Nearly highsided today, what can I learn from it?

[dodger]

As per the title really. I like to learn/take something from mistakes/experiences so...

Had a day off work so decided to go for a nice hoon around. On the way back, got to about 5 minutes from home [so tyres nice and warm] approached a nice gentle right hander which you can accelerate through, took it in third gear then snap I'm out of the saddle, foot on the ground, brown stain in my pants...

I've had plenty of wobbles etc but this was by far the biggest moment I've ever had on a bike [without typical BCF bullsh*t bragging ] and was practically off the bike.

So is there anything I can learn from it? Was it a case of too much gas? Too much lean? The stock tyres get slated on Ducati websites so can the tyre be to blame? The road is very close to my house so a case of over-confidence?

Just a bit of a ramble as I can't put my finger on what I done wrong. Any pearls of wisdom from the BCF faithful?
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My Bikes: Piaggio NRG| Aprilia RS 125| Suzuki GSX-R 600|Yamaha Fazer Ducati 848
Europe 2008

[Luke_Retrofly]

Warm up the tyres more, do exactly the same, if you get flung over then top its probably shit tyres or road surface, or too much throttle

Repeat eliminating a factor each time, until you know the route cause.

I suggest getting out health/life insurance before and investing in some decent leaths/helmet.

Also get a friend to film it
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[Howling TerrorOutOfOffice]

Apparently there is no such thing as 'nearly high-sided' (Hmmmm) I'd asked a question on here about how-to save a highside.

You had a rear slide and the tyre then regained traction either because you came off the gas and the bike sat up, enough for the fatter part of the tyre to grip. Or it was a poor surface..Or cold/hard tyres.
Not sure which tyres you're using, but 5mins isn't long at all to warm a street tyre through to the edges. Especially in November.

Ride well



Pat
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[27cows]

High siding takes a bit of practice to perfect. But with dedication you could be having spectacular crashes by next summer

[lonner]

sounds like a bit of diesel to me.

a little can cause the tyre to loose grip momentarily and bingo.

only tip i can suggest is when riding this time of year gentle throttle and a bit less speed is your best policy.

leave the big fist full of throttle well alone simples


not long till its warm again

[G]

Tyres will limit a lot of factors, meaning you have to ride a lot more sedately with less good ones.
Some are fine when warm but terrible when cold.

Going back to the basics, your tyre lost traction, but not enough to slide out or grip violently when it came back into line.
If you were getting on the power, then this was no doubt the reason it lost grip for your situation at that point. It maybe that given a warmer tyre or a better road surface, it wouldn't have.
However, in the same situation on the same corner, I'd take it a bit easier next time .


Hanging off more, shifting bodyweight back can help a bit.

As you didn't come off, it seems that your reactions weren't too bad.
What you should not do is snap the throttle off, this is likely to cause the bike to actually throw you off, as it can make the rear tyre grip at a different road speed to the bike.
Keeping the throttle at a fairly neutral position is generally worthwhile. Obviously don't keep it fully open if you're on full-bore acceleration, but neutral to a slight acceleration is generally most likely to save you.

[robbieguy2003]

I'd agree with what G said.

I've had a few little bounces on the back with it skipping on corners but nothing like that.

Iron balls for trying stuff like that in this weather though, and well saved by the sounds of it

I'd say hanging off before corner entry can help as well, then just counter-steer to the required lean letting the weight balance the corner.

I do hangoff a bit in the summer but I do it a lot more in the winter to keep the bike more upright and keep the balance right.
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Current Bikes: Honda CBR 600RR - '07, Suzuki GSX1250 FA ST '11
Old Bikes: Suzuki Intruder 125 LC - '2001, Honda CBR 600F - '92, Honda CBR 600RR - '03

[dodger]

Thanks for the replies everyone,

I've been riding through winter for around 6 years now and never had a moment quite like that one, that's why it was playing on mind why it had happened.

[craigs23]

Could it have been something on your tyre...or on the road?

I get slides, shimmies, etc a lot, especially when conditions are worse.

One thing shook me a little the other week - tight left hander off a roundabout coming into the the top of my village. Didn't nearly have me off.. but for the next half mile home, was a similar feeling as a puncture - a sudden twitch/slide which was pretty unnerving.

I checked the tyre over when I got home and couldn't find anything untoward - but riding to work the next day revealed the culprit - the council had just layed a 'red marking patch' at the same junction, which I hadn't seen in the darkness the night before - turned out I had slipped on the gravelly excess granules swept aside by cars.

Not saying that it was that - but such an incident could quite easily be something similar that would loose traction. I sometimes find it more beneficial in terms of confidence to just chalk them down as 'twitches' rather than dwell on every single near miss I encounter, however big or small they may be.

Unless of course, you've got a puncture or something...

[Skudd]

I was riding behind a matenwhose back end moved about 1/2" while going around a bend. When we parked up he thought it had stepped out at least 2 feet. Had the same myself too.
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[G]

Yea, stuff in the road is a definite possibility to start a slide off if you're pretty near the limits anyway.

As Skudd suggests, I've found generally things that have felt really scary/impressive, from another perspective are quite pedestrian. However to counterpoint that, one time on track with Korn behind me (I was on an R6, him on an R1, so I was 'trying' ) he told me I had been laying big darkies coming out of corners, which apparently looked quite cool . I had been completely unaware - I had slicks near the end of their life and the sliding was so 'progressive' that I hadn't realised it was gently spinning up!

[dodger]

Went to have a look earlier and there was a longish trail of oil along the road. A joining road is getting re-surfaced so I'm guessing that one of the vans the workies are using has sh*t along it, judging by the mess they've left further up.

So probably a case of poor obs in not noticing the oil/diesel, coupled with just 'one of those things'.

At least it's put my mind at ease as I hate not knowing why something has happened...

edit: Fair comment on the perception of a 'huge' movement but trust me this was MotoGP-esque out of the saddle
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My Bikes: Piaggio NRG| Aprilia RS 125| Suzuki GSX-R 600|Yamaha Fazer Ducati 848
Europe 2008

[Pete.]