Brown trousers moment

Just felt like sharing my near death/expensive repair incident...


Coming along the A4 Portway at about 4.30am yesterday[1], in the mild fog
and cold. Got to a bit where I needed to turn right[1] and there's a green
light on the right filter lane. Lovely. However, as I got a bit closer, it
begins to change. I'm *just* at that point where you could make it through
if you gave it some beans, or you could just about stop if you hauled on the
brakes a bit more.

At that point I notice the white car stopping at the lights, facing in the
other direction. Given that I have to cut across him, I decide braking is
the better option, so I give it a bit more of a squeeze.

The following probably took under a second, but I really couldn't tell you:

1) Handlebars snap round to the right.

2) Bike pitches over to the right, at what seems like about 30 degrees or
more.

3) I *stamp* my right foot down hard, but have no recollection of
instructing my foot to do this. I think it decided by itself.

At this point I *think* I must have let go of the brakes, because:

4) Handlebars snap back to central.

5) Bike rights itself.

6) I go sailing through a red light, and end up next to the central
reservation before remembering to stop about 30 yards down the road.

7) Think "**** this for a game of soldiers" and arrive 15 minutes late for
work, doing my "Driving Miss Daisy" impression the rest of the way there.

Now this is the closest I have come to having an accident in four years
since I started riding[3], and got me wondering. I guess the front wheel
momentarily locked up and then the forward momentum was enough to right me
again when I released the brake. Did I just simply brake too hard? Could it
have been diesel on the road, or perhaps just the white paint for the turn
right arrow?

I think in all the time I have been riding I have not really come close to
pushing the bike beyond what it's capable of. Maybe this was the first time.
In any event, I'm now setting my alarm clock 15 minutes earlier and not
hurrying to work!


[1] Christmas shifts at Marks & Spencer. Lovely...
[2] To head to Westbury-On-Trym for the locals.
[3] Falling off after 18 inches because you forgot to remove the disc lock
doesn't count...

 

....and if course the second [1] should be a [2]!

 

Don't blame diesel, too easy an option, Ultimatly you were going too fast
and braked to hard.

 

Indeed. Well done you lucky sod.

That is I believe the usual cause of locking the wheels up.

These would more likely have caused slide rather than too much stoppage,
which is what you experienced.

 

Well that's what I figured too, but having never experienced the "joys" of a
diesel encounter, I wondered if it was the same sort of thing.

Plus I've not had such enormous brakes before!

 

YTC#1 wrote

Wot the TC said.

Although I would be inclined to be a tad more self critical.

 

I'm still trying to work out what exactly happened. I'll move on to
self-criticism later.

 

Yes, I got caught out last year with one of those, managing to stop but
a foot or so behind a cage at a crossing. I certainly hadn't brakes all
that hard, and could only have put it down to a very greasy surface. At
that time there had been road salt around, but it was very damp on this
morning.

 

Dan White wrote

You fucked up and then got lucky.

I'd be happy to help.

 

<snip>

Glad you got away with it this time. Letting go of the brake is the hardest
thing to do in these situations but usually the only chance you've got of
saving it.

I don't really buy all these diesel stories I hear. I've ridden over it
lots of times with nary a twitch.
Sure if you accelerate too hard on it or brake on it then you're asking for
trouble.
Perhaps I've just been lucky - for 20-30,000 miles a year for the past 10
years.

Definitely don't put it down to bad luck or whatever - you were riding
inappropriately for the conditions - learn from that and move on.

 

You've been lucky.
If you go over diesel at any sort of banked angle (corner/roundabout), then
you'll be straight off.
I know these things...

 

Rubbish.

 

But, but, but, Bear did!

 

Suit yourself.

 

You seriously think that every time someone rides over diesel with any sort
of angle of lean they crash/fall off?

I'd suggest that that happens *some* of the time - if the patch of diesel is
big enough. (so that the bike is too far gone to recover once the tyre
reaches the other side of the diesel patch)

I'd also suggest it happens *most* of the time where the brakes are being
applied on said patch of diesel.

I don't ride around on the brakes very much - and especially not on bends or
roundabouts where lorries & trucks often spill diesel from overfilled tanks.

That's why I think your sweeping generalisation is rubbish.

 

" "

 

Sorby wrote

Nope. I have only seen diesel a couple of times on all the zillion
miles I have done over the years. Given the amount of it that other
folks seem to think is about I can only conclude that I have been very
lucky and ridden straight over it a lot more than I have seen it and
given that 99% of my riding is in an urban environment I must have
ridden straight over it *lots*.

Fresh, I think, is prolly the operative word. Once a couple of cages
have been over it and spread some dust into it, it would be all but
disarmed I reckon.

Sounds plausible enough.

Depends on yer mood dunnit.

Don't you just despise people who use them eh? I do.

 

That's my point - I've ridden a lot of road miles - presumably over my fair
share of diesel - and the only times I've ever lost the front end is when
I've locked the front under excessive braking - because I was travelling too
fast for the conditions and panic-braked.

Well - yeah - if I'm feeling suicidal I'll definitely try and find a patch
of diesel to slam the anchors on over.

I hate them all! And the extremists too! DEATH TO THE EXTREMISTS!!

 

As such things frequently are.

 

Sigh.
Only on UKRM do you have to qualify every single statement you make and back
it up with witnesses, photos, dates, times...

OK, the only time I know I've hit diesel is when I went back to look after
coming off (twice). On these occasions, I was going round a corner at a not
very considerable angle of lean.
Looking at the diesel, it looked fresh and wet. Putting a foot on it, it
felt very slippery. I wasn't braking, I hardly ever brake when I'm banked
over. I try to get my braking done before I corner.

Both times the front end just whooshed away from under me and didn't really
have much chance to save it, despite putting a foot down.

YMMV.