What balls they have!!

[DarthRider]

This from the woman I have mentioned who was Mike Hailwood's girlfriend. She follows M-GP and IOM very closely.
http://www.boreme.com/boreme/funny-2006/bike-theatrics-p1.php
Look for the one with the Cobra!

[Promethean]

Jeez. That was something. What were most of the crashes caused by?

[Sir Limpsalot]

Most of the "big ones" where the rider gets flung in the air are what are called "high sides". These are caused when a tyre (typically the rear) looses grip and starts to slide. The rider then snaps the throttle shut to try and control the slide and the tyre grips again. Trouble is the bike is now sideways on to the track and the laws of physics take over.... the rider is ejected skyward in a hurry. Ouch. Big Ouch. In fact Massive Ouch!
A "low side" is when the machine is cranked over in a turn and looses traction (can be either wheel) and just slides fairly gently to earth. The rider, already leaned way over, simply falls the last little bit onto the road.
Watch the clip again and my rather clumsy explanation should make sense.
Take heart from the fact that most street crashes are low sides.
Si

[geechie]

Having experienced one rather vicious high-side, I have subsequently thought a great deal about the physics of high-sides. This is what I think is going on: As the bike starts to slide centripetal force loses out to centrifugal force and the line you were on straightens out. I'm not sure if it happens consciously or not, but maybe here you steer into the skid, and the bike begins to stand back up. At some point, the rear wheel regains grip and the suspension absorbs some of that excess slide energy. The bike continues to stand up and goes past the vertical at which point the suspension unloads both itself and the rider. I was doing 30ish and flew about 20 feet. The bike barrel rolled after me. It was not a pretty sight.

George

Oh, and by the way, my at-work net nanny wouldn't let me access the site in Dave's link. It's a major PITA sometimes.

G

[DarthRider]

My old '72 Yamaha RT1B 360 Enduro was a great sliding bike. But you knew that at the end of each slide awaited a...high-side!
The last one put me up and over the bars, knocked me out, knocked off a securely fastened Bell 500 that landed 30 ft. away...with my sunglasses inside and the chin strap still fastened!
I had a broken collar bone and was *that* close to a broken neck, according to the docs.
Didn't hurt the Yammie a bit.
High sides are NO fun!