Gravel on cornering....

[Fin]

Hey guys!

I realize that a healthy respect for danger/obstacles/cagers is important when riding.

But since I bought my City-X, if I see a patch of gravel in my intended turn (standard 90-degree suburban street turn), I have a higher-than-average concern of dumping in a low-side skid. This hasn't happened, thankfully, but the concern remains.

I'm a conservative rider & I follow basic-skills protocol for turns (Slow, look, press, roll). I look through the entire turn to where I'm going like we were all taught. I do not coast through turns, nor do I roll-on hard. I try to enter them relatively slow, but I certainly don't engine-break into them.

This has become more anxiety-provoking since I started riding the Buell--it seems more jittery to road conditions (Uncertain of reason: Fat rear tire? Shorter wheel base? V-Twin torque @ low RPM's?) than my Bandit did.

Don't get me wrong--I love this bike. I'm just venting & wondering how you deal with gravel on turns.

Any feedback/ideas/constructive suggestions or comments greatly appreciated! [up]


Have a great weekend all.

 

[1972c10]

I live kind of out in the country and we get gravel that always collects in certain spots on the corners, Im riding bymyself alot so I have the whole lane to use without worry of a buddy next to me, I usually anticipate it but when I cant I just press the bike harder into the turn or go wide, if I have to pas through it I get it upright go through the gravel and then just press back into the turn hard

 

[xtremelow]

I drive around it..... If I see gravel I just slow down, and try to basically coast through as any added throttle will likely spin the back end and low side and braking can cause the front to slip out. So with both gas and brake out I just let it roll.

Or in this case I went down low side, to a flip gained about 10ft in height and slammed to the pavement....

 

[upthemaiden]

When I come to intersections like that with gravel I notice I do a lot of turning sharp early, standing the bike up straight and running through the gravel, then tipping the bike over again to finish the turn. I don't know, you just get more comfortable with it over time. The one thing that has always confused me is looking through the turn and not obstacles because you'll go wherever you look. The idea makes sense, but how am I supposed to avoid gravel if I don't keep an eye out on the road through the turn??

 

[Blue xb12]

Yeah, gravel and/or sand on asphalt...one of the banes of street riding! I'm not sure about the fat tire, wheelbase, or torque differences on sand from one bike to the next, but seeing ANYthing in the road that's going to cause me to lose control gets my attention.
You're smart to ride conservatively on the street Stay at a speed that enables you to see at least the distance it would require too avoid the obstacle.Not always easy, but worth practicing.
I've come onto several "dirty" corners this year and have been fortunate to maneuver through them. Getting the bike upright as quickly as possible yet not leaving my lane is the goal. No or very light brakes if necessary, you just have to "feel" how much contact you have and work with that.
The best advice I could give would be to ride as often as you can...oh yeah!...and get all the experience in that tou can!!
Ride safe.

 

[Fin]

I agree, Blue--nothing like experience!
UptheMaiden, interesting notion on standing up during turning. I'll think about that one. And I hear you about not looking down for obstacles--I guess "one eye through your corner & one eye on the obstacle."

Xtremelow, thanks for your post & I'm SORRY about your spill! I'm glad you're Okay & still riding. [up]

Thanks for your thoughts, fellas. It's been on my mind a lot lately given the amount of "Spring dust" on every damn street corner around here. Grrrrrr.

 

[myronman3]

i've been riding bikes my entire life....the best thing you can do is ride conservatively. if i want to take the corners aggresively, i will ride out the stretch of road in advance and do an inspection of the road and the corners. i hate to say it, but that is about as close to safe as you are going to get; and road conditions can always change from the time you pre-ride the stretch of road to the time you actually are hitting it at speed.
once i had the ass end hop on me because i hit a small rock, and i cant say i cared much for that sensation. i never had that happen with the cruisers i rode...perhaps because i wouldnt corner as aggresively or maybe it was the difference in bike weight. i dunno.
i think it boils down to, if you push it, you are taking riskes. dont take the risk if you arent willing to pay the piper.

 

[Johnny Corlano]

I stay on the inside tire track of the corner, never the middle of the lane or the outside track. As a car goes through the corner, anything that is picked up by its tire tends to get thrown up hitting the car and deposited in the middle of the lane, or thrown to the outside. Scan ahead to see any hazards before you are up on them and tighten/loosen your line as needed. Basic riding 101- DO NOT look at the hazard as you come up on it! Look through the corner and keep all inputs smooth as always. Staring at the hazard to avoid it, guarantees you will hit it and it guarantees you will tense up which now means you're not smooth.

Think of all the times you've ridden through a hazard you never saw and the bike broke traction. It probably didn't bother you until after it happened coz you weren't focused on it. Same applies here.

Now think of all the times you identified a hazard, tensed up and probably scared the sh!t out of yourself.

Identify early, avoid if possible, look through the corner, be smooth, enjoy.

Lastly, I live in SoCal and we have a lot of aggressive riding spots to chose from. The first thing I would always do when I arrived on scene is ask fellow riders how the road looks, make note of any trouble spots they noted, then do a slow sighting lap on my own to confirm before I turn it up. Simple.

As a matter of fact, screw this, im going for a ride.

 

[anrkizm95]

[up][up] on the above post

 

[Fin]

and road conditions can always change from the time you pre-ride the stretch of road to the time you actually are hitting it at speed.

Very true.

Think of all the times you've ridden through a hazard you never saw and the bike broke traction. It probably didn't bother you until after it happened coz you weren't focused on it. Same applies here.

That's an excellent point!

Thanks for the thoughts, fellas. Gives me a chance to be a bit cerebral on the matter, as riding is out of the question today due to the downpour. :-/

 

[gtp3800]

Yea gravel put me down last sunday. A week from today. Most of the time it just worried me, but now when i get the bike back up im going to be even more cautious. I just always try not to brake to hard to accelerate too hard in the turn.

Then when im out i will rock the bike the get it all of the sides of the wheels.

 

[nativeXb12Rbuell]

see great info here at 3;31 for traction control from Twist of the Wrist 2 DVD , Keith Codes books are great and have tons of great info to learn!

 

[Thaloc]

Gravel just helps you back it in...