BLOWOUTS WITH A 650

Tire blowouts on a motorcycle are rare. In 40 years of riding, I've never experienced one. Most experienced riders do keep a close eye on tire condition and air pressure. They will also replace a tire before the wear becomes extreme. But if a blowout did occur, whether with the front tire or the back, it could make the cycle or scooter very difficult to control. I think ABS would be of very little assistance in that situation. ABS is designed to help with a slick road surface, but with good tires to work with. A quite different problem.

You would want to gradually coast to a stop, rather than use much in the way of braking. I recently read one article that said that staying slightly ON the throttle as you are trying to coast to a stop helps in maintaining stability. There are certainly other things that could complicate the situation, such as lack of a suitable road shoulder or breakdown lane to pull off to, or a vehicle slowing or stopped in your path.

well fellas ok. now for my experience. i have been riding 40 plus years like alot of you and i have had my share of rear blowouts, mostly on small cc motorcycles way back when i can hardly remember but all the blowouts caused the same effect the tire bunched up like was mentioned already but then the rear of the bike took of to the side about a 45 deg angle. now my speed then was 35-45 on city roads but plenty scary. my helix had 2 blowouts and same thing happened but the tire never went to any side just kind of stayed there, the rear of the bike did get squishy and swayed side to side 45 deg mostly.
now for the front. on a 750 Honda going down the X-ray at you guessed it 70 mph i had a blowout but you know i didn't know when it happened because the bike never showed any signs of it the steering seemed ok or i would have stopped i noticed it as i was leaving the X-ray at about 35 mph the front steering went to the side right now. never had that on the helix