What do you think caused this fishtail?

[S_Bodi]

Hi all

New to the forum.. thought I'd see what people think of this little incident I had today.

Riding to Piha today on my Royal Enfield Classic. Good dry weather. Took a corner a bit too fast for my liking, and leaned in tight, tighter than I normally do. I think what happened next is I rolled off the throttle, which on my bike can cause a bit of a jerk and is not always smooth. The rear started to fishtail and the rest was just reflex - I think what I did was put my feet out wide and pick the bike up, then applied a bit of throttle and things settled down.

I'm not the most experienced rider and I'm usually careful how I enter turns so I don't need to slow down around them, so fish tailing like I did today was not a common experience for me. Only time it's happened before is heavy breaking in wet weather.

Just wondering what more experienced riders think because it all happened so fast I'm not sure 100% about the sequence of events above, but appreciate your comments.

Cheers :)

[FJRider]

Aside from the fact that the bike designed when your grandfather was a lad (with little changing since) ... I think the issue was a weight transfer thing. You went into the corner faster than you liked (intended ??) and rolled off the throttle ... which caused that jerk. The jerk was the weight suddenly coming onto the front suspension (mid corner) and thus making the back end lighter and less pressure/grip of the rear tire on the road. A good lean might not have helped much either. I bit of front brake would/may have increased the weight transfer and even small rear brake at such time would cause a loss of grip at the rear tire. The rest ... as they say ... is history ...

You were skilled enough to stay in control ... but few on here have not done similar ... at some stage in their riding ... on much more modern bikes. It is even something that may happen in future ... on that or other bikes. Keep your cornering smooth and maybe even get proper instruction via riding schools to improve your cornering/riding skills.

Corners are where motorcyclists have the most accidents. And where you need to be thinking/knowing clearly about what you are doing and how you intend doing it. If you were going into the corner faster than you liked ... then speed factor was part of the issue.

Three factors straight off ... your experience/skill level, bike design/ability and speed. And that's not even talking at the road surface conditions at the time. Just based on what you've told us so far. I would suggest that you go and have a closer look at that corner/road and do a few more passes thru it.

[Woodman]

You are half way there to setting up a good powerslide, so go do it again.

[nzspokes]

Piha road is rubbish at this time of year. Moss everywhere. And it has many very tight blind turns.

So if you are not chasing vanishing points then there is a good chance it will turn to custard.

[Hoonicorn]

I rolled off the throttle

Braking or throttling off mid-corner is not good. That shifts weight forward, off the rear tyre and breaks traction - :shit: When you applied throttle again, weight shifted back to the rear tyre and stabliised the bike. :sweatdrop



Go into your corners slower, if you're going into a corner faster than you're exiting it you're going in too fast.
Commit to the turn, lean more at the start of the turn when you're speed is slowest.
As you straighten up, throttle on more as you exit.


So take note that if braking or throttling off in a turn is bad, then it makes sense to enter a corner slower then you can accelerate more out of the turn and have a big smile :2thumbsup

[kiwi cowboy]

You are half way there to setting up a good powerslide, so go do it again.

On a ROYAL ENFIELD??????????????????????????????????????????? ?????????????????????????????????????????????????? ???????????????????????:bleh::bleh::bleh::bleh::bl eh::bleh::bleh::bleh::bleh:

[AllanB]

Pin it to the stop.

[SaferRides]

Are the tyres OK? Were the pressures correct?

[S_Bodi]

Thanks for the replies guys. Tyres are in good shape and I check pressure regularly. I just wanted your replies to confirm that rolling of the throttle caused the problem and they have. Will work on more stable throttle through corners now. Cheers

[nzspokes]

Thanks for the replies guys. Tyres are in good shape and I check pressure regularly. I just wanted your replies to confirm that rolling of the throttle caused the problem and they have. Will work on more stable throttle through corners now. Cheers

What i think is great is you had an event while riding and are trying to work out why. That thinking will pay off for you. :Punk:

Take a look at the Ride Forever courses.

[FJRider]

... I just wanted your replies to confirm that rolling of the throttle caused the problem and they have. Will work on more stable throttle through corners now. Cheers

Not so much rolling off the throttle ... but sudden rolling off the throttle. Keep your riding smooth and steady in both increasing and decreasing of speed ... (AND direction).

[SaferRides]

Thanks for the replies guys. Tyres are in good shape and I check pressure regularly. I just wanted your replies to confirm that rolling of the throttle caused the problem and they have. Will work on more stable throttle through corners now. CheersI would also encourage you to do some courses. Not quite sure why you had the throttle open coming into what appears to be a blind corner.