Nobody wants to think about crashing our motorcycles. That's especially true if it's a bad enough incident that we end up not being able to ride for a while, or worse. And yet, it's important to think about what we can do to mitigate harm (and maybe fix problems before they become insurmountable) on our bikes.
Most riders who've been doing it for a while that I've talked to (including myself) have made adjustments to our gear choices based on the times we've gone down. I knew someone who wore a full-face helmet all the time, but also simultaneously rode in a T-shirt (with gloves, strangely). It took one incident of bad road rash after someone merged into him coming down a highway off-ramp to convince him to wear a jacket; something about that wire bristle brush the ER folks used to scrub the gravel out really got to him, I think.
I can't really blame him; it took my own first low-side at low speed after hitting some oil to get me to finally invest in proper motorcycle pants with knee armor a long time ago. Normal, casual pants just don't cut it. But sometimes, our learning style is unfortunately the kind that requires hands-on experience. We can know things in our heads, but still not put them into action for a number of reasons, procrastinating because we don't have time/money/some other thing.
But both of us learned, and plenty of other folks I've talked to over the years have had similar tales. After a crash, most of us replay what happened, what went wrong, and what we could have done differently or will change in the future to keep it from ever happening again. It's a very human thing to do.
And it's what Doodle on a Motorcycle has been doing, too, ever since her awful death wobble crash earlier in 2025. Now, she's back with a follow-up video, sharing what she's learned from experts including a crash reconstruction professional, various motorcycle safety orgs, and Dylan Code of California Superbike School.
According to the experts, multiple factors contributed to Doodle's specific crash, including the tread pattern of the tire on the Janus 250 she was riding, locking into the grooves of the recently milled concrete as she rolled over it. Add to that the fact that the bike is very lightweight, and that she's a very lightweight rider, as well as the speed, and the front end of the bike was extremely light as well, while all this action was progressing.
And while Doodle brings up several documents related to currently mandated road construction safety standards, as well as the respective ways in which they do or do not take motorcycle particulars into account, ultimately, we street riders don't always have a choice to avoid construction. I was just riding in a bunch of it a couple of days ago, and while thankfully it didn't look like what Doodle encountered and I experienced no real issues, it's not like I could have suddenly busted a U-turn in the midst of traffic to go around it if I had.
Overall, after taking in analysis and expert advice about her crash, Doodle came to the conclusion that there are a few key things you can do if you find yourself at the beginning of a death wobble, where your front tire is starting to dance around like crazy and destabilize the whole bike. First: Don't fight it. Loosen your grip on the handlebars. Gradually roll off the throttle and don't make crazy clutch or brake inputs that could further upset the bike. Lean your weight over the handlebars to try to put more on the front end; Dylan Code also recommends gripping the tank more tightly with your knees to help the front wheel sort itself out and calm down.
There are a few more nuggets from Code in this video too, but it's basically that in his experience sometimes certain things help, and sometimes they don't; while death wobbles are universally scary, they're not all the same, so the exact same technique might not work every single time. Each crash (even if it's nominally the same type of crash) is a little different, you know?
It's kind of a brave thing in itself to share your crash footage online and invite public comment and analysis, but it's an even more admirable thing to use that incredibly bad day and time in your life to help others. Thank you, Doodle, for drawing more attention to such an important piece of knowledge, and we hope you're back to riding without pain soon.
