I had a fairly slow lowside on a roundabout the other day; I had my knee on the deck but I wasn’t scraping the pegs, and suddenly the bike just slid away from me.
I have no idea why it happened…I think I was just going too slow to carry that amount of lean.
I checked the road for debris or diesel and there was none.
Anyway fortunately apart from snapping my footpeg bracket off (which made the 200 miles home a bit tricky) the R&G has taken all of the damage, apart from the right indicator and a small scuff on the fairing and exhaust.
Is there anything else I should check for damage wise? The bars didn’t touch the ground and as far as I remember the bike didn’t hit a kerb but I’m only 90% sure about that. The steering seems straight and it stays in a straight line when I take my hands of the bars at speed.
SInce I was very low anyway when I went down I don’t think the impact will have been too harsh, so I can’t imagine there’s been any frame damage or anything. Nothing rattles and it started straight back up again without any problems.
The only thing I’m worried about is bent forks really…I don’t know how to check for this.
Thanks
i’d always get someone who knows what they’re doing to give ya bike a once over after a spill if you’re not sure, if it was really slow im sure its fine, if the forks were bent you’d know about it…
That’s what I thought. I had an old NTV I had a higher speed drop on with similar damage and the bars took all the force, which meant the yoke was not straight but I don’t think the forks were bent then. What is it like to ride with bent forks? Does the suspension still work properly?
I don’t really know why I fell off. Been having a great ride all day, getting nice and low in the bends…but then this one roundabout I decided to go twice round it and on the second run it was just like I kept leaning until I hit the ground. Very weird.
dunno how long you been riding but bikes will fall over if you lean far enough.
you can ride off the edge of a long distance touring tyre because the profile isnt the same as a sports tyre thats ment for leaning far over. Likewise a cold sports tyre wont grip and it will let go and you’ll fall down…
No, I don’t think I went off the edge of it because it was a warmed up sports tyre and I wasn’t even scraping the pegs. I think I just wasn’t going fast enough for that degree of lean. Obviously the faster you’re going the more the tyres are pushed into the tarmac hence the higher the grip…its just never happened before…
