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schreibs posted:It rained all morning, we had our first session at 1:30pm just a half hour after it stopped raining. Needless to say it was a little slick. Jefferson is a little bit of an odd track because it used to be used by law enforcement/military and the track dried too quickly for them to simulate wet situations so they poured peanut oil all over it. That same peanut oil still plagues the track years later. Oh poo poo, that would explain it if true. It looks bone dry and good to go. Then you try leaning over and lose the front! The exit to 1 is also a bit nasty because it sucks you into a lot of lean and then there's a dip as you start to exit, so people either lowside or highside. Usually the former luckily. e: lesson is, go to Beaver Run or Pocono instead! 
Saga fucked around with this message at 16:23 on Aug 16, 2010 |
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Aug 16, 2010 16:21
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schreibs posted:Jefferson is a little bit of an odd track because it used to be used by law enforcement/military and the track dried too quickly for them to simulate wet situations so they poured peanut oil all over it.
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Aug 16, 2010 16:37
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Jabs posted:Does it smell good It's in West Virginia. 
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Aug 16, 2010 16:42
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Saga posted:It's in West Virginia. Then again, he also willingly bought a homebuilt plane that had the plane-equivalent of a petcock behind him over his left shoulder - and that's what the NTSB determined was the cause for his failed attempt at converting it to a submarine. I take John Denver's advice with a large hunk of salt.
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Aug 16, 2010 16:53
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Managed to avoid an embarrassing lowside today, going around this one strange corner that would have a perfect line, if it weren't for the three manhole covers that are basically smack in the middle of where you'd want the tires to go. Somehow, I forget they are there every time. Came in kinda hot (It's slightly looser then a 90 degree intersection, but not much), leaned it over, thought "Oh, this was dumb", and decked out the saddlebag HARD, and long. Felt the rear wheel skitter across the pavement, but I was basically through the corner by that point and stood it back up without issues. First thought in my head: "I wonder if the people who saw/heard that thought I was really bad-rear end and cool, or thought I was a jackass who almost crashed?"
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Aug 18, 2010 04:39
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Tsaven Nava posted:decked out the saddlebag HARD, and long. Felt the rear wheel skitter across the pavement, but I was basically through the corner by that point and stood it back up without issues. Ouch. Two cans of bedliner spray to go, please. Glad you pulled out of it--now those covers are officially in the memory banks for good Reminds me of a week or so ago on our divided four-lane campus perimeter road. Left lane, fully leaned over in a right turn*, car next to me, and I line up directly with road kill that was way fresher than it looked. Gut-wrenching front wobble that I wish I could deconstruct for the benefit of future generations. All I can say is: no matter how matted and decayed that poor bastard looks, assume it's a pile of goo that will send you straight into the cheap seats. *Gen 1 Nighthawk 750, so no knee-dragging illusions here...
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Aug 18, 2010 05:44
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Marv Hushman posted:Gut-wrenching front wobble that I wish I could deconstruct for the benefit of future generations. All I can say is: no matter how matted and decayed that poor bastard looks, assume it's a pile of goo that will send you straight into the cheap seats. That's yucky. I fastidiously avoid roadkill. If I were to crash into/on roadkill, I would probably have to set myself on fire.
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Aug 18, 2010 06:16
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Few days ago I had to stop by work on a Saturday so I took the Suzuki and my daughter along for her first ride outside our neighborhood. We're on the highway three lanes going each direction and some jackass about two cars up in the far right lane abruptly decides to make a left turn, yes a left turn. Horns blare, cars and pickups begin swerving chaotically trying to avoid the jackass and one another but the jackass can't complete his turn because there is too much traffic going in the other direction so he stops in my lane (the far left one). I grab clutch, front brake and my foot mashes down on the rear brake but the backend still comes around, a car from behind narrowly misses us, but I keep the bike up and stop literally inches from the jackass's car. He or she takes off like a jackrabbit and I am tempted to follow but don't want to put my daughter in more danger. So I take off and some guy in a pickup gives me a fist pump, several people bleat their horns and one woman roles down her window to ask if we are okay. My daughter reacted exactly the way she should have, she didn't do anything at all. We pull into a nearby Kroger parking lot and she said it happened so fast she didn't have time to be scared. She's a born rider.
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Aug 18, 2010 08:57
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Was riding in a large group ride (70-150 bikes) and I was with the front 10 people being the most hooligan, such as syphoning between cars at high speed, accelerating and braking hard, etc. I tried to pass a car over the double yellow (30-45 mph), but I chose the worst spot to do it and ended up hitting these bumps that are made to stop drivers from hitting the center divider I guess, although there was none to be seen. My wheel was turning to the extreme in both directions and I was being bounced up in the air. 4 people behind me said it looked like I was a cowboy riding a bull. To top it off there was a stop sign ahead and people were slowing down, so while doing all this I had to somehow slowdown and stop.  Luckily it all worked out and the bike stayed upright and I made it out fine, the rider in front of me running the stop sign and not fully stopping helped a lot. At the next red light someone drove up next to me and said "DUDE! YOU ALMOST ATE poo poo BACK THERE! HOLY COW!!" The whole thing is funny to me though, like something you'd see in a comedy. Edit: I was riding an 08' CBR1000 with stiff track suspension setup. Charles 1998 fucked around with this message at 17:37 on Aug 28, 2010 |
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Aug 28, 2010 17:34
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Jack the Smack posted:I tried to pass a car over the double yellow (30-45 mph), but I chose the worst spot to do it and ended up hitting these bumps that are made to stop drivers from hitting the center divider I guess, You're the worst kind of idiot.
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Aug 28, 2010 19:24
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That's the sort of thing you'd do for fun on a supermoto
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Aug 28, 2010 19:50
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Spiffness posted:That's the sort of thing you'd do for fun on a supermoto Imagine if he actually bought a supermoto, unparalleled hoonery 
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Aug 28, 2010 20:30
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Took a ride around the city the other day literally 1 week after taking my MSF with very little experience and had one of those retrospectively pants-making GBS threads moments. Coming down a hill doing around 70 kph, I notice a green light ahead thats just changed to amber. 1st mistake: I could, and should, have run it because I would have easily made the red. Instead, I decided to be a RESPONSABLE AND COURTEOUS SHARER OF THE ROAD and stop. Riding a KLX250SF I have become used to a really good rear brake and with hindsight rely on it far too much; I lock the rear immediately even before I have time to apply front, stop thinking and go into tunnel vision mode. Release rear brake, reapply then grab a handful of front. Now I pull a mean stoppie that prob got me at least 6" of rear elevation before coming to rest 3' into the intersection with a good 15' skid behind me and slightly cocked to the left. Immediately afterwards I really didn't feel that scared, and it was only when my riding partner came up and scolded me and I was lying in bed later that night that I realised just how bad of a mistake it was. Not shockey, just completely unawares of the gravity of the mistake I had made and just how poorly it could have gone had the intersection not been clear. I have so much to learn and so many things to remember and I honestly wonder sometimes how I am ever going to remember everything  EDIT: I should add, however, that I was not totally hopeless. I did immediately clutch in, throttle off completely and tap down to 1st. So there's some silver lining, I suppose.... Ghostpilots fucked around with this message at 22:35 on Aug 28, 2010 |
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Aug 28, 2010 22:06
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This might/might not apply to you, but my accident occurred on the first time I was riding with a friend of mine while I was still quite inexperienced. After that I realised I should have continued riding by myself until I was completely comfortable with it and knew what I could and couldn't do (aka get away with) while riding. Personally I think I would have been more careful without my friend riding behind me and would have learned more by myself at first had I continued riding alone instead of saying 'wow, a sunny day in Scotland let's take advantage of it and ride together' and punting my bike into a wall at 60...
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Aug 28, 2010 22:54
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Ghostpilots posted:Riding a KLX250SF (250cc Supermoto)...I decided to be a RESPONSIBLE AND COURTEOUS SHARER OF THE ROAD and stop. Ghostpilots posted:Now I pull a mean stoppie that probably got me at least 6" of rear elevation...Immediately afterwards I really didn't feel that scared... quote:...and it was only when my riding partner came up and scolded me 
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Aug 30, 2010 17:40
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Ghostpilots posted:Took a ride around the city the other day literally 1 week after taking my MSF with very little experience and had one of those retrospectively pants-making GBS threads moments. Honestly, I'd say that you handled it pretty well. You overbraked, but you immediately corrected with the right actions, and while you ran into the intersection, you didn't blow it off as an "oh whatever" thing. Go practice braking some more so you train yourself to be more reliant on the front brake in a panic situation. All in all, this was a good lesson, IMO. You discovered a problem, analyzed it, and didn't crash in the process.
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Aug 30, 2010 17:57
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Not sure how I'm not posting this from a hospital bed but I'm pretty happy about it. Riding on the inside lane of a 4 lane road with a minivan on my right. I'm far enough behind them that I'm not in their blind spot. Maybe 10 feet behind and we're both travelling about 40 MPH. Speed limit was 35. I should have known something was up because I saw the van hit their brakes momentarily like they were going to turn. I just assumed they were turning right. I don't know if the driver missed his initial turn or what but he hit the brakes and then hit the gas WOT for just a minute like he was pissed...then he slammed on his brakes and turned left right in front of me across my lane. I grab a handful of brake and smash down on the rear. Rear tire locks up and the rear starts to slide out to the right a bit. I had the presence of mind to realize I had locked it and think "I need to let off a bit to straighten it out." However, at that moment I look up to see that the van is no more than 2 or 3 feet in front of me and I'm going to hit it. I squeeze the front as hard as I can and smash the rear as hard as I can. Both wheels lock and I screech to a halt literally 2 inches from the side of the van. I didn't even have time to be scared. I was just instantly loving pissed. I hammer fist the side of the van and it takes off since the opposing lanes were now clear. Thought about chasing him down but stopped myself. I don't know how I didn't either low side it or smash into the van. Just dumb luck. I could have been paying better attention and I might have had a better reaction time.
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Sep 8, 2010 03:37
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It also sounds like you need to practice your emergency braking
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Sep 8, 2010 03:52
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Spiffness posted:It also sounds like you need to practice your emergency braking Possibly. I obviously got on the rear too much to start but didn't really have a choice after that. Probably should consider upgrading brakes to at least a dual disc up front as well since the stock brakes are poo poo.
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Sep 8, 2010 03:57
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Had my first track day on monday and on the second lap going all gung ho with the instructor following me completely messed up my line (for turns 13 and 14 at TWS if anyone is familiar) and there was no way I was going to rescue turn 14 (better rider could have but Im not that confident yet) so I made the snap decision to do some agricultural work with my v-twin tractor.. I also stepped the rear out once under throttle (I think it was Z3ns throttle/lean angle rule there) and had the bike slide a couple times on sealant (no big deal after the first time) and then on a puddle (scary). Oh and I went into the grass off of turn 10 before I figured out how to crank the bike over for turns. I am really glad I did all these things on the track and not the road.
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Sep 8, 2010 04:22
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On the way to school on my XR650 I noticed my pant leg was stuck inside the frame somehow. I could still shift, so when I came to a complete stop I just had to kick hard and break free. Tore up my pants and gashed the poo poo out of my ankle from the spiky IMS Pegs. It was also on a hill, I wish there was a way I could have picked my pants out of where it was stuck, but it was really stuck on tight.
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Sep 9, 2010 01:03
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The other day, I pulled onto a frontage road to fill up. I approached a fairly busy 3-way intersection, going straight. I don't know how fast (no speedo) but it was a moderate pace, probably 35-40 as I was keeping up with traffic, and the station was just on the other side of the intersection. There is a line of cars opposite me turning left, one truck turns in front of me fairly, then I see this lady in a white Kia behind him. I remember immediately thinking "This dumb person is really going to pull out in front of me" and of course she does. I stood on the brakes, braked harder than I even thought possible on this bike, then she sees me and (of course) stops in the middle of the intersection. I get right up to her, let off the brakes and do a real fast 1-2 swerve around her car, and continue on my merry way. I was close enough I think I could have reached out and slapped her. I really do wonder if that fraction of a second where I thought "she just might pull in front of me" was enough preparation to do the trick. Either way it feels good thinking all that risk assessment, braking & swerving practice just saved my skin. I hope I never have to do it again (except it happens six times a week doesn't it.)Scrapez posted:Rear tire locks up and the rear starts to slide out to the right a bit. I had the presence of mind to realize I had locked it and think "I need to let off a bit to straighten it out." Ghostpilots posted:I lock the rear immediately[...]. Release rear brake, reapply then grab a handful of front. OK I gotta ask about this - when I took the MSF some 5 years ago they told me to never ever release the rear if it locks because it could easily send you into a high-side. Is that true? I've only locked my rear brake a handful of times in emergencies, but countless times on purpose. So I'm certainly no expert. But it seems like it would only throw you if the back end really got away from you. Whenever I've done it on purpose it's been a non-issue, but that's probably because I was maintaining control the whole time. So now I'm not so sure. Synonamess Botch fucked around with this message at 19:42 on Sep 10, 2010 |
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Sep 10, 2010 19:35
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Synonamess Botch posted:OK I gotta ask about this - when I took the MSF some 5 years ago they told me to never ever release the rear if it locks because it could easily send you into a high-side. Is that true? I've only locked my rear brake a handful of times in emergencies, but countless times on purpose. So I'm certainly no expert. But it seems like it would only throw you if the back end really got away from you. Whenever I've done it on purpose it's been a non-issue, but that's probably because I was maintaining control the whole time. So now I'm not so sure. It is probably taught that way at the MSF because for new riders and people unfamiliar with bike/tire/road conditions, keeping the tire locked is safer. If you sliding the rear and it suddenly grips, your bike will lurch to the outside of the turn (the direction you are sliding). If you are sliding quickly, it will result probably result in a high-side. If you are going fairly straight, it shouldn't be a problem. People with a greater innate understanding of their ride and road could probably get away with ignoring that bit of MSF training, but would have to compensate with advanced techniques.
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Sep 11, 2010 01:30
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If you do lock the rear, the more out of line it is the more you'll need to steer into the slide and slowly let off the brake to get it back into line smoothly. If you're still pretty close to inline, you can let off it very quickly and not have to worry about highsiding. MSF teaches to keep it locked because in MSF you're never in a situation where you can't keep it locked until you come to a complete stop. That's not true on the road. I'd practice locking the rear brake at lowish speeds and working your way up. Or ride some dirt, it's great practice for dealing with the rear brake locking up or getting out of line. Practicing locking and unlocking the rear brake will help ingrain the correct reactions when you end up in a panic situation.
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Sep 11, 2010 01:44
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I was on my way to a waterfall, riding up a windy valley road. I rounded this blind corner to find a car coming at me, hogging my side of the road. They were right next to the dirt covered shoulder adjacent to the abyssal drainage ditch that drops a good 30cm. I was able to skirt by the car, going over plants and who knows what. I really despise Japan's open-pit gaijin-traps on the side of many rural roads. Said road and gaijin-trap, car placement not accurate to encounter: 
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Sep 11, 2010 09:03
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Two days ago I was on my way to visit a friend on the DR650. It was pouring rain out, and I was pulling off the highway into town to fill up. Cue downshfiting one too many times, letting the clutch out slowly and immedietly going almost completley sideways. Oh poo poo. Pulled the clutch in, and the bike straightened out. Didn't high side, didn't lowside, but yelled OH CRAP in my helmet and got it back under control. Definitely scared me and learned a lesson. Don't back it in in the wet on knobbies!
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Sep 25, 2010 21:46
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I just had the scariest ride on my bike since I started riding back in April 2009. It rained hard and long today, but I didn't know that because I was stuck in the back of the store I work. Because I live in the desert where flora doesn't soak up the water, bunch of runoff water creates mini rivers called washes. I crossed many washes where it could have swept my bike off its tires. My visibility was poor because there was enough moisture that cars in front of me was kicking up on my visor. That and it was night time. Even made it to one wash where cars wouldn't even cross. The only way I could see properly was to put my visor up. BIG MISTAKE. It wasn't raining, but crossing a wash at the same time as an oncoming car blinded me for a good long 5 seconds when I was trying to cross a long wash. I got my feet soaked from crossing like 5 washes I shouldn't have crossed. Oh, I also had to cross some construction zones where they completely hosed up the road. Pot holes, dips, and lots of rocks and pebbles filled these roads. Thankfully I made it home safe. I should just have stayed at my place of employment for another 2 hours at least. EDIT: "its" ijii fucked around with this message at 03:10 on Oct 18, 2010 |
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Oct 6, 2010 04:53
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Crossposted from the Pictures and Videos thread. Is this you?Gullous posted:Poor vstrom
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Oct 6, 2010 05:42
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ijii posted:I just had the scariest ride on my bike since I started riding back in April 2009.
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Oct 6, 2010 08:16
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Had my first real moment the other day after about 4 months of riding. Was traveling along and came up to a three way intersection. Guy turning left rolled through a stop sign right out in front of me. Had a split second to react and barely got stopped inches from his car. It's a pretty dangerous intersection now that I think about it, the intersection's right after a long sweeping turn and pretty much blind until you're on it. Glad there wasn't an accident but was definitely rattled the rest of the ride home.
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Oct 6, 2010 14:19
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BlackMK4 posted:Another Arizona goon? We've had heavy storms the past few days here and it ended up being the first real rain riding I've done on the zx6r. I found out quickly that heavy throttle will break traction in first gear easily... which is fine, until you start loving with it to try and feel the bike out 'in a controlled situation' and almost highside yourself to the moon like a dipshit. You even live in Phoenix where you have a proper drain system and not this abomination that we do in Tucson. For content, I almost died after accidentally wheelieing over a hill tonight.
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Oct 9, 2010 10:43
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Was riding up in the mountains this afternoon scrubbing in a new set of tires. Came out of a blind corner doing about 80-90 and shortly thereafter was greeted by a SUV crawling by at loving 20 miles per hour (the road was straight for the next 1/2 mile). It took a second for me to register just how slow he was going so I was VERY fast approaching the rear end end of this tank. I was prepared to cut the DY and go around him on the left (there was oncoming traffic but I could have squeezed by) but fortunately supersport brakes are a-loving-mazing so I did slow down in time. Slowly starting to move away from street riding..even though I can't afford it. Blah. Stay safe kids. Always practice your emergency braking. I would have been hosed if I had panic braked.
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Oct 10, 2010 03:37
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This is also why it's a good idea to never out ride your sight lines.
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Oct 10, 2010 05:05
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Z3n posted:This is also why it's a good idea to never out ride your sight lines. This is also why I stick to roads that are twisty enough that 40-50mph is a really quick pace and ~40mph is fun enough.
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Oct 10, 2010 05:14
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Yeah, I prefer to ride roads that are tight enough so that you feel like you're doing mach 1 around corners - only to glance at the speedo and see 42mph. Also I ride a 1982 ujm so I like to ride within not only my limits but those of my bike as well (that rear drum brake likes to fade real hard)
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Oct 10, 2010 18:54
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Got distracted by an attractive lady in a car next to me today. Was looking at her after the light went green, completely forgot about the cars in front of me and looked back after a few seconds only to see a line of stopped cars about 20 feet away. Squeezed both brakes, started skidding and slid into the opposite lane. Went home after that; my mind was not in the right place today. I think it's about time I put the bike away. Cold weather turns me into a really sloppy rider.
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Oct 10, 2010 20:33
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BlackMK4 posted:This is also why I stick to roads that are twisty enough that 40-50mph is a really quick pace and ~40mph is fun enough. You suck for having roads that 40mph is fun enough
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Oct 10, 2010 21:29
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kylej posted:Went home after that; my mind was not in the right place today. I think it's about time I put the bike away. Cold weather turns me into a really sloppy rider. Much respect to you for realizing you weren't in the right mindset to be riding and then actually doing something about it.
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Oct 11, 2010 13:13
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Today I was feeling tired while I was on my way back home , while I was passing a car on the fast lane , I went a bit too close to the middle lane ,with a huge truck on it. I keep imagining what would happen if I were to accidentally clip the truck and then being run over.
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Oct 11, 2010 19:48
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Yesterday, Tsaven Nava and I were riding from Milwaukee to Chicago together. About halfway, we stopped for gas and swapped bikes. Mine is a streetfightered Ninja 250, his is a wee-strom (I'd post a picture, but I'm gooning at work). Which I'd never ridden before. I'd actually never ridden anything aside from my ninja. Surprisingly, this is not the cause of my almost-crash, despite being terrified I'd accelerate right into the gas station. So we get back on the freeway. I end up behind a pick-up truck with crap in the back. I'd been behind him for awhile, and nothing was shifting or moving around. When all of a sudden, a giant black garbage bag flies out of the back of the truck, and plasters itself to my windshield and front fairing. The fuckhead in the truck never even noticed (although he also hadn't noticed his turn signal had been on for a couple miles). Luckily, the bag wrapped itself around the windshield and didn't budge, and I'm tall enough to see over the windshield, so I had no problem finding a good place to pull over and grab it. I am SO. GLAD. I was on Tsaven's bike. My bike doesn't have a windshield, front fairing, or hand guards, and the bag would have smacked right into my head and/or hands on a moderately busy freeway and I'd probably have crashed. modify_evolution fucked around with this message at 02:35 on Oct 12, 2010 |
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Oct 12, 2010 02:24
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