Well, not exactly new, but new to me.
Anyways, I've been riding for two years, started with a 96 kawasaki ZX6e, then upgraded to a 03 gsxr750, now its time to move on up, so...

Got a 98 Kawasaki ZX9R yesterday.

Only problem, I laid it down almost right after getting it. Apparently the bike was sitting there for like 6 months or something, and I decided to take it for a spin a little after riding it home. Anyways, I was riding for approximately 30 minutes, and made a left turn at an intersection near my house. I just barely started to lean, (I was only going about 10mph or 15mph) and the rear tire started losing traction, I tried to straighten it up a little, but it was too late and lowsided

Luckily there was no mechanical damage to the bike, only scuffed up fairing and stator cover.

I braked before the turn, so braking didn't cause it, and I didn't throttle it through the turn, so that didn't cause the tire to spin out either.

Anybody know wtf could've happened? The tire had sufficient tread, and I rode it long enough to warm it up. Could the tire have hardened or something after not being ridden for so long?
I'm also pretty sure I didn't slip on gravel cuz I didn't see any gravel in the intersection.

I loaded it onto a trailer afterward to get it home, and the rear tire valve stem broke right off, which seemed pretty weird.

I've gone through that intersection many times before, and gotten much, much lower, which has me stumped.

 

Was it sitting on a rear stand or just the kick stand, tire could have developed a flat spot. Did you ever hear anything about your stolen bike? Glad you're back in the game but sorry to hear about your lowside.

 

Sorry to hear that bro! Glad you got another Kawasaki, although I'm not really sure why you got a 9... at least you're back to the right manufacturer.

Tires can dry rot, they can get flat spots, etc. Hell, maybe it had nothing to do with the tire. This may have nothing to do with anything at all, but was the chain clean, lubed, and adjusted?

 

I believe it was on the stand the whole time, I never heard of a flat spot, but dam, I guess that might have been it, what exactly is that?

About the gsxr, na that bike is goooone , so just gotta be a lot more careful with this one. But thanks man, hell ya I'm glad to be back in the game, getting back on a bike felt sooooo good. Hit me up in a few weeks or a month or so if anyone is tryna ride in NoVa. After so much time off, I'm gonna need a little bit of practice to get used to this bike... and riding again in general, lol.




But ya, I just had to go back to Kawasaki, lol, but I got the 9 because it was cheaper than almost every other bike I had seen that was in good condition (not so much anymore,lol) but my friend did say that it would seen a new chain soon, but would it really cause it to lose traction, even if it is just coasting through the turn?

 

I hear that! I pulled mine out of the building yesterday and coming through the back yard I felt like I was going to need training wheels! lol... I put it up in early December and it had been sitting for at least probably a month. I started slow yesterday, but we ended up on a pretty fast ride and I gradually got "the feeling" back.

One thing I want to say without starting a new thread: TRUST YOUR INSTINCTS! I had a weird feeling in my gut yesterday, and my girlfriend kept reinforcing the "be careful, I have a bad feeling" statement that she made before I left... I kept it slow and stayed towards the back of the group, and eventually branched off from the group with one of my buddies to head back home about halfway into the ride. I said goodbye to my friends, and headed home. A few hours later, I see that I missed a phone call while I was in the shower from my buddy that was leading. I instantly had a bad feeling about it, so I called him back... and to no surprise, someone went down. One of my buddies was trying to keep up with him (the leader) and going a bit faster than he was probably comfortable going, and all it took was a few little pieces of gravel in the road. He laid it down and was lucky that a guardrail stopped both himself and the bike from going off about a 100ft embankment. That's scary shit! He broke the shifter and quite possibly his foot, but otherwise okay. Scuffed his brand new leather jacket and helmet up, but he's alive and was able to ride it home most importantly.

Be careful out there fellas! The reason I haven't been pushing it on the street is because I have nothing to prove. I'm not saying he was pushing it or trying to prove anything, because he's a smart kid! He's an airline pilot, IIRC... I'm just saying remember what it's all about. If you wad your bike up, or don't go home in one piece, the fun is over. My prize is being able to go home and park my bike to ride again another day. No ego, no bragging rights, no injuries.

Sorry. Completely unrelated. Just wanted to get that off of my mind! Be safe, brothers

 

I don't know if it would physically cause that to happen, but it seems possible in my opinion, logically. If the chain skipped a tooth on the sprocket, or something like that, couldn't that cause the wheel to skip? One small loss in traction that's unrecoverable would become a much bigger loss of traction, right?

Who knows.....

 

Dam, well glad he's alright, yeah I was about to try to ride it back, but there was a free trailer ride home so I just went ahead and threw it up on there, plus my knee is a little banged up, lol.

But back to the traction loss, I didn't really think of that, I'll definitely replace the chain before I get back on, along with the sprockets, tires, and carb cleaning, niiice, building my to-do list already!

 

It could have been a number of things, but i'm thinking two majors things.. A) Intersections are notorious for oils on the ground, B) Just cuz its warm outside and your tires are warm doesnt effect how cold the ground actually is, and seeing as its been the dead of winter for a while and its just warmed up for a few days, the ground is still shitty cold. C) Yeah, it could have been the chain, and if it looks like it needs replaced then it probably does need to be, the kinks or missing teeth will cause a loss in sustained forward motion, but you would notice it as a momentary loss in power, but in a turn with the factors of A or B or both, would result in you sliding like that.

Glad to hear you're OK homie!

 

It could have been all the salt/sand too. I was hoping the rain on Sat. night would wash all that crap off the road but it didn't.

 

um, just out of curiosity, did you check the tire pressures before you rode it? sitting for long periods of time, it probably went damn near flat. the fact that the valve stem was so dry rotted that it broke off isn't a good sign either.
just cuz a tire has tread doesn't mean it's still good. tires get old/hard/dry rotted/etc after a while.

crap in the road is another possibilty too.