bit of scare in rain shower

[PtboSprintSt]

I had a bit of a scare today with my recently acquired Metz Z6s. I normally am I fair weather rider. Today I got got in some showers and going through a village I tried to stop at a signal light that turned red, but as soon as I applied my front and rear brakes the bike started sliding or hydroplaning. Luckily I was ot going fast and the light had just turned res so I could see the cars in the other directions had not started to enter the intersection. I gambled that they could see I was having problems and decided to get off the brakes and I drove through the lights. The only other options was to end up stopped in the middle of the intersection or dumping the bike in the intersection.

The Metz had several hundred km's on them at that point, so I don't think it was their newness. I wonder if it was the combination of being a very hot day and the rainshower just being enough to suck the oily stuff out of the asphalt and leave a slicky residue?

I still plan on avoiding bad weather driving conditions, but I must admit the scare today made me wonder is there any way to practice stopping in such condidions in case I'm caught in the same situation?

[jellero]

"Luckily I was ot going fast". too fast for conditions it would seem... not trying to be a hardass. just comes out that way. j

[steventhechef]

I know in the tropical climes that when it rains - it rains - not that it has happened for a decent while.

The grease on the roads from cars and trucks , especially at intersections, can build up after a lull in the precipitation and make it very slippery when it rains.

You need to have your preservation radar up at that time.. LOL and as jellero said!! Avoid the situation.

Avoid hard braking and accelerating..

Not meaning to be another hardass !!

Glad you survived the ride.

[Longshot92]

almost the exact same thing happened to me once- it had just drizzled a little, i was in a small town in rural ny, saw a red light and applied what would normally be a very reasonable amount of front and rear brake pressure and i just slid straight through the light until i stopped in the middle of the intersection. there were no cars to be found, so i didn't want to risk letting go of the brakes and having the rear wheel snap back into line, so i just rode out the skid. however, given the fact that i was unable to stop in time, i was clearly going too fast for the conditions. no way around that... pilot error, lucky i didn't get hurt, smarter next time, etc. can't blame the (stock) tires or the rain...

[DaveM]

oil or deisel on the road will do this when wet.

If you are on the open road riding in the rain you should always be careful on corners where trucks may spill deisel out of full tanks.

Also early in the morning after rain or heavy dew or in cooler climates watch out under trees for wet patches on the road that take longer to dry because of no sun.

Lucky you PtboSprintSt
.

Davem

[PtboSprintSt]

I think next time I'll just pull off the roads and wait out the rain since I can't judge how slow to go when approaching intersections after rain showers. Obviously, in retrospect, I wasn't going slow enough heading towards the intersection. The question I should have asked is how do "experienced" rain drivers handle this. Do you start slowing down as soon as you see an intersection appearing in the distance and come towards it at a crawling speed on the assumption the light will probably change to red? How do you judge how slow is slow enough without proceeding so slow as to aggravate drivers behind you and thus cause another problem.

[ This message was edited by: PtboSprintSt on 2006-07-23 21:40 ]

[Morgs]

I am afraid that I am going to be a bit of a 'hard ass' here too.

I really don't think you should be riding something as powerful as a Sprint if you feel that you are unable to judge stopping distances in wet weather.

Even if you only plan on riding in the dry, there will often be the odd occasion where you will be caught out.

I would suggest that you try a smaller less powerful bike, and take some advanced rider training as soon as possible.

I am not looking to upset anyone here, I am just concerned for your welfare.

[PtboSprintSt]

I'm not sure if having a lighter bike would have prevented my slip-up today because as I said in my first post I was not going fast approaching the intersection, but having been caught off guard since I don't usually ride in the rain I obviously made an error in judgement. Also, I didn't "slam" on the breaks. As soon as I "gently" put on the breaks the bike started sliding and then I had to make the decision to keep on the breaks and try a controlled stop in the middle of the intersection or continue through, and I chose the latter. I'm not sure if this would have been a factor, but the intersection was not totally level. The grade of the road was slightly uphill as I approached.

I do plan on taking another course next spring to get my final stage license. I've taken the basic course twice (10 years ago when I got a bike for a couple years and last year when I decided to get back into riding). Unfortunately in some ways, the weather both times was sunny so while we were taught regular and emergency braking, it was done so on dry pavement.

I am quite confident in my ability to judge dry weather stopping distances on the Sprint. My scare today made me wonder how do I get the same confidence in wet conditions? I appreciate concerns for my welfare. I don't want to become another accident statistic, but I don't buy my own concern about wanting to learn from my error in judgement today and new doubts about judging stopping distances in wet weather as an indicator I should sell my Sprint and go back to a smaller bike. I can just as easily cruise down the roads at 120 km/hr on a ninja 500 as I do my Sprint St on open sections of road. I did so all the time 10 years ago when I had my ninja. I have given up up trying to keep up with local young guys on their 600 sport bikes because I don't have the skill level or stomach to be cruising back roads at 180km/h+ or going around blind corners at 160. I'm sure in the hands of an experienced rider the Sprint could kick their butts, but I know I"m not that experienced. I do tend to be a cautious driver. If I was on my old ninja 500 today I would have been approaching at the same speed and level of caution that I was using on the Sprint. Maybe being a lighter bike the tires would not have slid and I would have stopped, or the same thing would have happened.

For now, I'll make sure if I'm caught in the rain again to keep in mind that I need to drive slower, be extra focussed on road condtions, and take into account that stopping distances increase. Even if it means ticking off some drivers, I'll start slowing up ahead of intersections well ahead of time. I'll look into an advanced course next spring.

If you have any other tips I'd appreciate them. If you think I'm way out of line for wanting to keep the Sprint and not take the advice of selling it for a smaller bike feel free to say so as well. I won't be offended. I probably won't take that advice, but I'm not offended hearing it since it comes from concern for my welfare :wink:

[ This message was edited by: PtboSprintSt on 2006-07-23 22:56 ]

[steventhechef]

:wink:
We all have the chance to be caught every so often in a situation that we would prefer not to be in

As I have said before "I haven't got enough time in my life to make all of the mistakes myself, so I'll have to look at my time management!!"

All safe, all's good..

[DaveM]

PtboSprintSt,

Here's a pommy website with some handy hints?

Enjoy your ride, experience will bring confidence, a riding course is probably good advise although I have learnt my lessons the hardway.


have a squizz at this anyway.

Survival skills

Davem