Front wheel slipping out from under the bike - What to do?

[Beren]

After some advice this morning, had rather too close a call on the way in to work.

Coming in on the Northern I lane split between traffic - now mid way through my second week and I am starting to pick up speed a little.

So this morning I am drifting through the traffic at a reasonable pace wearing my bright flourescent learners jacket. It is raining, but not overly heavilly. the traffic is all behaving itself with a nice sized gap so I am doing close on 60kph. Suddenly I notice in the gap two cars in front is a police motorbike.

Thought process - Police, I'm going fast enough to be an issue, and I'm wearing a bright yellow Flourescent thing with 'L' Plates on it, and I'm on the motorway where I'm not supposed to be anyway, best I stop splitting then.

So in a slight panic I grab a handful of the front brake. Wet road, over zealous braking, then the already struggling front tyre finds the white line and the front end decides enough is enough and slips sideways.

The bike going over kicked in some very old motorcross instincts and with the application of my right boot on the road made it upright and past the copper straight and level. I'm suprised he couldn't smell me though!

Now apart from a slightly aching right hip, me and the bike are fine. Not sure if the copper wasn't paying any attention to what he should have seen in his mirrors but as I wandered past him at about 35k's he didn't bat an eyelid.

Obviously I was going a little too quick for my ability - as an emergency braking manuever in the conditions was not controlled. It was the hazzard I wasn't expecting that made me panic and not react correctly - next time speed will be shed more calmly or not at all. A ticket is far far better than being under a car!

However, if the front end goes out on a road bike is it already too late? Or is there anything other than putting your foot out that you can do to save the situation?

[Crasherfromwayback]

Don't be braking on the paint in the wet. EVER. Slow down. Don't ever "Grab a handful of front brake" wet or dry. Squeeze it progressively harder gently.

[bogan]

Don't be braking on the paint in the wet. EVER. Slow down. Don't ever "Grab a handful of front brake" wet or dry. Squeeze it progressively harder gently.

+1 and do some braking practice on an empty road or parking lot to better acquaint yourself with the bikes feel and limitation under heavy braking.

[Ferkletastic]

Quite honestly you shouldn't be splitting at speed in the rain as a newbie (even as a non-newbie really). Especially only a couple weeks into riding. The lines are slippery and car drivers are worse than usual in the rain.

Basically chill on the speed a bit, practise your emergency braking (like CFWB said, brake progressively always, never just grab a handful especially in the wet and even more especially on wet painted lines).

The best rule of thumb I've heard for splitting is that really you shouldn't be doing it over about 40k, slower in the rain for obvious reasons. The margins for error are small as and car drivers will not see you fluoro or not. This time you had to brake for a cop, next time it could be because suddlenly there's a van pulling across directly in front of you and the argument "They should have been looking" won't unbreak you or your bike.

[MSTRS:Me]

+1 to what others have said.
Never grab big handfuls of brake in the wet. Or pea metal, etc. Results may vary, but...
Best way to avoid that sort of situation is to allow for it up front.

[superman]

Careful out there mate, splitting in the wet can be quite a challenge to do safely.

Why do you have boy racer mentality to grab a fuck load of brake when you see a cop, just chill out they are usually good cunts and only get pissed off if you do something stupid and/or are being unsafe. Lucky he didn't see you, probably would have pulled you over for that.

[george formby]

Ride to the conditions.
Now you know how little grip you have in the rain you can adjust your speed & safety margin to suit.

IMHO most of the time the front goes you have to pick your self & the bike up, a big dab will save you at relatively slow speed on a light bike if you have the reactions of a cat but don't rely on it. Good save nevertheless, happened to me as a yoof showing off on a salty roundabout but a stomp from the #12 boot kicked everything upright again. I only did it once.

As stated practice your breaking & your observation.

[Beren]

Don't be braking on the paint in the wet. EVER. Slow down. Don't ever "Grab a handful of front brake" wet or dry. Squeeze it progressively harder gently.

Aye, and to the others below. With the cars that have already made me practice rapid manouvers I have been fine flicking down a couple of gears and a progressive front brake with a dab on the rear sheds speed amazingly fast. I always sit at a gear higher than usual and just releasing the throttle slows me down almost as fast as I used to ever brake in the cage! My problem was that there was a heck of a lot of threats I was prepared to deal with - the copper wasn't one of them and it made me panic. Obviously I need to practice and practice some more on the braking front so that my instant reaction is the correct one rather than what I did!

With regards to the racer boy mentality - I am very used to police in the uk taking almost any opportunity to land on L-plate riders, as I said he didn't bat an eyelid and will have to work hard on my fight/flight response not to see them as quite such a threat!

So other than the application of a right boot, practice and more practice so I don't end up in the situation in the first place and yes calming the speed down a little - would there have been anything else I could have done to rectify the situation?

[Chancebmx25]

aye man settle on them brakes brother. and ur white line is your enemy. watch out for those idiots there everywea they live amongst us. but ur brakes.. there ur bestfreind. just cruise it man, u wouldnt choke ur dog would u? so why choke ur brakes buy yanking on their necks.... relax lol. get smooth for starters. if ur not smooth but fast.. then an accident will come ur way... get smooth fast the speed will come later. and forget the cops. go on the motorway all u want. thea leniant u say ur practising on the mway to merge into traffic before gettn ur restricted. plenty of excuses out there. u legally have the right to practise riding ur moto on nz roads. legally!

[Katman]

So other than the application of a right boot, practice and more practice so I don't end up in the situation in the first place and yes calming the speed down a little - would there have been anything else I could have done to rectify the situation?

Be more aware of what's happening in front of you.

[MSTRS:Me]

So other than the application of a right boot, practice and more practice so I don't end up in the situation in the first place and yes calming the speed down a little - would there have been anything else I could have done to rectify the situation?

Scan further ahead, maybe? It certainly gives you a chance to adjust for potential problems before they become one for you.
Once you are in an emergency situation like you found yourself in, luck is probably the biggest factor in any saving of it.

In other news, being an L plater on a MW may not be recommended, but you are legally entitled to be on a MW. Best advice there, is go with the flow. It's the speed differential that is likely to cause any problem.

[steve_t]

Scan further ahead, maybe?

+1. At first, it actually takes conscious effort to make yourself look as far ahead as you can see, especially when in traffic. Make it a habit and you'll reduce the chances of getting into a similar situation again.

And as everyone else has said, squeeze the brake progressively

[willytheekid]

Get some Rider training booked in ....you need it if your learning on the Auckland freeway and having these sorts of trouble in the wet.....what if the bike had let go?, was the car/truck behind or beside you gonna stop in time??
Learner licence- freeway - filtering - and losing control.....training, please!

Ride safe mate

(not having a dig at you, just concerned)

[nodrog:Me]

...So this morning I am drifting through the traffic.....

[Beren]

I think I am pretty good at the scanning side of things. You can never relax on that even for a second when splitting. I had processed that there was a bike helmet in the gap and that it was in the middle of a lane and happily not a threat. It wasn't until I could see the bike itself that I realised I was coming up on a copper.

I am always scanning probably 8-10 car lengths in front watching for road position changes, models of cars that represent issues and all the other bits and pieces that represent potential close up problems and as far ahead as I can for the general size of the gap in the traffic - sudden brake lights - or gaps that people might try and quickly fill.