going flat is difficult, but not impossible to handle, it just over steers back and forth as you correct but you need to get stopped quickly. A rear tire blowout is controllable, with experience but is not for the faint of heart. That's why good tires are so important on a motorcycle.

Answer 5

I had the front tire on my 01 Intruder vl1500 (671 lbs dry weight, me #250) go down @ 77 MPH. It was the scariest ride I hope I ever have. The bike pushed to the right at first and the rear slid left trying to jack knife, I fought the handle bars to turn left which brought the rear back around to the right. I did this several times back and forth until I came to a complete stop on the shoulder of highway. I gentleman stopped and asked my problem and asked if I had checked my valve stem. He had heard that the rubber ones have been known to shear off by centrifugal force. We looked and low and behold it was bent over cracked, causing the failure. God was with me that day.

Answer 6

A rear blowout at 70 can be controlled, you just have to stay straight, and use the front brake to stop, it ain't easy, but it can be done.

A front blowout, at 70 it is likely you are going down, but I stopped a bike doing 40 with a front blowout. I used the rear brake to stop, and slowed down staying as straight as possible. Of course, evasive manuevers are not possible in that condition, so you gotta hope you decided on the safety gear that day!

Honda 400 Super Sport, no damage, and patched the tube!

Answer 7

I meet a friend on a site called bikerkiss. He has a Harley and he often ride it. He told me that once the front of tire blowout at high speed. Luckily, he controlled the bike. I think he is a good biker.

Answer 8

it's not fun but it can happen if you are negligent... keep your balance up & don't jam on the brakes too hard as that will force pressure on the blown out tire front or back even causin is to peel off the rim a tad. I don't wait till my bikes have cracks ont he tires either, fresh rubber is a must even on my desert mx bikes. As for the street it was only going around 30-40 mph but I was lukcy to slow down in time and park it, as for the dirt well the fron tire went thru nails out on the trail and the front end got greasy so I spilled it around 25 mph in sand... hurt for a few mins but I coulda avoided it by taking marked trails

Answer 9

Your blowout is unlikely, unless --
the tire wasn't mounted properly
or
the tire is so old, it's rotted

Story I know about, front tire wasn't mounted properly, and came off the rim. Rider laid it down, breaking a leg and breaking the leg of his passenger.