Hi all most of you have probably seen something of this nature happen before but as a new rider with a young son it scared the bejesus outa me. Brisbane riders will know the stretch of road I'm talking about here but for all the others I was riding with a work mate up and over mt glorious, mt nebo. A beautiful twisty mountain road behind Brisbane filled with hairpins, esses and sweeping corners. Fun in a car but something so much better on a bike. Anyhoo when I purchased my gs it needed done new rubber and the first thing my work mate said was take it easy on the new rubber, don't go being a Casey Stoner or you will have a nasty argument with the pavement in which you and your bike will come off second and third best. So heeding his advice I took it easy didnt act a loon and slowly wore off that shiny new silica coat on the tread, mind you I was still nervous about leaning my bike right over having driven cars all my life. One afternoon my mate and I had just ridden over Glorious and over Nebo and had just passed through the small village and on our way back down to Brisbane. As we rounded a s bend we saw a land cruiser parked across the road with a couple of people waving us down. Turns out a young fella not much older than me (25) had come round from other side of the same bend pushing too hard on green rubber, slid then ended up doing an end for ender over the edge of the road and down the side of the mountain. Thankfully the rider wasn't hurt and the thick lantana growing on the side of the hill had stopped him and his bike. After we had helped pull his bike out and survey the damage which was minor considering it really hit home about what can happen if have a lapse rider safety attitude. Just before riding away my mate said to me 'see that's what happens when you push too hard on new tyres.' Bloody frightening if you ask me.

I bet it is the same corner I came off up there lol. It is a doosey especially coming down hill. You think you got the right speed for the corner then all of a sudden "Oh shaZam!, to fast!" I only low sided into the guard rail, hurt pride more than anything. Was a good boot in the ass for me to pay more attention and not get to cocky.

Yikes!  I'm a new rider (1 year, 2200 miles) and haven't had to change rubber yet. Thanks for the reality check!!  Amazing that lantana might have saved his life.  I just plant it for the butterflies!

Thanks,
Julie in North Carolina

Quote from: MarTeeNez on May 30, 2011, 12:06:15 PM
Yikes!  I'm a new rider (1 year, 2200 miles) and haven't had to change rubber yet. Thanks for the reality check!!  Amazing that lantana might have saved his life.  I just plant it for the butterflies!

Thanks,
Julie in North Carolina

It is classed as a noxious weed here! 

Thats what we did at school to break in the new arrivals to our cattle club make them clear paddocks of lantana most quit by the second day!

I too crashed on Mt Nebo! Earlier this year. Twas the first Sunday morning when the weather wasn't completely crap, so I decided to go for a ride. Admittedly, having only ridden for 6 months I probably shouldn't have gone up Nebo (first time in any vehicle), but I was doing fine, got most the way along (headed from the Gap direction) and there was a corner that came in a bit to the left and then out around the right. I was just preparing myself to take the bigger edge of the "S" bend in the road, when out of nowhere a red Ducatti with a pillion came by to overtake and ran me off the road. I ended up in a gutter at the side of the road, and he didn't even stop because he was long gone.

The thing that pissed me off the most is that I had a P-Plate on the back of my bike. Fair enough, I wasn't going that fast (was definitely up to the speed limit though), but he could have waited for a straight section of road to overtake, not just overtake me around a bend where I was re-positioning myself on the road to take the next corner.

Thankfully a heap of other riders stopped to help me. Unfortunately my little black Ninja was stuffed though. Fairings and mudguard smashed, bent forks...I came off OKAY. Didn't break anything thankfully because I had nearly full riding gear on (helmet, leather jacket, gloves, boots and kevlar jeans - probably could have used ones with knee pads!) but tore a ligament in my right knee and that was swollen for about 4 weeks.

So people should learn, that Mt Nebo is NOT for the inexperienced, definitely not when you're alone and haven't even been along it in a car. It's a narrow road, the condition of the road is crap and there's crazy people in cars and bikes all around.

Twisted rides a red Ducati 

Glorious/nebo was my first big proper ride lol I was scared shitless lol, I'm going up over that way tommorow to help scrub in my new tyre, hopefully the run from fernvale way will scrub it in enough for the corners

I generally avoid Glorious/Nebo cause it's full of Rossi wannabes. Last time I went over it maybe three months back - while heading Up the hill from Fernvale a motard guy coming the other way was all out of shape and it looked like he was going to come onto my side and wipe me out. He was heading right for me, was upright and things didn't look good. At the Very Last Second he managed to get around the bend and the adrenalin that had started to flood my body dissipated.

Maybe do it on a weekday. but I'm not gonna bother with it on the weekend again. I don't consider the few bends it has is worth the risk of idiots racers and/or cops. I'd rather ride slightly further afield (such as Mt Lindesay twists).

Michael

Just had new front tire fitted, now have to scrub in could take  up to 150 km's what's best way to scrub in new tires?  does anyone scrub tire's manually ie sand paper to get all nobly bits off.....

Just go for a ride somewhere. The sedate ride through town will begin to sort out the middle and towards the edges. Then, as you hit some twists, just take it easier than you would normally. Then on the ride back through, lean a little more. And you should be good to go.

I don't bother with any Special scrubbing in. Just riding around town is enough for me. Then take it easy on the first twists. It won't scrub everything off all the way to the edge of the tyre, but it will scrub off enough to allow progressive scrubbing of the rest of the tyre as you begin to lean more.

In reality, normal riding is not dangerous. Not taking it easy is what will cause you grief.

Michael

I tend to think riding tight twisty stuff is an activity best done with others in case of an accident especially if its less trafficked than a city street.
If I'm away from people with no one around I'm always more cautious because I don't want to spend hours dying in a ditch without discovery. I also apply that theory to my car driving antics.

Did Glorious - Nebo on Sunday morning. It was a pretty good run to be honest till I rounded a bend on Nebo to find a ZX6r in the middle of the road and the rider in a ditch. It's a corner that is marked with rough surface council signs and I have almost been caught out with this corner before myself. The trick with it is to stick to the inside of the bend and ride over the rough bit. If your taking the corner for the first time you want to stick to the outside as it looks the smoothest but about halfway through the bend there's a massive dip that upsets the bike. Old mate discovered the dip the hard way. He was ok, only a little road rash from where his jacket rode up but the bike was a bit of a mess. So just take care up there and make sure you ride real sedately for your first few runs. I suppose that applies to every new road you ride.

Again other rider's help cause you stick them out front and if they hit a dip you've got time to brake. Yes its a cannon fodder idea.

Quote from: Shaddow on August 29, 2012, 06:48:42 PM
Again other rider's help cause you stick them out front and if they hit a dip you've got time to brake. Yes its a cannon fodder idea.

It can also backfire....

I had a guy following me through Splityard. We were sitting on 120 leptins and came up to that corner marked 40 - the one with the Sudden decreasing radius. I new the corner and allowed the engine braking to slow me to 100 to take it. All the while I was thinking, "please follow the advisory sign not the speed I am doing". As I exited the corner I looked in my mirrors to see him shoot right off the corner - oops.

If I had not been there he would have been forced to take notice of the sign. But as he saw no brake light from me and how I took the corner at speed, he Thought he was okay when it wasn't.

Michael

That's true Mister. Very true.

Hoe about ....
Hmm does help to know the guy in front of you is a) a worse rider than you b) their riding style c) you have a good safety margin d) you understand approach speeds (ie wow that bike is suddenly getting closer quicker than I expected without brakes, maybe I should back off) e) the gods are with you that day.

Quote from: AussieChick on April 26, 2012, 04:34:02 AM

check out youtube videos of the dragon. ( us129) weve got roads liek that too. i think all nations do.

hmmm .. us129 .... looks easy enough  ... long enough to get properly into the groove too!