Doorag
Senior Member
Just had a front flat heading downhill into a roundabout at about 50mph. Let's say I wouldn't recommend trying it.
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Scary
- Thread starter Doorag
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let me guess. you looked a little like this. 
did you go down or were you able to get to the side of the road?
did you go down or were you able to get to the side of the road?
Great recommendation.
Tips on how to get through it if you had to do it again?
I'm thinking (depending on how far you've got to stop obviously) either changing down FAST or going hard on the back brake, and keeping it as straight as possible.
Never had a flat on the motorbike, what should you generally do when trying to stop on a flat?
Thanks for getting the thought in my head haha.
Tips on how to get through it if you had to do it again?
I'm thinking (depending on how far you've got to stop obviously) either changing down FAST or going hard on the back brake, and keeping it as straight as possible.
Never had a flat on the motorbike, what should you generally do when trying to stop on a flat?
Thanks for getting the thought in my head haha.
Wh0M3
Junior Member
I've always thought about what might happen, but I've thought more about how I would try to handle it and hope there was someplace soft to land.
I would like to know also how you handled it, and if there is any recomendations out there on what to do. I don't remember anything about this in the riders course I took.
I would like to know also how you handled it, and if there is any recomendations out there on what to do. I don't remember anything about this in the riders course I took.
Doorag
Senior Member
I have some thoughts on it and once I'm home and not on my iPhone I'll share them.
I went down but only as I clipped the outside curb going less than 5mph and it was onto grass so no problem. I've crashed MUCH worse than that on my off-road bike.
I went down but only as I clipped the outside curb going less than 5mph and it was onto grass so no problem. I've crashed MUCH worse than that on my off-road bike.
moopie
Junior Member
Glad you made it out of that situation! And yes, please post more details so we can hopefully learn from it. I always worry though on whether or not I'll even be able to compose myself well enough to remember the steps.
Why did your tire go flat and was it a quick or slow deflation?
Why did your tire go flat and was it a quick or slow deflation?
Red Wazp
Super Member
Another reason for ATGATT
Stay off the brakes or a very light touch, slow down using the gears gently. Keep your head up, looking ahead will help keep control and focus on where you are headed.
Oh when you do stop you can pull the seat out of your a$$ because this will be a major pucker event.
Ryan T
P.P.P.P.P.P
Glad to hear that you made it through this. Looking forward to the entire story so we can all learn from it.
Take care.
Take care.
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That's a tough one and I would be hard put to come up with a solution at that speed coming into a round-about. I'm imagining there was catastrophic failure of the tire carcass or bead and you lost air very quickly.Please tell us more when your heart rate slows back down to normal!
Good Stop! :rockon::cheer:
Doorag
Senior Member
Right, so here's what happened.
I was coming down a long (1/4 mile) hill with a gentle slope - not the mountains or anything. Going about 55ish (limit is 60) and getting into position for the roundabout. This is a decent sized, two-lane roundabout that normally I could take comfortably at 40-50 with no traffic. As I started to move into position, I noticed I couldn't turn the bike
I just had the same thing happen on the rear about 4 weeks ago so I immediately knew what the problem was - a flat.
Honestly, my first reactions was to ask myself, "What the hell am I supposed to do now. Did I learn about this in any training or have I read about it before?" I answered, "No, sorry. You're on your own. Bye!"
Great. What now? <as the roundabout is getting closer and closer>
I tried turning - just normal turning - and it wasn't really effective and it really felt like if I pushed it, I'd lose the front. Which didn't sound like a good idea, but I had to do something since I didn't feel like taking on the curb head-on.
Anyway, enough dramatics. I got on the brakes a bit (which also inhibited turning) to just slow things down a bit and managed to lean it over enough to get around the inner curb. Now I had another problem - I'm aimed at the outside curb. I let off the brakes at this point and threw it over the other way. I got 95% of the way around the roundabout before hitting the curb at a slight angle. Which actually was shy I dropped it. If I had taken that curb a bit more straight on then I probably would have made it off the road OK and into the grass. As it was, I was going about 5mph by now so basically I dropped it and did a stunt-man roll into the grass.
Luckily there weren't cars all around me so I had plenty of space to do all this without having to think about that too.
What did I learn?
I was coming down a long (1/4 mile) hill with a gentle slope - not the mountains or anything. Going about 55ish (limit is 60) and getting into position for the roundabout. This is a decent sized, two-lane roundabout that normally I could take comfortably at 40-50 with no traffic. As I started to move into position, I noticed I couldn't turn the bike
I just had the same thing happen on the rear about 4 weeks ago so I immediately knew what the problem was - a flat.
Honestly, my first reactions was to ask myself, "What the hell am I supposed to do now. Did I learn about this in any training or have I read about it before?" I answered, "No, sorry. You're on your own. Bye!"
Great. What now? <as the roundabout is getting closer and closer>
I tried turning - just normal turning - and it wasn't really effective and it really felt like if I pushed it, I'd lose the front. Which didn't sound like a good idea, but I had to do something since I didn't feel like taking on the curb head-on.
Anyway, enough dramatics. I got on the brakes a bit (which also inhibited turning) to just slow things down a bit and managed to lean it over enough to get around the inner curb. Now I had another problem - I'm aimed at the outside curb. I let off the brakes at this point and threw it over the other way. I got 95% of the way around the roundabout before hitting the curb at a slight angle. Which actually was shy I dropped it. If I had taken that curb a bit more straight on then I probably would have made it off the road OK and into the grass. As it was, I was going about 5mph by now so basically I dropped it and did a stunt-man roll into the grass.
Luckily there weren't cars all around me so I had plenty of space to do all this without having to think about that too.
What did I learn?
- Don't Panic! - not panicking probably did more for me than anything else.
- Slow down - See number 1 above and remember the rear brake is your friend. If you don't normally use the rear brake at all, I'd practice getting a feel for it. It's easy to lock up when you are on the front brakes as well, but it's very effective when you don't use the front. Also, as far as I can teel you have about a 1% chance of locking up the rear when at speed using only the rear brake.
- Get the bike over - the only way to turn it is to get he bike leaned over, but don't go too far. Try to do it slowly and consider how much grip you have. (This obviously depends greatly on the circumstances.)
- Get professional training - I'm not a pro anything. I'm going to seek out someone who can give me proper advice and training on how to handle this in the future. I'd recommend you do the same.
- Don't Panic
- Don't Panic
dblaze
Junior Member
Sounds like a real nightmare situation you did well not to come out of it worse than you did.
Doorag
Senior Member
Oh yeah - one follow-up note.
Don't get 'elbow' type valves. That was the problem on both the front and the back. I (as a noob rider) thought they would make it a lot easier to maintain the tire pressure and stuff. It does, but at a huge cost. It's the constant centripetal force that pulls the valves down causing the rubber around them to split - which is what caused both my flats.
Just a word of warning. I won't be using them again no matter how easy they are to work with.
Don't get 'elbow' type valves. That was the problem on both the front and the back. I (as a noob rider) thought they would make it a lot easier to maintain the tire pressure and stuff. It does, but at a huge cost. It's the constant centripetal force that pulls the valves down causing the rubber around them to split - which is what caused both my flats.
Just a word of warning. I won't be using them again no matter how easy they are to work with.
