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| Tips & Training Riders new and old can always learn. Share and experience ideas for making motorcycling safer and more enjoyable here! |
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05-12-2006, 06:54 AM
| #1 (permalink) |
| Forum Addict   Join Date: Jul 2004
Bike: Blue Suzuki GSX 1400 (2003)
Location: Canton Basel-Land, Switzerland (47.4493, 7.76536)
Posts: 13,033
|  High Pucker-Factor last night
I was out leading a group of 7 bikes from the Swiss MotoTreff forum last night. We did about 45 miles, starting out in the town of Dornach (south-west from Basel), going south-east over some fine hills, then turning north-east to go to a restaurant (we're checking out various biker-friendly restaurants in the area to select a meeting place in the future). We were riding very conservatively (I take it slow and easy when I'm leading a group, especially when there are some newbies involved). We stopped for a short break on top of one hill (with a wonderful view of the valleys on both sides) - on one side, a view of the Jura mountains toward Soloturn, and on the other side, the Hauenstein hills toward Epdingen. As we took off again, I was going down the hill ... the street surface looked like it was small stones which had been pressed into a layer of tar. On one of the turns (a steep, 90° right-hander), I hit the rear brake to slow down a bit, and immediately locked it up. I wasn't going fast, but for some reason, the road surface was very slippery. Knowing that I couldn't lean with the rear locked up, and knowing that I can't take the turn if I let off the brake, I realized I was in deep s**t. I used as much front brake as I could (trying to be sure I don't lock that one up too), and just kept going straight ahead. (There was no opposing traffic - it was a one-lane mountain road). I was able to stop with my front off the road and my rear still on the road, with a barbed-wire fence about 2 feet in front of me. The rest of the group (behind me) was able to slow down and take the curve without any problems. One of my friends had to park and help me pull my bike back onto the street - 550+lbs of bike is pretty damn heavy when you are trying to pull it backwards up a hill, on a slope, while making sure it doesn't fall over. The rest of the ride went on without incident ... but I did have some weak knees until I was down the hill and off that slippery road surface... Here's a GPS dump of the whole route from last night ... |
