Accidental Rear Slide While Turning

[thisisbenji]

Hey guys,

Yesterday while riding to class my rear slid out from under me while taking a left hand turn at about 20 mph probably about half way through the turn. Anyways my instincts from riding dirt bikes took over and I just stayed on the throttle and put my foot down and it was all good, but I fear that if I was going faster I could have hurt myself doing that. What's the best way to recover from sliding the rear on accident through a turn without low siding?

[csmith12]

9 times out of 10, staying on the gas and is the way.

[tehcarguy]

A few weeks ago I was going through a corner fairly fast, and somehow I hit the killswitch which caused the rear to slide out. I was able to save it by countersteering. Or maybe I was just really lucky?

[rojoracing53]

When the rear starts to slide in a left turn go WOT, turn the bars to the right, weight the outside peg, lay down a nice strip of smoking rubber while looking like a total bad ass. Optional is to bounce on the set at exit and pull a nice corner exit power wheelie with the bars still cranked.

Oh wait sorry this is the 250 forum, sorry I thought I was on the R-1 forum sorry my bad.

[subxero]

Originally Posted by thisisbenji

Hey guys,

Yesterday while riding to class my rear slid out from under me while taking a left hand turn at about 20 mph probably about half way through the turn. Anyways my instincts from riding dirt bikes took over and I just stayed on the throttle and put my foot down and it was all good, but I fear that if I was going faster I could have hurt myself doing that. What's the best way to recover from sliding the rear on accident through a turn without low siding?

Do you know why the rear slid out? just curious

conditions? (weather and or road)
hit rear brake?
blip throttle?

Kind of like you said when you ride dirtbikes losing the rear end is almost a way of life and you get used to it, but also expect it on a dirtbike and tend to be in a good body position to work the slide.

On a street bike some of the offroad techniques i feel could be useful others not so much. But it sounds like you handled it well and kept on the throttle which i feel is the best option unless going very slow and you have lots of road to work with. I guess the important thing is to never let the rear catch up with the front and end up going high side. <-- this = a bad time

Slow speed rear slides don't worry me to much i feel i would be able to work through it, but mid to high speed slides when i am in an aggressive riding or turning position on the other hand, i don't think i would have many options other than to work the throttle and hope for the best.

Anyone have any good tips for that situation?.... other than smoking the rear tire looking like bad ass, and or wheelieing out of it?

[csmith12]

Here is where this thread should go beyond the "just gas it and pray it holds" mentality. Let's see what happens.

[alex.s]

when in doubt, gas it out.

[Motofool]

Originally Posted by thisisbenji

Yesterday while riding to class my rear slid out from under me while taking a left hand turn at about 20 mph probably about half way through the turn.

Was this what happened?

http://www.motorcyclenews.com/MCN/Ne...to-back-it-in/

[rojoracing53]

Most of my road sliding experience is all at speeds most people never reach but the general idea would be the same. If your rear slide then there are several responses you can answer with depending on a few variables but the one thing they all share and most likely you'll do out of instinct is lift the bike when it happens. Most are surprised by the sudden loss of traction and tend to overreact and do the correct actions but in to large of quantities making the situation even worse.

#1 So your always going to lift a bit but if you off the gas going into a turn when it slides then you have to lightly feed some power to the rear wheel so it will match the speed of the passing asphalt and regain traction. This is probably the most surprising of the three and the hardest to save. This was very common on my R-1 at Fontana speedway in turns 4&5 so I've had lost of practice and it never any fun.

#2 is when your rear slides while your maintaining speed through a corner(keeping the same speed). In this case most of what you have to do is all in you body movement and keeping the throttle in the same position(maintain speed) like example #1 if you lift the bike it should regain traction and you'll have simply widened your arc through the turn. In most cases you are going to run wide and the amount will vary quite a bit on the speed, and your response. If you don't have the room to run a little wide the. You'll simply be saving it just in time to run off or into what ever is out side your corner.

#3 this is the one most think of first and in my experience on the 250 if your body and lean angle are in the right position it extremely hard to get the rear to slide "under power". Unless the road is wet, dirty or your tire looks like this



In this case keeping the same throttle assuming its a reasonable about (WOT on a 600cc+ bike in second gear while leaned over at 25mph is not reasonable). So assuming you gave it a LITTLE to much gas through a corner and your rear starts to come around its best to maintain your throttle position and lift the bike easy and the rear should realign it self with the front. It takes the smallest of inputs to save a slide but those inputs require finesse and are next to impossible to do consciously under pressure. Most just get luck or have lots of experiance with it so it become a reaction instead of an action.

A great way to use dirt bikes to practice sliding on a street bike is to ride on a smooth fire road while KEEPING your feet in the pegs and trying to control a slide.

I've never really thought about it personally but I think most poeple and books will tell you to apply more wieght to the outside foot peg but if that's the case I must do it without thinking. What have other heard about the outside peg.

Sorry about the length and or gramer it's to long to re-read on my phone

[alex.s]

fantastic post, jason

[rojoracing53]

I'm still waiting for the person to tell you to read that book every street joe is telling every other street joe to read, I don't remember the name but I'm slide its coming.

Just remember that knowing is NOT half the battle on the road knowing is mor like 10% then you have like 60% practice and experience and 30% luck in actually pulling it off during the moment of truth

[alex.s]

jason, you should write a book "how to be badass on 2 wheels" (subtitled; the art of seducing women and asphalt with motorcycles)

[rojoracing53]

Originally Posted by alex.s

jason, you should write a book "how to be badass on 2 wheels" (subtitled; the art of seducing women and asphalt with motorcycles)

I should do a lot of things but alas I'm to busy roaming the forums, pimping my bike with more **** last only a goldwing owner would buy, and......oh yeah riding the piss out of my bike until my tires bleed cords.

[thisisbenji]

Thanks for the tips that's actually kind of helpful.

When it slid out it was about halfway through the turn and under power. It slide because my tire was cold and I'm sure the street was even more so. As it was about 37 out. I think that I need to go to the track and get some practice riding hard so that I can make mistakes out there as with curbs on both sides of the road there's not really anywhere to go if you lift the bike up.

[rojoracing53]

Originally Posted by thisisbenji

Thanks for the tips that's actually kind of helpful.

When it slide out it was about halfway through the turn and under power. It slide because my tire was cold and I'm sure the street was even more so. As it was about 37 out. I think that I need to go to the track and get some practice riding hard so that I can make mistakes out there as with curbs on both sides of the road there's not really anywhere to go if you lift the bike up.

No prob have fun and be safe. If your still on bias ply tires when the sidewall flexes under load it also feels like a slide but isn't.

Sorry about my first post, because of background with motorcycles and sarcastic sense of humor I can't help myself

[Alex]

Originally Posted by alex.s

when in doubt, gas it out.

It may not fix the problem, but it will certainly end the suspense one way or the other.

[alex.s]

either way it'll may make some sweet youtube footage

[Motofool]

Originally Posted by thisisbenji

........When it slide out it was about halfway through the turn and under power. It slide because my tire was cold and I'm sure the street was even more so.....

Why the front tire didn't slide, being equally cold?

[csmith12]

weight and drive was at the rear

[tooblekain]

Originally Posted by csmith12

9 times out of 10, staying on the gas and is the way.

+1. It's how it is when going high speeds at the track also.

[thisisbenji]

Originally Posted by Motofool

Why the front tire didn't slide, being equally cold?

Yeah, but I didn't really throw it into the turn, I just gave it too much gas.

[bfpower]

Mount the camera to the bike so the vid isn't too wobbly.

[Motofool]

Originally Posted by thisisbenji

Yeah, but I didn't really throw it into the turn, I just gave it too much gas.

Perfect answer!

Giving excessive gas, your suspension couldn't help much keeping traction (already marginal due to excessive acceleration) while rolling over a pavement irregularity or slippery patch (each tire follows a different arc).

"Most riders don't understand this simple fact: The harder they twist the gas, the less compliant the rear suspension is and the more the rear end tries to rise." - Keith Code

At higher speeds, putting your foot down wouldn't help, but staying on the throttle, as you did, might save you from a low side.

"Throttle rule Number One, the smooth roll-on (the 40/60-percent weight loading), has other distinct advantages you should know about, especially during a rear-end slide.
Provided you weren't already too greedy with the throttle, your best insurance against more sliding or a highside is simply to stop rolling on the gas. The bike slows gradually, rather than quickly (as it would from chopping the throttle), and comes back into alignment smoothly." - Keith Code

[bfpower]

I'm in trouble; I always have excessive gas.

[choneofakind]

[bfpower]

Nah, I'm good; with careful control, it makes my 250 faster.

[akima]

This thread has made me feel like such a noob. I think it's mostly rojos fault. :/