a crazy thanksgiving

[Kerberos]

so, here is the set up:
its about 7pm, dark, and raining on thanksgiving. im riding across time to my friends house for dinner, enjoying the little traffic and almost there.

well, almost 1 mile away im headed down a 4 lane road with a center turn lane. im in the far left left lane and the opposite direction the traffic is stoped and on my side there was no traffic to my right.

well comming up to this hill a car crosses from the far left through the center lane and right in front of me when i was only maybe 20 or 35 feet away, well i hit the breaks and it was raining hard so both the front and back locked up. all i saw was him stop dead in my lane in front of me. i thought i was going to bounce off his rear fender or high sideto the right.

well my ninja must really love me

when the brakes locked up it actually slid me out of the lane and into the right lane clear of him, i was straight up and let off tbe brakes and the bike right away grabbed road and i just hitthe gas and went right around him.

i keep thinking how i managed to slid from the far left to the far right with out falling with the breaks locked but i cant figure it out. but i know that my bike loves me. not a scratch.

i was furious mostly because he hit the breaks instead of the gas.
i had pulled over and just a took a moment to my self because my heart was still racing and i was angry.

im just happy i didnt get hurt

i did learn that i should be more aware of traffic and i know i need to work on braking and quick turning in the rain.

happy turkey day!

[KawiKid860]

Glad you're alright man, gotta watch for bad drivers in bad weather, you'd think with the kind of weather we get here in WA people would learn to drive in it... Definitely practice quick stops. I've been locking my rear up more than normal lately (not that I do it on a daily basis) but I think thats a combination of colder temps and my rear needing replacement (along with my front, but I've only ever locked it once trying to save a retarded dogs life...which was successful) Maybe since it rains so much here you can look into some better wet weather tires, if you're still rockin the stocks

[Kerberos]

Originally Posted by KawiKid860

Glad you're alright man, gotta watch for bad drivers in bad weather, you'd think with the kind of weather we get here in WA people would learn to drive in it... Definitely practice quick stops. I've been locking my rear up more than normal lately (not that I do it on a daily basis) but I think thats a combination of colder temps and my rear needing replacement (along with my front, but I've only ever locked it once trying to save a retarded dogs life...which was successful) Maybe since it rains so much here you can look into some better wet weather tires, if you're still rockin the stocks

yea i been locking up the rear more then usually to. the rain keeps comming. i still have stocks and to my dismay i dont have money for tires due to school but i been putting money on the side in case of emergency and for when i need to get anything for my bike. and i noticed drives in wa drive stupid no matter what the weather is. pple drive slow on the free way and too fast on the streets. i locked up the front which was a weird feeling but i do need to practice stops in the rain.
question: when its raining do you ride in the center of the lane or on the sides?

[Jiggles]

It sounds like only one of your wheels locked up. Are you absolutely sure it was both wheels? If both had locked up it would have been nearly impossible to keep the bike upright for more than 1 second.

[KawiKid860]

It sounds like only one of your wheels locked up. Are you absolutely sure it was both wheels? If both had locked up it would have been nearly impossible to keep the bike upright for more than 1 second.

Yeah sounds to me (and I'm no expert here) like you locked up the rear and sort of "drifted" out of the way with the front still spinning and steering you, because if you lock the front up whilst turning you're 99% for sure going to go down... possibly your front was at the limits of its traction so it seemed as if it was locked. The one time I locked my front I figured it was locked because my handlebars went back and forth wobbly really fast, similar to when my front wheel pops up doing an optimal 1-2 clutchless shift at WOT but I'm pretty sure the front wheel didn't come off the ground from braking lol...

question: when its raining do you ride in the center of the lane or on the sides?

I always ride on the sides, wouldn't make sense to ride in the center part (aka the grease strip) when its wet out.. water + oil = slippery mess, also why you shouldn't ride right when it starts raining because the oil gets washed up and is loose on the surface for a while. But we all know this from msf lol

[Kerberos]

Originally Posted by KawiKid860

Yeah sounds to me (and I'm no expert here) like you locked up the rear and sort of "drifted" out of the way with the front still spinning and steering you, because if you lock the front up whilst turning you're 99% for sure going to go down... possibly your front was at the limits of its traction so it seemed as if it was locked. The one time I locked my front I figured it was locked because my handlebars went back and forth wobbly really fast, similar to when my front wheel pops up doing an optimal 1-2 clutchless shift at WOT but I'm pretty sure the front wheel didn't come off the ground from braking lol...



I always ride on the sides, wouldn't make sense to ride in the center part (aka the grease strip) when its wet out.. water + oil = slippery mess, also why you shouldn't ride right when it starts raining because the oil gets washed up and is loose on the surface for a while. But we all know this from msf lol

i left off when i felt it lock up and everytime i hit the front it locked so lucky i guess. and im talking about after it rains when it starts to pool. you know what im talking about? when its really pouring and it pools on the sides i tend to ride in the middle so im not trekking though water on the road. when it first rains i do avoid the middle though. but yea the front kept locking up so i was kind of on and off with it. but the back for sure locked.

[KawiKid860]

Oh yeah if its pooling I think what you do is probably the best, goes something like this;
dry pavement > slick oily pavement > gigantic puddles. :P BUT REMEMBER I HAVE ONLY BEEN RIDING FOR 3 MONTHS (yay) SO I COULD BE WRONG AND IT DOESN'T RAIN AS MUCH ON THIS SIDE OF THE STATE SO I HAVE LESS WET RIDING EXPERIENCE

[Kerberos]

Originally Posted by KawiKid860

Oh yeah if its pooling I think what you do is probably the best, goes something like this;
dry pavement > slick oily pavement > gigantic puddles. :P BUT REMEMBER I HAVE ONLY BEEN RIDING FOR 3 MONTHS (yay) SO I COULD BE WRONG AND IT DOESN'T RAIN AS MUCH ON THIS SIDE OF THE STATE SO I HAVE LESS WET RIDING EXPERIENCE

I only been riding for 4 months so its all good. Its been raining like crazy over here. Otherwise i try to avoid the middle.