Fell on roundabout in first week

[Reef rider]

Hi All,

So I done my Cbt on a 50cc and then went and got a suzuki marauder 125cc, after a couple of hours of learning gears for the first time I was fine.
All week I had riddin the bike to and from work 15 miles each way, lots of bends, roundabouts and junctions.

However I went to town on Saturday and it was raining hard. I had not riddin in the rain before so I was extra carefull.
I approached a large roundabout with traffic lights and was on the inside Lane. I was going round. At 20mph at the back end just went, I low sided and got back on. I got it home and am now fixing the damage.

What could I have done to prevent this? I have been going over it and I did not brake at all, I was not leaning much, either, I didn't downshift. maybe up from 2 to 3Rd.

This has really scared me because although I am fine I am worried it will happen again.

Tires have plenty of thread... Would winter tires grip better??

Also when replacing bike parts, can you buy cheap eBay versions for example my carburettor is 344 pounds if buying via dealer, new aftermarket 50 pounds..

Any advice you can give would be appreciated

[bugeye_bob]

Could there have been diesel on the road or a wet grate / drain you hit ?

[CaNsA]

[Banana_B1]

[thx1138]

If it helps you feel better, I've followed an IAM instructor who binned it on a roundabout in the wet

[Teflon-Mike]

Well, two things you wont like, but the marauder has a rather weird rear wheel sizing, if memory serves; and a very limited choice of available rubber to fit it. ALL of which to my sense of sensibilities is MASSIVELY over sized for the weight and performance of the bike.

Lightweight 'cruiserettes' are notorious for this.

Basically, grip is a function of weight, pushing the tyre against the road, and the stikiness of the rubber. More rubber doesn't make more grip; you need more weight and or more stikiness.

Then, in the wet, to grip tarmac, the tyre tread has to 'squeegee' water out from between the rubber and the road; here a narrower tyre will tend to 'cut' into the surface water more easily, like a speed-boat rather than a barge; and having gut into the surface water, it doesn't have so far to move it away from the contact patch.

Fat tyres do NOT work well on light bikes.

So, likely there isn't much you can do to stop it happening again, other than get a different bike!

Improving your odds?

CONFIDENCE

Smoothness is key, minimising change, keeping forces low... not 'lean'.

A lot of newbies are scared to lean bikes; and even a lot of more experienced riders, especially in the wet.. but that's how bikes steer best.

Cruiser's dont 'like' to lean, due to the natural steering geometry, but they will still do it... but combine a reluctance to lean, due to being new, compound that with more due to wet, and more still due to the bikes nature, and in all liklihood what you got is a recipe for 'teetering'.... not confidently holding a bike to a given line, but whats called 50p-piecing it, taking a round-about in a sucession of straight lines and 'corrections' like a septagon.... heptagon?!? A seven-sided 'octagon'!!!!! or the shape of a 50p piece!

Anyhow, two factors; each corner of the septagon, is tighter than the one you would have to make to do it in one smooth curve, so creates a higher load, and each one creates two changes that create more 'load' and offer oportunity for instability.

But, first fail comes a long while before that IMO... you say you did your CBT on a twist and go 50... then got the marauder, and jumped straight into commuting on the thing.

CBT is only your first lesson; it does not teach you all you need to know, only the basics; and the DL196 cert for 'completing' teh course is exactly that, a certificate of completion, not a licence. The L-Plate is for Learner, so you can practice for tests; not so you can ride to and from work every day avoiding them.

IF you are safe and competent enough to ride to work every day, you are probably safe and competent enough to take the tests and get a full licence... they dont ask any more of you than to show you can ride competently and safely accross town, without breaking any laws, causing hazard or killing any-one.... So IF you don't think you could pass a test for a full licence... DONT COMMUTE!!! If you think you are safe and competent enough to commute.... prove it; take the tests; they only cost £121.50 at last count if you self book and take'em on your 125, and you get a full licence for the privilege and never have to pay-over to repeat CBT every two years.

Use L-Plate as intended then to PRACTICE, and do it on quieter roads at quieter times of day, and get your confidence up, and work on 'smooth'.

And or go get some more lessons; learn to do stuff right, right at the start, and learn from other folks mistakes.... sorry 'experience' rather than get it the hard way in the school of hard knocks, going it alone... which on a bike, usually means falling off.... as you have learned.

Paying for lessons is usually a lot cheaper than paying for new handlebars, mirrors and dented petrol tanks, at the end of the day, too!
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My Webby'Tef's-tQ, loads of stuff about my bikes, my Land-Rovers, and the stuff I do with them!
Current Bikes:'Honda VF1000F' ;'CB750F2N' ;'CB125TD ( 6 3 of em!)'; 'Montesa Cota 248'. Learner FAQ's:= 'U want to Ride a Motorbike! Where Do U start?'

[Matt B]

[kgm]

Happened to me early on also, pissing wet and very off-camber roundabout, riding calmly. It slipped, I caught it, then it slipped again and I went down. Never did figure out why although the tyres on it weren't the best and the camber didn't help. Never happened again after that. As Tef suggests don't be afraid of it in the wet. Riding reasonably normally (whilst making an effort to be smooth and obviously not flying about) will make the bike more stable than nervously teetering about.

[grr666]

Shouldered rear tyre can cause the back to snake unexpectedly in the wet. How are the tyres? And are they a dodgy
no name make?

https://www.cambriantyres.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Tyre.png
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Currently enjoying products from Ford, Mazda and Yamaha
Ste wrote: Avatars are fine, it's signatures that need turning off.

[Holdawayt]

From your description it sounds like you hit a patch of diesel. In future keep an eye out for a rainbow like pattern on the floor and you'll normally smell it too.

[Rogerborg]

And go as slow as you like. Sod everybody else, ignore cagers up your arse, they won't actually drive into you. Imagine you're a cyclist.
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Biking is 1/20th as dangerous as horse riding.
GONE: HN125-8, LF-250B, GPz 305, GPZ 500S, Burgman 400 // RIDING: F650GS (800 twin), Royal Enfield Bullet Electra 500 AVL, Ninja 250R because racebike

[Gosties]

I dropped my bike on the exit of a roundabout due to rider error October last year.

Flying through the air with the bike sliding down the road certainly gives you a new perspective.
I had to replace a mirror, front mudguard, headlight and an indicator.

I firstly put it down to diesel or ice causing slippage.
I now believe it was more likely to have been due to accelerating too early before bike was fully upright due too turning off roundabout.
I try to never change gear on roundabouts although ones with traffic lights make it impossible.
Change Down before entering and Change Up only after clearing roundabout and the motorcycle is fully upright.

As long as it's only your pride that's hurt it's no big deal.
Parts and equipment can be easily replaced.
I'm now more cautious and have not had a drop on the bike since.

Dropping the bike is a hazard that nearly all motorcyclists have done from time to time.
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Riding Honda CB 125 F | Previously Lexmoto Street 125|

On the little bike who tries !!!!

[carpe_diem]

[Rogerborg]

[carpe_diem]

I am my own man in my own socks. No puppetry here, Sir.
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Currently riding: Suzuki EN125 | Previous rides: Vespa 125PX, Yamaha SR125

[zMastaa]

[talkToTheHat]

Metzler make tyres to fit the marauder that are ok, I had them on my first one. My second had no-name rubber on it and they were actually better in the wet though. It's a bit hit and miss.

However, there is a strong chance you are on original or very old rubber on the bike. Tyres degrade with age, the meztzlers I had were 2002 originals and that was in 2011. I was considering replacing. Then I binned it.

If you've got old, cracked, or 50p shaped tyres (like the one pictured above) consider replacing.

It's not so much the tread (as long as you have some) as the compound that makes a tire work well in the wet. A knobbly tyre trying to give a dirtbike look may well have a harder compound to compensate for less contact patch and be utterly shit in the wet. I recall the DT I had being hairy on wet tarmac, but that lived in a muddy field. Winter tyres as such don't really exist for bikes. Sport touring tyres like the Michelin Pilot Road series, Pirelli Angel GT and Mezler Roadtec Z8 are where it's at on big bikes with sensible wheel sizes. One of the drawbacks of a cruiser, particularly a small capacity one, is an awful selection of tyres.

You may have hit diesel, manhole, or something else slippery. If your shifting is slow and makes you kangaroo a bit, that can be enough to upset things if already marginal.

Check you don't have chain-lube on your wheel, or splatter from the airbox drain (should be plugged and occasionally drained. If you get condensation in the engine, it causes some oil to be burped into the airbox when it boils off. The GZ/GN engine does this more than most.

Beware messing with carbs, especially cheap ones. There be dragons.

Get a cheap helmet/handlebar cam. Use it. Review footage of those WTF moments.
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Bandit. does. everything.