ATGATT + locked up rear tire + highside = walk away

[woody77]

Stupid mistake #1:

too much rear brake coming into a corner when going downhill, locked up the rear

Stupid mistake #2:

not getting the clutch in before engine stalled after mistake #1.

Really Good idea #0:

ATGATT

What happened:

Bike fishtailed down from 45mph to about ~10 with the engine off and the rear tire fully locked, before I lost complete control of it. High-sided left as the turn just started (banked a bit, maybe I started to counter-steer, not sure ).

Bike pitched me off, I landed about 10' away.

I scraped up the left side of the visor, and the left shoulder and knee of my armored leather suit. Rivets in the palm of the gloves took most of the brunt there, and the soft base of the thumbs took some abrasion.

Me, I think I walked away with no more than a purple toe nail on my big toe (think the foot when down under the bike). Maybe broke it, will find out later today (it's not that urgent).

Bike is... cosmetically thrashed on the left side. Plastics are barely holding on, but I was able to bend enough of the cowl stay and lower cowl stay into place to keep the plastics out of the engine. Rode it the rest of the way to work (15-20 miles?), including some highway after stopping at a gas station to give it a really good look over.

Another rider was coming up the hill at the time, and stopped to help me get it back on it's feet, and out of the road. So, thanks again, Nick, if you ever see this.

This continues my detest for the rear brake on my bike. No feedback, and twice now I've locked it up and stalled out the engine while stopping, without feeling like I'm using excessive pedal force.

I'm having a friend ride it over to his place tonight (he's 5 miles from work, my house is 35 miles from work), and see what he thinks of it. He's been riding a long time, and while doesn't wrench, is well attuned to how it should be talking back.

Looking at the damage, and my lack of it, I'm so glad I was in gear. I've seen the scrapes my friends that ride bicycles have when going down at those speeds.

Adrenaline is finally wearing off to the point where the soreness is kicking in. Off to take some Ibuprofen to knock the swelling back some...

[VFRShorty]

Sorry to hear about this incident, but at least you are ok! I met some other early VFR riders who also complained about the rear brake, can't say I ever had any trouble though.

[drewl]

Dang, Suckage.
Glad you're alright.
Good-on-ya for wearing gear.

[RVFR]

Wow, sorry to hear this, yes wearing the right amount of gear is a good thing. One question does pop up though, well maybe two or three. Why did the engine die? when applying rear brake? especially going down hill on compression? Do you recall what gear you were in? just curious. Still good to hear this wasn't to bad. I mean you where able to walk away and ride even thou it still gets the juices flowing.

[woody77]

Of course, Murphy is laughing hard at me right now, after this thread:

Amazing what a clean and polish can do

But, I can also say that the Givi hardcase luggage was SO worth it. I had about $3K of electronics in there for work (laptop + prototype devices that I work on). It's scraped up, but everything in it is fine.

pics of my gear are attached. pics of the bike in a while.

[woody77]

Originally Posted by RVFR

Wow, sorry to hear this, yes wearing the right amount of gear is a good thing. One question does pop up though, well maybe two or three. Why did the engine die? when applying rear brake? especially going down hill on compression? Do you recall what gear you were in? just curious. Still good to hear this wasn't to bad. I mean you where able to walk away and ride even thou it still gets the juices flowing.

~5K rpm at 35-45 mph so probably 3rd gear? I tend to not know numerically, but focus on where the revs are at

I overbraked the rear, and I think I OVERBRAKED the rear. My rear has always been very soft, with no real feedback as to when the pads are making contact or not. So I think I dug into the rears so hard that I locked up the rear (it was downhill, so low traction), and then with it locked, I didn't get on the clutch and it stalled out the engine.

And boy, does the bike get REALLY hard to keep stable once it stalls...

2+ hours later, and still shaking a bit from the adrenaline... :(

[RVFR]

Gots ya on that one, Done that a few times on dirt bikes going over a step down hill thinking I can control the bike better by leaving it in gear on compression adding in rear brake, but always be ready for the clutch to be used, but more to point and shoot my way down, then once in a while I'll not be fast enough so the engine stalls, still need to be quick on the clutch to keep in control. Dude, still say some what of a nice save, good going hard bag ;) as it could have gone really bad. Guess we know what you'll be practicing on huh?

[woody77]

yeah, in all, I figure I came out pretty well once I made the initial mistake (compounded by the stalled engine). I was still going pretty quick when the engine stalled, so I figure when the rear locked, and I realized it, I stiffened up, and put more brake pressure down, and didn't get it clutched in time.

yeah, once it's running again, I'll be doing a bunch of stopping drills. Of course, this was with me trying to work on using the rear brake more (tendency to ignore it altogether). Now I'm going to be gun-shy on it again.

Some days I think the linked+ABS isn't a bad way to go... Other days I'm glad that I have to think about it.

[Nungboy]

Dang! Sorry to hear it. Heal quickly and repair the bike.

[nozzle]

Thanks for sharing Woody! Glad you are O.K. and the replacable bits of the bike are all that's wrong. You can rebuild it and make it stronger!! Nice that folk(s) stopped to help

[woody77]

Doctor says it's a broken toe... :( will be off the bike for a while as it heals (as it's my shifting toe).

It's safely tucked in a friend's garage for now, until I can ride it home (and get the left footpeg in remotely the right position. Took pics of the bike, will get them up tomorrow, I think.

Stay safe!

[diVeFR]

Glad to see your alright. Good thing you were wearing armor. I guess the saying goes "better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it." ATGATT. Doc recommends ibuprofin an beer. Thats not for the toe thats just what he recommends.

[DominoTree]

Originally Posted by woody77

So, thanks again, Nick, if you ever see this.

Don't mention it :) Just glad you're okay, and glad the Viffer wasn't too bad off. Actually after I went up to Alice's and had lunch, on the way back I ran into someone who binned their R6 near the same spot, he already had it up and out of the road. He rode away too.

Anyways, if you need any help working on the bike or anything, let me know - I know my VFRs :)

[woody77]

Originally Posted by DominoTree

Don't mention it :) Just glad you're okay, and glad the Viffer wasn't too bad off. Actually after I went up to Alice's and had lunch, on the way back I ran into someone who binned their R6 near the same spot, he already had it up and out of the road. He rode away too.

Anyways, if you need any help working on the bike or anything, let me know - I know my VFRs :)

Holy Crap!!

Had no idea you were on here. Yeah, I rode it just fine into work, although shifting up (especially 1-2) was a major $#^!. The bike's in RWC, in a friend's garage until my toe heals up and I can get that left peg sorted out.

So, I sincerely owe you lunch or a beer. I'll pm you.

[woody77]

So here's the damage that I picked up to me personally (just a broken toe), and then all the new damage to the bike.

It's late enough in the season here, with where my house is, that once I get it home, I'll probably take the winter to take off all the plastics, repair them, fix the bent cowl stays and such, and then put the bike back together.

The friend that rode it to his garage for me has informed me that the tires and brakes are... less than ideal. Most likely a contributing factor. So, I'll be minimum doing new pads all around, maybe new rotors, finally rebuilding that rear master cyl. like I've been meaning to (there's always air in the line when I bleed it, and I can hear the seal sucking air in on the return stroke).

And definitely new tires: Pirelli Sport Demon

Mostly cosmetic, like I said, a couple hard-parts got ground, and the left rear-set is... unique.

[woody77]

Paced out the length of the black mark from the sliding tire today driving into work. about 120' Clearly, the rear brake has very little ability to stop the bike (I wasn't using the front much at all, for fear of getting it sideways, which it did, in the end).

Bike went maybe 10' from the point where the tire mark ends. It went over on it's side to the left, and the left peg definitely is what stopped it (big crater dug in the road).

I discovered that I tried to follow the yellow line into the turn, instead of keeping it headed straight. I was definitely too heads-down instead of focusing on the horizon (or at least the trees ahead).

Pics below. Hard to sort out my tire marks from the others, this curve collects them.

[dcompson]

Sorry to hear you went down, glad you are ok. Looks like the bike can be fixed up just fine.

[woody77]

Here's the worst of the mechanical damage (cosmetic is clearly detailed above).

I'm going to try to straighten it slowly and carefully with a vice and heat, but we'll see how that goes. If it cracks, it'll be replaced. But Honda is certainly proud of some of these parts... Over $75 for that bracket (whole assembly is like $160 or so).