A low side is a common type of fall – it happens when your bike slips over on the side you are cornering into while you’re riding. A low side is much preferable to a high side crash, and if you’re wearing your gear it’s possible to walk away with little more than a bruise or two. It’s also possible to kill yourself.
Low sides happen when you lose traction in a turn. When you’re turning the amount of braking you can do without causing a lock up is reduced; a substantial portion of the grip you have is being used by cornering. Low side’s are often initiated by beginning riders who pull to hard on the front brake while in a turn, and lock the front wheel up. This video shows an example:
Low sides can also be initiated when the rear wheel loses traction in a turn due to hard jerky or hard acceleration out of the turn. See this next video for an example:
