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Lowsided the 1krr today :(

5K views 60 replies 25 participants last post by  Bosarge22 
#1 ·
first a little back ground on my riding skill level. I've had bikes for 4 years now first was an R6 then this year i upgraded to the 07 1kr. I've ridden the last 4 years rain or shine upwards of 350 days a year and today it happened.

gear: pants, hoodie, textile jacket, boots, full face helmet, kevlar infused leather/textile gloves

tires: 9 day old bridgestone battle-axe hyper sport s20r with about 200 miles on it.

conditions/Weather: chilly 40 degree day in st pete FL, bike sat for about 2 hours so tires were cold.

Making a left through an intersection doing about 15 mph in first gear, i feather the gas a little to pull me through and accelerate, and boom absolutely 100% loss of traction. felt like i was on ice, i wasn't hot rodding or showing off just headed home. the rear tire slid right out there was no saving it, i slid about 10 feet while the bike slid clear to the far cub. it wasn't a slight loss of traction then a grab, it happened so fast the only thing i had time to do was hit the kill switch on the way down.

the damage: snapped bar end, bent left rear set. scratched plastics and mirror.

injuries: skinned knee, wore a hole in the knee of my pants, tore up pinky, wore through the pinky of my glove, crunched my left foot pretty good but i don't think its broken.

i was hesitant to buy this tire and this just confirms my hesitation. i would not recommend it to anyone that can actually corner their bike, for you strait line riders its good tho. moral of the story is ALWAYS WEAR FULL GEAR. it surely saved my left hand/forarm and my leg.

any input any one? what did i do wrong? any one have similar stories? any and all input is welcome!
 
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#2 ·
Glad you're ok ...
40* + humidity of FL
9 day old tires with a wide (hard) patch
Dare i say you had chicken strip left and didn't know it and gas'd on the unworn section of the tire w/ cold tires or you literally hit an ice patch.

Know when to put the bike away is my advice. Was this at night? Even further compounding the problem. I look my 600rr out to the hillsides in rain and under cold conditions when I was in norcal. You could literally see ice on the side of the road... I did this to understand rain conditions and cold. Ice corms on the rode or begins to form under certain conditions... Dew sets in cracks of asphalt and freezes up

Don't ride your motorcycle under such temps.. Ice on road .. cold tires ...
You sadly learned why its not safe to ride in certain temps.
 
#3 ·
It's not the tyre. Just bad circumstances. I JUST had the EXACT same thing happen to me on Michelin Power Pures (that have been well broken into) this week, except mine was a mini highside. I usually ride out those types of slides by maintaining throttle and adjusting body position (during aggressive riding) but I was cruising and it was too much slide too fast.

My incident was attributed to me not calculating all these factors like I should have been. Honestly, not making any excuses because it's 100% my fault, I'm settling into a new cooler climate after being in a warm climate for the past four years. Just overlooked it.

As for unirr, some people don't want to put the bike away. Personally, I'm ALWAYS on mine. I haven't ever dealt with snow(YET) because it doesn't occur in my area. It's honestly as safe as we make it(said with the exception of snow because I have zero experience).

Overall, definitely glad to read you're ok.
 
#5 ·
i would not recommend it to anyone that can actually corner their bike
Hate to burst your bubble, but you're not testing the limits of your tire doing 15mph turning at an intersection, while cold, with matching cold surface temps. That tire tested you.

The Battlax actually have rather solid reviews in term of track testing and heat absorption.
 
#7 ·
Sorry to hear that.

Whats the tire pressure?
Cold weather like now, tires take too long to warm up, lowering pressure helps a little.

You have ridden the tire for 200 miles, you should be able to tell if the tires over inflated or not.

Accidents usually happen because of multiple factors, not just tire. Maybe oil patches on the road?

Get well soon.
 
#8 ·
i guess i just put to much faith in that cold of a tire, I've been riding in FL for 2 years now and rarely experience anything colder than the 60's so i didn't even think twice about it. super bummed about the bike but I've gotta go get my foot x-rayed somethings not right. thanks for the feedback guys
 
#10 ·
After years of crashing at the racetrack (and street), I'll say one thing: it's not the tires, it's rider input/error.

Know it sucks to hear that. But the input you gave to the bike was wrong given the conditions (unless there was oil or something unforeseen).

Cold weather, turn, 1st gear (ie twitchy and torquey)... We've all done it before. :) We live and we learn. Glad to hear you're okay!!
 
#12 ·
Glad you were wearing your gear. That tire came OEM on my bike and I never had any problems until about 5500 miles, when the center tread was worn thin (due to improper inflation). Hope your knee and pinky heal up and scrub those tires in.

About a week before I changed out my tires, my buddy lowsided his Gixxer with his wife on back. Same thing: left turn, nothing crazy, and the rear just slid out. Damn this cold weather!
 
#13 ·
Although it was likely the cold....

P.S - Don't buy Bridgestone anymore. I don't care what these track heads say... I took a chance on BT016's on my 600rr and those tires never felt right ... Felt sloppy as hell and i most definitely almost lost my rear and front numerous times due to the lack of feeling on the edges .. Very bad feedback which leads to you not being able to judge how well its gripping.

Even Pilot Road 2's/3's have more grip than those sorry ass tires. I don't even want to get into how fast they somehow wore down while providing such horrible feedback/traction.

I ran one set of their tires and will never run them again. I yanked them before they were even fully worn.
After you get healed up and get your bike repaired toss that shit in the trash. Fuck Bridge-stone
 
#15 ·
Please don't ever listen to whatever unirr posts. I mean, he'll be the first to tell you that he helped build the international space station, along with the craft that just landed on that comet, but he's still clueless about motorcycle tires.

Having said that, lowsides are always rider error (assuming you didn't hit sand, gravel or oil). End of story. You over throttled on a cold tire and it spun you out. The make, size or brand or the tire is irrelevant. Most of us have done the same thing at some point, so live and learn and be a better rider in the future.

Back to the Bridgestones. What unirr fails to acknowledge is that those tires were developed and tested over and over by true professionals, not internet experts. Motorcycle mags across the board tested them on the street and track and the all concluded they were good tires.

As for personal experience with them, I was at the Homestead Speedway this year for a CCS race. I had just switched by bike back to race plastics and still had the Bridgestones on. They had a good amount of tread left, so I did all but one of my practice sessions on them. I ran decent times and felt the grip was more than adequate for what I was using it for. And they did fine for the street, too. Just let them warm up first.

 
#14 ·
ThiThis is florida we don't put our bikes up . This weekend it will be 80 again. I hate Bridgestone tires . Saying that it not the tires fault never is its almost always rider error . I don't like Bridgestone because the don't give back good feed back . Unirr your still an idiot . ( referring to the SP thread)'just messin with you.
 
#20 · (Edited)
ThiThis is florida we don't put our bikes up . This weekend it will be 80 again. I hate Bridgestone tires . Saying that it not the tires fault never is its almost always rider error . I don't like Bridgestone because the don't give back good feed back . Unirr your still an idiot . ( referring to the SP thread)'just messin with you.
All i ask is that you be 100% honest with me and I'll do the same. No offense taken :whacky043:
 
#16 ·
yes. please be careful who you take advice from. i especially wouldnt take any advice from someone who actually races on a street tire, much less who does trackdays on them. on the racing side of things, that tells me they are way too slow to even be on the race track. just because you can get a race license doesnt mean you should.

there was one chick at roebling road that ran street tires. she was so slow that people constantly complained about the speed difference. it can be very dangerous. it was so bad that i lapped her TWICE in a 7 lap race.
 
#18 ·
any input any one? what did i do wrong? any one have similar stories? any and all input is welcome!
happened to me....... i'm fairly comfortable with aggressive riding on straight aways after only a short time/miles with new tires BUT any leaning/turning, cornering, etc..... i drive like my GRANDMA, and for a while too.....i coast through, or light down, what you call that engine braking, no shifting/braking (so i set up my corner speed before i actually lean/turn into it), all cornering turning with no throttle while gradually leaning more and more with each time/corner..... and like others said here, make sure the temps are warm on the tires, those cold outside temps, it's vespa ridin... :thumbsup:

edit: i don't get back on the throttle until after i've completed the turn/lean and straightened the bike back up.
 
#24 ·
Speaking for the the BT016's i ran :
They're an absolute hazard in the cold/rain.
Other than that,under performance riding, they give horrible road feedback and are unpredictable. Bridgestone's ideas of hard/soft/medium compound are flawed, their side walls are too soft, and the way they combine the rubber types is an all around bad package.

Switch to some Michelin's and the feel is night and day. Road2's even performed better than their performance triple compound tires : Consistent predictable performance and traction.
 
#28 ·
To the OP:

When the temps drop you have to treat things like you would in the wet and avoid abrupt inputs all together. There's a lot of power and torque at the ready in the lower gears and you have to be mindful of that. I have zero issues with riding into the 30's when the roads are dry and the weather is promising, but I keep the throttle inputs nice and easy until the bike is straight up and down. I also drop my pressures to help get some heat in the tire. Also, remember that intersections have hazards like oil accumulation and the ever-slick crosswalk paint.
 
#30 ·
unirr: you cannot compare the BT016 to the S20. NOT the same tire at all.

The S20 is a significant improvement. I do not have any of the issues you speak of.
I read plenty of reviews raving about the S20.

Bridgestone Battlax Hypersport S20 Tire Review (Part 1) - YouTube
I spoke specifically about the BT016's. Said nothing about the S20's. As for the S20's, I'm not giving a manufacturer more than one shot. If they're capable of making triple compound tires as shitty as the BT016'ses, they're done in my book and Bridgestone is done.
 
#35 ·
I've never had any problem with Bridgestones or Dunlops. I have Pirellis on my Aprilia & this is the first time I've owned them. If the weather is warm they feel good but if they're cold they are terrible. The difference is I know that. To blame this incident on tires is ludicrous to me. Glad you're ok OP.
 
#43 ·
The beauty of having spent a couple thousand miles on a tire is that I had enough time to make that personal judgement and critique. Also, given the fact that I rode different tires with much better characteristics, on that same platform, and the performance difference was notable, I am confident that it was a bad choice. Whether it is also a bad choice for a tire dealer or other people says nothing about what my experience w/ the tire.

There are a lot more reliable manufacturers out there with proven tire platforms and, after having given Bridgestone a try, I will no longer give them a try. I gave bell helmets a try when they re-entered the sports motorcycle helmet industry. I love their A-star. I give manufacturers a try all the time. However, you have one chance to impress me. I'm not buying $300+ tire bundles multiple times to assess a manufacturer. I rode the BT-016 and the experience was absolute shit. Given that I actually rode the tire, unlike some people commenting here and parroting nonsense, I stand by that.
 
#48 ·
So, it took them two iterations beyond the BT016 to finally get it right? I guess I should have been an idiot and bought their silly ass tire sets for 3 years until they did (hopefully). The BT016, in my experience, was a shit tire. My relationship with Bridgestone ended at that point especially w/ all the hype they put into it.

3 year old tech? Michelin was making good tires 3 years ago.. Guess who got my money and still does?
Another one added to my block list.

My list of manufacturers who will not get repeat business from me is short :
> Seagate (Make shitty hard drives that have firmware issues, make loud noise, and/or fail)
> Bridgestone (debuted the BT-016 with much fanfare. Tire wore fast.. Was an absolute hazard in cold/wet conditions.... Road feedback was horrible... Ride feel was completely inconsistent across the tire... and this was a 'performance' tire)

You really have to fuck up royally on something for me to write you off and these two did so.

A counter example : Bell helmets on the other hand re-entered the sports bike motorcycle scene w/ their A-star helmet and made an excellent product ... They get an A+ from me.
 
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