Triumphrat

9990

On the way to work, not even 5 minutes out the door, on my Speedmaster. Cold tires, cold pavement. First full-lean left turn out of a stop-light, scraped a peg then all of a sudden the rear tire broke free and we were slidin'... Slid a good 50 feet, too. I'm fine. Full gear, nothing hurt but my pride. The bike, we'll see... bent shift lever, bent clutch lever, scraped left exhaust. And the top triple-tree is off. Don't know if it's just twisted or if it's bent. I hope it just twisted. The whole thing happened at 15 mph, tops.

Lots of very helpful people stopped. I must have had 4 separate people ask if I was ok, and three guys came over and helped lift the bike. I can lift it, but I was still taking stock in the middle of the road when they were there and ready to lift.

So... other than feeling like an idiot... my question to you all is: how do you warm up your tires to prevent this kind of thing happening? I'm a new rider, and given the wealth of experience on this forum, I thought you all might have some helpful suggestions. I'm looking for responses other than "you live too far north", or "don't ride when it's 37 degrees out"...

PopPop

Damn, sorry to hear about your slide and glad you're OK. At best, it's an expensive event. I don't have a wealth of experience to share but my own intuition tells me that I'm getting out of control (beyond my skills) if the pegs start dragging in that situation. I try to avoid leaning over that far if I'm going to be shifting or otherwise using the throttle at low speed. My Bonneville SE is just too snatchy when cold and it's particularly more bothersome under 20 mph, and in a turn.

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ride4321

Sorry to hear about your off and glad you're ok.
Scraping pegs on cold pavement, not a good idea. Take it easy when the temps are low. It takes a long time for your tires to warm up and there are just too many slippery things (paint, metal covers, leaves, etc) on the road to mess with. I go very easy on the throttle when it's cold out.
Hope the forks aren't damaged.

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LittleJoe

I think it had more to do with the pegs than the cold tires. Unless the peg touching down was a result of the cold tire sliding.
Anyway, my suggestion would be less speed and lean angle for the first turn on a cold morning. I ride with temps down into the teens and twenties, so it shouldn't be an issue at 37. Just exercise smoother inputs for throttle and steering when it is colder.

echoraven

The colder the weather the more time the tires need to warm. I live less than 10 minutes from the highway I ride to work and I baby the bike so by the time I get to the highway she's pretty warmed up and since the highway is fast and straight, tires are plenty warm for the short hop from the highway to work.

...in other words, take it easy.

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9990

PopPop, ride, LittleJoe, echoraven,

Thanks guys. I appreciate the advice and the good wishes. I will be taking it _much_ gentler now.

Air Pirate

I did pretty much the exact same thing as a n00b rider.

Baby it!

Glad you're ok though.

AaronB

That about sums it up.

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ride4321

A few years ago I heard my neighbor warming up his GSXR on a 30+F day. Heard him pull out and then WOT. He'd slipped on the center line which caused the rear to slide out causing him to lean into the throttle full bore. I was out there in a few seconds to find him in the gutter with a messed up shoulder and wrecked bike. It wasn't freezing and the road was dry out but that line was slick as snot.

__________________
"Don't you know there ain't no devil, it's just god when he's drunk. "
— Tom Waits

HAP

Glad you are okay. Happens to most new riders. Been there, done that. Warm the tires in the morning by gently, slowly turning side to side with in your lane weaving slightly to force the largest area of the tire patch to start warming. This works with in quite, neighborhood street you live on.