Low speed lowside in the rain.

[ScarySpikes]

Everyone say's it's bound to happen eventually, I guess today was the day for me. I went down coming off of Highway 101 NB exit ramp to shoreline boulevard, while turning and accelerating from a stop I hit a slippery patch which caused the rear to spin out and the bike to fall, it slid maybe 40 or so feet, can't be sure exactly, losing most of it's momentum until if bumped into the sidewalk berm and came to rest, I ended up basically under the bike the whole way, so that when it finally stopped I had to wiggle out from under the topcase. I was in a goretex type material armored jacket, armored jeans, sidi rain boots, gloves, helmet. full gear.

Total damage to me is a tender elbow, and a few bruises on my hip and side where I was dragged. Nothing serious, no road rash, the gear did it's job very well.

Total damage to the bike is relatively minor but debilitating. From what I can tell, the main damage is the crankcase cover scraping along cause a hole in it which dumped out all of the oil, so not ride-able. the signal on the side that slid is basically gone, the handle bar bar cap and the brake lever are both bent out of shape, the exhaust can is a bit scraped up but doesn't appear to have any holes in it. The fairing is scraped up, though it is definitely repairable and might only take sanding (or however you smooth out fiberglass), some fresh paint, and replacing the stickers. Or I could spray the bike down with plasti-dip... dunno what to do about it yet. All of this of course is only from a visual inspection, I'm not an expert.

So, errors. I shouldn't have tried to be cheeky with the rain, I normally take the car when the weather report says rain but I chose the bike because yesterday traffic took about 50 minutes. I should have paid more attention to grip levels, I should have been more careful with the accelerator going through the turn because I didn't know how much grip I would have available to me.

Things I did right: I wore my full gear.

Thanks to the guy who stopped and helped me pick the bike up (in some small hatchback, I don't remember the specific make and model) and thanks to the guy on the grey hawk 650 for helping me to get it out of the way of the road and making sure I was ok.

 

[tzrider]

I went down coming off of Highway 101 NB exit ramp to shoreline boulevard, while turning and accelerating from a stop I hit a slippery patch which caused the rear to spin out and the bike to fall, it slid maybe 40 or so feet, can't be sure exactly, losing most of it's momentum until if bumped into the sidewalk berm and came to rest, I ended up basically under the bike the whole way, so that when it finally stopped I had to wiggle out from under the topcase.

Do you have any way of remembering if you were rolling on the gas while adding lean angle? Doing both at the same time can make the onset of a slide dramatically quicker and harder to recover from.

If you think this may have been the case, the safer option is to get underway, pause the throttle roll-on, steer, then resume rolling on. If you are not already in the habit of using this sequence, it would be a good habit to cultivate.

 

[Owl]

Glad you're ok :thumbup

couple questions about the crash:

- are your tires in good shape? meaning, less than 3 yrs old, good tread, proper inflation, etc. (not saying that's the cause of going down, just that it could contribute in some way)

- you said you were turning from stop, were you making a left-hand turn thru an intersection or just a right-hand turn around a corner? do you remember paying attention to the road conditions during the turn, see any discoloration, oil spots, heavy water/oil buildup, loose gravel, etc?

- do you remember which way you were weighting the pegs? maybe you could've given yourself a chance to save it if you had enough weight on the outside peg, light on the handle bars, counter-steer into the the turn and rode it out like a dirt bike? (possibly wheelie for safety :laughing)

it sounds like maybe you just took a familiar turn (going to work/home/wherever) too fast for the current conditions, on a dry day perhaps you'd've been fine.

asking as a total nubcake, i've been in similar situations before and i'll definitely be in them again so the more i can learn the better prepared i could be.

 

[dowlinginchico]

Rolling on the gas while in a lean is a tricky deal. A balance. Too much and the bike and you go down, obviously. Things that can help you stay up are... slow down #1, don't accelerate in the turn when wet, make sure your tire pressure is correct, make sure your tires have plenty of meat (just because they are close to the wear bars doesn't mean they are safe), make sure your throttle tube/throttle cable is not loose (much better control over the throttle). Good for you for wearing gear though!!!

There are many people here who have never been down, so don't believe "everyone". This could have been prevented by going slower. I ride in the rain often and have never had the rear step out, unless I am trying to make it step out.

Glad you are ok. Something this simple can turn deadly if you were to slide across a DY. Take it REAL easy in the rain.

 

[ScarySpikes]

The tires are a few months old maybe, bedded in but less the 1000 miles and pretty fresh, those weren't the issue.

The corner is a 2 lane right, 2 lane left split off and I was in the second right lane, so a wide right corner. It's a somewhat regular commute corner for me but this is the first time I've taken it in the rain on the bike, as I said, I normally have a rule on commuting in the rain. Because it is a familiar turn I wasn't paying enough attention to the road condition though thinking back on it I remember a few times where the little Corolla felt ponderous on that specific corner in the rain. Not something I was thinking about at the time, clearly.

When the rear started to slip I let off a bit but it continued to slip, once the bike was well out of hand I think I remember my hand getting a bit jammed at open throttle though at that point the tires were no longer on the ground. The causative issue was being too aggressive on the throttle for the conditions, which might be down to my not really riding in rain too often.

The throttle on the bike might have contributed. One of the difficulties I have with it is when you roll on there is a tendency for the bike to rapidly shift from no throttle to about half throttle. Because of that it's not too easy to take off slowly without holding the clutch in up to maybe 25 or so. The rear started sliding around the time I released the clutch.

 

[afm199]

The tires are a few months old maybe, bedded in but less the 1000 miles and pretty fresh, those weren't the issue.

The corner is a 2 lane right, 2 lane left split off and I was in the second right lane, so a wide right corner. It's a somewhat regular commute corner for me but this is the first time I've taken it in the rain on the bike, as I said, I normally have a rule on commuting in the rain. Because it is a familiar turn I wasn't paying enough attention to the road condition though thinking back on it I remember a few times where the little Corolla felt ponderous on that specific corner in the rain. Not something I was thinking about at the time, clearly.

When the rear started to slip I let off a bit but it continued to slip, once the bike was well out of hand I think I remember my hand getting a bit jammed at open throttle though at that point the tires were no longer on the ground. The causative issue was being too aggressive on the throttle for the conditions, which might be down to my not really riding in rain too often.

The throttle on the bike might have contributed. One of the difficulties I have with it is when you roll on there is a tendency for the bike to rapidly shift from no throttle to about half throttle. Because of that it's not too easy to take off slowly without holding the clutch in up to maybe 25 or so. The rear started sliding around the time I released the clutch.

The old rain rule is do everything like you were riding on glass. It's a good rule. All inputs smooth, even, very gentle, no jerking, no sudden anything.

If you are rolling the throttle on slowly and smoothly, it shouldn't snatch like that. It can sometimes be related to lean EPA settings for the lower end of the rpm range. (Jerky off/on like a switch)

 

[Ron George]

Glad to hear you made it thru ok. It's lesson for all of us. A lot of good riding advice in the responses.I have been caught out in the rain quite a few times it requires every ounce of skill & a bit of luck to save my skin from being road rashed.Though having a cruiser style ride & windshield makes me a lot more protected from the elements.
Sounds like you have figured out what went wrong.Get that throttle situation resolved, it really shouldn't be reacting like that.

 

[motomania2007]

The old rain rule is do everything like you were riding on glass. It's a good rule. All inputs smooth, even, very gentle, no jerking, no sudden anything.

If you are rolling the throttle on slowly and smoothly, it shouldn't snatch like that. It can sometimes be related to lean EPA settings for the lower end of the rpm range. (Jerky off/on like a switch)

Absolutely!