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I was behind her (on her Ninja) when it happened, and it loving blew my mind. I mean, what are the chances? I have to give her MASSIVE props for remaining cool and composed through all of it and not panicking with a giant handful of brake or a haphazard duck/weave/dodge, even though it had to be a huge surprise of OMGWTF all at once.
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Oct 12, 2010 05:39
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modify_evolution posted:Trash bag Nice job on keeping your cool. Relatedly, how do you like the v-strom?
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Oct 12, 2010 14:26
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Glad you weren't hurt from the flying debris. That's scary. That is one of my biggest concerns when I'm out on the interstate. One time I was in my truck driving behind a semi and a huge chunk of rock flew out, bounced off the ground and went through my radiator. If something like that happened on my bike, I'd be dead. Ever since then, I ALWAYS make sure to secure my loads properly when I'm hauling anything.
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Oct 12, 2010 17:37
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I never EVER hang out behind trucks, no matter how well their load is secured, because of stories like this... Hell, most of riding safe could be summed up in picking up on stuff like that. Sure, it's a one in a million incident, but that doesn't make it any less lovely when you're the one in a million...and if you ride long enough, you're gonna hit some of those oddball ones. I recently had it mentioned to me to look twice in shaded areas for bicyclists who are resting on hot days. Bicyclists will get dehydrated on a long ride, a little delirious, and you forget to look both ways before entering the roadway, or swerve a bit into your path, and a motorcyclist/bicyclist accident is really nasty for everyone involved.
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Oct 12, 2010 18:15
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Synonamess Botch posted:Nice job on keeping your cool. Relatedly, how do you like the v-strom? Thanks. I like it a lot- the only issues I had were the shifter being adjusted for Tsaven, and the weight being balanced differently than my ninja. I'm used to being able to manhandle my bike around with my legs and hips when it's not moving (I once prevented dropping my bike on wet grass by just standing up), and I definitely can't do that with the strom. But. ACTUAL ACCELERATION POWER. Plus, I have really long legs (32" inseam or something like that), so not being all folded up on the Ninja was nice. It felt like I was riding a cushy chair down the freeway. A fast cushy chair. Scrapez posted:Glad you weren't hurt from the flying debris. That's scary. Z3n posted:I never EVER hang out behind trucks, no matter how well their load is secured, because of stories like this... Yeah, honestly, it was weird. That's been one of my big concerns since I started being aware of things outside the car, despite having never had that happen to me before despite an illogical amount of car driving in the past, and I think I just got distracted. But I don't know. I have awful short-term memory, so it's already reduced itself to "thwapped with a trash bag on the freeway. Rusty pick-up truck was involved." I dunno. And I don't know what Tsaven saw pre-thwapping. But seriously, lesson learned. Not an illogical fear, can actually happen. modify_evolution fucked around with this message at 18:58 on Oct 12, 2010 |
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Oct 12, 2010 18:56
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A few months back I was following a tradesman in his ute (pickup to you yanks), and an entire sheet of gyprock (drywall I think you guys call it, or gypsum board?) got loose from its restraint and became airborne, landing on the road and smashing into bits. Myself and two other drivers were unable to avoid the pieces tumbling along the road and damaged our cars hitting it. That was a great lesson, because I know on the bike I will be attentive to that sort of thing in future!
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Oct 13, 2010 13:19
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Z3n posted:I recently had it mentioned to me to look twice in shaded areas for bicyclists who are resting on hot days. Bicyclists will get dehydrated on a long ride, a little delirious, and you forget to look both ways before entering the roadway, or swerve a bit into your path, and a motorcyclist/bicyclist accident is really nasty for everyone involved. The other day some guy was walking his bicycle across the road ahead of me, (I was the only one on the road, no cars) and he just stops on the median like hes going to let me go by. But just as I'm getting close he loving steps out in to the dead center of the road. I had to swerve around him, I don't know what he was thinking. Maybe dehydration, maybe he just felt like being a dick.
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Oct 13, 2010 14:31
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Clank posted:The other day some guy was walking his bicycle across the road ahead of me, (I was the only one on the road, no cars) and he just stops on the median like hes going to let me go by. But just as I'm getting close he loving steps out in to the dead center of the road. I had to swerve around him, I don't know what he was thinking. Maybe dehydration, maybe he just felt like being a dick. I usually roll away at great speed when someone is a dick to me on the bike but I think that is one of the few times I would have turned around and had words.
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Oct 13, 2010 19:44
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I had a woman cut me off this morning, but she noticed in the process and cut back over, and I'm pretty sure I'd have been able to back off in time anyways. The weird thing though, was when I pulled up and she came to a stop behind me at the next light, I could see in my mirrors that she was sobbing hysterically. I couldn't tell if she was honestly that upset that she tried to kill me, or if she'd done that because she was already crying and therefore not paying very close attention. Either way it was really weird, and further reinforces to me that everyone in a car is loving crazy and not to be trusted.
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Oct 13, 2010 20:30
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BlackMK4 posted:I usually roll away at great speed when someone is a dick to me on the bike but I think that is one of the few times I would have turned around and had words. I just gave him a good honk, I was too busy wondering what would posses him to do that.
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Oct 13, 2010 20:43
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Here4DaGangBang posted:A few months back I was following a tradesman in his ute (pickup to you yanks)  Unlikely. We don't get utes here. At all. Haven't since the early '80's. Not even the fire-breathing Holden VE SS ute that was going to be sold in the US as a Pontiac G8. Which I would have sold a kidney for. No, instead, we get PICKUP TRUCKS!  Sad, isn't it?
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Oct 14, 2010 21:13
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I hate those 6 wheeled montrosities, especially when they're in the middle lane on a 3 lane road. can't really squeeze by on either side, fuckers. Most of the time the bed is empty and theres one person driving.
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Oct 15, 2010 01:34
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Jabs posted:
I'll make you feel better...  Doesn't an F350 sound like just the ticket after that?
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Oct 16, 2010 20:49
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BlackMK4 posted:Another Arizona goon? We've had heavy storms the past few days here and it ended up being the first real rain riding I've done on the zx6r. I found out quickly that heavy throttle will break traction in first gear easily... which is fine, until you start loving with it to try and feel the bike out 'in a controlled situation' and almost highside yourself to the moon like a dipshit modify_evolution posted:So we get back on the freeway. I end up behind a pick-up truck with crap in the back. I'd been behind him for awhile, and nothing was shifting or moving around. When all of a sudden, a giant black garbage bag flies out of the back of the truck, and plasters itself to my windshield and front fairing. Also be weary of truck tires blowing out. Have had it happen twice to me with trucks directly in front of me. Thankfully both times it happened at fairly low speeds so I was able to move around the big pieces of curled rubber. The extremely loud unexpected bangs did give me a near heart attack as well.
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Oct 18, 2010 03:22
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I got hit in the head with a hubcap: Doing 80kph (~50mph) on a 2 lane road, saw the hubcap come off the car in front of me in the other lane and thought "this is going to suck", hubcap rolled along nicely next to the car then swerved into my lane under the car in front of me in my lane and then proceeded to bounce around underneath the car somehow and fly up and hit me right in the visor. I really should have slowed way down as soon as I saw the hubcap come off instead of sitting right behind the car but I just didn't, nearly fell off because of it (glad I didn't because if I crashed again I think my girlfriend would rip my nuts off).
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Oct 18, 2010 04:42
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It's probably a good idea to check your helmet for damage...they don't respond well to getting smacked around with you head in them. You can usually contact the maker and they'll xray it for you, or if it's a really cheap one just grab a replacement.
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Oct 18, 2010 04:46
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Edit: wrong thread, double dummy
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Oct 21, 2010 00:03
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I've been in a similar situation, luckily driving down the road when a large piece of sheet metal comes off the tradies ute in front of me, was following him probably a little too close but had no choice but to centre it and hope for the best. It took a decent chunk out of the front of the hire car that luckily wasn't noticed when I returned it. Don't know what I would have done should I have been on my bike. I don't tend to ride multi lane highways on my bike anyway.
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Oct 21, 2010 06:47
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Technically, I didn't crash... But my brain decided to tell my my kickstand was down when it wasn't really. 3 or 4mm scratch on the left frame slider but that's it. I was able to lower it down slow enough after the lean-point of no return. It was my shiny SV650, not my beat up Honda sadly 
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Oct 29, 2010 23:14
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I understand now why in the MSF training the insctructors had us practice a drill of straightening up before braking in a curve. I was going through a twisty road with an SUV in front of me, and he disappeared around a bend. When I was about halfway through it, leaned over a bit and going only about 35, he suddenly pops back into view and is sitting there stopped with his brake lights shining; it's a college campus, so there was some dumbass student in the road. Instead of straightening up first like I should have, I went right onto the brakes in the middle of the turn, and my whole bike did a bit of a wobble and I could feel the front wheel jerk to the side. I think if I had been going 5-10 mph faster I would have high-sided, but I was able to get it straightened out and still come to a stop in time. I definitely understand the danger of the blind corner, now. Even if I had straightened out first properly, I might have ended up going into the other lane before coming to a complete stop, and still could have been hit if there was a car coming from the other direction.
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Nov 11, 2010 17:41
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You can brake in corners, you just can't jam them on.
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Nov 11, 2010 18:38
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Yeah, I need to get the front brakes checked out on this bike. Basically they do absolutely nothing until you pull the lever in about 90% then come on suddenly strong enough to lock it up.
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Nov 11, 2010 19:13
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That's a symptom of having old brake fluid or having air in your brake system. You can easily bleed the brakes yourself in about 30 minutes for the cost of the brake fluid ($4) and some tubing and a bottle. You should also check the condition of the pads, which is easy to do. Just get under the caliper and look up into the pads, they have notches in them that indicate how worn they are...little to no notch left means it's time for new ones. Also easy to do.
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Nov 11, 2010 19:35
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Yeah, I just bought the bike last week so I'm still trying to get a sense of what needs to be worked on. I'll check the pads for sure, and look into bleeding the brakes next chance I get. Thanks for the advice, as I imagine those 30 minutes and $4 would cost me $200 if I had my mechanic check it out! edit: the bike is a 2009 with like 3,000 miles on it, so I'm guessing it's not old brake fluid, but the front end was rebuilt after a crash by a PO and may have had a sub-par job of it done, so I wouldn't be surprised if they got air in there or something.
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Nov 11, 2010 20:13
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What kind of bike?
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Nov 11, 2010 20:54
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Triumph Bonneville.
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Nov 11, 2010 20:59
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You can check the age of the brake fluid pretty easily. Just open the front brake reservoir (or look into the viewing glass if it's not too dirty) and see what color the fluid is. If it's amber you're good. If it's dark like chocolate, not good.
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Nov 11, 2010 21:10
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I just ran out to the parking lot and checked. Brake pads have nice deep gaps in them still, and brake reservoir is a perfectly clear amber that's above the marked lower limit, although a good ways from the upper mark (maybe 1/4 full between the two).
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Nov 11, 2010 21:26
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This happened about 2 years ago, but I still remember it: Riding from Dallas to Houston on I-45, just south of Dallas where it's still 3 or 4 lanes... I'm hauling all of the rear end that can be hauled on a Ninja250, and some stupid cager in a Camry is going all of 55 in the middle lane. I move over to the inside lane, and look ahead of the Camry. There is a huge piece of loving PLYWOOD sitting in the middle of the lane that I was just in. The Camry straddles it, and as soon as the car passed over it, the board stood almost straight up and the poor Audi that was where I had been a few seconds ago smashed into it going about 60. If I wouldnt have moved over, I would have smashed face first into a half inch tick piece of plywood going ~65 on a Ninja250, in pretty heavy traffic.
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Nov 12, 2010 11:41
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SlightlyMadman posted:I just ran out to the parking lot and checked. Brake pads have nice deep gaps in them still, and brake reservoir is a perfectly clear amber that's above the marked lower limit, although a good ways from the upper mark (maybe 1/4 full between the two). Feel your rotors and see if you can feel any oil or grease. That's to check to see if your pads got contaminated somehow (usually by a leaking fork seal). If that checks out and bleeding the brakes doesn't improve it, then I'm out of ideas. 
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Nov 12, 2010 14:38
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invision posted:There is a huge piece of loving PLYWOOD sitting in the middle of the lane that I was just in. The Camry straddles it, and as soon as the car passed over it, the board stood almost straight up and the poor Audi that was where I had been a few seconds ago smashed into it going about 60.  That's some hosed up stuff right there. Poor Audi driver, you're extremely lucky not to have hit that.
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Nov 12, 2010 15:00
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I was riding on a 45mph 3 lane road approaching an intersection where our direction was green. The car in front of me starts slowing down, so I match. Our light was green, cars are flying by at 45+ mph, and I can see over the car and there is nothing in front (no traffic, accidents, etc). So I assume they are just adjusting their speed. The last thing I expect is for them to stop, but of course that is what they plan to do. I didn't realize this right away because I had glanced in my mirror to try to get around him. Once I saw that I had to STOP, it was almost too late. I gave a little too much rear so it locked and slid out of alignment. I barely stopped in time (and upright), and then the car behind almost rear ended me. Turns out the guy thought he was in the left turn lane, where there was a red arrow. He turned his blinker on and waited patiently at his perfectly green light. Moral: if someone is slowing down in front of you, don't ever glance away. Even if you are 99.9% sure they are just adjusting their speed, they might be making a complete stop.
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Nov 15, 2010 01:06
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ynotony posted:I was riding on a 45mph 3 lane road approaching an intersection where our direction was green. The car in front of me starts slowing down, so I match. Our light was green, cars are flying by at 45+ mph, and I can see over the car and there is nothing in front (no traffic, accidents, etc). So I assume they are just adjusting their speed. The last thing I expect is for them to stop, but of course that is what they plan to do. I had a similar experience Friday night. I was riding in rush hour traffic and in the dark. I had quite a gap between me and the cars in front of me. I got on the throttle and noticed brake lights. Everyone rides their god drat brakes in Michigan so I just figured they were slowing down. Nope, there was a whole gaggle of cars at a complete stop. I hit both brakes for panic stop and I hit the rear brake a little too hard and locked it up. Stayed on the back brake and pumped the front brake and kept it all upright and didn't hit anyone or anything. drat that rear brake is touchy on my R6!
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Nov 16, 2010 14:38
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Crayvex posted:I had a similar experience Friday night. I was riding in rush hour traffic and in the dark. I had quite a gap between me and the cars in front of me. I got on the throttle and noticed brake lights. Everyone rides their god drat brakes in Michigan so I just figured they were slowing down. Nope, there was a whole gaggle of cars at a complete stop. I hit both brakes for panic stop and I hit the rear brake a little too hard and locked it up. Stayed on the back brake and pumped the front brake and kept it all upright and didn't hit anyone or anything. drat that rear brake is touchy on my R6! It is really hard to not lock up your rear under heavy braking because all the weight is transferred to the front wheel. I mostly won't touch my rear brake, even for hard stops. If I do use it, it's a very light application.
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Nov 16, 2010 15:07
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FuzzyWuzzyBear posted:It is really hard to not lock up your rear under heavy braking because all the weight is transferred to the front wheel. I mostly won't touch my rear brake, even for hard stops. If I do use it, it's a very light application. I was taught to start out with the rear brake to load the front and smoothly transfer to the front brake so I was completely off the rear brake once fully on the front.
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Nov 16, 2010 15:40
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The only time I'll touch my rear brake is at speeds <15mph or if I'm doing some sportbike offroading.Crayvex posted:I had a similar experience Friday night. I was riding in rush hour traffic and in the dark. I had quite a gap between me and the cars in front of me. I got on the throttle and noticed brake lights. Everyone rides their god drat brakes in Michigan so I just figured they were slowing down. Nope, there was a whole gaggle of cars at a complete stop. I hit both brakes for panic stop and I hit the rear brake a little too hard and locked it up. Stayed on the back brake and pumped the front brake and kept it all upright and didn't hit anyone or anything. drat that rear brake is touchy on my R6! 
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Nov 16, 2010 17:13
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KozmoNaut posted:I was taught to start out with the rear brake to load the front and smoothly transfer to the front brake so I was completely off the rear brake once fully on the front. Same here. That doesn't stop me from completely ignoring it though. I think I've put my foot on the lever two or three times on the Zuke this year.
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Nov 16, 2010 19:55
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I can't remember the last time I used the rear brake for anything other than hooliganism. When I'm practicing full panic stops I'll drill lightly grazing the rear brake, but all the work is front. The rear brake is basically only used to initiate slides and wheelie control, with the occasional intentional lockup slide into parking space. It's also great for holding a bike on a steep hill.
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Nov 16, 2010 19:59
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Spiffness posted:It's also great for holding a bike on a steep hill. Aye, I was going to say my rear brake is fantastic at keeping me still while I fiddle with something two-handed at a red light. I guess you could use it for hill starts too but the front is way easier imo.
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Nov 16, 2010 20:57
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KozmoNaut posted:I was taught to start out with the rear brake to load the front and smoothly transfer to the front brake so I was completely off the rear brake once fully on the front. That's great for normal riding but in a panic stop I'm not going to have time to finesse the rear brake into the front brake. I simply do a careful initial bite with the front brake and then go hog wild, the limit being when my rear wheel leaves the ground. I pretty much only use the rear brake in situations where my front is already pretty loaded up and I need to tighten my line or slow down, and that's only on the track. I'm probably not even good enough to gently caress with the rear brake even then. Edit: Oh, and I'll probably be getting some use out of the rear brake to control rear wheel speed when I start backing my sumo in. 
FuzzyWuzzyBear fucked around with this message at 21:07 on Nov 16, 2010 |
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Nov 16, 2010 21:01
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