[helo-pilot]

this week i went to see my grandparents because i will be moving out of state in the next 6 months to a year. so any ways, it is about a 4 hour trip one way if you go the speed limit, and the trip down there was great. while i was there my bike started to act funny. i pulled out of their drive way, and got down the road little bit when i came up to a stop sign. i pulled in the lutch and my bike just died. i thought it was a little odd, but i was like mabe i didnt let it warm up enough. so i went on and didnt have any more issues. well not till today.

so i was coming back from college station to waco, and its about an hour and a half ride. and close waco it began to rain. just enough to get th road wet and dangerous. so i take my exit and there is a semi truck that comes up next to me and just as loud as can be on the jake break. so i pull in the clutch and shift from 6th to 1st. well because of his jake break i could nt hear that my motor had died. so i began to let out the clutch to use the motor to slow down (which i thought was still running) and the back tire just locked up. to make it worse, the rear tire slid in to one of the tire ruts in the road. and every time i started to hit the front breaks the back of the bike would start to come around me and tried to lead me.

so im just ahead of the semi and i can see that there is no one comming at the stop sign from any dirrection, so i just decided to try and ride it out. and ended up sliding partly through the intersection about half sideways.

ok for starters if i would have seen some one at intersection, i would have told my bike, " i love you but ill see you later." but i got luck there wasnt any one there.

so first off. what caused my motor to die?
second how can i fix that from happening again
third, did i do the right thing (i didnt go down, just scared me)
fourth what could i have done differant.

another note, i wasnt going that fast since it was a stop sigh and i had to turn right and there is normally a fair amount of traffic at that intersection.

i dont know if it matters but my bike has about 2100 miles on it.

 

[kawirider85]

idk but a lot of people have been complaining of thier bikes just dying for no reason. it sounds to me like you did what you could and it came out good you didn't wreck so.

 

[trig]

DAMN MAN, good save(s). It must have been something Sammy did.

 

[zixxerman]

I had this happen a couple times coming to a stop, it felt like the clutch never disengaged. my friends have had the same clutch problem too. seemed to get alittle better when I went to synthetic oil but I doubt that has anything to do with it. Im wondering if the neutraling problem alot of people have is related to the clutch not disengaging on the 1-2 upshift causing it to just go into neutral, just a thought.

 

[Ernie]

First, in an emergency use the front brake to stop, or rear and front in rain. Use the motor as a brake for convenience only.

Second, if you shifted from sixth to first, and then let the clutch, you will lock up the rear end every time you let the clutch out. go down one gear at a time.


If the rear end is coming around, get the clutch back in and use the front brake, which is designed for stopping.

I dont know why the motor died, I am just speaking to braking.

 

[helo-pilot]

i go from 6th to 1st. in town and dont have an issue because im going slow enough in town and its never locked up before, i dont ride that hard. as for breaking. when ever i hit the breaks though the tail end kept comming further around. so i abandonded that idea after the second or third try(i dont rmemeber which one, it happened kinda fast).

 

[pcracks25]

u ride in 6th gear around town? shit

 

[helo-pilot]

just about idle in it.

 

[calen636]

Man, 6th to 1st. No wonder your rear wheel locked up. Even low rpm in 6th would probably be quite a jolt going in to 1st. Slipper clutch will only do so much... Unless you were hydroplaning or something, if the rear is sliding out on you like that in the rain, pull in the clutch and let it regain some traction and probably upshift to second. In the rain, use the brakes to slow, not the engine. Sounds like you did good not panicking too much and keeping it up though. Especially with a semi rolling along next to you.

 

[Ernie]

Get out the manual and read the part that says how to stop. It says squeeze the brake lever.

check twist of the wrist.

check MSF.

Use brake to stop. Downshift ONE gear at a time.

You asked what happened, you can not go down six gears and expect the engine to take it. Use the brakes. The brakes stop you, the motor slows you down. In an emegency forget the motor, it won't stop you it just slows you. The brakes will STOP you in a heartbeat.

I hope you figure this out before someone turns left in front of you and you start downshifting as a means of dealing with the situation.

 

[helo-pilot]

yea i know downshifting only slows, i wasnt to the stop sign yet, and every time i hit the breaks, the back end came further out from behind me. but none of this would have happened if the motor would not have died.

 

[Ernie]

the reason the back end came around was that the rear wheel was sliding because it locked up when you downshifted six gears. When you hit the brake it takes weight off the rear (front end dives) and it slides worse and comes around.

Solution: Either get the clutch in to stop the rear from sliding, or do not bang down six gears. I understand that the motor died and this contributed to the situation. I am pointing out how to prevent it from ever happening again. Go down one gear at a time and get that clutch in if the rear locks up. Six at a time is just crazy, nothing else.

 

[LiFo]

Wow, scary shit dude.

I vaguely remember someone telling me if the back tire locks up NOT to try to get it rolling again if the back has slid out because the bike will spit you off it when it starts rolling again in a different directly than you are traveling in. Is this an exaggeration?

 

[APinBama]

Originally posted by helo-pilot
ok for starters if i would have seen some one at intersection, i would have told my bike, " i love you but ill see you later." but i got luck there wasnt any one there.

That shit is funny... I probably would have done the same

 

[MRWGLO92]

No, you are correct, but you can also save it if it hasn't come around too far. If it gets too sideways you'll unvoluntarily execute a highside when the back tire catches again. helo-pilot, you need to click each gear at a time and let the clutch out after each click. You need to keep the engine speed matching the wheel speed matching the tranny speed or you gonna keep locking that rear wheel. Deosn't matter if the engine is running or not, not running simply means no fire, doesn't keep the engine from turning. The rear coming out when braking is a result of poor engine/tranny speed vs wheel speed (in this scenario).

 

[helo-pilot]

yeah, GOD was watching out for my ass. so from now on only drop one gear at a time.

about the motor thing. what could possebly cause it to die. i use the high grade gas, so i dont see where it should be some thing like that. but im at a loss as to figguring out why. it has doen it twice to me now.

 

[calen636]

Just to eliminate the simple stuff, you said you were almost at idle in 6th gear cruising through town. Could you have bogged it down so much that it caused the bike to die?

 

[Ernie]

Originally posted by helo-pilot
yeah, GOD was watching out for my ass. so from now on only drop one gear at a time.

about the motor thing. what could possebly cause it to die. i use the high grade gas, so i dont see where it should be some thing like that. but im at a loss as to figguring out why. it has doen it twice to me now.

check your idle.

 

[MadViking]

6th to 1st? Damn, I bet you could hear your tranny CLUNK over the noise of the semi on the jake brake. Like others have already said, don't ever downshift more than one gear at a time unless you are ready to snatch the clutch back in if the back tire looses traction or the tach redlines. You (and the semi) are not supposed to use engine braking in slippery conditions as it only applies braking to the drive tire(s).

You did the right thing by keeping it up. Loosing the back tire can be a puckering experience. [:0]

 

[lowthrizzle]

dude, b/cs to waco is a boring ass ride.. and props for not getting nailed by the semis on loop 340/hwy 6/ I35.. i know those guys can be total pricks to bikes. I used to ride from Hurst to Austin every weekend to see my girlfriend and never got a break from those fuckos.

good job on keepin it upright, and hope you get the problems figured out.