Keep Sliding

Sinque · 11 Jan 2008 at 21:43

Recently got my Gilera DNA 50 and passed my CBT. I've been going to school on it and everyday and i've almost came off it already, either by slipping on metal covers on the road or just feeling like i'm sliding rather than rolling. I've just got brand new tyres aswell and i'm starting to get really cautious when turning 'cause it feels like the bike is just going to slide away from me.

First time was a metal cover on the road, it was wet and I went over it and the front wheel just went and handle bars went crazy but I managed to hold it. Second was going round a corner, not tight either, was just a nice curved corner, and it felt like I was just sliding around it and that I had no grip to the road. Finally I was behind a car and they braked rather rapidly at a crossing and I was literally about 10cm from hitting them, I couldn't stop and I just seemed to slide, even though my wheels didn't lock.

Not really sure what's going on, wether it's icy roads or what but it seems i'm just going to come off eventually with all this sliding.

Sinque · 11 Jan 2008 at 21:52

Scythe said:
You shouldn't go over manhole covers in the wet. Pretty much a no.1 rule if you don't want the bike's front end to slide away.

There are loads allover in the middle of the roads and it's always raining here

Sinque · 11 Jan 2008 at 22:19

MrSix said:
snip

I try my best but sometimes they are just unavoidable

doofer said:
Brand new tyres take a few hundred miles to 'bed in' to get full grip, so, combined with the weather we're getting making the roads very slippery, you need to take it nice and easy is all.

Ah right, next time it's dry i'm going to blast about on it for a few hours then.

But even when I'm going barely 15mph because i've just come around a corner my front wheel still goes

Sinque · 12 Jan 2008 at 15:23

Northwind2 said:
Especially scooter tyres... Though there are good ones these days. DNA's a nice wee bike by the way, good choice I think. A mate of mine had the 125, lovely.

I think it could be that you're misinterpreting the feel of the bike too, though... Especialyl with the braking-for-a-car example, if you slide on the brakes you pretty much always lock the front wheel, and as a new rider you would most likely crash... Saving a locked front isn't the easiest. Did you ever get this feeling on your CBT?

And yes- avoid manhole covers. You're not a car, you have about a thousand lines round every corner and obstacle. Also, if they've been salting the roads around you then that robs the surface of grip.

Yeah, they're brand new Avon tyres, £70 at the correct pressures. It's a lovely bike indeed, really nippy

Nope, on my CBT I felt as though I could get my knee to the floor (not that I would

). But now I darn't even lean slightly!

Sinque · 12 Jan 2008 at 15:51

RVF said:
Do you ride with the throttle to the stop?? this will cause spin-ups as soon as grip levels drop on the road.

I noticed this when I had a 125, goin up hills etc with throttle jammed open to get speed. When you go over a slippy bit of road the rear would spin. Only way to avoid this is to back off the gas just enough to keep your speed constant.

It's not the rear, it's the front

It feels almost like pulling the front brake when going around a corner, the front tyre just slides away from under me.

Sinque · 12 Jan 2008 at 16:02

RVF said:
It may just be a handling characteristic of that bike, if the front was truly sliding you would no doubt have been down the road by now.

How much lean angle you trying to use? are you aggresivly attacking the bends?

The reason I ask is that most riders with CBT has little or no riding skills. It takes time to understand whats causing the problems you are experiencing.

Try and be smooth in every aspect of your riding i.e smooth on brakes, dont just chuck it into corners etc

The roads are very slippy this time of year so just take a chill pill and dont try and ride like Valentino

Barely no lean at all yet, still picking up confidence, this feeling of it slipping away isn't helping me either

I'm not scared but i'm weary about it.

The roads are dry today so i'll probably try wear the tyres in and hope it makes a difference.

Did you get an aftermarket exhaust fitted on yours? Really not enjoying the sound of a hairdryer

Sinque · 12 Jan 2008 at 16:22

Dureth said:
The sliding feeling is a combination of cold wet roads and new tyres. Also the new tyres will give the bike a completely different feel as you tip it into a bend. New tyres often make the bike feel like it is dropping away from you. This is because older tyres get flattened off, the fresh curve of the new tyres means that your angle of lean increases in a linear manor rather than exponentially.

Is that good then? :confused:

Sinque · 12 Jan 2008 at 18:50

Well i'm about go out on it for a while then go to a friends, going to test if it's just the feel of the new tyres and test the lean a bit more. It's dry

Sinque · 12 Jan 2008 at 19:59

Enfield said:
As said, that's because your tyres are brand new! They will be just as dangerous as driving with no tread whilst they're not bedded in.

So I paid £70 for better tyres which are more dangerous?

Guess i'll have to bed them in then

Sinque · 12 Jan 2008 at 20:09

Dureth said:
I love how you think the £70 is so much for the tyres. I remember when I had a 125 too and thought the same.

Now a set of tyres for the Ducati costs me £250!

It's a lot when you don't have a job or EMA

Sinque · 12 Jan 2008 at 22:21

Just been out and I think it's just the feel of the tyres, although it felt like I was simply gliding I was still managing to lean, very slightly ofcourse.

Sinque · 12 Jan 2008 at 23:56

jaydee said:
Maybe you're light and there's not as much contact area for the front tyre to get grip. This may be worth a try but don't quote me..

How about getting a coarse grade of emery cloth and scrubbing the front tyre contact area and see if it improves grip?

Could be a dummo move but who knows...

I'm slightly over 12stone so I can't see that being the problem

Sinque · 13 Jan 2008 at 00:37

Persil said:
I trick i and others use is get one of those green pop scourers and give the tyres a good scrup to remove all the shiny coating from them .l

Yeah that's exactly how it feels, just gliding along on shiny ice wheels

What are 'green pop scourers'?

Sinque · 13 Jan 2008 at 00:55

Havn't checked the pressure, no. I'll do that tomorrow and if it's dry i'll just go for a drive about. Been reading I need to do atleast 20miles on windy dry roads to scrub them in.

Could I not just sand paper them?

Sinque · 13 Jan 2008 at 14:51

I've just checked my tyres and both were at about 25, i've put them upto 30 but i'm not sure if the back and front need to be different - going to check their website now.

My mums getting some of those scourers so i'll give them a go aswell on my tyres.

Edit: Just got my tyre info' and on the Avon website: http://www.avon-tyres.co.uk/motorcycle/?page=tyres&method=showspecs&id=17 i've got the front 120/70-14 and the back 140/70-14 but it doesn't say anything about PSI. I weigh 12 stone or 168pounds

Sinque · 13 Jan 2008 at 18:08

Done lots and lots of reading and it's the general concensus that it's 33 (front) and 36 (back) PSI for one rider, and 41 in the back for two. So i've sorted that out, also sorted my wing mirror as I couldn't see properly in it as it was too close to me.

My step dad is going to go out on my bike when it's dry and scrub them in. Also went round them with a sanding block a bit to get rid of some of the shine until it's dry.

So eventually everything will be sorted.