"Where did i go wrong?" thread in "Staying Alive"
apologies for typing, as i only appear to have one working hand and using caps hurts at the moment. Going to work this morning, totally ...

apologies for typing, as i only appear to have one working hand and using caps hurts at the moment.

Going to work this morning, totally clear stretch of dual carriagway, 40 limit, and i am going to be turning right. It is a 40 limit and i am guessing i was exceeding that, probably about 50 from past experiences on that stretch. Although it is wet, it is a good surface and i checked afterwards, could see no sign of any oil or diesel or anything.

So I brake vigorously, but certainly no more hard than i have done in a straight line in the wet, in far worse conditions many times. About (i think) 30 yards from my turn, the bike just folded under me, I ended up sliding along the road andthe bike slid further ending up roughly by the junction. With where i ended up, and where the bike ended up I was certainly well before i would have started any turn in. As I said, yes hard braking, but I do try and practice my braking regularly.

So, we have clear road, wet but clean road surface, good visibility, bike in decent condition. Which bascially leaves us with pilot error. But I am not too sure where I went wrong. I am quite happy to admit it as my own error, but for my own confidence I need to know what the error was, so I dont end up making the same mistake again.

Any suggestions gratefully received.

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TALK TO ME OR THE BUNNY GETS IT!

I reckon this happens to a few folk, every year about this time and is due to fresh rain!
The dust, soot and oil mixes with the first rain to form an emulsion which is quite slippery. Eventually it gets washed away and wet roads become safe again.

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ZEN#234, TWO#

The roads didnt seem particuarly slippy this morning though, the grip generally seemed okay. We had a lot of rain overnight which i would have thought would have cleared any greasy film.

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TALK TO ME OR THE BUNNY GETS IT!

ouch. glad you're okay mate.

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Wear your salt as a badge of AWB pride

Front brake, rear brake?

I suspect that there was no gradual loading and that for the conditions you squeezed a little hard a little quick

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Before your dreams can come true, you have to have those dreams.

No idea where you went wrong, but GWS!!!

[quote=Kyot;373030]... and is due to fresh rain!/quote]

Fresh rain?

Hell, where are you living, mate? It hasn't STOPPED raining here!

I have a feeling this may have been the case, it was front brake, so maybe i missed the 'gradual' bit at the start?

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TALK TO ME OR THE BUNNY GETS IT!

fair comment... Norway. It's only just started raining properly here.
But the Emulsion problem is real and universal - very noticeable in, e.g. London, which is v.dusty.

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ZEN#234, TWO#

I see someone has beaten me to the obvious comment about this summer!

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Sponsor Page XMAS OFFERS Blog Website Courses Riding Tips Shop
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The dull copyright bit - feel free to nick it for personal use. If you want to reprint it for your club, I'd like a mention as author. Otherwise hands-off. Full terms
"Force has no place where there is need of skill" Herodotus 450BC

What summer!

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Before your dreams can come true, you have to have those dreams.

Not really sure why you would want to brake vigorously in the wet on an approach to a junction TBH??

What road position were you in - I recommend using a lane position in the car tyre track area to students - you can get a build up of oil from car engines down the middle of the lane if its regularly seeing queuing traffic which can be very slippery in the wet...

Glad nothing too serious though!

Bugger. Sorry to read this GWS.

There's not a petrol garage nearby is there?

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BOB Crufts 2008 & Loose Shoes
www.bayingbasset.com

Hope you heal up soon and the bike isn't too bad!

TBH it sounds like operator error to me - practising heavy braking is all well and good, but if you did "snatch" at the brake that could well lock it up.

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non quod, sed quomodo

Ouch... sorry to hear that Bonners...

I know there's nothing much wrong with your braking technique in general, and it sounds like you were braking upright, so I think you have to look at anything you were doing that wasn't run of the mill, or something about the tyre/bike interface that wasn't normal.

You say you weren't braking harder than normal, but did you do anything else that wasn't usual - like a more sudden application as DS has suggested might be the case?

Presumably it's a bit of road that you ride regularly as it's your route to work, so has anything else changed? I'm assuming it's not been recently resurfaced? Any tar seams you might have hit? Do you think you might have been closer to the limit at other times than you realised? Many surfaces are pretty slick these days.

Have you changed tyres or even been round the bike pumping tyres up? Have you changed pads, serviced or adjusted the suspension?

If you can't point the finger at any of those, I'd be thinking about surface contamination. It's not always obvious.

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Sponsor Page XMAS OFFERS Blog Website Courses Riding Tips Shop
NEW - online e-course
The dull copyright bit - feel free to nick it for personal use. If you want to reprint it for your club, I'd like a mention as author. Otherwise hands-off. Full terms
"Force has no place where there is need of skill" Herodotus 450BC