Came off

[SamWise72]

Had my first off today. Deeply frustrating, as NOTHING happened to precipitate it. Approaching the same roundabout where I had my double navigational fail, but this time from the other side; idling up towards it in 2nd, car in front goes, I think I'm going to be able to go too, but then the next car puts on his indicator to come round. A little gentle front brake, and I find myself on the deck. The cars behind wait patiently for me to pick it up, and then drive off, not even a window down to ask if I'm ok. I stick the bike on the central island while I collect myself, and go back to have a look at the road; no visible sign of anything slippery.

Screen on the bike is mullered, gear lever also bent, but still shiftable. I have a slightly tender thigh and shoulder, but I'm ok, and the rain is getting worse, so after checking for any worse damage, I try to ride on. Manage to get onto and off the roundabout ok, but as soon as I try to open it up in a straight line, the engine coughs and splutters like the choke is wide open. I'm going so slowly that I end up getting off and pushing it; by the time I get half a mile up the dual carriageway to a car park, it's bucketing down. I call the RAC "Sorry sir, you're not covered for accidents, it'll be a £95 callout charge plus £2 per mile for recovery". WTF? I seriously need a better breakdown service; the RAC has gone to shit.

I google bike shops and find that Altamura in Camberley is only half a mile away, and set to pushing it there. About halfway a bike pulls over to check I'm ok. Turns out he works at Altamura, and after checking there's no help he can give, says he'll see me there. Can't say enough good things about the bike shop; they straightened my gear shifter, spent a good while buggering about with the choke to get it running properly again, and wouldn't take a penny for their work. Did the "Straight back on the horse" thing, but really didn't want to go to work, then ride it home in the dark after that, so it was an immediate 50 miles in the wet, during which I was very nervous of the front brake.

[thepuma]

Your name isn't Jeff is it?
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YBR125 (SOLD) - CBR250R(SOLD) - CBR650F(SOLD) Current - Street Triple
765 RS

[thepuma]

*duplicate post*
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YBR125 (SOLD) - CBR250R(SOLD) - CBR650F(SOLD) Current - Street Triple
765 RS

[SamWise72]

So, now I'm home and picking over what happened. What bothers me is I didn't do anything stupid; if that was too much brake, then riding in the wet is like ice-skating. I've come up with two possible culprits:

1) My tyres. The bike still has the cheap chinese tyres on there that came with it. I don't know the brand, but generally, the tyres that come on these bikes get a bad rap. I feel really confident chucking it about on bends and roundabouts in the dry, plenty of lean angle, no fear. In the wet, I feel nervous about it; I've always had the feeling that the front wanted to slip, but of course, being a n00b, I don't know if that's my body warning me about the tyres (many years of cycling means it recognises a lot of things), or just me being a chickenshit. So, maybe a set of Pilot Sportys, or something else with a good rep for wet weather grip is in order.

2) The road. As I said, I could see nothing on the road surface, but riding back, I remembered that actually I've had the front wheel slip there once before, the week before last, also in the rain. I ride a ton of roundabouts on my commute, never slipped at any other one, but done it twice there, which makes me suspect there's something up with the road surface.

[SamWise72]

[map]

Have to sympathise as I went down nearly 2 weeks ago now and still having pain from cracked ribs. Mine was a tad faster but still braking in a straight line with bike upright (up hill though).

Glad ok and bike fixed. Don't know what to suggest other than if moving off slowly like that use back brake more.

Maybe too hard on the front. In hindsight I too might have grabbed at the front rather than a progressive squeeze. Not 100% sure though as it's the sort of braking I've done many, many times without incident.
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...and the whirlwind is in the thorn trees, it's hard for thee to kick against the pricks...
Gibbs, what did Duckie look like when he was younger?

[SamWise72]

Yeah, probably a bit more back would be good, but I'm SURE that much brake shouldn't put me on the deck. I'm gonna get some better tyres, but genuinely, if that's par for the course (and I REALLY don't think it is), I'll have to be one of those summer riders.

[EazyDuz]

Your problem is chinky tyres, if you insist on riding a chinky bike, change the tyres and brakes if absolutely nothing else.
Glad you're ok
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To shreds you say? Tss tss tss

[SamWise72]

I'll be sorting the tyres before I do the trip again. Brakes seem to be fine; what should I be looking out for that would suggest problems?

[c_dug]

I wouldn't worry too much about the brake pads on a 125 IMO

The pads make a difference to how the brakes handle heat from constant use, how they bite on a wet disk, how quickly they and the disk wear out and how progressive they feel as you apply more pressure. Really though on a 125 I don't see you noticing much difference between cheap pads and expensive pads.

Definitely change the tyres though
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I am a bellend, I am a man of constant sorrow, I am a gummy bear, I am a rock.

[SamWise72]

I shall, and also take more care at that particular junction. Any recommendations for something with good wet grip (I'll be riding all winter) which also wears reasonably well?

[thepuma]

[SamWise72]

[bikertomm]

Jeff
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07' Honda Hornet now full powaah! My guide on performing an oil change!

[SamWise72]

[Rogerborg]

A sticky piston can cause the brakes to grab even if you apply smooth, progressive pressure. You squeeze and it doesn't move, it doesn't move... bang, it moves.

Or, there's a roundabout near me which has had so much crap spilled on it that it's slippery now even though there's no obvious surface contamination. Perhaps that's unpossible, but repeated wobbles on the bike and slithers in the car say otherwise. I've been on to the council, but can't say that I've seen any evidence that they've done anything about it.
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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

[yaigi]

[SamWise72]

A slip and a drop in the same place, with exactly the same riding behaviour I use everywhere else suggests to me that for some reason it's more slippery. Having done lots of consulting work for one of the big asphalt people, I know there's a HUGE range of different mixes that get put down in different places, by different companies, for different reasons, given the concern about my tyres, it might just be that this is one of the less grippy surfaces, and whilst it might be fine for most things, the combination of that with a tyre made mostly of Buckminster Fullerene might be a bad one. I've had the front end come unstuck a total of 5 times now, I think. First was on a wet manhole cover, second was on the approach to this roundabout, third was slowing for a layby on the A272 at 2 am in the pissing rain (that time I did grab; the signs were either missing or invisible in the conditions, I was busting for a piss, and when I saw the layby going by, I suspect the cold impaired my decision making a bit), in a wet emergency stop last week, and then this. Something is going on; might be my tyres, might be my riding. I think I'll try to address both.

The things I can do are twofold; make myself stickier with new tyres, and be twice as cautious at that roundabout. Falling off; I did not like it.

[barrkel]

Just to add: ABS would almost certainly have stopped you crashing. On my scooter with ABS, all of my wet crashes have been from losing traction on the rear with too much power.

Riding in the wet isn't like ice. If it was, then it would be predictably awful. It's like having random invisible frosty patches at infrequent intervals, but especially at junctions and roundabouts. It's the randomness that gets you. You can go weeks and months building up (false, IMHO) confidence and then get bitten out of nowhere.

I was out today and saw a number of riders go around corners with the inside leg down, almost like MX. Allegedly it can help save a front wheel slip, but that's in cornering, not braking.
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Bikes: S1000R, SH350; Exes: Vity 125, PS125, YBR125, ER6f, VFR800, Brutale 920, CB600F, SH300x4
Best road ever ridden: www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2MhNxUEYtQ

[SamWise72]

Yes, ABS would probably have helped, but not a likely addition on a 125. I plan a BMW K75 for my first big bike; don't know if any of those come with ABS.

[map]

[SamWise72]

Another reason why that's the right choice for me then Just booked it in for a new screen and a set of tyres (it was due a service too), so I'll be taking the car til next week, as they can't do it til Thurs.

[Islander]

Do remember in the wet to look ahead and judge road surface conditions (as well as all the other usual observations). Adjust speed accordingly and when you brake apply 50/50 front/rear releasing the front as you slow down towards a stop. Above all ride smoothly and relax. Decent tyres go a long way to increasing grip and confidence but they can't prevent slips on less than ideal surfaces.

In the past 2 months I've had to contend with a road covered with cow diarrhoea (farmers moving cattle from one field to another using the roads to do so), one covered in gearbox oil where a tractor or agri implement blew up, roads covered in grass from spilled silage, roads covered in barley grains where the idiots overfilled the trailer and failed to cover the load (that one was deadly!), roads with drainage aggregate (40mm stone chips) right on the apex of a blind bend and the last few days roads covered in mud clumps where tractors have deposited it from their tyres leaving wet fields.

Oh and the dreaded 'surface dressing' (10mm stone chips) although to be fair our Council do get the loose crap swept up after a couple of days...

Point is, looking and planning ahead and adjusting to conditions meant that all of these were easy to deal with.

Rural life eh? Wouldn't swap it for anything though and we are actually blessed with interesting roads in excellent condition really.

[SamWise72]

I couldn't really have been looking, or planning any further ahead in this case. I was next up to the roundabout, I was looking as far as I could see, and I really didn't feel like there was any cause for panic; I saw the car indicate, plenty of time to stop, braked gently (I thought) and hit the road. I do look a LONG way ahead on open road riding, and will for sure be even more cautious with the front, and proactive with the rear brake in a situation like that; I really think it was my tyres, but that doesn't mean I won't try to eradicate any errors from my own riding.

Islander, rural etc - is that IOW?

[Islander]