Almost Polished Some Pavement

[Ralgha]

Didn't go over, but I locked up the front!

I was coming to an intersection where I was going to turn left, the left turn signal was green, and (naturally) turned yellow right when I was in the no man's land of go or stop. There was nobody behind me and it's a busy intersection so I immediately got on the brakes, smooth and hard. I could tell I was going to overshoot the stop line by a foot or two, but I'd still be well clear of the intersection.

Well, that fat white stop line was pretty thick, and when my front tire hit it, it locked up. I was almost stopped by this point, but I slid to a stop with the front tire probably halfway into the crosswalk, maybe 3-4 feet past the stop line. I gracefully landed on my left foot as if it was all according to plan. Never really started to go over, but I could tell the front tire was cocked a little when I stopped so I probably wouldn't have stayed up much farther.

Anyway, my main error was approaching the intersection too hot, hoping to make the green light. Saving a couple minutes at a light isn't worth potentially dumping it. Also, respect those damn lines, even dry they can mess you up. This one wasn't a simple paint line, it was one of those that is a couple millimeters thick, not sure what they're made out of, doesn't look like plastic.

Made it through safe and sound, valuable lesson learned!

[dcj13]

Nice work! You pulled out a save and learned a lot.

Thanks for sharing your lesson.

[Kyledf]

It is called "Thermoplastic Paint". Its fairly thick. My brother crashed a bicycle after washing out the front tire on a stop bar.

[Motofool]

Originally Posted by Ralgha

.......... Well, that fat white stop line was pretty thick, and when my front tire hit it, it locked up. I was almost stopped by this point, but I slid to a stop with the front tire probably halfway into the crosswalk, maybe 3-4 feet past the stop line. I gracefully landed on my left foot as if it was all according to plan. Never really started to go over, but I could tell the front tire was cocked a little when I stopped so I probably wouldn't have stayed up much farther.
..........

Yes, the tires have much reduced traction over the smooth surface of those painted strips, .......... even less when wet !!!

Although losing the battle, the friction force between rubber and asphalt is fighting the friction force between braking pads and disc.
Once the braking tire reaches that fat white stop line and the friction force on the contact patch is drastically reduced, the clamping force of the caliper is able to suddenly stop the rotation of the wheel.

Building the habit or releasing some finger's pressure at the first sign of a skid is very important to regain steering control, specially if you ride in the rain.
Constant practice is the only way; I do it over patches of sand.

The main problem with locking the front tire for more than a second is that you immediately loose 100% of steering; hence, the bike looses balance.

Take a look at this thread:
https://www.ninjette.org/forums/showthread.php?t=114555

Link to original page on YouTube.

Link to original page on YouTube.