Today I was making a right turn at intersection, just like the moto, slow in fast out. I slowed down to abut 20 mph and begin to make the turn, half way into the turn I open up the throttle and I notice that my rear wheel definitely slides a little, luckily I didn't crash but I felt the whole bike jolted from side to side.

This is probably a noob question, but why did this happen? I know for sure I give it too much power than I should have ,which is something that I will be careful out from now on, but I have read that accelerating through a turn increases tire traction right? So why did my tire lost traction a bit?

 

where are you located at? weather/temperature? what tires are you running and how old are they? how long and what type of riding were you doing?

all of this is relevent to how much grip you have, the colder the road, the less heat will stay in your tires, therefor less grip. running sport or sport touring tires? ST tires will have more grip in colder/wetter conditions. And of course how long and how you were riding effects how much heat your tires are generating, if you were just strolling through town, you wont have much heat in them. the more agressive riding (hard acceleration, braking, etc) you do the more heat will be generated.
also tire pressure matters, if youre going to be riding in lower temps, lower your tire pressure, will help get a little more heat in the tires.

 

where are you located at? weather/temperature? what tires are you running and how old are they? how long and what type of riding were you doing?

I'm in Los Angeles, at the time riding, it was about 75 F outside, I am using stock tire, there is still plenty of life left in them. I was just riding in town, nothing aggressive, like I said I was making a right turn at about 20 mph, and I accelerated half way in and felt my rear tire slipping.

I know accelerating through a turn increase traction, but is there such thing as too much acceleration through the turn, which make you lose traction?

 

since you were just riding in town your tires wouldnt be very warm. accelerating through a turn wont increase traction directly, it'll help warm them up. But if you just goosed the throttle coming out of the turn then you better expect it to break loose. hit the throttle too hard and you'll risk a highside.

also, dont know how long youve been riding or where your skill level is at. But if you havent yet take an MSF course and definitely do some research on tires and be more cautious when theyre cold.

 

Agree that tires were probably cold which will have a huge impact on how your tires grip when riding. Cold tires are VERY slick and don't grip well so you have to be extra careful when rolling on the gas.

Accelerating through a turn gets the weight off the front and onto the rear which puts the suspension in the right range and makes the bike stable. So the goal for sure is to accelerate THROUGH the corners but you need to make sure you do it smoothly,consistently and evenly. If you give it too much throttle at once you risk sliding the rear.

Another factor that hasn't been mentioned is your body position. If you were counter-leaning, turning right but leaning your body to the left you could be adding excess lean angle and you will have less available traction the more the bike is leaned over.

See if any of those things ring true for your experience…

Also, what is the best thing you can do when you feel the rear end slide?

 

Could it have been the pavement itself? Gravel, dirt, water, oil residues, gutters, and quality of street can cause tires to slip. Street intersections are some of the most dangerous places to ride on. You never know what lies in them, especially in LA.

 

Hi,
You need to accelerate through the corner not in it. If you applied too much power on the entry point this would caused poor cornering due to wrong loading on the tyres/suspension.
Can I suggest you watch some racing and listen to the bikes or watch 'twist of the wrist' , you will hear the deceleration and acceleration in the bends.
As you apply power in the bend it forces the rear tyre into the road creating grip but cold tyres are not good at this.

Hope this helps.

 

ive had it happen to me a few time. I have a parelli diablo on the back, brand new, the tire is too hard of a compound.

 

Sorry for the late rely, it makes much better sense now. I had a basic understanding of why did that happen, but seeing you guys put it into technical terms makes it even better.

 

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