Cold weather low side

[BkerChuck]

Sorry to hear of your misfortune but glad to hear you're okay. I commute to work on the bike as much as possible but now that it's getting a lot colder I allow myself a few extra minutes in the morning so I can leave earlier. I know I have to be a lot more careful with the throttle on cold tires and I like to let my heated gear warm up too. Watch for leaves as well they can cause sphincter clenching very quickly.

 

[bwv]

Q. What the most likely consequence? A. Minor rash. Q. What's the likelihood of going down? A. Very low. Decision: Wear jeans.

Thanks so much for the sarcasm. The tone of this paragraph is unique among those from other members on this thread. I've manned up and taken the rap for making a very poor decision. What's your point?

I read this as being written in support of your decision, and putting the decision making process into a rubric. I don't think he was being sarcastic.

From what I've seen here, unless it involves a goat, you wont usually get much nasty stuff from these guys...

(BTW, I make the same decision most of the time (Khakis..not even jeans)... I live 3 miles from one job and 5 from the other (its all very rural, straight, back road for the most part, any further than that, and I am usually ATGATT).

While you feel you made a "poor decision" and I do agree we "should" all put on every chunk of our armor every time we lift the kickstand... in reality, every day, we all place our own weights on "Just going up the road a bit" vs "Now I gotta take off my shoes to get these extra pants off when i get to work" kinds of decisions... and we all have different limits. Yours might now be "every time I leave the driveway" or "if i go past my village limits" or "on a long trip" Enjoy your freedoms.. the decisions we make in life, and any possible consequences or benefits are all yours to own and learn from.

Hppants hit it dead on... Process, Repair, and Don't get stuck on your feelings or make any irreversible decisions... go for a ride when you get your bike, and your head, put back together right. Do not beat yourself up... You didn't intentionally commit a crime nor did you hurt anyone... it was a simple human error that involved timing, temperature, a fancy machine, and a chunk of slippery iron.

It's good you got a chance to vent and get it out... I wasn't gonna mention my poor decision to anyone...and now you have helped me get that out too.

Thank you for sharing your experience. I'm gonna be looking at manhole covers with greater care now.

 

[user 31223]

I agree the mention of manhole covers was a timely reminder - as we got our first dose of rain for some time this morning and i was definitely looking out for manhole covers ! Thanks for sharing

And of course ! Glad your ok.

 

[RichDoyle]

Remember that the tires are also cold early in any ride, especially now in the cooler weather. This matters. A few miles later you'll have traction you didn't in that first mile. Or conversely, you'll fail to have traction you had when arriving at work earlier.

In Seattle it's common for them to put big steel plates (4x8 and larger) down on the streets when they're working on some project but need to keep the road open at times. These get polished by thousands of tires rolling over them. Add a rainy day and it be a trap for the unwary, cold or not. Downtown Seattle has some blocks that rival San Francisco for steepness, albeit for shorter distances. And the steel plates will appear on those suckers, as well. (One day I encountered leaked/spilled engine coolant on one of these sloped plates - hooah!). Then there are the ferry decks, also well-polished steel, often wet over much of their surface.

And any painted road surface. Got a nice tank-slapper going once on a shoulder stripe merging onto I-5.

 

[cota95]

If you need a backup screen until you replace the rifle let me know. I'm just up the street...

Turns out a PR2 at 45 degrees Fahrenheit has little or no interest in maintaining traction at even the slightest lean angle and throttle positionSnapped the large Rifle screen clean off,

 

[Top_Speed1]

Dewin- Good finally hearing something from you, kinda would want it in a slightly different way! Well glad you are (mainly) Okay.

So get the bike back together and we'll see you out on the '14 Rally circuit! (plenty of time to heal those scrapes!)

...I'll always remember your pronunciation and correction of me trying to say your name. Sad part of it was... I was still sober! (I think).

 

[CA G-Man]

(BTW, I make the same decision most of the time (Khakis..not even jeans)... I live 3 miles from one job and 5 from the other (its all very rural, straight, back road for the most part, any further than that, and I am usually ATGATT).

"usually ATGATT"? Is that like being "somewhat pregnant?"

 

[Redfish Hunter]

So many points to make here...

1. You have been very honest with yourself and us. Don't keep beating yourself up. You lived, you learned. We all support you, several of us have crashed and we understand your feelings. You are not alone and you sure are not the only one who ever made a "bad" decision regarding riding gear.

2. I have made that same jeans/khakis/riding pants decision too many times. I confess I have made the wrong decision all too often. The biggest issue is that I don't look pretty with my riding pants. They make my butt look big. I cannot account for any other good reason for my laziness/stupidity.

3. On Dad's old route to work (he's retired now) there is a manhole cover smack in the middle of a right hand turn in an intersection. We both used to sweat that with the bias ply Dunlops on the '84 'Wing. We took that route a few months ago and we both ran over it on purpose with our new PR3s just for old time's sake. We laughed about it but I still was tensed up for a mile or so afterward.

4. I am uncomfortable talking about ManHoles. I don't feel any better about it knowing they are covered. I keep expecting beemerdonS to show up with some highly inappropriate pic involving Bust, Zilla, a sheep and some sort of ManHole.

 

[ionbeam]

...3. On Dad's old route to work (he's retired now) there is a manhole cover smack in the middle of a right hand turn in an intersection. We both used to sweat that with the bias ply Dunlops on the '84 'Wing. We took that route a few months ago and we both ran over it on purpose with our new PR3s just for old time's sake. We laughed about it but I still was tensed up for a mile or so afterward...

Consider the alternative, in Manchester NH last year someone was stealing the covers and selling them as scrap metal. Picture driving down the road and running over the place where the manhole cover was supposed to have been

 

[MrM0t0]

Glad you are not seriously hurt. As a member of the crash club, I can relate to your feelings. I rode the belt sander about 2 weeks after I bought my FJR and from the moment I stopped sliding, I started questioning my decision to "upgrade" in the bike department. And even the thought of riding all together. I told my family I'd be careful, and I let them and myself down - if I can't ride this thing responsibly, then I shouldn't ride at all.
Well, others gave me sound suggestions, so I'll pay it forward if you don't mind:

1. Give yourself time to process this. Don't get too wrapped up in the particulars now. Be thankful that you weren't hurt and that you know exactly what happened and how it happened.

2. When the mood hits you, write your thoughts down. I thought this was BS, but I was wrong. When the mind starts vomiting the analysis, it's sometimes hard to process it all at once. If you write it down, even if it's only for your own benefit, you get a chance to go back and re-study it later. This works amazingly well.

3. Fix the bike yourself. Taking the time to remove the damage and study it gives you a new appreciation for what happened. You will see the accident from all angles, and things will be much more clearer to you.

4. Get back on the bike as soon as possible. Even if it's only to ride slowly around the neighborhood. The longer you wait, the harder it will be. Do this even if you are leaning on selling the bike or even quitting motorcycling all together. Later down the road you might regret not getting back on the horse, just to prove to yourself whatever you are doubting.

5. Go back to the scene of the crime. Stand over the location, move around, and look at it from different views. Process what happened in your mind and build confidence in yourself that you understand it, and will likely not do it again.

6. Don't let your decision be set in stone. If you wake up next week and think "that's it, I'm selling the bike and moving on", don't tell anyone for a while. Let those thoughts sink in and understand the ramifications of it. Everyone has a right to change their mind, and if that happens for you, the whole thing can take place in your memory.

1. Done.

2. Analysis done within minutes with a veteran rider co-worker. A simple change of entry point into the turn brought me over the man-hole cover.

3. I always work on my own bike, Parts ordered.

4. I rode it home on the highway with out the windscreen.I think that was soon enough.

5. Reviewed the scene again this morning in daylight. No new conclusions. That line will always bring me over that manhole cover. Cold tires at that throttle setting will always spin. Lesson learned.

6. Not gonna happen. This was an anomaly. See you on the road my friend.

 

[MrM0t0]

If you need a backup screen until you replace the rifle let me know. I'm just up the street...

Thanks for the offer George. I have a stocker and a CalSci in reserve. And after calling Rifle they are selling me a replacement screen and a 12 pack of screws for $150 delivered. They answered my question as to availability within 31 minutes of my emailing them at 10 PM Eastern last night. Great service!!!

 

[MrM0t0]

And how about those GOD-DAMNED piano-key crosswalks cities are using now. They are so gol-durned slippery when wet it's amazing we don't go down every time it rains.

 

[Fred W]

Yes! Any of those really thick, retro-reflective painted road markings are a hazard for motorcycles.

Probably the worst ones now are the gigantic turn arrows they paint in the middle of the lanes of rotaries up here in Cow Hampshire. Here's a phot of one of the two new ones at the ManchVegas airport. The arrows were a bit faded when this Google maps satellite photo was taken, but were repainted sometime in late summer early fall and are now much thicker a slicker. You have to cut your line to miss the arrows or else if you hit one of the arrows when it's wet out, you are goin' down.

We should probably get the AMA hot on trying to ban them.

 

[lonerider]

Real glad to hear you weren't injured any worse than you were. I was dressed much the same when I encountered my first suicidal forest rat in 1996. The leather jacket saved my left arm and shoulder and the boots saved my left leg (trapped under a hot exhaust), but the cotton work pants I was wearing let the blacktop get to my leg almost immediately. Roadrash is a *****. Hope you heal up quick and find the parts you need to fix up your bike.

 

[FJR Bill]

Good comments about manhole covers and more importantly painted surfaces. Doesn't have to be cold for these to put you down in a turn. Just a bit of dew can make them very slippery. A long time ago I wrote for myself some things not to do. One was never do aggressive cornering at city intersections. The paint, gravel, debris, oil, manhole covers etc make this a place where you don't want to be aggessive. If it's cold and or wet, even be more careful. Good discussion here amd glad the OP is ok.

Bill

 

[DennisJ]

Those steel plates used in construction zones in the Seattle area are a real hazard even when dry. I always make a point of going across them without any lean at all or if possible use any part of the lane that is not covered with shiny steel. When wet they are just like ice and will really get your attention. Avoid them when possible is my routine but they show up without notice.

 

[CA G-Man]

Those steel plates used in construction zones in the Seattle area are a real hazard even when dry. I always make a point of going across them without any lean at all or if possible use any part of the lane that is not covered with shiny steel. When wet they are just like ice and will really get your attention. Avoid them when possible is my routine but they show up without notice.

They're not just used in the Seattle area (although they are probably more likely to be wet there than in other places

) and yeah, they're worth being nervous about. Ice is a good analogy.

 

[Old Guy]

Leaving my office, I took a different line at the first right turn in order to avoid the crazy downhill washboard pavement since the street is paved-over cobblestones. Well, that different line placed my apex directly over an ancient, polished manhole cover.
Turns out a PR2 at 45 degrees Fahrenheit has little or no interest in maintaining traction at even the slightest lean angle and throttle position when ridden over such a surface. Down we went, on her right side, with the bike spinning clockwise for 2 full revolutions. It was kind of spectacular.

Snapped the large Rifle screen clean off, destroyed my Wild Bill's peg on the right side, rashed the right bag in a major way, but the OES slider completely saved the fairing. And weirdly, the body of the mirror sustained no damage, bot the frame of the actual mirror glass got some rash.

no damage to boots, Olympia AST, or my lid, but I sustained a minor rash on my jeans-clad knee because I felt the slow pace I take during my short commute didn't warrant the need for pants. Ummmm........wrong.

Lessons learned: Mind those man-hole covers, and wear protective pants.

Last sentence is very important. if you just have to have an accident, at least learn something.

Glad you suffered no serious human damage.

 

[Chuck35]

Piles of pine straw blown onto the roadway are to be avoided also!

Stich makes some stylish jeans with kneepads, for those "short" trips.

Glad you're ok

 

[hppants]

MrM... Good to read you are on your way, in every sense of the phrase.

Hope to see you on the road one day. We've got a lot of uncharted water to cover!