I joined the club tonight.

[bajakirch]

I got the new tires mounted on the bike today and couldn't wait to take it for a break-in ride. But the last couple of cold nights did a number on my battery charge, so I had to hook the bike up to the charger for a while.

Ended up going out about 7:30 p.m. Just some slow riding in town, making sure the brakes were working OK and the tires were grabbing. Everything was working fine.

Then I came up to a corner just a few blocks from my house. I made a right turn and suddenly I felt the back tire giving way. Before I could do anything, the front tire went too, and that's all she wrote. Went down on my right side.

I think my right leg took most of the impact. I've got a pretty good scrape on that knee.

I pulled my leg out. Luckily the bike had only been running for about 5 minutes, so things weren't too hot. Otherwise I might be sporting a nice burn on my calf from the exhaust.

A guy at a nearby house saw me go down and came over to help me get the bike up. He's a rider too. He then pointed out to me all the dirt on the road. Apparently the streets people did some construction work on the street and there was a good half inch of dirt on the asphalt. At first I thought it was the new tires, but then it became obvious what happened. My new tires were made for road use, not dirt-bikin'. And not a construction or warning sign to be seen. I think the village office will be getting a call from me first thing tomorrow morning  

As far as injuries, well, there's my pride. But other than the scraped knee, my right wrist, back and neck are a little sore.

As far as damage, I've got a little scrape on the right rear turn signal, the crank case is a little dinged up, my windscreen is a bit askew and the front brake handle (which already was scraped up on the ball) got some additional dings. Overall, I consider myself lucky in this regard. I drove it the 2 blocks home without any problems. One of the reasons I got the bike I did was because I assumed a time would come, as a newer rider, when I would put the bike down. I didn't want to be TOO upset when that happened. So I got a cheaper bike than I originally intended. I think I'd be much more upset if I just laid down a $3000 bike rather than my $1000 ride.

Finally, I'll make a statement about gear. When I tried to start the bike earlier, the battery didn't have enough charge to start. My intention at that time was to do the same kind of quick break-in ride. So I was not planning to wear my full gear -- just my helmet. When I got back to the bike and it started up, I had grabbed my jacket and gloves and changed my shorts for jeans. The only gear I was missing was my boots. Some sort of MC god must have been watching over me. Because if I'd gone down wearing what I had on earlier today, I'd probably still be at the ER getting gravel and dirt taken out of the scrapes on my leg. No matter how short the jaunt...ATGATT.

[JB1290]

Glad you werent seriously hurt.

[skramer360]

Dang Baja that just sucks. Glad there was no more damage.

[drdubb]

Glad you are ok and picked up your gear.

Now get some riding pants. Jeans aren't good enough.

[ariwhiteboy]

First off, VERY glad to hear you are relatively unhurt!   At least it was just the road and not another vehicle!

Now for my take on it....I know just bear with me. :)

I got the new tires mounted on the bike today and couldn't wait to take it for a break-in ride....

I made a right turn and suddenly I felt the back tire giving way. Before I could do anything, the front tire went too, and that's all she wrote. Went down on my right side.

I think that while the dirt in the road may have had something to do with it, it was more likely the fact that those tires were new.  I'm assuming you mean like brand new right?  The reason I ask is because new tires from the manufacturer tend to be very slick, next time you are at a dealership feel the difference between a tire on the rack and one with several hundred miles on it.  Obviously there is a wear difference but there is also an unmistakable "slipperiness" to a new tire.  Now someone correct me if I'm wrong, but that's a holdover from the mold release compound they spray right?  I have always been told that you want to take it really easy [b/] on new tires for the first couple hundred miles so you don't biff.  Don't take this the wrong way at all, but I only found that out via a similar situation.    Hopefully someone will read this and avoid the same mistake that we made. 

Again I'm really glad that you're ok, just goes to show that sometimes those little "trips around the block" can be just as hazardous.

 

[JB1290]

Ari, you are correct about new tires being slick. I am working on scrubbing in the tires I put on my NH. I can totally feel the difference between them and the ones on my Bandit. Add some dust or fine gravel with new tires and you may as well be on a sheet of ice.

[ariwhiteboy]

JB, I've heard of people using a scotch brite pad or something smilar to remove that slickness.  Never tried it myself though...

[JB1290]

I heard that too but, that seems like it would take longer to do than riding it to scrub them in. I wonder if you could clean the tread off with degreaser to remove the mold release agent. 

[ariwhiteboy]

Maybe, but I will likely stick with the riding gently to wear it off.  I don't like the idea of putting any sort of chemicals on my tires, no matter how mild or safe they may claim to be...bad juju.

[bajakirch]

No offense taken; it was a relatively inexpensive lesson.

Yes, I had heard that about new tires, which is while I was trying to get started on breaking them in. I was riding them pretty gingerly because of that. No doubt that was a contributing factor.

But in this case I think the loose dirt on the road was the primary culprit. At 7:30 p.m. up here, it's full-on dark out, and it wasn't a well-lit intersection. I went from regular asphalt to dirt road without knowing it was there.

Regardless, lessons learned and I will be a better rider because of it. I'd been getting a little complacent lately, doing some dumb stuff on the bike. My wife, a former dog trainer, would call this a 'hard correction'.

[ariwhiteboy]

My wife, a former dog trainer, would call this a 'hard correction'.

Let's hope that doesn't carry over to other areas....

[Bumblebee]

IME, degreasers tend to be slicker than snot on wet ice when put on rubber. Just guessing here but depending on the compound used, it may not solve the original problem since the chemistry is likely different.

A handful of miles to get the stuff off safely is not that big of a deal. It gives you time to get a feel for the new tires too. Don't forget to slowly increase lean angle over time to scrub the full tire surface.
Or put 50 miles on a dirt/gravel road. That'll get rid of the stuff and scrub the tires in more than adequately.

[hockeyhawk]

Baja, glad your ok and damage wasn't to bad. If your still hurting in the morning it might be worth getting checked out.

[cmyers]

JB, I've heard of people using a scotch brite pad or something smilar to remove that slickness.  Never tried it myself though...

I have been known to do this. I have also been teased about doing it. I have found that both this method and just riding are effective at scuffing in tires, just riding is more fun. I use a local round about and gradually increase lean angle and speed in one direction and then repeat in the opposite.

Baja: I am glad you came through relatively unharmed.

[popo303]

Glad you're OK Baja and that it was a minor low speed (almost no speed) spill.

[SirSeanSean]

Glad your ok and thank God that you had your gear on.

[hppants]

Good to hear you are OK Baja - best wishes for a continued recovery.

[Xevuhtess7]

Dang thats scary. I've experienced some unintended drifting when scrubbing in new tires on my car, and the thought of doing that on a motorcycle seems really tricky.

In a car you cant really "fall off" if the tires start to slide, so how are motorcycle tires supposed to be scrubbed? It'd be interesting to hear how racing teams do it

Glad you're ok though

[LOKi]

Dirt on asphalt is slicker than any mold release. Much more than dirt on a dirt road. The thin layer of dirt acts like ball bearings with the hard asphalt. Even my dirt tires would wash out on something like that.

Scrubbing in tires. This only works for the back but when I put a new back tire I look for the first patch of gravel or dirt on the side of the road. Stop back up to it, pull the front brake and do a little burn out. Spin that back tire enough to dig a hole so the entire surface is scrubbed. Now if there was an easy way like that to do the front.

[bajakirch]

Now if there was an easy way like that to do the front.

Just put it in reverse.

I talked to the local streets people today about their lack of signage. Their response was typical of the way I've seen these guys work (I used to live across the street from the municipal garage): "We've been working there for months; we took down the signs because we figured everyone knew about it."

Supposedly the signs are going back up today.

[JB1290]

Is there any noticeable damage to your bike? You could always get an estimate for any damage and take it to the city.

[Brittles]

Baja, I'm thankful you came out relatively unscathed. Lessons hard learned for sure.

Please don't take this the wrong way but you are ultimately responsible for your own actions. You cannot count on a sign being in place to warn you of every danger on the road nor should you. 

[Burgi]

Dirt on asphalt is slicker than any mold release. Much more than dirt on a dirt road. The thin layer of dirt acts like ball bearings with the hard asphalt. Even my dirt tires would wash out on something like that.

Glad you are OK Baja.
I'm with Loki. I've been through several near rears tires and never slipped a bit but it is really easy to slide on dirt over asphalt. If my wuss self slides on it anyone can!

[bajakirch]

Please don't take this the wrong way but you are ultimately responsible for your own actions. You cannot count on a sign being in place to warn you of every danger on the road nor should you.

Oh, I know, and that's why I'm not going to go after them for damages. I'm big on personal responsibility, so trying to get them to pay for what was ultimately my decision to drive down a darkened road on new tires would be hypocritical.

Today the only lingering effects are the skinned knee and a little twinge in the wrist. I don't remember it, but I must have put my hand down as I was falling and jammed it a bit.

[Bumblebee]

You cannot count on a sign being in place to warn you of every danger on the road nor should you.

And you probably don't really want the signs on the side of the road in the first place. They're just solid immovable hard and/or sharp objects to run into that are designed to cause a lot of catastrophic damage to the human body.

Steel guard rails on the outside of a turn mounted to the ground by immovable posts, ish. Take them all down before they kill somebody again. It's much safer to go down a steep embankment into the trees or even off a small cliff than into one of those posts or rails.

Every time I see a sign with the sharp edged formed steel post on the outside of a curve, I'm thinking about which ballistic trajectory to set myself up on to insure that if I go down for whatever reason, I'll go anywhere but into that lethal object.