Kawasaki Sportsbike Riders Club - Australia - Online Forum

Saved this as a draft two hours ago on the side of the road from my phone, posting it now at home with edits.
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So....... New front tyre has about 500m on it! Unfortunately I had no idea that riding slowly and normally was still too much for it. Feel "jipped" no one told me to baby it or even be careful! I feel like I should have known but that nugget of knowledge and wisdom somehow has escaped me.

Currently standing on the side of the road..... Glens bike trailor will get it's first use tonight.

STORY:

My front tyre was starting to look scalloped and the tread fairly ragged but otherwise still going awesome (never a hint of anything after 8 months of commuting and twisties).

But.... to support Greg and MAW before it changes hand because they've given me good advice and prices, I had them put a pirelli street demon put on today..... Apparently a top street tyre on par with or stickier than BT45, great for track days coming up etc.

First corner i ride every night I hit tonight at PEDESTRIAN SPEED AS SOON AS I TIP IN (honestly....estimate I've gone through that corner 30-40km/hr faster) front goes and i have a good slide along the road.

QUICK LOOK AT THE SLIDE MARKS ONCE GLEN ARRIVED.... a good 15-20m of sliding down a slight hill!

BIKE:
at a quick look

(Bike went further than me.)
Bars bent and chunk taken out
grip wrecked
mirror scratched, possibly bent
clutch lever busted
engine case scraped
center stand worn down a good 10mm
foot peg worn the same

ME:
I'm totally fine not even shaken up, and the only symptom a bit of a bruise under my right thumb nail somehow.

GEAR:
Kevlar Jeans - wore through denim both knees and bum, kevlar on one (where rubbed on hard knee protector).
FOX motorcross knee and shin protection - both scarred on outer plastic.
RST Textile Jacket - surface marked on forearms , looks melted from friction but not cut or worn through.
Shark Helmet - small crack and chip on left side.
AStars GP2 Gloves - left hand knuckle protection worn and outer leather and forearm leather worn.

FIRST CONVERSATION WITH GLEN, PARAPHRASED:

GLEN: Did they tell you today when you got your new tyres you have to take it easy for the first couple of hundred ks?

ME: Nope

GLEN: MAW didn't tell you to baby it for the first couple of hundred ks?

ME: Nope

GLEN: Mechanics ALWAYS tell you over and over to take it easy and how to ride on new tyres until you feel like telling them to shutup, don't lean it, baby it etc etc!


MAW EXPERIENCE "Bitch Bitch Bitch" :
I was served by the new owners of MAW, Greg was at the bank when I picked my bike up, and was bad service too in store too!!!

Both the lady and man were bitching about Greg to me; "good one greg" "hate the way he does this and that", "good notes for us Greg" blah blah give the guy a rest he's got a lot on his plate and you have to do it for yourself in two days, 10 minutes later they work out they can call him and all's sorted in 2 mins.

Greg/Col/Justin must have decided my front pads were close enough to needing replacement and while the tyre was off may as well fair enough, and didn't charge me for the labour so all's cool.

Unfortunately she was saying I should have already changed my front pads earlier, and that "you boys like living on the edge" because it was metal on metal contact! WTF! there was a consistant 2mm of pad left.... she thought the pad material was metal

Also, I said I'd go have a chat to the mechanics, and was told to just talk to them because the mechanics were busy :s

Not the best start there.... I trust Greg and the mechanics judgement to change the pads without asking me and am glad they did

but resent not being told about being careful and wearing in my new tyre after I picked my bike up, and regret not talking to Col and Justin about their good work to get advice from someone who cares and has knowledge.

Anyways, will ride the pushie 14k to work tomorrow, hopefully pick up some new bars, bar ends and clutch lever and get her going again, then think about a new helmet and draggins

Tim.

Shit luck mate... but any you walk away from are good ones

15 to 20 metres of scrape marks does not indicate a "pedestrian" pace though

Glad to hear your OK Tim, bad luck about the bike but you should be able to fix her up.

Surprised you haven't read on hear somewhere about being careful with new tyres as they are always slippery the first 200k's

The new owners sound like they are off to a bad start with customer service, but suspose they are used to dealing with blokes in singlets & stubbies gettin' their lawn mowers fixed and not arguing about brake pads

Sorry to hear it Tim - lucky for you it was a squid free zone...

ALWAYS prep new tyres - if you get them fitted by a shop , ask them to clean up with thinners/brakeclean/liquid buff ---- NOT degreaser.

Tyres still need to be scrubbed in but takes 90% of the 'oh shit they're greasy' feeling away.

Sorry to hear about the off... mate I am glad to hear you are Ok & I think this is a lesson that you will remember for a long time... its life experiences like this that will instil knowledge that will make all the difference between you being a good rider & a bad one & luckily it has happened on this bike...... let me know if you need anything... a lift, pickup ...someone to have a whinge to .....help with fixing the bike.... anything mate

That sucks Tim , sounds like there was a lot of tension in the shop , may explain why there was no mention of the classic "take it easy" reminder .

Hey guys.

Thanks for the messages, and the offer Rob and thanks again for last night Glen! Ksrc north west recovery service came through for me

There was no tension between me and the staff, apart from me saying i needed to go to rush to work because i'd been standing around for 10 mins waiting them not knowing what to put through the computer.

In retrospect was lucky i didnt bin it in the 1 corner or 2 roundabouts of traffic when i picked it up.

My left shoulder is sore and weak now in the morning :s

I also want to state i know i was riding the thing and i should have known, i don't want to tanty over this or be a whinger.

I'm a bit shaken about how easily and quickly it let go as soon as i tipped in on such a gentle long corner, doubt i'll ever have the same confidence in these tyres as the bridgestone........

Mate once these tyres are scrubbed in they will be better, don,t loose confidence over this it was a simple mistake that anyone could make...... get some tyre buff from me or glen or maw, wipe down the tyres properly & ride carefully for the first few days. This should not be a step back for you.... it is a step forward yar

Last time I got tyres the mechanic had them at a much higher pressure than I usually run, which makes my bike skittish at the best of times. Luckily I'd asked him and took it very easy. I run 32 36 as per the manual and he had them at 36 38. Previous set of tyres, another lot set them at 30 30.

shit Tim..that hurts
unfortunately one down to experience

Bad Luck Mate Like has already been said put it down to experience and learn from it...

Welcome to team crash 09!

Bad luck dude and just a warning after my off on the Gingers ride I am still finding sore bits on parts I didn't think I had hurt, as they say the ones you walk away from are good ones.

Bugga not another one, I feel your pain.
good thing you didn't get hurt too bad Tim

Sorry to hear that mate.
Im with Glen on this one, every time i get a new tyre i keep getting told over and over to take it easy to the point where i want to punch them in the face...
Surprised they didnt say anything
Good to see you are ok though and can come out of this one with experience and a story to tell

Sorry to hear Tim, hope your shoulder heals up quick and you get the bike fixed up OK.

Also, thanks for making the post. We have a lot of fairly new riders here, who like you, may not have heard that new tyres are shiny, slippery sons of bitches. Hopefully they can learn a lesson with you and prevent someone else binning a bike, and possibly seriously injury.