First Drop

[ryanschoebel]

I dropped the bike for the first time today. Little bit of a backstory. I've been riding a lot lately, and as such, I've just parked the bike on the street in front of my house, which has never been an issue before. Yesterday, I noticed that my licence plate was gone, and lo and behold, the nuts and washers that were holding the plate onto the bike were laying right there next to the bike. Some jackass stole my plate...

Fast forward to today, I was going to the MVD to get a new plate. I was driving up the freeway when a sudden rainstorm hit, and not lightly. It was a VERY heavy rain. I never ride in the rain, and I wouldn't have been on the bike if I knew it was going to rain. I decided to get off the freeway because Phoenix drivers are notorious for being bad drivers in the rain, and take surface streets. I went to turn right, off of Thunderbird Rd, onto 7th St, at about 10-12 mph. Halfway through the turn, I felt the back end break loose. I tried to correct, and the bike ended up swinging around, and I dumped off the left side. The bike hit my left calf, and then slid off me.

The damage isn't terrible, for 2 reasons. ATGATT. I had on full gear. I hit my head pretty good, but there was no damage to my head. My gloves are shredded across the knuckles, but my hands are fine. I only have a small cut on my knee, some road rash and missing skin on my ankle, a bruised hip, and a very bruised ego. The bike is overall fine, because a few months ago I installed Renntec Bars, and they worked perfectly. The clutch lever is bent, the crash bars are marred, the front fairing has light scratching, and there is a dent in the exhaust can. The bike is also running a bit rough, but seemed to smooth out well. I was able to ride the bike home, after I camped out waiting for the rain to stop.

Moral of the story, I need to learn to ride in the rain better. I will likely not be riding for a while until I can afford another helmet, as I'm sure this one is shot now. Wear your gear, and invest in crash protection if you can! A few minutes after I dumped, I saw a GSXR1000 ride straight through that same intersection, with no gear but a helmet. I would be in a lot more pain if not for my jacket, gloves, helmet, and over the ankle boots. Be safe out there guys, and unlike me, keep two wheels down!

[T Legg]

Most of us have gone down at least once.I hope you make the rpm rally.I bet you were on concrete road.

[FJmonkey]

Very sorry to hear of your unscheduled dismount Ryan. Very happy that you were geared up. It really does pay for itself. The monsoon rains in Phoenix are impressive, I miss the desert smell just before rain comes in. Add bad drivers and all that oil (from cars in 100+ heat) that has not been washed away makes Phoenix rain riding a serious hazard. I hope you are still on for the rally.

[oldktmdude]

   Ryan, it sounds like you could do with some better tyres. At the speed you were traveling, you should not have had a problem.
Being  overly cautious (tentative) in the wet can also lead to problems. There could have also been some oil or fuel residue come to the surface of the road which usually happens when the rain is only light.
Glad you and the bike are relatively OK.
   Regards, Pete.

[ryanschoebel]

   Ryan, it sounds like you could do with some better tyres. At the speed you were traveling, you should not have had a problem.
Being  overly cautious (tentative) in the wet can also lead to problems. There could have also been some oil or fuel residue come to the surface of the road which usually happens when the rain is only light.

Pete, I'm sure that I need new rubber. I was planning on getting new before the rally, but hadnt yet. And its highly likely that there was oil, as it was within the first few minutes of rain. Still, I feel like I could have kept it up if I knew better what to do.

Mark and Travis, rally is on, provided I can grab some new tires, and helmet relatively soon!

[Millietant]

In Phoenix temperatures, if it had been a while since the last rain, then the surface would likely have had quite a bit of rubber in the surface film as well as the dirt and oil droppings, potentially making it like an ice rink. But, I'm very happy that you're a sensible rider who approaches biking properly and subsequently wasn't seriously injured  

My main piece of advice Ryan would be to get in some off-road dirt riding and do it regularly if you can. Riding in loose, low traction dirt does wonders for your rain-riding skills and as you say/know, getting used to the conditions conditions is key.

I've spent most of my working life in highway design, construction and materials technology and have done some work in the USA with contractors and local highway bodies - the biggest difference between riding here and in the USA is that we choose/design our road surface materials based on achieving minimum levels of wet weather skidding resistance (which isn't considered in the USA in the same way)......only certain rock types, of specific properties, can be used on trafficked streets here and lack of availability frequently leads us to importing bike specific materials from abroad (including man-made calcined bauxite for high skid risk sections of road)............ and the difference between riding in the rain here and in the USA (as well as most of the rest of Europe) is like night and day.

Because I understand the material differences and surface properties of roads, I'd guess I'm more "aware" of the effects on me as a driver/rider and hence I'm probably a bit more aware of the potential dangers than the average person when I'm driving/riding.

Please don't let this incident put you off and hopefully the next time you'll be better prepared to deal with what the weather throws at you.

[Millietant]

This just reminded me of riding my FJ around the Nurburgring/Nordschleife in the pissing rain in 2001 on I think, Bridgestone BT 45 crossplies (bias ply tyres).

I did 6 laps (about 85 miles) nd they were a nightmare, the back end sliding out everywhere and we were the only bikes out there (and there were very few cars).

Thinking back, it was stupid, but at the time, I'd paid about £1000 for an annual unlimited lap pass and in my mind I was going to get my money's worth out of that pass, come hell or high water.

That experience did do wonders for my confidence in riding in the rain back home though  

[Pat Conlon]

Ok, you got your first one over with....good deal. I am glad it wasn't too bad.

These summer monsoon thunder showers that roll across the desert are no joke.
They are violent weather events that kill people.

[aviationfred]

  Ryan, it sounds like you could do with some better tyres. At the speed you were traveling, you should not have had a problem.
Being  overly cautious (tentative) in the wet can also lead to problems. There could have also been some oil or fuel residue come to the surface of the road which usually happens when the rain is only light.

Mark and Travis, rally is on, provided I can grab some new tires, and helmet relatively soon!

What size helmet do you wear? I have a spare one that is rarely used that I can send you. Size Medium, it is even the right colors for your FJ.


Fred

[ribbert]

Glad you're OK, learning a lesson on a motorbike without a hospital visit or an ambulance ride is always a good thing.

That's not a tight corner Ryan, 3-4 lanes on both roads and flat so you wouldn't have been turning sharply. It could have been any one of a number of things that have already been mentioned, who knows, certainly not us, but the atgatt confirmation, first rain dangers. shitty tyres, etc are all good reminders anyway.

It is only a few days since I mentioned here in a tyre discussion that the greatest advantage of sticky tyres is safety when you're riding normally.

My contribution is that getting caught in the rain unexpectedly, changing your route out of concern for you safety and your senses being bombarded by things you don't normally associate with riding (rain) could rattle you. When this happens dexterity and fine control are affected.

To my knowledge, the huge amount of ignition retard the FJ has at idle (I think it's approx 20 deg+ up to 2500rpm ) was a common fix on many big bikes to take the snatchiness out of the throttle at low speed.

At 10-12 mph as you say, you have probably just finished feeding the clutch out and no longer have that shock absorber between the motor and the back wheel, even with the retard, an FJ requires judicious application of the throttle at that speed, clutch out in first gear. The circumstances you describe are ripe for a tad too much throttle or jerky application while turning on wet roads. You only need a whisker of lean (turn) to lose it if the back wheel lets go.

Noel

[mtc]

damn Ryan, that sucks

[Urban_Legend]

Slippery conditions and FJ trottle response = a quick trip to the ground. 

[T Legg]

That picture says it all.

[bcguide]

Slippery conditions and FJ throttle response = a quick trip to the ground.

I have been there, most times it was compression braking, you are usally better off if you grab the clutch.
To the OP while it would be good to get more confidence riding in the rain what the others have posted has been my experance to  wet roads after a long can be extremly slippery.

[roverfj1200]

I am glad your not to beat up..

Cheers