RE: [ST] What did I do wrong?

["Dan Wallander" <triumph99@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

It's really hard to explain something like this as the road surface
conditions that caused the spin/slide in the first place vary so much. 
However, sudden throttle/brake changes or inputs are the worst thing you
can do and will most often land you on your butt.  I've gone into a power
slide, chopped the throttle and lived to tell about it (barely), but it is
much less dramatic when you 'allow' the bike to recover on its own.

In a power slide where the rear wheel is spinning and the rear of the MC is
stepping out you can often recover by simply allowing the speed of the
motorcycle to catch up with the spinning rear tire.  By not making any
changes to the throttle or gradually letting off the throttle, the rear end
will come back in line with the direction of travel as the forward speed of
the MC catches up with the torque of the spinning wheel.  The danger here
is that whatever caused the rear wheel to spin in the first place is not
longer present and the rear wheel hooks up suddenly on dry pavement and you
high side off the other side!

So, there really isn't any patent answer that works for all situations. 
Only generalizations that might work in most cases.  The only way to really
know is to get the 'feel' of what a slide is, what the 'feel' of hooking up
again is, what it 'feels' like to go into a low side, etc...   The only way
I know to do this is by experiencing it.  There are only two relatively
safe ways of doing this that I know of and one is getting yourself on a
dirt bike and purposely doing it or getting on that slide bike (is it Keith
Code?).  Even racers who obviously know all of this lose control of
traction sometimes and crash.

Be aware that intersections have nasty stuff like diesel fuel, oil drips
and antifreeze spills that are very slippery.  Also metal street covers,
railroad tracks, painted lines, etc are often slippery.  The first part of
a rain is often the most slippery especially in areas that don't get a lot
of rain while all that oil and crud get washed off the road.  This time of
year, the sand/salt solutions left on roadways and black ice can be
especially dangerous.

Dan.

Dan Wallander
Albuquerque, New Mexico
www.danwallander.com 
Triumph Sprint ST :: BMW R90/6
TSRA-VP, ABC, IBA, AMA,HSTA


> [Original Message]
> From: Dan Wetherington <DEW@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> To: <ST@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Date: 3/9/2004 11:15:06 AM
> Subject: RE: [ST] What did I do wrong?
>
>
>
> >>> mort.harries@xxxxxx 3/9/2004 10:46:56 AM >>>
> Still, what bugs me is if something like this starts to happen, is
> there anything I can do to prevent it?
>
> >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>
> I was wondering the same thing.  Thinking back on everything I've
> learned/been taught, I can't recall what the proper thing to do is... 
> Someone said that you shouldn't cut the throttle, which makes sense, but
> how do you bring the bike back under control??
> My only experience with this type of thing is from a small, underpowerd
> dirtbike, and because of the soft ground, releasing the throttle had no
> ill effect.
>
> So could anyone enlighten us???
>
>




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