I was on a fun ride down the local twisties and I noticed that I keep the rpm's in the low-to-high midrange.. so on the next set of pavement I hampered down on the lower gears to get to the higher rpm's and noticed the rear end wasnt as solid and planted as usual, and on the corner exits I can tell she was spinning a bit of the rear rubber. I have lowered my tire pressure 35warm and I used to have it at 37cold, maybe that will help with it.
how old/hot are/were your tires? it's great that you can feel that and realize what is happening while still keeping control.... soooooo..... got pics?
Ochoa, i know how you feel on exiting turns. I ride Palomar Mountain a lot out here in Cali and its 7 miles of nothing but hairpin after hairpin up a mountain. Sometimes when i'm pushing it going up, i would hit the gas a little too hard coming out of some of the corners and i can feel the back end start sliding out followed by the sound/feel of my peg scraping on the pavement going about 40-50mph on these turns. I just try to keep the thought of going down out of my head so i don't panic and keep pushing through the turns.
I did the same thing with the tire pressure too, ran 36 front/38 back cold, and with the 6,000ft elevation change, my tires get a little squirmy. I run Michelin Pilot Roads, so that might be a factor, not the best gripping tire out there, but get great life out of them (9,500 out of a back tire)
40-50mph through corners even at a spirited pace is not what I would call a hairpin... Atleast not compared to the roads in my area.
Some of these corner in my area would be taken by moto GP riders at, what I would imagine, would be speeds closer to 30, and that would be really pushing it and sliding the rear wheel the whole way.
Also to the OP, I have never slid the rear tire but just remember to keep the gas smooth and dont back off the gas, sliding tires still have grip, less, but they are gripping. The last thing you want to do is let off the gas which could upset the bike enough to lowside or more likely suddenly increase back to full grip and highside you... Smooth application of the gas will let the bike exit the corner and the tire slowly realign and regrip, rather then snap back into grip.
+1 jraice. on the whole smooth gas thing. ive seen people panic, and up and off the bike they go. Highsiding is not fun. Really not fun when you end up with a broken arm.
IMO it is not the tire. i watched a Pirelli interview(only tires i use) as per their lead tire guy. you do not find the EDGE of the tire, the bike's max angle will fail before the tire does. unless your tire is absolutly shot. now as for me, Only time back end slides/slips is wet/sandy/loose pavement. dont blame the tire. I learned fast, look at the road before trying to haul a$$ thru a corner. you will be suprised at the crap we ride thru in corners. IMO it is not the tire look at other factors.
Mine's been doing the GP slide in a 25 mph corner on my street. There is a chuck hole in the apex and the cages keep spreading the wealth. I've started riding the corner like it's ice.
I did that high side thing once, only time I remember it hurting to land.
Sounds like you're in too low a gear if you're breaking traction in a way you don't like.
If you like the throttle/gear combo, then maybe you need to work on getting your body weight over the bike's centre of gravity. Keep your weight on the topside footpeg and knee against the frame.
this sort of thing is usually either road surface issue or you're trying to make up for a too slow corner speed by increasing exit speed too soon/ much. Sorry. Most riders enter a turn slowly and then decide 'I could have taken this turn x amount faster, so I'll just wick it up to get the exit speed right'. That demands more acceleration than the tires can handle. If you enter at 20 and mid- turn decide you could've done 30 at the exit, it's too late to try and get there. The answer would be to enter at 25 and then accelerate to the 30 mph exit speed. Forget about flaming me on this, I teach at one of the largest and most successful track schools in the country.
Stuff that came out of the hole is like marbles, both front and rear are sliding on mine. I'm only giving it enough throttle to increase my exit speed by 3 or 4 mph over the entering speed. I don't run hot in residential areas. I even thought about going down there with a broom and sweeping it up.
I will have to flame you there 'Mr. largest and most successful track schools in the country'. For the street it is best for you to enter the corner slow because you dont know how good the road will be next. It would be stupid for you to enter the corner at max speed and max lean angle to then have to correct your line for an upcoming hazzard.. you probably wont have the time or the space needed to correct yourself for that hazzard. If your going max speed you cant lean IN more or you will lowside yourself, and if you lean out your thrown off wide into a bush. Never ride full-on on the street, the roads have bumps, gravel, groover and are not up to specifications to those 'successful track schools' marvelous piece of pavement engineering. Ya know what guys I think theres a silver spoon hidden somewhere for teacher boy, FACE!
Suzukigs is right that there is too much acceleration for the tires assuming that the road was relatively clear of debris. If I read the OP correct, you used a lower gear than normal to accelerate out of the corner, which means you were already near the peak torque of these lovely v-twins as you rolled on the throttle breaking the rear tire free.
Probably how Slick slid around Fontana for the win.
Well, you re- state my point, really. Good advice, though we're approaching it from different viewpoints. I never said 'enter at max speed', I said that trying to get to max speed at the exit is impossible if you are entering too slowly; therefore, forget about trying to get to max velocity at the exit; you can't do it on the street without undue risk. Just have a fun ride and save the 'go fast' stuff for a track day. Many riders I counsel think they are riding as fast as can be done for a particular stretch of road/ corner because they are slipping and sliding around, hanging off, dragging a knee and torching their tires. Then when I (or another instructor) calmly ride around the outside, butt firmly planted in the saddle and bike perfectly stable, they really start listening. It's about calm, skilled input. When you see racers sliding and squirming around the track, they are at the limits of the machine but their inputs to the bike are extremely smooth and steady.