It had been misting yesterday, but had dried out a bit, so I decided to go down to the local stealership and check out any new arrivals. I was riding my CB500X on the divided four lane, preparing to stop to make a u turn when the light changed, so I made the left turn, felt Ike I rolled on smoothly, only to find myself jack hammered into the pavement with the bike on the ground behind me. There is an article in Cycleworld concerning cold tire high sides, and it would appear that this was a textbook case. HJC helmet, alpine stars jacket and boots, dragginjeans, all unscathed, Sedici gloves took the brunt... Pulled a groin muscle, sprained wrist, feel like a truck hit my shoulders, but otherwise physically fine, mentally a little shaken, rode the bike home(slowly), parts flapping in the wind. I am very thankful to be relatively unscathed; it could have been much worse.
The light changed as I was rolling up on it; I never came to a complete stop. I may have been coasting through the 180, but I honestly don't remember; it happened in a flash, as it usually does...
Sorry to hear about your mishaps I am glad you are ok and not seriously hurt. The bike can be fix Speedy recovery so you can get back on the saddle Alway like the look of that CB500X
Glad your OK. Don't let the armchair quarterbacks bug you, every crash is an example of an oh-oh moment, and not all, in fact few, are avoidable under the same circumstances. It takes balls to ride after a crash, and even bigger ones to post your screw ups on here. chive on Bro!
thanks for the kind words; I have made that same 180 turn a thousand times before on much more powerful bikes, it's amazing how quickly things can go pear shaped. It brings to my mind the issue of letting others test ride bikes I have sold, as this type of turn, on cold tires, is the exact scenario a prospective buyer would encounter. I consider myself a reasonbly proficient rider, MSF/ERC courses, dirt rider, etc, and I realize now more than ever that anyone can go down in a millisecond. I am often tempted to not fully gear up on a short jaunt such as this one was, but I am infinitely glad I did... I'm also sometimes tempted to purchase a 3/4 helmet, that won't be happening either.
In an attempt to learn from your misfortune, how exactly did cold tires result in a highside at what I'm assuming was a pretty low speed? I'm not getting the mechanics involved here. And I'm glad it was only your bike's parts that were flapping in the wind on the ride home...
Here is a video of a "baby" high side. I would be willing to bet it happened this way. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDxnoIhTseE Starts out as a slide, then it grips for just enough time to throw the bike down.
Stepping out the rear tire through wheel spin, realizing something goes wrong, chopping the throttle while crossed up, wheel grips, you high side. Even at low speed, a high side still sucks.
I dont quite get that either,unless a person was hard on the gas the back end doesnt just kick out. It does sound like some oil or antifreeze was on the pavemento. Racers crash on cold tires but on the street?
Thanks for that vid. Seems to me that the rider entered that turn too hot rather than a skid brought on by something slick on the surface. So is there anyway to recover if the rear decides to go for a dance?
Racers try their hardest to save a highside,its about the worst crash for a rider short of hitting a car. If its a brake slide,letting off the brake will cause a highside instantly. Usually a highside under power happens so quick your in the air before you know what happened. Street tires arent really designed to need much warmup to grip pretty darn good,otherwise people would highside all the time. Wet pavement,oil,antifreeze,leaves,sand are more the reasons to be sliding a streetbike. Ive never slid a streetbike on pavement under power in 40 some years of riding them,there isnt room or the need to be sliding a bike on the road. I did highside an XS650 with a brand new rear tire I had put on, then forgot all about when I took off on an off camber corner a week later,it went quick.
500 twins arent noted for spinning up tires on pavement. Sliding dirtbikes is great fun but not quite the penalty for a screwup.
I was coasting up to the light, preparing to stop; light changed to green, looked through the turn, felt like I rolled on fairly smoothly, (although the proof's in the pudding that I didn't), then abruptly found myself unceremoniously dumped in the middle of the fourlane, too dazed to be properly embarrassed and too much of a hurry to get the bike up and inspected to properly dissect the scene... don't worry, I'm plenty embarrassed now..
I've taken advantage of the recent ice storm to replace the broken plastics on the CBX, but the high side has stuck in my mind. While I had the bike under the lights in the garage, I noticed that the chicken strip on the left side of my rear tire appears to have been smeared, especially compared to the right side... Looks like I hit something slick, then regained traction; don't know that it answers all my questions, but it does give me an idea how quickly it can turn pear shaped no matter how prepared I think I am.
