grooved pavement?
Any tips for riding on grooved pavement? You know that sh*t that is left over after the giant grinding machines tear up the road surface? I was riding up around Lincoln Drive in Philly today, my first time up there. Could feel the bike going all squirrely, and it was downright frightening (alright I am a big chicken) in the curves.
SH
Loosen the death grip and let
Loosen the death grip and let the bike do its thing.
****We know yesterday existed because we remember it, the future we can not predict as it has yet to happen, and the moment you say now it becomes the memorable past...so WHEN in time do we exist?****
Said and done
Munch's on the money. Any time you're worried about your traction or the bike's stability (e.g. grooved roads, gravel, those metal bridges, rain, etc.) you have to do the counter-intuitive thing and loosen up your grip. Your input to the handlebars is more likely to cause problems than help, and in most cases, the front just needs to do its thang and readjust itself. Grab the bike with your knees and loosen up on top.
Trust the tires!
Trust the tires!
Isn't road construction
Isn't road construction great. Hopefully the situation is temporary as they may be preparing to resurface the road. Until then, take it easy through the "groovy" road. Depending on what type of road it is (55mph vs. 35 mph) you may want to slow down a bit, and don't make any sudden changes in speed or direction. But Munch is right. Loosen up and go with the bike, unless that is across the median of course.
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2004 Suzuki GS500F
As the others have said, just
As the others have said, just loosen up on the handlebars and be smooth and steady on the throttle and you will be okay. The bike may track around a little bit but will keep going in the general direction you want :) The interstate here has been this way for months now. Lot's of fun at 70mph.
Be careful around construction sites as who knows what other crap is out there. Potential for lots of gravel etc. I went over a wet metal plate on Friday night only to hit a large metal object on the other side. Didn't even see it, just heard something metal go clang. I honestly thought something had flew off my bike and I went back to see what it was. Just some several pound metal bar that had been lying on the road. Thankfully no damage was done except to my underwear.
a total revelation
Why don't they teach you 'loose grip' in the MSF course? I went out riding tonight and practiced that idea on all the bumps, ruts, potholes, sinkholes, railroad tracks..etc of the urban environment around here. Not white-knuckling the bar changes the whole dynamic of the ride. It's actually fun and enjoyable not to try and "micro-manage" the bike across every little obstacle.
thanks thanks thanks!!
Philadelphia, PA
2009 BMW G650GS
It was someone on this board
It was someone on this board . .cant remember who, that said to flap your elbows like a chicken. If you cant, your to tense. (-; For a while, you'll see every time you are in trouble, you will also me real tense and rigid.
You dont drive a bike, you ride a bike, its a relationship that requires some trust and a lot of "understanding". Take your time, learn one lesson at a time and always try to relax and enjoy the ride. Tense = fear, and these things eat fear for lunch. If you "over ride", you will be tense, you can not be relaxed if you are over reaching and are over your head . . one step at a time will get you there every single time. (-; Groved roads are not the perfect learning environment . .but hey, we have the roads we have. LoL
2006 Harley Davidson Dyna Wide Glide
Sales, Peterson's North Miami Store
See BBM Article
See the BBM Article titled "8 Great Beginner Rider Habits". It was a huge help to me when I started.
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2004 Suzuki GS500F
To add to that
Just to drive this point home further, you should NEVER be tense on the bars. You should never be relying on the bars to stay on the bike. Period. No weight on the bars.
To make this even more dramatic, track riders must follow the chicken-wing rule too at all times. If you can't waggle your arms goofily while braking down from 140mph to 90mph for a corner, or hanging off with your knee on the ground, you're doing it wrong.
In addition to loosening up,
In addition to loosening up, don't try to change lanes to the smooth pavement. If you make the transition at an angle narrower than 45deg, you are likely to get your tires caught on the edge and go down. When going from the rough to the smooth pavement, you want to go across the ridge as straight on as possible (like the 2x4 drill in the MSF class).
you should see me out riding
you should see me out riding around today, flapping my arms like a chicken.
just finished reading proficient motorcycling. Book had me a little freaked out to tell you the honest truth. Weather was so beautiful today though that it didn't matter. Today's challenge was to see if I could go on the expressway without loosing my shit, which, it turns out that I can. The slab was actually pretty kind and relaxing today :)
Longest trip so far has been about 25 miles. Now that I feel I can confidently handle the highway, it opens up a lot of possibilities.
SH
Philadelphia, PA
2009 BMW G650GS
Moved to a separate thread
moved
More throttle, more stable.
I find myself giving the bike more throttle on the grooved pavement sections, if there is no traffic ahead.
Acceleration tend to lift the front end of the bike just enough to cancel out the tendency for the grooved pavement to steer the front tire, more speed also keep the bike more stable in a straight line as suppose to slow the bike way down on grooved pavement.
Lincoln Drive is particularly bad because there has been too many moto related accidents in the past, seems to me PennDOT intentionally grooved that road so motorcyclist would either avoid that road or slow traffic way down to avoid thrillseekers to ride that frequent that road, such a shame.. it was a great road to ride when it was nicely paved couple of years ago, I enjoyed it many times.
Squirrely
When the bike gets 'squirrely' like on ground up road or going over a bridge grating, I just make sure my arms are super lose as was said above, and I tighten my legs and steer with my butt (shift my weight). If it feels really squirrely sit back further and to put more weight on the rear and give it more gas like 'A' said to unload the front shocks like he said. Works for mud and sand stuff too.