Triumphrat

gravelface

recently returned to biking after 20 years with a TIGER 955I
Caught in a sudden downpour in rural Northumbria riding downhill am turning right into a country B road doing 5-10 mph , I touch the back break to slow right down, the back end goes instantly from under me. badly bruised leg and twisted ankle ligaments not to mention £250 for the soddin fairin bracket/lights/trim panel.
I am feeling hacked off. It turned out there was gravel on the road from turning lorries (6 of which passed as I waited for the RAC) and obviously the main reason for the drop. Sickening thing is I have really been getting into the bike and my confidence was sky high after steadily putting in the miles over the 3 months since I started riding.

what was my error? should I have not braked at all? or used only the front? I had just not anticipated such a thing happening at low speed on such a tame turn. Either way I have just been on the bike since it was fixed and it strated raining..I was like a robot gripping the bars for dear life and totally apprehensive about any maneuver involving turning and wet roads...can I be saved??
cheers gravel face

wheat state

sorry to hear about your tip. Sand and gravel are evil. On a turn is worse. Add a little water and you have trouble. Be careful and grateful for your new awareness.

Catenaccio

Not sure you made an error, seeing it was raining and all. However, I bet - when next you ride in a storm - you'll be looking for gravel and lorry crossings. Tough luck, heal quickly.

Jcatbert

Going slow and using the rear brake is probably what I would have done, maybe with a soft touch on the front brake. I mostly use just rear on slow tight 90 degree turns. Obviously the rear locked easily because of the gravel and a lighter touch was necessary. I doubt you knew it was there; that's why it's called an accident. Learn from the experience and move on. You'll get your confidence back. Not everything is preventable.

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Jerry V. - Northern NJ

Tbirdnz

Hope you're on the mend gravelface, don't let this incident put you off. Next time try to have your correct speed for turning without having the need to brake on a corner, your visibility may have been poor due to the rain on your visor but scouting the road surface ahead of you and picking your line is an on-going necessity in biking. I'm probably telling you how to suck eggs but bear with me.

You need more bike time, after being off bikes for sometime it will take at least a year or 10,000km of riding to build up your experience again and each year after that you will be just that much better.

Even old-time bikers need to re-learn riding skills most are self-taught with some ingrained bad habits. If possible try to do a safety riding course, you're never too old or too experienced to learn new tricks, or relearn old ones !


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Ride on !

ChurnDog

Glad to hear you are ok!

If it was the first 10-15 minutes of the rain storm, that would also cause the problem. Those first several minutes are the slickest as all the oil on the road has yet to be washed off. If you add sand and gravel, the problem just compounds. Like the other said, it will just take time to get back to feeling confident again. You'll be fine! Keep on Riding!

Jcatbert

Yup...I re-entered the arena at 46 years old. Took the MSF intermediate class. Highly recommended. I've since accumulated 20,000+ miles. Hopefully I have not learned any new bad habits ... OK...except maybe going too fast sometimes

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Jerry V. - Northern NJ

dave333

x2 on the mending bit...

You're definitely not alone! I took my new Falco out of the garage on a cold day and two blocks from the house I made an agressive left hand turn. The bike slid out from under me due to the cold road, cold tires and cold brain! If it's not one thing, it's another...

I like the comment from Tbirdnz, set your corner speed before you get to the corner. That advice has saved me from more crash truck rides than I can tell you!

FWIW, I'm always scanning ahead to check the road surface, especially in turns. If I don't know what the surface is, I slow way down. My old bones don't like those meetings with the ground so much anymore...

gravelface

Thanks for the much needed support guys. I think Tbird covered all the points in one, no brake, look, look, and look again and only ever so lightly on the back brake if needs me, I have anlysed in my head and will definitely not be using the back brake on any turns when slowing and if i do really lightly. Still got that car habit of being a tad heavy on the pedal.

My family and friends are all clamouring for me to sell the bike (and grow up ). Naturally their concerned, but hey I am really enjoying it and even though it shook me up, especially when I got back on for the frst time, I am getting back that familiar craving to grab my lid and go for a burn (safely and legally of course! ).
Which, i would if i wasnae living in Scotland under a permanent grey sky and never ending bloody rain (wettest August since records began in the UK and September is no much better)..thinking of moving to arizona or new mexico..but then I would miss all those luuvveerly country bends through Perthshire and the cairngorms..
cheers again guys.

HiDesert

You'd have to give up distilleries in every town, but you certainly wouldn't have to give up lovely curves:



Getting back to the point, a lot of good advice has already been dispensed. If the braking had all been done before you leaned it over, the spill may not have taken place. If you have to brake, light application of the front is better. Key word being light; practice it now and again on dry roads. Another potential issue is the tyres; not all tyres do well in the wet. What kind are you running, and how many miles do they have on them?

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I won't stop riding because you tell me about someone who died in an accident, just as I won't stop eating because someone died of e.coli.

HiDesert's ride photos