My first bin

[moT]

i do it whenever i come off if something you do makes you come off do it again and again faster and harder and make sure you dont come off like comeing off on a gravel road i know now how to ride in gravel v well 1. doesnt make you scared of whatever you came off on 2. increases confidence 3.it may seem crazy but it works 4. if you come off more than 5 times retrying sleep on it and do it again tomorrow

[moT]

by the way this excludes collisions with cars

[Chickadee]

Hi Kave,

Your forks - possibly the stanchions have twisted around within the triple clamps. Quick fix, is to face your bike - front wheel between your knee's, and give it a short sharp twist on the handlebars (opposite way that you kissed the deck). And then take it for a quick spin to see if it helped straighten it up. Tip from Hubby (McJim) by the way. We've had this experience.

If you're not sure and want to give it a go - send us a PM, we're in Botany Downs.

Cheers
Chickadee

[Chisanga]

Hi Kave,

Your forks - possibly the stanchions have twisted around within the triple clamps. Quick fix, is to face your bike - front wheel between your knee's, and give it a short sharp twist on the handlebars (opposite way that you kissed the deck). And then take it for a quick spin to see if it helped straighten it up. Tip from Hubby (McJim) by the way. We've had this experience.

If you're not sure and want to give it a go - send us a PM, we're in Botany Downs.

Cheers
Chickadee

I vouch for this method... McJim has straightened my forks with this method to great success

[beyond]

Shit Phil, it happens to us all at some stage. Just as well it wasn't a high speed one but now you know why I harped on about decent gear.

Always by the best you can afford cos on a bike that's all you have between you and serious inury.

Chikadee is right. The forks have twisted in the clamps. In a low speed off this can happen on the smaller bikes. Shove the front wheel up against a post or wall and give it a sharp twist in the opposite direction. You can normally gte it fairly right but on your next service get them to check front and rear alignment and ask them to check it out.

It takes a good collision or real hard whack to get your forks out of alignment on a permananent basis requiring straightening or such like so don't sweat it.

Oh, course you will find out now your corduras aren't waterproof anymore around the knee area Bummer but at least you have a knee cap mate

[Cynos]

i do it whenever i come off if something you do makes you come off do it again and again faster and harder and make sure you dont come off like comeing off on a gravel road i know now how to ride in gravel v well 1. doesnt make you scared of whatever you came off on 2. increases confidence 3.it may seem crazy but it works 4. if you come off more than 5 times retrying sleep on it and do it again tomorrow

What? Has anyone ever explained gyroscopic force to you Tom?

[Big Dog]

Came off my bike this morning. I was turning left into a gas station on Mt Wellington highway, and I saw someone waiting to turn right, slowed, and all of a sudden I was sliding on the ground. When I picked up my bike I noticed a large patch of diesel right where I lost control. Bike is fine, a few spots of minor grazing on the handlebars and tail-section, and on the side of the instruments. I am fine, a minor graze on my elbow. Visor popped off my helmet, but the helmet saved my head.
I guess I have learnt the importance of good gear, if I wasnt wearing my cordura I would be very sore now. Now have a tiny hole in the knee of my pants, but my armour saved me. I think I will have to be a lot more careful about keeping an eye on the state of the road, especially outside gas stations.

How very refreshing. An I binned thread that does not go on and on about it was someone elses fault and got straight to the point of understanding your lessons.

Good work.

[skidMark]

youve popped your sliding down the road cherry.....ive dun it 9 times now! lol

[Big Dog]

Just Hack it get on that bike and go thru that diesel again and again until you dont come off lock up ur breaks on it make sure u let that diesel know that it made a bad choice makeing u come off! when i come off i go back and do it again until i have conqured it it always works

Not smart in traffic.

Learn to ride in slippery conditions is great advice.
Repeating a negatively rewarded action on what sounds to be a busy road without getting further information may work (eventually) but could also see him badly hurt or even killed. Or he may just spend all of his remaining confidence failing to learn.

[skidMark]

shit u guys are really digging into poor tom.

[Big Dog]

shit u guys are really digging into poor tom.

No more than I would to my best mate or someone I have never met (as is the case) if he offered advice that was potentially fatal.

This is not personal. There are just some things I cannot leave to run their course.

[Biggles08]

It looks like the bike may be a lot worse than I thought, riding it home from work today I felt that I was having to steer to the right to go in a straight line. Possibly bent the forks, anyone know how expensive that is?

Hi Kave, hard luck on the bin. I've bent my forks in the past and had them straightened by a crowd down in Cambridge called 'wheel and frame NZ.' They did an awesome job and it only cost $40 per fork and $120 for the front rim. Very quick service too...I would highly recommend them if you need professionals to straighten them. Also, do you know if the front hit anything? If so you may need them straightened by a professional because despite what 'beyond' said earlier in the thread, when the bike hits something it is stopping quite a bit of inertia and doesn't need a big hit to do a fair bit of damage. Good luck with the fix.

[Disco Dan]

Shame to hear about your bin dude... never pleasant but it happens to even the most seasoned riders at some stage or another.

Remember you can usually 'smell' diesel which helps to avoid it. Petrol stations are pretty bad for it though!


My first bin...

[Cynos]

shit u guys are really digging into poor tom.

Not really. It was just this comment -

i do it whenever i come off if something you do makes you come off do it again and again faster and harder and make sure you dont come off like comeing off on a gravel road i know now how to ride in gravel v well

Now, I don't know all the ins and outs of the physics, but my rough understanding is that the wheels of a motorcycle are like a spinning top - the faster they spin, the more reluctant they are to fall over.

I'm riding on a gravel road on a road bike every day, so I've had some practise on this - at 30-40km/h, the bike's wobbling and dipping all over the show, at 60-70km it's far more stable.

But to extrapolate from that "the solution in life is to do it again faster" is just asking to be naturally selected against.

(And besides, it ignores the obvious point - at 60km you've got half as much reaction time as at 30km, ergo your bike may be more horizontally stable, but you could still end up in a nice deep bit of gravel which bins you, because you didn't have a chance to avoid it.)

I understand his point about not letting fear conquer you, but yeah, you shouldn't mistake a quirk of physics for your skills improving.

[Bruiser]

i do it whenever i come off if something you do makes you come off do it again and again faster and harder and make sure you dont come off like comeing off on a gravel road i know now how to ride in gravel v well 1. doesnt make you scared of whatever you came off on 2. increases confidence 3.it may seem crazy but it works 4. if you come off more than 5 times retrying sleep on it and do it again tomorrow

Just Hack it get on that bike and go thru that diesel again and again until you dont come off lock up ur breaks on it make sure u let that diesel know that it made a bad choice makeing u come off! when i come off i go back and do it again until i have conqured it it always works

Tom this just about qualifies you for an honours degree in poor advice!

To repeat any accident lead-in behaviour involving the same risks (diesel, traffic, etc) and advising a rider to "do it again and again faster and harder" is not only bad advice, it has the potential to border on suicide!

I fervently hope the moderators here see fit to add a bold notice to your posts that your advice and opinions should definitely not be taken seriously.