[VirtualNomad]

They say it happens to everyone eventually.

Decided to ride in to work this morning. A little brisk at 10 degrees celsius so I was taking it easy as my engine was still cold. Easy left turn at the light and my front wheel slides out from under me and down she goes. My poor baby!

Broken shifter knob, scratched mirror, bruised ego.

But why did she slide out from me when I was going so slowly? Think, think. Ah hah!

Let this be a lesson: When polishing up your bike to show it off, keep the tire shine off the tread!

 

[marcsiry]

But why did she slide out from me when I was going so slowly? Think, think. Ah hah!

Sorry to hear about your spill, glad to see you're OK with minor damage to the bike.

Cold tires, shined or not, can be very slippery on dry pavement. I've had a close call tapping the front brakes on my sport bike a little to hard on the first stop one chilly morning- it induced a very disconcerting headshake. I even when back and checked the road for an oil patch- nothing on the ground, the cold rubber made it slip.

 

[Baltobonneville]

I never thought much of shiny tires anyway, they look ... odd. Glad that it wasn't worse for you.

Another thing to watch out for: Freshly-laid stripes on the road. They can be slick, especially if a bit wet.

 

[rwantin]

Glad you're okay and it was (relatively) minor.

I've heard a lot of different things about petroleum-based tire shiners, like if you don't use it consistently, it can actually contribute to the degradation of the rubber, or something like that. That, and it's slick.

Every once in a great while I'll use Bleche White tire cleaner on the side walls (only). It's not slick or oily, and the tire looks pretty natural afterwards (or at least, black).

Again, glad you're okay.

 

[DaemonWulf]

They say it happens to everyone eventually.

Decided to ride in to work this morning. A little brisk at 10 degrees celsius so I was taking it easy as my engine was still cold. Easy left turn at the light and my front wheel slides out from under me and down she goes. My poor baby!

Broken shifter knob, scratched mirror, bruised ego.

But why did she slide out from me when I was going so slowly? Think, think. Ah hah!

Let this be a lesson: When polishing up your bike to show it off, keep the tire shine off the tread!

alright.. hand over the keys.

 

[John_NH]

I've noticed it doesn't take much of that stuff on the bottom of your shoe to make it pretty slippery. There's no way I'd put it on a motorcycle tire.

 

[XLXRider]

"tire shiners" FYI

...AFAIK, there are two types: the silicones and petroleum-based. Silicones, well we all know they're slippery! Petroleum-based - as rwantin said, they (hydrocarbon compounds) contribute to the degradation of the rubber. Even a little can have an effect, so why take the chance? Most waterbased cleaners won't hurt the rubber, but still, read the label before use.

If you need to use a volatile solvent to clean 'em for who knows what reason, use an alcohol. Will do the job, but won't do any damage to the polymers in the rubber.

Regards,
XLXRider

 

[roxythruxton]

Ouch. :smackglass:

2 types of riders . Those that crash. And those that are going to crash. Good to hear yours was only a boo boo.

 

[johnny black]

I'm gonna make you feel better! Tyre shine ? done it What about leaving your disk lock on and falling over ? done itSteering lock,its a good security device unless your pushing it somewhere and it falls over,cause you forgot to er unlock it,long live the bonnie[despite us]J.B.

 

[jbiahduc]

Sorry to hear about your mis-hap. The good news is, the pain from ego damage does dull with time. Believe me, I know all too well.

The bad news is your bike needs some minor repairs to be road worthy. So get an new shift lever and enjoy your new found respect for murphy's law.

JB