My ride home

[Stu]

OK, got a confession to make.
Was rushing home from working late, so not riding the best. Anyway, was overtaking a line of cars which had let a car out from my left-hand side who was turning right towards me.
Common situation that I should have been wary of
Anyway I grabbed a handful and locked up the front wheel
Luckily for me as the wheel was locked up, pointing sideways and I was going down, I released the front brake and the rake or trail? that makes you steer in a straight line worked and everything returned to normal .

Just had to pull over down the road to let the crown jewels recover.

So my question to Ben, Northy and all is once I have the GSXR front end and if I am still grabbing full front brake in 0.1 seconds instead of a squeeze over a whole second, what will happen? Just gong to crash quicker? or it should still help me in panic situations?

Also apologies to Rictus, Sammy, Anna etc. obviously I've still not learned my lesson, but survived to fight another day.

Good news on keeping it right side up mate.

And be freaking careful when filtering wont you?

[Stu]

Originally Posted by Baph

Good news on keeping it right side up mate.

And be freaking careful when filtering wont you?

Was overtaking to be pedantic. but thanks mate!

[rictus01]

Stu, you do seem to have a knack of "finding the hard way", still glad it didn't end in an ambulance trip .

Cheers Mark.

[fizzwheel]

Originally Posted by Stu

So my question to Ben, Northy and all is once I have the GSXR front end and if I am still grabbing full front brake in 0.1 seconds instead of a squeeze over a whole second, what will happen? Just gong to crash quicker? or it should still help me in panic situations?

It'll help a bit, I found on my GSXR that the bike is les prone to sitting up if I squeeze the front brake on whilst in a corner its a skill thats taken a long time to master and not one that I rely on, but it has got me out of trouble a few times. However it still does it if I grab a massive handful of front brake, just like the SV does.

IMHO no matter what situation you are in once you've locked the front wheel you arent in a good place. GSXR front end or not. You do get better feel for what the front is doing with the Showa USD forks on my bike so its easier to suss what the front is doing so you might feel the front begin to lock earlier. But it will still lock the front or more than likely as I've done a few times you'll pull a massive stoppie at hit your wedding tackle against the fuel tank.

Rather than relying on your bike to get you out of trouble if it was me I'd be concentrating on using the brakes on the SV better i.e squeezing them on instead of grabbing and handful of front brake, the SV brakes when looked after properly ( not saying yours are not ) are competant enough.

Glad you kept it upright.

Better forks will also mean the weight transfers to the front tyre more quickly too, giving it more of a chance to grip. Will still lock if you're ham fisted and snatch at the brake though.

[21QUEST]

A more controlled front end, possibly give you a better chance(dive more controlled) but on the flip side could also mean the reduced rake and trail(shorter forks) makes the chasm between oops and bugger smaller.

As Fizz says, concentrate more on how you can use the brakes smoothly and efficiently. Staying with Fizz, it's surprising how much you can get away with using brakes or throttle to slow down whilst leant over.*

*Expert riders only I should add


Ben

ps: so your riding is as bad as your driving then ...don't ask or I'll have to tell the story

tbh most of us are still at risk of grabbing the brakes too hard when faced with a sudden crisis situation. obviously while best to avoid this in the first place, etc another thing which has helped me was to practice locking & letting off the front in a safe environment, so that when it comes to the real thing your instinct is to release the brake in time to keep control. Takes a bit of guts to do in the first place but saved me on the SV once last year!

[Stu]

Originally Posted by fizzwheel

the SV ... are competant enough.

Wow, you should get a job in the Suzuki marketing dept
Thanks for the advice, think I'll carry on getting the GSXR front.

Ben, you're probably right. But it's more often than not, my attitude that sucks than my ability (IMO). And no I don't remember to what you refer
Could you get any less Rake & trail than on my bike at the moment?

Fizzy, a renowned member of this forum has already told me to practise that, but i hadn't until last night

Many, many thanks for the support all.

[fizzwheel]

Originally Posted by Stu

Wow, you should get a job in the Suzuki marketing dept

Erh.. maybe not.