Wet manhole cover on corner

[harry _the_fish]

hello, this is me first post and need a bit of advice plse. i hit a manhole cover and come off today when we got heavy rain and i nearly went under a bus following me. its a 125 and was only doing 25 and i lost it on a corner when front wheel just went out from under me when i hit it. i have only got scratchs and shaken up a bit as i have never come of before. i left room between me and the car in front but going round the corner i could not get out of the way of goin over it. my bike is wrcked and i dont know why they are slippy like that. can they not put rubber or something on them to help us. what do you do if you go over one on a corner by mistake. i only had the bike for 2 weeks and im gutted.

[JonPod91]

Heya mate

Don't worry about it, i think many of us did that. For me was same day as CBT, just couldn't wait...

Just get back on the bike and get back too it, summers coming up and hopefully less rain.

I don't know if you have noticed but the government and councils aren't really in love with us bikers, so i don't think they'll be trying to help us out in a hurry.

Jonnnnn
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CBT: Passed 06/08/2007 1 day after my 16th...
Bikes: Chinese 50cc ped (SOLD ), CBR125R repsol (Current )

[chris-red]

Not much you can do, just look out for them and avoid, I can't understand when they don't have some find of grit type surface on them, same with road markings they would be so much safer if they chucked a few shovels of sand or grit in the mix when they paint them.

It comes with practice I pretty much know where all of them are on my frequent routes. If you feel it slip don't tence up and try not to do anything, just hope it grips again before you go down.
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[iooi]

Report it to the local council. At least that way they know of the danger and may act on it.
The slower you go the worse the covers are.
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Just because my bike was A DIVVY, does not mean i am......

[Finglonga]

[B_A_B]

[felix422]

thanks for that info guys,Ive got my cbt today and its pissing it down. ta
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felix

[doggone]

In this case probably a bit too close to car in front so didn't see it soon enough to avoid.

[Ariel Badger]

Observation 45%, experiance 45% and luck 10%.
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Bikers make great organ donors, get 115 on your licence today.

[ms51ves3]

I hit 2 on the way to Squires while trying to concentrate on speed cameras, road signs and traffic. They're a bloody nightmare and just add to the list of things you have to look out for.

[Cigaro]

Generally you should try and avoid them if possible, and if not then be careful not to brake or accelerate when going over them.

How bad is the bike?

[Reflex]

Read somewhere recently ( might have been MCN ) that they are trying out new manhole covers with a tarmac like surface over the top in a few accident hotspots in erm... might have been Birmingham, they got alot of good feedback from the area so they are expanding it to other points of the town, so if they catch on and are practical we could hope to see them nationwide in...well when labour isnt in power

[Damon]

they always seem to put them around corners too.

just keep an eye out to be honest and keep more of a distance from th car in front. Not alot you can do tbh so put it down to experience.

Damon

[DidierD]

My bike slips all over the place in the wet (BT020 tyres - great in the dry, crap in the wet) and when the back end comes out it's quite fun but the front end is a different matter, very hard to control so the best thing is to try and avoid it happening.

Slow yourself down well before the corner and if you do have to go over a manhole cover try and straighten up and use the back brake ONLY if you really need to. This will make you run wide but it's better than downing it.
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Bike - '98 Yamaha YZF600 Thundercat Pics

31st March 2008 - Fully converted from four wheels to 2 sets of two wheels

[bigjim]

[harry _the_fish]

[chris-red]

It's not a good idea to ease off the throttle if the front is slipping, this would put more weight on the front wheel and cause you to slip worse of I would have thought. Probably better to put power on as this would take more grip off the front and transfer it to the rear. The trouble with that is if it's wet or your back wheel hits the cover you could lose grip to the back. To be fair if you can think about transfering grip between the front and rear wheel when are touching cloth because the front wheel is slipping I would be very suprized.
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Well, you know what they say. If you want to save the world, you have to push a few old ladies down the stairs.
Skudd:- Perhaps she just thinks you are a window licker and is being nice just in case she becomes another Jill Dando.
WANTED:- Fujinon (Fuji) M42 (Screw on) lenses, let me know if you have anything.

[Shay HTFC]

Dunno if this is useful or not, but everytime I see a wet manhole cover and know I'll be going over it (Had one when I visited London that was just a long metal sheet that crossed the whole road on a corner) I'll sit the bike upright for the time I pass over it, then go back into my lean.

I'm still hanging off it at a funny angle, but at least my bike is upright and much less likely to slide. If you haven't left yourself any breathing room when going round a corner, then this could be a problem, but on urban roads, you usually have time to get upright, then go into a tighter lean angle after crossing it.
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[Cigaro]

[Moonie]

Don't worry about karma mate spelling doesn't make much difference.

The buses around here are bloody awful for it around town, they leave nooo space to stop I've had more than a few close calls with them.

Chin up, happens to the best of us.
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[AppleJoe]

[TechJinx]

[cal91]

They are changing the man hole covers i think.

Look on this link! A Bit Of Clickness
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[Damon]

[Stevep]