Why did I go down this morning?!?!?!
Cruiser
Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 239
Likes: 96
From: Texas
My back tire slid sideways on a slick spot on dry pavement when making a left hand turn. I thought I was going down but when I pulled the clutch the bike went up right and straight. It was a puckering moment to say the least!
Supporter
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 15,788
Likes: 5,625
From: along the shore of Mishigami
Painted lines and grated bridges are just as bad when wet. I can think of a couple others but I won't mention them, just be extra alert of wet roads after it just started to rain.
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Apr 2015
Posts: 7,709
Likes: 7,850
From: New York
Wet leaves? From a dead stop I almost lost a bike trying to leave from the edge of a pile of leaves. Also, on another thread, I vaguely remember a professional trucker cautioning about entering the outside curve of an off ramp. It seems it's relatively common for truck with topped off tanks to slosh a little diesel by centrifugal force as they exit ramps a little faster then prudent. Perhaps the same principle applies at stop signs.
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 11,814
Likes: 5,120
From: SW Ohio
I've been down a few times but it was never a mystery why it happened. Not figuring exactly why it happened means it can happen again without notice. Call the local street/police department and see if they have any reports of spills or crashes that may have leaked something. Personally I think that's more effective than asking some people on an internet forum who weren't there.
Last edited by Campy Roadie; Nov 2, 2018 at 02:15 PM.
Extreme HDF Member
Joined: Jun 2014
Posts: 11,448
Likes: 2,299
From: NW Ohio
In Florida!? Maybe sand/silt?
All my driving years in the rust belt and I've never seen a vehicle do more than about 90 degrees unless it was snow. 360 almost requires ice. I've spun complete one time and it was solid ice in a 4WD with the diffs and transfer case locked. Sumbitch just went around. No real warning.
All my driving years in the rust belt and I've never seen a vehicle do more than about 90 degrees unless it was snow. 360 almost requires ice. I've spun complete one time and it was solid ice in a 4WD with the diffs and transfer case locked. Sumbitch just went around. No real warning.
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Jan 2015
Posts: 16,013
Likes: 7,139
From: Sandy Eggo's North County
Diesel fuel you can usually smell. Antifreeze, also (but not as easy.) Engine oil? slippery. Hydraulic oil make engine oil like clean/dry asphalt. Yes, it is THAT SLIPPERY!
When you see/notice a "splash line" one thing to do is to avoid it if possible. So, let's say you're riding beside this line of unknown fluid. What can you do? Well, you can "test" how slippery it is by touching your boot down on it while riding. This may indicate whether it's water or gas/diesel, or something more sinister. Of course you'll need to do this with a known fluid so you'll have a baseline, but after you get exposed to a few random spills, you get a "feel" for what is what. Another clue is odor.
Anyway, there's you tip for today!
When you see/notice a "splash line" one thing to do is to avoid it if possible. So, let's say you're riding beside this line of unknown fluid. What can you do? Well, you can "test" how slippery it is by touching your boot down on it while riding. This may indicate whether it's water or gas/diesel, or something more sinister. Of course you'll need to do this with a known fluid so you'll have a baseline, but after you get exposed to a few random spills, you get a "feel" for what is what. Another clue is odor.
Anyway, there's you tip for today!
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: May 2012
Posts: 32,934
Likes: 36,032
From: Carlsbad, CA
...and stay off the front brake on potentionally slippery conditions. Learned that the hard way, many years ago.
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Stage IV
Joined: Oct 2018
Posts: 4
Likes: 2
From: FL
Update for anyone following. I do think it was probably oil. Certainly spooked me a bit and shook my confidence. Left for my 500-mile trip from St. Pete, Fl to Pensacola. Somewhere around mile 40-50 four tornadoes touched down in the area. Now THAT was some spooky riding conditions. Got drenched and pulled off for the worst to pass, then rode another few hundred miles through mostly wet conditions. Being further south in Florida I was not prepared enough for how cold and wet it got. We never dried out, so when the temp dropped to 40 in the Panhandle we were through most of our dry clothes, tired and freezing (shameful since both of us are from up north). We decided to pull off outside of Tallahassee with about 180 miles to go, but because of Hurricane Michael, every hotel within a 30-mile radius was booked up. We stopped at a Hampton Inn next to a Holiday Inn Express around 1 a.m. when we'd had enough. Clerk tried to call every hotel he knew of and only found one 40 minutes away. We decided to set up our sleeping bags on some grass in the shadow of a flatbed 50-foot trailer hauling bulldozers for hurricane clean up. It was an interesting night and morning. I had a great time.
Tourer
Joined: Dec 2017
Posts: 391
Likes: 176
From: Leicestershire, United Kingdom
Update for anyone following. I do think it was probably oil. Certainly spooked me a bit and shook my confidence. Left for my 500-mile trip from St. Pete, Fl to Pensacola. Somewhere around mile 40-50 four tornadoes touched down in the area. Now THAT was some spooky riding conditions. Got drenched and pulled off for the worst to pass, then rode another few hundred miles through mostly wet conditions. Being further south in Florida I was not prepared enough for how cold and wet it got. We never dried out, so when the temp dropped to 40 in the Panhandle we were through most of our dry clothes, tired and freezing (shameful since both of us are from up north). We decided to pull off outside of Tallahassee with about 180 miles to go, but because of Hurricane Michael, every hotel within a 30-mile radius was booked up. We stopped at a Hampton Inn next to a Holiday Inn Express around 1 a.m. when we'd had enough. Clerk tried to call every hotel he knew of and only found one 40 minutes away. We decided to set up our sleeping bags on some grass in the shadow of a flatbed 50-foot trailer hauling bulldozers for hurricane clean up. It was an interesting night and morning. I had a great time.