Close call

Aug 25, 2012
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On a recent ride, I had a close call that was quite heart stopping. It was in a small town somewhere in Central Thailand and luckily or unluckily, I wasn't going fast, maybe about 30-40 kmh taking a sharp turn. However, not only was the turn sharp, it was a decreasing radius turn as well (as it was in town, there were no arrow signs showing that it was a sharp curve). Next thing I knew, I was looking at a pile of gravel a few feet in front of me and a guard rail beyond that.

I was already at a lean and without thinking, I pushed harder on the right handlebar. My wife screamed (or maybe it was me through the helmet), bike wobbled for a second or so, I made the turn without hitting the gravel patch and straightened the bike up.

Now I'm thinking that I should have gassed it a bit more to prevent the wobble. As it was, my speed through the turn, though not high, provided enough centrifugal force to overcome the gravity pull of the bitumen. Would more gas have helped or could it have caused a lowside or highside?

Any advice appreciated. Cheers
 
Jul 6, 2004
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Close call yychow0812!

There is many answers to your question, as you made it through the gravel and missed the guard rail, I reckon you did everything just right.

You didn't mention what type of bike you are riding, as this would make a big difference on the way you approach the problem.

Would extra speed get you through? probably, at the risk of overshooting the corner and bumping over the gravel and sliding into the guard rail.

What would happen if you panicked and stood the bike up as well as hit the front brake? I reckon a nasty accident.

Slow everything down with a gentle touch on the back brake and ride dirt style with your leg out around the corner, then accelerate? Pretty hard to do with 2 up, but could work.

On the odd times I have been confronted with gravel on a sealed surface or suddenly sighted obsticles. The last option works for me as I usual ride by myself.

However I do ride a comparitively underpowered 650cc Adventure bike, with dirt bike tyres.

I reckon you did pretty good.
 
Aug 25, 2012
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Tom Forde;285368 wrote: Close call yychow0812!

There is many answers to your question, as you made it through the gravel and missed the guard rail, I reckon you did everything just right.

You didn't mention what type of bike you are riding, as this would make a big difference on the way you approach the problem.

Would extra speed get you through? probably, at the risk of overshooting the corner and bumping over the gravel and sliding into the guard rail.

What would happen if you panicked and stood the bike up as well as hit the front brake? I reckon a nasty accident.

Slow everything down with a gentle touch on the back brake and ride dirt style with your leg out around the corner, then accelerate? Pretty hard to do with 2 up, but could work.

On the odd times I have been confronted with gravel on a sealed surface or suddenly sighted obsticles. The last option works for me as I usual ride by myself.

However I do ride a comparitively underpowered 650cc Adventure bike, with dirt bike tyres.

I reckon you did pretty good.
Thanks for the reassuring words. I ride a Versys 650 (it was fully loaded with tank bag, top box and hard side cases and 2 up) but with road tyres (Pirelli Angels) and thankfully they stuck to the road pretty good in spite of the aggressive countersteer manoeuvre I had to do. Ultimately, it's all that reading of Keith Code's TOTW and David Hough's Proficient Motorcyling that saved the day for me. I'm just trying to figure out what caused the front tyre wobble and how to prevent that the next time I have to make another emergency manoeuvre.