Andrew Anderson © 2014 The Happy Biker All Rights Reserved
SAVING A SLIDE - Not the sort you find in the local park!
At some time in your riding career, you will experience a loss of grip from one or other of your tyres… or both. If you are riding in a straight line… you could be on ice, diesel, accelerating or braking too hard… so back off the throttle or brakes… whichever you are using.
Most slides happen when your bike is cranked over in a bend or on a roundabout, these are very difficult to control.. Some people talk a load of rubbish when they go on about “sliding the front”….. The key to getting you and your bike round the bend when traction is scarce is tyre loading.
So what happens if you back off the throttle mid corner with the bike cranked over… or enter the bend on a closed throttle? Well weight is transferred to your front tyre…. , increasing the risk of the front washing out and you going into a lowside. Not nice. Braking or shutting the throttle will also cause you to run wide…either into oncoming traffic on a left hander or the kerb on a right hander… again not advisable.
Stay off the brakes and on the power… but be very gentle… too much power now will see you highsiding…. And the least you can expect from that is a smashed up bike and broken bones…. So gently on the power.. and look where you are going… don’t get target fixation, because you will hit whatever you are looking at… that sheep….Barrrrr ouch… the lamppost…ouch… the lorry…oh sh!t.. so keep focused on the exit of the bend and ride at it. Even if you don’t think you can make it… your bike probably can… bikes are much better at going around corners than we mere mortals are…..
Remember : YOU ARE THE WEAKEST LINK….. we don’t want to be saying GOODBYE
