Dropped my bike (first time)

[cay]

...unfortunately I'm not 100% sure why or how.

I was travelling at moderate city speeds down a straight, fairly steep hill towards a red light and stopped cars when I applied front and rear brakes and began to gear down (with plenty of time and room to spare).

I remember feeling concerned that the bike wasn't slowing as much as I'd like, and I think I might've overbraked my front tire.  I didn't hear any noise from it, but next thing I know I'm on the ground.

I laid my bike down on its left side at what seems to be a very slow speed, considering how minimal the visible damage -- some very minor scratching on the engine cover, scuffs on the rear plastic that wiped off, bent handlebars and a misaligned tire / fender (I didn't know tripletrees could shift like that).  $USD 160 to repair.

Can anyone help me piece together what happened?  Since I dropped it I've been very gentle with the front brake, but without knowing for sure what the hell I did wrong I'm a bit lacking in the confidence department.

By the way -- I was wearing a Vanson solid jacket, HJC Symax, Sidi Strada Evo boots, Held Krypton gloves and a pear of old jeans. I wore some stitching off the palm of my left glove, scuffed my helmet below my *right* (weird, I know) ear, scuffed my left boot, and got a wee bit of road rash on the outside of my left knee through my jeans.  No damage whatsoever to the jacket.

As a nice side effect, the handlebars the dealer put on (not stock) are really comfortable -- I really need to find out what the hell they put on my bike.

Thanks all.

C

[Laura]

Beats me.  :dunno:

How was the air pressure in your tires? I know if I let the air pressure get low on my bike, it really gets wobbly when I am stopping. That's the only think I can think of.

Was there anything slippery on the road?

Laura

[indestructibleman]

was your front wheel turned at all?  using the front brake at low speeds when the wheel is turned can dump you in the blink of an eye.  don't ask how i know this.

cheers,
will

[cay]

Beats me.  :dunno:

How was the air pressure in your tires? I know if I let the air pressure get low on my bike, it really gets wobbly when I am stopping. That's the only think I can think of.

Was there anything slippery on the road?

Tire pressure was perfect, I had checked the day earlier.  The road was clean and dry, too.

was your front wheel turned at all? using the front brake at low speeds when the wheel is turned can dump you in the blink of an eye. don't ask how i know this.

If it was turned at all, it was minimal -- I was trying to keep my bike upright and in a straight line in my lane.

It's a frigging mystery.  :)

[Alias]

was your front wheel turned at all?  using the front brake at low speeds when the wheel is turned can dump you in the blink of an eye.  don't ask how i know this.

cheers,
will

Ive been lucky enough to expirence this ifrst hand :p

[gsJack]

...travelling at moderate city speeds down a straight, fairly steep hill towards a red light and stopped cars when I applied front and rear brakes and began to gear down (with plenty of time and room to spare).......................I remember feeling concerned that the bike wasn't slowing as much as I'd like, and I think I might've overbraked my front tire.  I didn't hear any noise from it, but next thing I know I'm on the ground.

You were braking both front and rear and going downhill when you felt the need of more braking.  My guess is you locked the rear wheel and laid it down.  Happens so quick you never know what happened.   Going downhill you increase the load on the front wheel and unload the rear wheel making it easier to brake loose.

Did the same thing myself when I first got my first GS500.  A car started to pull out in front of me and I hit the brakes hard and fast and was on the ground immediately with no injuries and only slight bike damage.

I had a quarter million miles on 4 Hondas with drum rear brakes when it happened to me.  More recently, a deer appeared from behind a passing oncoming truck and was right in front of me.  I trimmed a little speed with the rear brake and missed the deer without mishap.  Don't give up on the GS's excellent rear brake, learn to use it well.

[proudlom]

gsJack's got a good point. But the first thing that came into my mind was gravel or sand.  If you were stopping down a steep hill, you might not have noticed some sand or something and if that was the case, the inertia of your bike, stopping, could have pulled a wheel right out from under you.

[pantablo]

you  might have also locked up the front. Were your tires warmed up? ie, had you been riding for a while or recently started out? If it was cold front could have just given up traction when you added braking.

[MarkusN]

My bet is on front wheel lockup as well; this lays you down real fast. If the rear locks up, it has to bring around the back first before anything significant can happen. Rear wheel lockup can be controlled pretty easily, even by a novice. In fact braking with the rear wheel locked is practised here in our MSF equivalent. This is done from a speed of 35 MPH minimum, so they are pretty confident that anybody should be able to handle this.

[70 Cam Guy]

you  might have also locked up the front. Were your tires warmed up? ie, had you been riding for a while or recently started out? If it was cold front could have just given up traction when you added braking.

That's what I was thinking.  Already loaded front tire from down hill, bike's weight and braking when you decided you needed more brake.  Do you recall how you applied the brake further?  Was a fast grab motion or a smooth, gradual increase?  When you brake, are you using 2 fingers?  4 fingers?