Triumphrat

drive

So I had my first real accident today. I was making a right hand turn on the west side highway (in NYC, large multi lane road). I was the first person into the turn (I usually try to ride ahead of traffic ahead of traffic as much as possible in this town) so no cars within at least 30 - 40 feet of me, when my rear tire lost traction and slid out from under me.

I slid with the bike, my right foot under it for a few feet, eventually turned the bike around. When all was said and done the bike was facing traffic and I was a feet away.

Since then I've been trying to figure out what went wrong. There was no gravel, leaves, etc on the street that I could see. The only thing I can think of was I laid on the throttle too hard, too early and spun my rear wheel out.

Fortunately no real damage done to me, I skinned my knee pretty well but nothing serious. I think I might have gotten a light sprain on my right ankle too, but I was wearing boots so they took the majority of the hit. If I was wearing sneakers I think I might have really messed up my foot.

The bike is fine for the most part, the slider took the hit and other than a slight bend in my rear brake pedal with some road rash it seems no worse for wear.

Long story short, can anyone give me any tips to prevent this from happening again? Barring some crap on the road that I didn't see the only thing cause I can think of would be my own stupidity with the throttle, or maybe I accidentally hit the rear brake during my lean.

To echo what has been said on these forums over and over, wear your gear. All of it. Had I not been wearing a proper jacket, gloves and boots I could be in a lot of pain right now. If I was wearing my pants I'd be in none...

Catenaccio

Sorry to hear of your off. However, I'm glad you're OK. The only thing I might contribute is the bike may have lost grip because of low tire temperature. I believe most sport bike tires have to warm to a certain temperature to have full grip. Just thinking out loud...

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The weather will continue to change on and off for a long, long time.

dazco

That used to happen to me on a somewhat regular basis when i was younger. Things that caused it were things like sand or water, little pieces of carboard can cause it or leaves. But worse one is oil. Mainly because in intersections especially there is a lot of it and it's impossible to tell how bad it is, and when it's bad enough it can easily take you down when you'd never expect it. I tend to take turns in the city very very carefully. Very slow and i don't accelerate at all. Don't give it more throttle till you're straightened up. Another thing to look out for is the rear brake. You can easily slide the rear out if you brake the rear while turning if the road is at all oily or slick from anything. If your rear brake is powerfull it can happen if you just barely touch it. It happened to me on my speedmaster several times because that brake was IMO much too strong. Much more than it needed to be. You could lock it with hardly any pressure. My ne Tbird has a weak rear and i love it like that ! the rear is only for stabilizing anyways, it's the front that does most of the stopping.

I save my spirited riding for twisties and more rural places and ride like an old lady in the city, at least when it comes to turns. What i found in those early years is it can be impossible to tell every time, and if you only make a mistake in judgment once in a 1000 times, that 1001 time will bite you.

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Happiness is Cycleworld's "Best in class" cruiser, the Triumph Thunderbird. Here's mine.

LittleJoe

Given what you described, I would say you're correct in saying that it was bit too much throttle while cornering. I wouldn't say debris in this case, because that will usually catch your front tire as well.

Just dial in a little less throttle when leaned over and should be okay.

95speed3

Drive, How cold was it? Was the road wet? Old tires? If you were braking hard before the turn to burn off speed you were using to keep ahead of traffic, you may have had your weight forward and off the rear wheel when you applied throttle. Any one or combination of these will cause a loss of traction. There are so many factors.
I crashed by bike in July. My problem was road debris ( I ran over a Harley Davidson Sportster someone had in the middle of the road....)
Don't let the incident shake you. It is very hard to pin point the one thing that causes a particular crash. You may have more before your done riding. But, if you ride worried, shaken or nervous, you may not ride as well as you can and you won't enjoy it.
Don't hesitate to take an instruction course, trackday or MSF class. I try to take one after I've crashed ( 3 times ), it helps bring your confidence ( not cocky ) back.
And I agree, gear every time.
I'm sorry if that sounded like a pep talk.

Mk003

I'm glad you're well enough to tell us about it.

I'm curious about the weather and tire temperature too. During the first 10-15 mins of a ride, I am extra careful with the throttle. I sometimes have fun sliding out of my driveway because I know there's no grip when I first set off.

When the back end starts to slide, make sure to maintain constant throttle or slightly power on in order to keep weight on the rear tire. When you cut the throttle, you can lose control of the slide because all your bike's weight is thrown to the front tire. Most riders cut the throttle unconsciously without thinking because it's part of our panic reaction. Keith Code's Twist of the Wrist II covers this concept.

dantrodgers

could have ridden through some diesel at the juntion or a bit before it.

what tyres you using? cos ive heard a few people sayin that the Bridgestone B016's you get with the STriple can be very tempermental, especially if they get even a little bit damp. Though sayin that, i have a striple (not the R though) with B016's and they stick like sh*t whatever the weather.

Also, (dont know how much of this is true...) ive heard that there are 2 types of B016's; one that says BT016R which is a triple compound and a very good tyre in all weathers, and BT016G (think its a G... could be something else heh) which is a single compound tyre, which wont be anywhere near as good. Like i said this is what ive read, so its not definitely the case... worth looking into though if you have the time.

ALSO... for some reason triumph want the tyre pressures to be pretty high on the STriple (36f and 42r), which again especially with cold tyres/roads or wet roads is going to make the matters worse, and if this high tyre pressure is mixed with a less than adequate tyre chances of the tyre slipping are greatly increased.

though, none of the above might be the case, just thought a 'heads-up' might be helpful.