winter riding

[ebiff2k]

just a quick question or two, i have to ride down a few back roads to get to a main road and i find the back wheel is trying to brake away even at low speeds, basicly because the leafs/damp. i've been told of two things that might help things a bit.

1) drop the tyres by a few psi

2) back the rebound off a couple of clicks

just wanting to know if these would work, or is there any better ideas?

[amarko5]

<!--quoteo(post=22634:date=Wed 22nd Nov 2006, 10:45 PM:name=Chris TDM)-->QUOTE(Chris TDM @ Wed 22nd Nov 2006, 10:45 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->just a quick question or two, i have to ride down a few back roads to get to a main road and i find the back wheel is trying to brake away even at low speeds, basicly because the leafs/damp. i've been told of two things that might help things a bit.

1) drop the tyres by a few psi

2) back the rebound off a couple of clicks

just wanting to know if these would work, or is there any better ideas?<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

yeah "keep off the leaves" them's dodgy they are they even stop trains ya know.

seriously though i can't see any point in either of the above. possibly lower presure on snow iv'e heard that one before but on normal roads even with leaves i doubt it would have any effect other than put a larger footprint on the slippy leaves

[alan]

<!--quoteo(post=22634:date=Wed 22nd Nov 2006, 10:45 PM:name=Chris TDM)-->QUOTE(Chris TDM @ Wed 22nd Nov 2006, 10:45 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->just a quick question or two, i have to ride down a few back roads to get to a main road and i find the back wheel is trying to brake away even at low speeds, basicly because the leafs/damp. i've been told of two things that might help things a bit.

1) drop the tyres by a few psi

2) back the rebound off a couple of clicks

just wanting to know if these would work, or is there any better ideas?<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I got the same problem where i live, i also got a downhill slope on one of the 2 Z bends, i just stay more upright and go round them slower.
And there only 15 mph in the dry
Try using a higher gear and ride steady,We could get a frost soon so practise now!!
Frosty damp leaves are worse

This post was last modified: 23-11-2006, 12:14 AM by aytcat.

[Jez]

<!--quoteo(post=22634:date=Thu 23rd Nov 2006, 12:45 AM:name=Chris TDM)-->QUOTE(Chris TDM @ Thu 23rd Nov 2006, 12:45 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->just a quick question or two, i have to ride down a few back roads to get to a main road and i find the back wheel is trying to brake away even at low speeds, basicly because the leafs/damp. i've been told of two things that might help things a bit.

1) drop the tyres by a few psi

2) back the rebound off a couple of clicks

just wanting to know if these would work, or is there any better ideas?<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

Don't agree with these actions. It will mess up your riding experience for the other 95% of the time.

<!--quoteo(post=22638:date=Thu 23rd Nov 2006, 12:58 AM:name=amarko5)-->QUOTE(amarko5 @ Thu 23rd Nov 2006, 12:58 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->yeah "keep off the leaves" them's dodgy they are they even stop trains ya know.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

Avoid them is always best. Find another route maybe?

<!--quoteo(post=22656:date=Thu 23rd Nov 2006, 01:51 AM:name=aytcat)-->QUOTE(aytcat @ Thu 23rd Nov 2006, 01:51 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->Try using a higher gear and ride steady,We could get a frost soon so practise now!!
Frosty damp leaves are worse<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

Ride smooth with no sudden changes to throttle, brakes or steering.

This post was last modified: 23-11-2006, 08:04 AM by Jez.

[nhstedium]

<!--quoteo(post=22670:date=Thu 23rd Nov 2006, 09:49 AM:name=Jez)-->QUOTE(Jez @ Thu 23rd Nov 2006, 09:49 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->Don't agree with these actions. It will mess up your riding experience for the other 95% of the time.
Avoid them is always best. Find another route maybe?
Ride smooth with no sudden changes to throttle, brakes or steering.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I agree , smooth - relaxed thats the way to go , round here it's mud on the roads nice & slippy . I never did get the whole lower the tyre pressure thing , just makes the bike feel really wierd. I'm afraid that you just have to accept that winter riding does sometimes mean slithering round corners covered in assorted debris at 5mph

[David_H]

<!--quoteo(post=22634:date=Thu 23rd Nov 2006, 12:45 AM:name=Chris TDM)-->QUOTE(Chris TDM @ Thu 23rd Nov 2006, 12:45 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->just a quick question or two, i have to ride down a few back roads to get to a main road and i find the back wheel is trying to brake away even at low speeds, basicly because the leafs/damp. i've been told of two things that might help things a bit.

1) drop the tyres by a few psi

2) back the rebound off a couple of clicks

just wanting to know if these would work, or is there any better ideas?<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->


And you wouldn't want the rear end making promises that the front end couldn't keep!

[AL-58]

<!--quoteo(post=22634:date=Thu 23rd Nov 2006, 09:45 AM:name=Chris TDM)-->QUOTE(Chris TDM @ Thu 23rd Nov 2006, 09:45 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->just a quick question or two, i have to ride down a few back roads to get to a main road and i find the back wheel is trying to brake away even at low speeds, basicly because the leafs/damp. i've been told of two things that might help things a bit.

1) drop the tyres by a few psi

2) back the rebound off a couple of clicks

just wanting to know is there any better ideas?<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

Spikes


Al

This post was last modified: 26-11-2006, 02:49 AM by AL-58.

[LIAW]

lowering the tyre pressures is an off road method, it allows the knobbly tyres to either compress and wrap around exposed rocks, tree roots and other hard lumpy bits on the track, or it can spread the weight a bit more evenly on very soft surfaces and allow more digging traction action of the knobbly to aid forwards motion, or watch a trials rider go over the obstacles and at times you'd think they had a puncture.
this would not work on the road and particularly not with an ordinary road tyre as it has nothing to dig in with.
The thing with wet leaves is that no matter what you do to your tyre (short of the above spike method) you may well increase the grip of your tyre on them, but it is not your tyre that is slipping on leaves that is the problem, it is the leaves not gripping the road or more underlying leaves and moving with the force of your tyre.
So you can ride with it soft and wallowy, soft and slippy, hard and slippy, hard and not wallowy.
One method that may give you more grip on wet leafy roads is to strap one of those garden blowers to the front of your bike and blow them away as you aproach, personally I like the aproach of riding over wet leaves deliberately to hone my riding on wet leaves skills, but only when there is nothing else around,
in any case riding on wet leaves has to be done at a lot slower pace, even if like me you do enjoy having the odd slide or two.

a bird in the hand is not very big, so get a bigger one.

[Andy R]

Just drop your speed according to the conditions, giving you plenty of time to avoid any compressed leaves, standing water or ice.

[tdm850rider]

Training wheels.

[benny47]

<!--quoteo(post=23005:date=Sun 26th Nov 2006, 06:02 PM:name=tdm850rider)-->QUOTE(tdm850rider @ Sun 26th Nov 2006, 06:02 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->Training wheels. <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
stabilisers??

worse living in cuntry like me going to work in a morning,when its dark mud over all roads from tractors leaving there shit allover,and winding roads, trees both sides all way =plenty of leaves.never had a scarey moment yet touch wood

[tdm850rider]

Carl, is this what you wanted in your signature?

plus 2 other images?

You need to click this button: (up above).
---------------------------------
Training wheels are the 2 extra wheels on the back of a child's bicycle while they learn to ride, if you call them 'stabilisers' then that is what I meant.

Our police motorcycles used to throw on a sidecar in the winter, now they have some sort of 'spring loaded' training wheel.

I'm sure they would just <b>hate it</b> if anyone called them that, but thats what they look like. the police bikes can lean into them in a corner but they keep the bike from going down on nasty road surfaces.

(Not that I would ever be caught dead with anything like that on my bike)

This post was last modified: 26-11-2006, 08:59 PM by tdm850rider.

[Guest]

Apart from the avoid them and no sudden braking acceleration etc, I would suggest that you need to make sure you are relaxed and not holding on to the bars tightly.

I tended to do this on wet roads when I first started riding in wet conditions, I found that gripping the tank with my legs and really relaxing the grip on the bars allows you to feel a lot more of what is going on with the bike - then you can control it all abit better...

[AL-58]

<!--quoteo(post=23011:date=Mon 27th Nov 2006, 06:26 AM:name=carl)-->QUOTE(carl @ Mon 27th Nov 2006, 06:26 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->stabilisers??

worse living in cuntry like me going to work in a morning,when its dark mud over all roads from tractors leaving there shit allover,and winding roads, trees both sides all way =plenty of leaves.never had a scarey moment yet touch wood<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

The ultimate stabliser:


Well it would be if it werent a leaning sidecar.

This is not a leaning sidecar:


Luckily I don't see the conditions you are describing very much, other than attaching a sidecar, the only answer would be to ride at a speed appropriate, nothing you do to the bikes tyres or suspension is going to help much.


Al

This post was last modified: 27-11-2006, 02:58 AM by AL-58.

[King OFF the Road]

I think that the safer riding thread is very relevant here. The secret (and its not really a secret) to safer riding is all about reading the road and adapting your riding/driving to the current conditions winter, summer day or night. Too many people assume that just because it was safe to negotiate that piece of road at ** mph/kph (delete as required) yesterday it's safe to do it today! Sorry if this has turned into a bit off a rant but I have been picking up the pieces of thoughtless road users for too many years.

[Guinness]

after last weeks windy days the leaves have invaded the roads here as well...
nasty...
at work there is one bend with overhanging trees... horrible... so i use the FORBIDDEN shortcut (its for local traffic only).

Ardens are now a death trap for bikers... water trickling from the slopes onto the leafriddled roads...
decomposing leaves all over... very slippery

<!--quoteo(post=22940:date=Sun 26th Nov 2006, 02:22 AM:name=David H)-->QUOTE(David H @ Sun 26th Nov 2006, 02:22 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->And you wouldn't want the rear end making promises that the front end couldn't keep! <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
happioy amazed nobody picked up on this.

[David_H]

<!--quoteo(post=23127:date=Tue 28th Nov 2006, 06:13 PM:name=Guinness)-->QUOTE(Guinness @ Tue 28th Nov 2006, 06:13 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->after last weeks windy days the leaves have invaded the roads here as well...
nasty...
at work there is one bend with overhanging trees... horrible... so i use the FORBIDDEN shortcut (its for local traffic only).

Ardens are now a death trap for bikers... water trickling from the slopes onto the leafriddled roads...
decomposing leaves all over... very slippery
happioy amazed nobody picked up on this.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->


The advice of a trail bike rider.