wow.has this happened to you? almost crashed 30 mins ago

[earwig]

I think maybe you were taking the turn a bit fast and when you started to drift you got nervous and maybe stopped looking through the turn? Sometimes when people panic the "natural" riding skills of counter steering and looking through the turn go away and you panic and look at the ground directly in front of you and ultimately thats where you end up going.

Oh also... when you panicked maybe you 'fought' the bike and that might be what started to cause it to wobble... tire pressure can screw you up a little but it wouldn't cause very bad drifting like you described unless your tires were VERY low on air.

[Inquizator]

Ok thanks, I just filled my tires at my gas station to reccomended PSI, and zomg it the turning isnt so damn sloggy. I think this was the problem..

Hey, I'm just curious: do you happen to know how low the tire pressure was in your tires before you filled them back up? I'm wondering if you were only a few PSI low or if you had to be 10 PSI low or even more untill you start feeling sluggish steering.

[Koss]

Ok thanks, I just filled my tires at my gas station to reccomended PSI, and zomg it the turning isnt so damn sloggy. I think this was the problem..

Hey, I'm just curious: do you happen to know how low the tire pressure was in your tires before you filled them back up? I'm wondering if you were only a few PSI low or if you had to be 10 PSI low or even more untill you start feeling sluggish steering.

Yea it would be cool to know what the OP's pressures were at before getting them back up to standard pressure.

I know with my bike, as little as 6 psi and I can feel it on tight slow uturns... the handlebars actually pull themselves more into the turn without any steering input from my hands... and this is with 6psi below spec on the REAR tire too... wierd huh.

After 6-10 psi the turning of the handle bars on tight uturns becomes more and more aparent, when 15 or more psi below spec you begin to feel some wierd feedback from the rear tire. Also to note, when my tire had a nail in it and was running on like 6 or 10 psi total... unless I was paying attention I could totally dismiss it. Only when I was taking a sharp turn onto a side street without slowing down did I actually almost lose total control. The tire would also follow those rain grooves in highway WAY more, and I almost lost control on one of those slightly uneven edges where they cut a slab of road out and redo it... bad times my friend, bad times.

[Lion_Lady]

You could also have encountered some grease or other 'stuff' on the ramp. They get used often by lots of traffic.

Anything, from some water that rolled out of a pickup, to oil from a blown engine, could have been deposited on that previously clean ramp. Both would be very dangerous to a two wheeled vehicle in cold temps.

Glad you survived your crash with little damage.

P

[superskip]

fwiw you can use a bicycle tire pump even a cheap $10 one from K-mart - not all that difficult and a lot more convenient than having to go to a gas station everytime...

glad i saw this post i've been lax lately checking tire press's.

[Media Weasel]

fwiw you can use a bicycle tire pump even a cheap $10 one from K-mart - not all that difficult and a lot more convenient than having to go to a gas station everytime...

I have some stuff from the bicycling days, including a quick-fill CO2 filling kit. Doubt that would do much to a motorbike tire, tho, but it might be worth a thought.

[DerekNC]

A CO2 pump will work. It will use about 3 cartridges though for a motorcycle tire. Make sure it's setup for schrader and not presta valves. I've used CO2 pumps on bicycle tires and carry one on my motorcycle. But as said for everyday use you can get a regular bicycle pump to top your tires off.