The correct thing to do? / not my day....

[benandthe]

So... 2 things:
Firstly:

I was leaving my local tesco store earlier and it was a bit wet on the road.
I pulled away from the junction, took a left onto the main road and my rear end slipped out, at the same time my bike hit the powerband and suddenly the rear wheel span, causing me to slide out a bit more and then I regained grip.

The question I'm asking is: Should I have let go of the throttle or kept it open and hoped for the best? What would you do?

Here is where I was, coming from the left, although there is now a set of traffic lights there but the junction is still the same:
click for a map

2nd item:
Has anyone ever owned a mk1 Cagiva Mito? I've gone through £60 worth of fuel in 7 days... And I'm riding normally, on my old CBR in a week I look at a maximum of about £30 and that includes pissing about on it...
I've checked everything related to the fuel and carb and mixture and there's no problems, leaks or excess usage/flooding.
Any ideas why she is drinking so much or is this normal?

Cheers people!

[c_dug]

Question 1 there are way too many variables to give a straight answer, but a good set of tyres makes a huge amount of difference compared to budget crap. This time of year roads aren't just wet they are covered in grease and salt and grit and about a million other nasty things conspiring to ensure you spend as little time as possible feeling confident in how much grip you have, or at least that's how it feels sometimes

On my rental bandit I had a big back end slide while overtaking somebody like a nob head exiting a corner while it was pissing it down with rain. Bit hard to say as it all happens so quick but I think I just kept on the power and the tyre gained grip again, certainly pure luck and no skill though. If you are high in the revs when the tyre begins to slip, there is only so much faster the wheel can go before hitting the limiter which I think is what saved me then.



On the fuel thing, how many miles are you doing? I think I get about 130 miles from 13 litres of fuel on my CBR600, obviously it depends on fuel prices but it costs me appx £15 to fill up I think.



You can't swap a cbr for a mito against pretty much everybody's advice and then complain about fuel usage anyway, you were warned, both bikes were designed for completely different things!
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[Relentless]

I presume think if you ease of the trottle the back end will try to gain some grip, at the same time as straighting up by turning the opposite end of the way your sliding ... for the front .. or into the same way with backend out ..

Your mito is 2 stroke full powered ... so that fuel usage may be normal ..

Last time, use 125 forum, my bike is a naked mito .. and besides percific help i get there, i also read posts and learn more about my bike ... as someone else said .. mito forum is better than the others, although i've only used the mito forum ..
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miketovey wrote: I am not a teenage emo with "girl problems", just a 29 year old loser.
The Shaggy D.A. wrote: Ignore him, it's just a man/child/troll hybrid.

[colin1]

[benandthe]

I was at fairly high revs anyway, so soon hit the limiter. I made it through, but was just asking to see what sort of tips people have if things like this happen again.

And I'm not complaining about the fuel usage, just seeing it is usual for a mito. I'm filling up about £15 a time and it lasts about 2 days or less. According to my odometer I'm getting roughly 180k to a tank, so that's roughly what, 100 miles a tank? :s

[Teflon-Mike]

[benandthe]

I didn't deliberately max her out, I was pulling out of the junction (the google maps image is out of date but that was as a reference) I was pulling away and for some unknown reason she is really slow pulling away,but once she gets to about 5mph she really picks up fast, can't full throttle from a stand still, I have to ride her off the clutch at a start.

I was going to change gear just after the corner but the slide took me by surprise and I just concentrated on keeping her upright and then once I regained grip I changed gear.


A similar thing happened a few hours ago on the way back from work, coming along the A27, turning into a petrol station and rode over some black ice/ oil/ something slippery, both wheels gave way, crapped myself but managed to keep her upright by putting my left foot down and pushing her up as I was moving sideways.
So glad I didn't drop my bike!

[Teflon-Mike]

So, you were at fairly high revs anyway....... but only doing 5mph.... and it wont carburate cleanly till there, you have to feather the clutch, and it pulls hard, from 5mph..... where it hits the rev-limiter soon after.......

You know....... actually no, you dont......... forget it

But, be easier to take you a little more sensibly if you could at least stick to a consistent and plausible story!

+ Ed:
sorry, just realised.... like your 'should I swap' thread, this isn't a reequest for useful advice, you just want us to go "Oooh! Ben your such a riding god! Holding that slide, like a GP-Hero, we'd have all fallen off, and wondered what happened!"
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[Relentless]

I'm not sure about 125 4T ... but when i got my ' Mito ' ... i struggled for a while pulling off .... more revs but with good clutch control needed ....

And he's a young guy with a little red mean machine ... which i would of died for at his age, i do feel he's heading for trouble though ... had i had that bike at his age .. it would of .....
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miketovey wrote: I am not a teenage emo with "girl problems", just a 29 year old loser.
The Shaggy D.A. wrote: Ignore him, it's just a man/child/troll hybrid.

[Teflon-Mike]

[benandthe]

I was being serious, I just explained what happened and what I did.

Thanks for the advice/ tips everyone.

[lihp]

You should be rolling on the throttle through turns to keep the bike balanced, and a consistent speed, as road speed drops as you lean.

Chopping the throttle chances a highside, which can hurt at any speed, also chopping the throttle is very similar to nailing your front brake, and reducing the speed of the wheel also reduces the gyro effect that keeps you up anyway.

Ideally if you're rolling on all the way through the bend, when the back end slips just simply stop rolling on and hold the throttle where it is, unlike a car, a bike will correct itself in a slide and requires no rider input, to "balance" a slide with steering.

Eventually by holding the throttle the bike will automatically counter the slide and correct it keeping you up, and the rear wheel will gradually come back fairly nicely. Remember that the only time a bike falls over is when the rider (or a cage) makes it fall over. Do what you can to keep the bike balanced on either wheel and it will keep you up.



Edit:
Remember, if the bike falls it's your fault, if the bike stays up, you didn't keep it up, you merely didn't upset the bike enough for it to do otherwise, they will go straight and upright so long as they're moving

[colin1]

Also at low speeds, ie up to 30mph ish, if it feels like the bike is going down, you can stamp with your foot on the ground to quickly stand the bike up before it goes down.
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colin1 is officially faster than god

[pits]

This thread sums up why you should have kept the CBR.


HTH

[HD]

Just hold the throttle at half til your in a straight line or just short shift into 2nd.

Thats what I do... Simples
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Rusty '02 Vito Camper + CBR600F3

[G]

Double the cost in fuel of a commuter 125 sounds about right for a mito.

General advice for a slide is to let off slightly or keep it on..
If you pull the clutch it, it can grip and make it much more likely to highside.
In some cases, just keeping the power on is fine as it can "self correct".

[benandthe]

[kingsknight]

[benandthe]

[Relentless]

Too much cost there imo ... although i doubt you calculations ... what carb and jets is it running, as bigger will drink loads ... as for other causes of too much fuel for little mileage, well i'll leave that for someone else who knows more ..
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miketovey wrote: I am not a teenage emo with "girl problems", just a 29 year old loser.
The Shaggy D.A. wrote: Ignore him, it's just a man/child/troll hybrid.

[stirlinggaz]

i get around 25-38mpg (at most), depending on how im riding on my mk2 mitos ( im presuming yours doesnt have USD forks, as you say its a MK1, thats about the only difference.)
coming from a 4t 125 to a mito, beleive it or not is a big change, you have to learn to rev the bike quite high, (once warmed up), slip the clutch, make most of powerband (pv kicking in) & make the most of that 7 speed gearbox, etc
learning curve, i think they call it, lol
cheers,
GAZ

[chris-red]

You have a petrol leak. That is well under 20mpg even GP bikes get more than that.
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[Relentless]

Yes, good idea, check the bottom of the tank all the way to the carb for leak / split hoses, also check the carb float bolt is not loose attal ... .. .. think it's called float bolt, it's the large bolt at the very bottim of the carb, which you use to drain the carb and gain access ...
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miketovey wrote: I am not a teenage emo with "girl problems", just a 29 year old loser.
The Shaggy D.A. wrote: Ignore him, it's just a man/child/troll hybrid.

[benandthe]

I'm not sure on mpg yet, gotta do go through a few more tanks from full to empty.
And it's a standard mk1 mito, so no to upside down forks.

I've noticed they are pretty much the same, but as you say I do have to keep the revs higher, but when I'm cruising it doesn't just sit at the current revs, it's like I'm closing the throttle and then opening it, if you know what I mean?
And yes I do make use of the gears and powerband, it's nice to feel a bit more power as she goes a bit faster.

And Chris, I've checked the fuel lines and as far as I can see/smell there is no leak, but I will check again when the snow clears up a bit, can't do anything at the moment.




I came back from Essex today with the gf in her car and span it on just before the m25, clicky