found my limits

[ohgood]

limits found:
backed in, or whatever kids are calling it now

almost a low/high side while powering out of a turn.

mostly just found my limits of experience of the higher power to be had in the upper rpm range. thankfully, no big deal, going to be backing off quite a bit and regrouping. no crashes, no safety issues with where I was "testing" myself, just eye openers.

rock on

 

[oldfast007]

Lessons self taught are seldom forgotten...You made it through, learned something and discovered drifting, not a bad day...

 

[g8anos]

Give us some more info ...

What turn, how fast were you going, how did you save the bike?

 

[novaks47]

Haha, yeah, I try to keep it under 8K while exiting corners, or the really tight ones at least. 8K and above is reserved for city and freeway riding. Quite a feeling having the back end slide isn't it? That's the best way to learn though, to hit the limit without crashing!

 

[ohgood]

Give us some more info ...

What turn, how fast were you going, how did you save the bike?

nothing spectacular, just a no-longer-being developed housing development. endless cul-de-sacs and fairly fresh pavement. kept taking the lefts and rights until it felt a little ragged. i slide into LEFT hand turns alot more naturally. right handers feel like i'm having fighting a left/right brain war on the entrance. this was the backing it in bit, i guess.

after a few tries, i had more confidence with what the rear felt like exiting, and carried more revs. twos times it felt the rear GRAB, but didn't feel the slide. that's something that concerned me. usually, on the drz i can feel either wheel lock, and if/when the rear looses traction on accleration. i didn't feel the rear break traction on acceleration on the fz, so it was very very odd when it gained traction again. may have been very close to a catastrophic (high/low) failure there for a minute.

speed was around 25-35, i think, just playing in first gear. no curbs, just those wonderful little drainage humps of concrete, that run out into nice, soft, lush grass. i wouldn't try this stuff with curbs. they are terrifying to me.

so anyway, the fueling of hte fz, or it's EFI algorythms, or all of it is a really nice package to learn on. we had a smallish gymkhana here a couple weekends ago, and the fz was flawless. very glad i ddin't take the drz to that.... one friend did and he pushed his front tire (scrubbing/sliding) around the entire course. very skilled rider, very safe rider. i will do more on the drz with tight/slow courses soon though. need to improve my handling some more there. the fz on the other hand, man, it's soooo predictable.

and today, my first full on rain storm with the fz, shod with fairly new Pirelli Diablo tires. absolutely would not push it in the rain. Felt the sidewalk tapes very very strongly. Slid right across like it was greased ice. i Don't think there is a tire that can make those feel good. otherwise, very happy with the rain performance, the laminar lip helped a ton with deflecting rain.

i'd much rather commute on the drz if it's raining though. throwing it into a bunch of bushes wouldn't bother me at all. it's been there so much before it just takes a nap and waits patiently. the fz... oh man i'd be sick if i tossed it.

there, hope that was enough summary of my very small experience with fz/traction. thanks for reading, ride safe guys/gals, and by god slow down a little ... i wanna see more pictures from the kick ass places -you- get to ride.

rock on :rockon:

 

[Sparkybean]

I nearly had a low side a few months ago. Bit of mud on road, stupidly too much power out of turn and rear end slid, a lot, backed off throttle and immediately and it caught but luckily not in a way to high side me.

Weirdly I like these rare experiences, they teach me lessons on the bikes limits and remind me not to get complacent, and so far I have dealt with these incidents calmly and come through them safely so far. And I know that does not excuse them from happening in the first place. But how do you know where these limits are without pushing a little bit?

 

[fazed_ya]

Almost went down the same way!!!! While inside at work the city gremblins laid black tar snake a plenty and only in the left lane...so as I pulled out and into the left lane low siding began then whatever the f#$% I did started the high side.....again whatever I did brought her back to center and at the next light I had to surgicaly remove my a$$ hole from the seat..

 

[Sparkybean]

I had to surgicaly remove my a$$ hole from the seat..

hahaha this made me laugh. It reminded me of a fellow military driving instructor I used to work with. He used to talk about near death experiences on the road with trainee soldiers by saying "I was pinching the fabric of the seat with my a$$hole" and he would then make a puckering sound.

 

[fazed_ya]

hahaha this made me laugh. It reminded me of a fellow military driving instructor I used to work with. He used to talk about near death experiences on the road with trainee soldiers by saying "I was pinching the fabric of the seat with my a$$hole" and he would then make a puckering sound.

I swear it drew up tighter then a nat's a$$ hole

 

[FinalImpact]

In my 2000+ street miles i've had some things happen that I'll chock up as educational. None put me in the grips of tearing fabric from the seat but the rear has slid under power and while on the brakes from sand, gravel, oils, man-hole covers etc. The nose has come up several times from aggressive wrist action (those i've found to be entertaining). I will say that if you drop over a knoll in a the upper RPM band don't be surprised when the nose comes up!

To this day the tires still have the n$pples on the edges so I guess I'm still a newbe with chicken strips. lol

OP - thanks for sharing!

 

[Marthy]

I had one of those moments last winter. Winter in Florida can be chill and sunny. I was getting on the on ramp with no one in front of me. It was a perfect opportunity to nailed the throttle for a good acceleration rush. I was almost strait, barely leaning... Bang! WOT!!! A combo of cold pavement and not too hot tires... first thing I know the rear end kick off a good 8-12"! I learn many year ago as a kid not to close the throttle in those situation... don't ask me how I found out. So I hug the tanks, drag my left foot on the ground (better balance... or if I low side my legs won't be stuck underneath) and kept the throttle steady. Just like a good girl she got back up... just a little kick in the butt after the rear tire grab. It did scare the crap out of me...

 

[DownrangeFuture]

I got after it hard on a left turn when I thought my tires were warm. The rear slipped and then caught suddenly, and the next thing I knew I was trying to hang onto a tank slapper. I was turning to the left, but had been thrown so far to the right that the rear brake pedal was bent. Somehow it stayed upright and I had the presence of mind to get on the gas gently, not fight it, and look where I wanted to go.

After I pulled over everything else seemed okay, although the slapper was violent enough that it broke off the float in the gas tank. I wound up having to solder that back to the circuit board to get it working again. I think the only thing that kept me on the bike was my a**hole's death grip on the seat.