first ride... damn

 

Like they said, its possible to save a rear tire slide, but front tire is almost always a low side or worse. Unfortunately, you have to generally act fast to save it before the bike leans. You can control the jack knife action somewhat easily, but if the bike jack knifes then starts to tip it becomes far more difficult to save.

Mark it up as an experience, you walked away and damage was minimal in the grand scheme of possibilities. GET BACK IN THE SADDLE, take your time if you want, but don't give up. Never let something scare you into giving up

 

here are my 2 cents, learn how to lock up ur rear tire and skid around...so next time it happens, you can control it.

FIRST:
you will NOT crash as long as you keep the rear wheel LOCKED...meaning once you push down on the rear brake to lock it up and start sliding, do NOT get off the brake until you are at a complete stop, or you'll highside and eat ****. (you can let go down the road when you get better, but that's wayyy in the future)

the first 10 or 20 times you do it, make sure you're going straight, idk 10-20mph...then lock it up and keep the forks straight. if you need to stop quick or have too much speed, i.e. sliding towards a red light, you can use the front brake to slow down as the rear is sliding.

once you get that down, lock up the brake, and turn the forks to the left a little bit(a LITTLE bit), the rear tire will start sliding to the right, now the forks should straighten out. so at this point, the bike and forks will be facing forward and going straight, but your rear tire will be on your left side.

keep at it, eventually ull learn to slide from staight line, and swing the rear tire from left to right and so on....all this while the rear wheel is locked...last advice, just keep calm and don't freak out.

 

You can let off the brake if you lock up the rear tire, so long as the back end hasn't shot out very far and you aren't going super fast. In a panic situation you'll likely leave it on just because you're too concerned with stopping to rationally think about it. But it's not too big of a deal as long as you know how to deal with it.

I agree that doing it on purpose a few times to get used to the feeling is a good idea. It'll teach you how to adjust your steering to keep the bike going the direction you want it to (think drifting in a car - you always point the front wheels in the direction you want to go).

 

In the MSF class i took they said if you lock up the rear to let off the brake then re apply pressure to it so your not sliding around. i have locked mine up going 60MPH and 45 MPH and each time i let off and get back on it. I have had no problems yet.

Just dont pull in the clutch and take power away from the rear wheel

 

thanks for all the advice. I will def remember it. Now that I think back on the crash my bike tire drifted out to my left first...thhen I instictively tried to straighten it out but pushed it to far ..but now to the right. Then i was like ****...boom crash..

What I should of done was drive to a big parking lot and practiced a little more since it was a new bike. I should of scanned ahead and saw that road salt and avoided it.

Bike shop called me and said it will be ready in a week. He said the plastics on the left side are "muddy" ..I dunno wat that means but plastics are so expensive I'm just gonna leave it scratched up...I can't wait to get back on.

Utter05- When I took my MSF course they said if the back tire locked up..to leave it locked up cause if power came back to the wheel when they are not lined up.

I'll live and learn. I guess there are some things you have to experience in order to learn. You can only learn so much from reading it out of the MSF manual.

 

he had a different type crash. he didnt lock his rear brake but caught salt and lost traction. I'm WV and we had a couple nice days the past couple weeks so i broke out the bike. Same situation as you're in roads are nasty with salt and cinders. My advice for coming out of a slide like that is counterbalance you weight and stay off the brakes and gas. your main concern is getting traction before your tires get too far outta line and throw you over the bars, but if u take too long to get traction, youre gonna low side. I had a similar slide coming through a hard right turn at about 25mph. made a nice smooth counter balance and got my tires outta the salt and onto the clean road before i lost the bike. Best advice for crappy roads - stay off the bike, but if you're like me and have to scratch the itch, take it easy, stay in tire tracks and away from the center and edges of the lane, and forget the twisties, if the main roads are bad twisties are a death trap.

 

Thanks for the info Tanknuts. much appreciated.

I cant wait to get back on...this week is going to go slow

 

Wow. There is some **** poor advice flying around this thread. Let's get that sorted out, shall we?


The absolute worst things you can do during a slide is to shut off the gas and/ or lock the rear tire. If anything you want to maintain or even add power to the rear depending on the situation. One thing is for sure, you definitely don't want to prevent either of your tires from rolling against the tarmac during a slide.

Once you lock the rear you lose any ability to "drift" the bike coupled with the fact that you have very little control over where the rear end is going end up. Add to that the fact that you risk a highside should you lock the rear and then try to get out of it. Uness you know how to utilize it, locking the rear will send you down and there's no two ways about it.

Your best bet is to stay loose on the bars and manage the situation.....ride it out and always try to save it. 9 times out of 10 the bike will self-correct at speed. I've slid a few bikes around over the years including an FJR1300 through a 20 foot dirt patch without issue. That's a 600lb machine.



chetman7- If you don't believe me, read some books and see what those guys are saying. I guarantee that not one of those books tells you to lock the rear.

 

WHAT? You took your bike to the STEALership!!! You coulda got everthing you need from the classifieds section, or eBay for a third of what you're gonna pay those kikes. (no offense to any Jewish folks). And it's gonna take them a week to replace a stator cover? And a rear set? Sheesh, whata rip off. As for your scuffed up fairings, go to your local auto parts store, in the "Bondo" section, they have this stuff called Flexable bumper patch (or filler), basically its "bondo" for plastic and like the name states, its flexable, so it wont crack when your fairing flexes. Sand the scuffed up area with some 120 grit sandpaper (probably have to remove the stickers off the fairing) Follow the directions on the can to mix it up. Spread it out over the dammage, feathering it into the "good" plastic. let it cure (again, directions are on the can), and sand it smooth with a sanding block and some 220 grit. (DON'T use a piece of wood, buy the rubber block, or use something that will flex to the contour of the fairing) Then repeat with 400 dry, and 400 wet, then use a GREY scrubby (NOT red, brown or green) wet for the final sanding, Make sure ALL sanding scratches are smoothed out, they WILL show through the paint. All that stuff is in the same section and will cost less than $20. If you fell confident with your painting skills, take your fairing to your local Sherwin-Williams store and get a couple cans of color matched spray paint specially fomulated for plastic (one should be plenty, but its nice to have some extra if...). If not go to your local "Uh-Oh better get (anybody but) Macco" (they did me wrong once before, I'll never go back) But you get the idea. It cant cost too much, they advertise paiting a whole car for $229. Good luck bro... Keep her on her wheels (at least one of em)