Down on the tracks

rider64

rider64

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Junction of Dundas and college, front wheel slipped out on the wet tracks. Broken brake lever, cracked fairing and scratched engine cover. Guess I can't say "never been dropped" now! Nothing that a few hundred bucks can't fix I guess. Be super careful downtown in the rain folks!
 
Thanks. Nothing wrong with me other than the mental trauma of seeing my new bike all f***ed up!
Plus a shout out to the two guys who stopped their car and helped me pick the bike up before te streetcar ran it over. Funny though - second thing he asked was: "are you a new rider?". Wonder how he figured that out (ha ha)?
 
Cause everyone knows to have a healthy fear of the streetcar tracks, even in warm dry weather ;)

Glad you and the bike are ok (relatively).
 
Picture of the offending tracks (from today) - notice the wide flanges - thats about 2 feet of shiny slippy metal...

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in the rain i normaly to a turn away then across on a good angle (with the bike straight up) then straighten the bike after
 
What kind of bike is it? I've often wondered if tire widths make a difference? I haven't had a problem with the tracks, and ride downtown daily for the last 7 yrs. I hope I didn't just jinx myself.
 
That's a pretty big bike - guess it isn't a question of the width of the tires. I often wondered how a CBR125's tires would do getting caught in some of those tracks. I'm usually riding on Richmond, Adalaide, & Spadina - so I'm used to riding on the tracks. Just avoid braking when I'm going over them - don't weight the front wheel.
 
bennyskywalker said:
That's a pretty big bike - guess it isn't a question of the width of the tires. I often wondered how a CBR125's tires would do getting caught in some of those tracks. I'm usually riding on Richmond, Adalaide, & Spadina - so I'm used to riding on the tracks. Just avoid braking when I'm going over them - don't weight the front wheel.
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Oh it makes a difference. When a bigger bike goes down on the tracks it's usually a slip and a drop on the side. I've seen a 125 get stuck in the track, wobble and highside. Not sure if the 125 problem applies to 250s
 
bennyskywalker said:
Just avoid braking when I'm going over them - don't weight the front wheel.
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That's what I did, I was breaking over them and hence why I went down but I didn't have much choice since there was a red light and the tracks are RIGHT where you would wait at the red light (and they criss cross all over the place like in the picture). I admit I could have been more careful but when you cross the same intersection a thousand times before without incident you just kind of go into auto-pilot mode and don't even pay attention to that stuff..........that was my mistake.
 
Roasted said:
That's what I did, I was breaking over them and hence why I went down but I didn't have much choice since there was a red light and the tracks are RIGHT where you would wait at the red light (and they criss cross all over the place like in the picture). I admit I could have been more careful but when you cross the same intersection a thousand times before without incident you just kind of go into auto-pilot mode and don't even pay attention to that stuff..........that was my mistake.
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Those intersections are brutal. There is like nowhere to brake. I do find with the BMW though, since it doesn't have the nose dive - the front doesn't weight down as much. Plus the newer bikes have ABS - I'm sure that helps a bit. Was wondering if people with ABS have slipped on the tracks, that'd be interesting to find out.
 
I doubt at least in my case ABS would have helped. The bike went from upright and breaking normally to down on its side in less than a second. Also, the wheel pretty much slipped to the side. I can't see how ABS would have been of any use in that situation. It was on my Monster so the bike doesn't have as much weight on the front as the SS either but it was also withing the first 5 minutes of starting to rain so everything was extra slippery.

Live and learn...

Oh and this was my second or third year riding (so I wasn't exactly a n00b).
 
Roasted said:
I doubt at least in my case ABS would have helped. The bike went from upright and breaking normally to down on its side in less than a second. Also, the wheel pretty much slipped to the side. I can't see how ABS would have been of any use in that situation. It was on my Monster so the bike doesn't have as much weight on the front as the SS either but it was also withing the first 5 minutes of starting to rain so everything was extra slippery.

Live and learn...

Oh and this was my second or third year riding (so I wasn't exactly a n00b).
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Sophomore year is always the worst for accidents. All the confidence, not quite the skill to match it yet. I would know, this was mine, lol.
 
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