Scared sh**tless

**skippa1** · 2nd May 2012, 09:33

What sort of tyres have you got? They are most likely not suited to wet conditions. You need a well known brand that have a high Silica content. you need to ride smoothly and not grab at either the throttle or brake. If it has been raining for a few days (oil etc is washed off the road) and you have good warm tyres, you can ride pretty hard in the wet but beware that you stay off road markings, manhole covers and cow shit etc.......either that or sell the bike, buy a pipe and some slippers.....

**CHOPPA** · 2nd May 2012, 09:55

Do what any other self respecting motocycle rider would do.....

Find something to blame it on!

This gives you your confidence back....

Blame it on oil and you will be back to riding great in the wet!

In the wet you have to be very smooth. Dont do anything aggressively and put thought into your every action.

Apply the brakes gently and progressively same as the throttle. Turn the bike smoothly and concentrate you will be fine

**Jantar** · 2nd May 2012, 09:57

Originally Posted by Rajol

......
But I came off my bike for the first time in Dunedin a couple weeks ago, I was at the top of a place called Pine hill at a mates for dinner, and it was raining, ~ 10pm at night......

Originally Posted by oneofsix

......At a guess I would say when you braked at low speed, on a corner, in the wet you used the front brake, possibly front only, this caused your front wheel to slide out from under you. ....

I know Pine Hill, and it is steep. It is also used by trucks and busses and has a lot of white painted lines that are slippery. Going down there in the wet I NEVER use my back brake other than for balance. It is only the front brake that will have any effect. The steepness of the hill increases the weight transfer to the front wheel, and makes the rear wheel very prone to losing grip.

The lighting on that pice of road is too bright and hides the white lines so making them harder to avoid.

With only 7000 km riding experience, there are still many situations you have yet to experience. When you have an off like this one, think very carefully about what you doing, what the road surface was like etc and learn from it. Don't be put off.

Oh, and get some decent tyres.

**steve_t** · 2nd May 2012, 10:00

Pine Hill is crazy. I know about half a dozen people who have had accidents up there... mostly trying to drive in the snow/ice

Between ice and road grit, it's a slippery surface especially for bikes.

To get your confidence back, find a few routes close to home and keep riding them. Don't venture outside of your comfort zone until you are well comfortable with riding around this route. It shouldn't take too long.

And yeah, get some gear and good tyres

**Jantar** · 2nd May 2012, 10:10

Originally Posted by Rajol

.......
Will think of getting insurance and will get back on once it's fixed

Now that is scary. You aren't insured and its quite possible that you could slide into me.

Get some insurance, even if it's only 3rd party.

**GrayWolf** · 2nd May 2012, 10:52

Originally Posted by Rajol

Hi

I've driven 7000km on my bike from the day I bought it,

after 7000k, your experience level is very low, so dont beat yourself up, you are learning. If you think back to learning to drive your car, even if you 'master' the idea of brake, throttle, steer etc, it takes a long time for them to become second nature to a point you are not thinking about the 'act' of driving. it has been researched so many times in 'safety critical' jobs like pilots, train drivers etc that the focus on the mechanics of controlling the 'vehicle' can be so high it 'blots out' other inputs and needs during training and early on in the 'let loose' stage.
So on that score, relax, let yourself off the hook, and rebuild your confidence again slowly if that is what you need to do. Some times you can just get back on and 'ride' it's personality dependent

I don't know how or why the hell I'm alive today, (especially after driving over NZ in the bloody rain from Auckland to welly and Picton to Dunedin in 1 day trips ALSO IN THE FREEZING RAIN, WITHOUT COMING OFF, GOING AT 100+km/hr)

Your alive because you completed those trips without incident. Maybe you were 'lucky' as you say you go 'lunatic in the dry'? So you recognise a 'fault' change it. Freezing conditions and/or rain bring about many factors,
Comfort--
if you are soaking it is uncomfortable = distraction from driving. If you cant get dry or warmer then alter your riding; more braking distance, slow down 10-15 kph that kind of thing. if you are shivering or near shivering, you NEED to find somewhere to warm up, dry out. Stopping overnight is not failure, it's SAFETY if you are nearing that condition, Your concentration, thinking processes and awareness are COMPROMISED when you reach that state.
Many riders seem satisfied with 'cheap gear' put bluntly, you can buy an 'all weather 'cordura'? bike jacket new for below $200, OR, buy one for $500+, think why the expensive jacket IS that price. My own 'touring jacket' was way more than $500 and worth every cent for warmth, protection and keeping me dry for a good period of time. There is no such thing as a 'waterproof' biker.. given enough time (hours of travel) water WILL find a way in somewhere, usually at the gloves, ankles, neck and/or crotch. if you are going to travel distances... need I say more!!!

Rain,,
what my partner a 25+ yrs car driver had 'difficulty' adapting to was looking at the road surface and location at a far 'deeper' level and adjusting for it. That rainbow looking little patch you drive over, will 'off' a rider. Seeing that effect on a road surface just prior to a roundabout, or near an industrial area? Expect the road to be slippery and adjust riding accordingly. White paint is NOT your friend in the wet, don't brake hard, if you have to brake; on the big white arrows etc. Avoid wet drain lids, manhole covers, they are the equivalent of ICE.

Speed .....
nothing wrong with 100kph or a little more, but don't develop the habit of not adjusting and regulating your speed for the road conditions, your off on Pine hill I think is a classic example of speed Vs location Vs road surface conditions (see the quote below this quote, from a dunedin local)

But I came off my bike for the first time in Dunedin a couple weeks ago, I was at the top of a place called Pine hill at a mates for dinner, and it was raining, ~ 10pm at night On the way back home, i was going about 40 right, and was going around a 20 degree curve in the road. I remember braking A LITTLE and JESUS christ I remember it swiveling around the back and stuff, I must've reacted wrong or something but hell came off it, grinded along the right side of the ground, snapped the right foot pedal which took most the impact thank god.

Read the above and then read the Dunedin local quote below, the re read what you wrote about your 'off'... I think you will see how it all came/comes together. it's inexperience, strange location, weather, lighting etc etc... Hell I could just as easily have done exactly the same as you, except my bike weighs almost 3 times your one, so likely could have gone down 'harder'.

PROBLEM IS IM SCARED SH*TLESS to ever ride that thing in the rain again..

^^^^^ Just take your time, read all the help that can be given by experience and from published riding technique manuals/books... then if you need to baby steps to regain confidence? Then that is the correct way for you to go. Believe me, I have come off in the past and will wholeheartedly admit I could have avoided it.... inexperience, not reading road and conditions correctly, simply going outside my own ability and/or expecting too much of the bike.... Pick yaself up, cry over the damage to the bike, call your self a wanker etc etc,,, get back on it.
LEARN from the accident, and apply the knowledge, next time you are on a 'pine road' type scene you have knowledge of what could possibly happen, and will modify your actions... I can honestly say as a learner I slid off doing stupid shit that I had no right to be doing, or reasonably expect the poor lil 2fiddy to cope with. I learnt with time and bruises and a thinner wallet

THIS quote below, is the most information giving post for your specific 'OFF' in this thread... read it and think on all the information that people give you here.. I think you will see how the 'off' ocoured and hopefully not feel so scared shitless to ride in the rain.

I know Pine Hill, and it is steep. It is also used by trucks and busses and has a lot of white painted lines that are slippery. Going down there in the wet I NEVER use my back brake other than for balance. It is only the front brake that will have any effect. The steepness of the hill increases the weight transfer to the front wheel, and makes the rear wheel very prone to losing grip.

The lighting on that pice of road is too bright and hides the white lines so making them harder to avoid.

**GSF** · 2nd May 2012, 11:27

My first and only bin so far (knock on wood) was a loss of traction followed by a lowside on a wet road at about 40-50kph and for a few weeks afterwards I was spooked of riding in the rain or on wet road. In my mind (I'd only been riding for 6 months) I was scared because the lowside just "came out of nowhere". A guy pulled out in front of me, I laid on the anchors, locked the rear and fishtailed for a second until the front washed out and I went down.

I had a chat to an older, much more experienced rider about the bin and he laid out exactly why it happened and how to avoid it in future - my tyres were cold (left home 5 minutes beforehand) and they were ancient Shinkos that were good in the dry but hopeless in the wet. I was travelling much too fast for peak hour morning traffic on a damp road, I was doing at least 50 when the guy pulled out on me. I chopped the throttle and hammered both brakes without thinking, blind panic reaction. The front locked up and washed out because I braked too hard for my shitty worn tyres and I didn't give the front a chance to load and get more stick on the tarmac. The whole episode was due to a lack of foresight and awareness, made worse by stupid panic-reaction moves that led to stacking it. Baby's first bin.

After I understood what had gone wrong, the irrational fear of wet roads disappeared. I've had similar experiences in the last two years and an understanding of the first fuck-up means I've been able to smoothly recover from a potential accident. As SMOKEU said, being smooth and consistent is key. Unthinking blind reaction-type inputs will result in trouble.

**Gone Burger** · 2nd May 2012, 11:37

mate... I had a Keeway supershadow that I too took allround New Zealand. Had it 6 months from my learner licence and clocked up 16,000ks on it. Simply loved the bike, but the tyres couldnt be any shittier! Get some new tyres on it, as the ones they comes with (and the chain) have stuff all grip, especially in the wind and rain.

It will shake your confidence, for now. But you'll get back on a little shakey, and after a few rides you will wonder what you were worried about. I binned my bike last year, wrote it off. The first ride back on it was terrifying and I was a nervous reck. After a day on it I felt fine again. Did get a bit of a block each time I faced my issue of how I came off, but that hardly happens now. She'll be right mate... just do it.

Slow and steady - nothing wrong with that.

Just dont let yourself be too shaken with your nerves as you continue to ride... work through them and get ride of them. As lacking in confidence like that can be your worst enemy in furture situations.

**GingerMidget** · 2nd May 2012, 19:52

What Katie said.

Don't go running straight back in to it, just start out slowly. Even if its just taking it around the block in the rain. I stacked when I was learning, and it took me a good couple of months to get back on a bike at all. Once I got over what happened, I was happier.

I stacked on gravel because I grabbed a handful of the front brake, and when confronted with riding on grvael in a big group recently, I knew what to do this time, and having someone I knew could help me really helped the confidence.

Please get some insurance, and look in to some advanced rider training. Its simply not worth not having insurance, and the training may save your life one day.