• A few people have been scammed on the site, Only use paypal to pay for items for sale by other members. If they will not use paypal, its likely a scam NEVER SEND E-TRANSFERS OF ANY KIND.

Dumped it at a stop light. Durrrr.

fratermus

Site Supporter
Joined
Aug 10, 2014
Messages
175
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Location
75472
mbtpt.wordpress.com
Sharing my embarrassment for the greater good. You would have video of the tipover but the "dashcam" corrupted the sdcard earlier in the day and I had to reformat it before it would record again.

I stalled the bike while initiating a right turn from a stop on a right-sloping incline. Since the roadway fell away to the right I couldn't touch the ground with my right foot until it was too far over for me to save. This was my first time using the "back up to the bike to lift it" method and the bike came up easily, even when lifting it "uphill".

Since I was on the downhill (right side) I was too low to put a leg over the bike from there. I eased it over onto the kickstand and walked around to the higher left side, mounted, cranked up, and rode away.

Damage assesment
Self: Slight tweaks of my already-hurt rotator cuff shoulders as I tried (in vain) to prevent the drop. Not bad, just enough to make my shoulders complain. I was ATGATT but didn't have any contact.
Bike: Foot brake lever pushed in; was able to pull it back out. Hand brake lever bent but usable. Scuff on bar end and scuff on front wheel axle.


Contributing factors
  • inattention - I was turning right and was trying to see around a full-sized truck that was signaling a left turn.
  • squirrely intersection: no lane markings, no street lighting, uneven (temporary?) surface, sloped. I knew this intersection was a mess and still got complacent.
  • fatigue - I was coming home from 10-hr shift at the end of my workweek
  • bulky clothing - I am riding in colder weather than I have previously. It was only in the high 30s but I had on my lined overpants, heavy jacket w/electric liner, electric gloves, etc. I had noticed a couple weeks earlier that it was a bit ungainly riding in the gear. It was harder to make subtle balance corrections. I'd made a few two-feet-down stops instead of my usual left-foot-down style.

I passed the intersection on the way to work this A.M. and made this screenshot. The arrow indicates my direction of approach and the right turn I failed to negotiate.


 
That road looks very sketchy. How tall are you? Do you have any kind of crash bars installed that you noticed helped with the drop?
 
Did that, bad clutch work on a right hander, after having the bike for about a month. Bent the mirror. Had an audience to watch me. No more drops on the road since then.

On the bright side, now you have a reason to get fancy adjustable levers.
 
You didn't mark the muffler? I wouldn't sweat it. Your not hurt and that's the important thing. Shit happens and you will laugh about it after some time has past.
 
Glad you had an inexpensive lesson. One thing I started doing instead of always putting the left foot down is I end the braking with the hand brake. I practice going as slow as I can up to the stop before putting my foot down.
While riding last year with Edup I was watching him come to a stop. He could almost completely stop before putting a foot down. I think he did a couple of times (a stop and hold for a second) . I figured if I always stop with the same foot down I was training myself to lean.
Right now I can get down to about 3 or 2 mph before I start putting my feet down.
Just a thought....
 
That road looks very sketchy. How tall are you? Do you have any kind of crash bars installed that you noticed helped with the drop?

It seems like a temporary ramp to me rather than some permanent installation.

I am 6' and can flatfoot the bike under normal conditions. No bars, and the huge stock muffler is removed. I don't think anything rearward of the footpeg touched down.
 
You didn't mark the muffler? I wouldn't sweat it. Your not hurt and that's the important thing. Shit happens and you will laugh about it after some time has past.

I have a narrow danmoto slip-on rather than the stock dirigible so there was nothing sticking out there. I laughed and called myself a dumb@$$ while I was picking it up. :)
 
Your comments about the heavy gear hit home with me. I ride to work veryday in the cold so I'm suited up pretty good. It does affect your ability to ride. Atleast it does mine. Specifically the thicker gloves. I hate them but gotta have them. I don't wear liners in my pants down to 20F because I don't like my lower half to feel that bulky.

I also have an issue of being short legged. I have a 30" inseam and cannot place my feet down flat footed at a stop. Declines as you have mentioned make me nervous and there have been a couple times I got lucky and prevented a spill although I can clearly imagine what happend to you.

I'm glad things weren't any worse that what you stated.
 
Well someone's gonna say it eventually,so here goes. I know there was a truck turning left, but if you were still using the proper blocking position, you would not have been that far to the right side of the lane. I know it happens easy. I dropped mine the same way you did in our parking lot. I also had heavy pants on and I wonder if that split second of awareness threw my attention off. I always get into trouble when I don't come to a full and complete stop even though I should. I'm working on stopping completely and leaving quickly on both of my bikes.
 
It's interesting also that you mentioned the fact that it was cold out. As a New England rider, I learned (the hard way) early on that tire temperature can really effect a bikes handling. A rider needs to be a lot more cautious about brake application and throttle until the bikes tires have a chance to come up to full operating temp.

This can be even more important in cornering on cold tires. If we get into the throttle a little too soon and transfer weight to the back tire, a cold tire will have an even smaller contact patch than normal, possibly resulting in a spill.

Glad you're OK though.
 
Well someone's gonna say it eventually,so here goes. I know there was a truck turning left, but if you were still using the proper blocking position, you would not have been that far to the right side of the lane.

That's possible but I can't prove it since my gopro wasn't recording for the reason stated above.

It is actually a 2-way ramp (the vehicle coming over the hill in the pic can turn right). It looks like it was original a two-lane ramp but people started cutting through to make right turns so they paved that, too. This results in either one quite wide right lane or two narrow ones, one for left turn and one for right turn.

It's also might have been wiser for me to have waited behind the truck then turned right. The odd width would make it even harder to guard lane position from upcoming traffic though. There's also a case to be made that I should avoid that intersection completely. :)

Thanks for the input!
 
Sharing my embarrassment for the greater good. You would have video of the tipover but the "dashcam" corrupted the sdcard earlier in the day and I had to reformat it before it would record again.

Dropping a bike, especially in front of other people is quite embarrassing.

Do you still have the Metzeler Roadtec Z8 that came stock with the bike?

The bike's rear tire slid out on me while making a slow speed right turn several months ago. These tires have a overlapping lip that goes beyond the sidewall of the time. This throws the geometry of the tire off and will cantilever the tire off the roadway if you lean too far over.

The damage to NaNCy was not too bad. I picked her up, straigthened the BarkBuster and the rear brake pedal and continued to ride to work. I did notice that my knee got skined up until later, my jeans were not worning up. I still have a purple scare and reminder of these terrible tires. I am getting rid of them ASAP. When the rear is fully worn, I am going to change out both tires and get Bridgestone T30s to replace them.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_3403.jpg
    IMG_3403.jpg
    84.1 KB · Views: 227
  • IMG_3402.jpg
    IMG_3402.jpg
    92.9 KB · Views: 186
  • IMG_3401.jpg
    IMG_3401.jpg
    90.1 KB · Views: 185
  • IMG_3414.jpg
    IMG_3414.jpg
    97.7 KB · Views: 194
Well done for sharing! Im really glad you are ok and the bike is fixable.
The end bars of my cheap hand guards took the brunt of my event. I know exactly what i did, full lock and big twist on throttle to get up over a pavement lip. Totally my inexperience. No one in sight to help for ages and leg trapped under the bike! Anyway, ive told the story before a german stopped and helped me, then together we lifted the bike. I hope neither you or i do, it again, but im not convinced :)
 
These tires have a overlapping lip that goes beyond the sidewall of the time. This throws the geometry of the tire off and will cantilever the tire off the roadway if you lean too far over.

Hahaha! I used to think I was acceptably smart. Maybe it's just this crazy Monday affecting my brain, but I have no idea what you just said. :D
 
Hahaha! I used to think I was acceptably smart. Maybe it's just this crazy Monday affecting my brain, but I have no idea what you just said. :D

Alright then, let's describe it this way then.

If you were to cut the tire crossways, you can see the cross section of the tire profile, see the image below.

1066d1377022092-tyre-profiles-s9v0.jpg

On the Metzeler Roadtec Z8 mounted on a NC700X, there's a thick lip that extends far past the sidewall more than .25".

If you lean over too far, it acts like a falcrum point and will lift the tire off of the roadway.

fulcrum_dia.jpg

I hope these illstrations are helpful to get the point across... ;)
 
On the Metzeler Roadtec Z8 mounted on a NC700X, there's a thick lip that extends far past the sidewall more than .25".

If you lean over too far, it acts like a falcrum point and will lift the tire off of the roadway.

View attachment 22555

I still don't get it. If the antecedent for the pronoun "it" (in red) is the "thick lip" in the preceding sentence, how can a tire, all by itself, lever itself off the ground? I can see where traction might be reduced if you're on the lip, but I don't see any fulcrum at play here, unless some other part of the bike touched down and acted as a fulcrum.

If you're saying you already touched a bike part down, then that part that touched down will act as a fulcrum, and any brand tire (the load in your illustration) would be levered off the ground, whether it says Metzeler on the side or not.
 
Last edited:
If you're saying you already touched a bike part down, then that part that touched down will act as a fulcrum, and any brand tire (the load in your illustration) would be levered off the ground, whether it says Metzeler on the side or not.

Either way, that thick lip was the culprit and I always keep close attention to my amount of lean with this tire in place. In all the 28 years of me riding, I only experienced this one other time when I put a trail tire on a street bike in my early riding career. No money and free tire, I could not argue with that at the time. When I had to go into a curve and lean into it, the back wheel started to dance across the lane. Only with this Metzeler Roadtec Z8 on this bike had the same effect. No others, cheap or premium brands.

My figures were off, the lip extends .38 to .50" past the side wall of the tire and the angle steepens as it progresses.
 
Hopefully the diagram below will be more helpful with what I trying to explain what happened to me regarding that "Thick Lip" on the Metzler RoadTec Z8.

TireTraction.jpg

I did not have Photo Shop at work to create this diagram.:rolleyes:
 
Back
Top