Commute from Hell...

[Seamus]

Friday, I decided to take the new-to-me DRZ to the office to show it to the other riders. No issues on the way there (15 miles, mostly freeway), a little front-end lightness, but, that's to be expected for a street rider like me.

On the way home, I decide to take a twisty route back, avoiding the fway. I have Pirelli DOT knobbies on, so I take it easy in the turns. About .5 mile from the end of the twisty section, traffic backs up. Apparently there is a wreck on the freeway that is spilling overflow onto the side roads. It took 25 minutes to travel the .5 mile to the side road. Being dusk, I don't dare turn the bike off and with it the lights, because the BDC behind me is likely to crush me like an empty beer can. ?

Once I get on the side road, I take it up to the freeway to get the quickest way home from there. As I'm accelerating up the onramp, the DRZ starts losing power. Out of gas! ? Feck! ? The trip ODO shows 75 miles, but many of those were off road and idling down Box Canyon.

I pull onto the shoulder, find the Res switch, and wait for a break in the rush hour traffic to get underway. The next couple of miles to my exit are uneventful, and I get off the freeway at my exit. I'm tired, pissed, and can't wait for the weekend to start. At the next light, I'm watching cross traffic turn left, and my light turns green. I start to go, and a van turns left in front of me. ? I grab a handful of brake, and learn a quick lesson about traction from DOT knobbies. The front locks up, and down I go. I jump up, and the van driver is pointing at the lights. Feck, again! ? He had the arrow. I wave a 'my bad', pick up the DRZ, and continue the rest of the way home (2miles).

The only damage was a broken clutch lever (already replaced), and a dinged grip (which I will be replacing soon anyway). I was really glad to get home to a cold beer, and a weekend.

Moral of the story: knobbies (or knobblies for our UK friends), don't have quite the same traction as street tires.

Oh, and pay f**king attention to the signals.

Jim

[malachi]

??? don't stop at one beer ?

[Seamus]

I didn't... <burp> ? :cry:

J

[Spud786]

I don't like it when Dual sporters go down it the street, makes us highly disiplined Hooligans look Bad, Dual sporters should be the exception and not the result. ?

Atleast no BOO BOO, and an easy fix

[Over40_DRZ]

Rough story, thank goodness it wasn't any worse.

[aspencop129]

I kept waiting for the overheating part to come in..............glad it never did. Maybe a little jug of extra gas? Glad it ended well. ?

[prairiedawg]

You'd have laughed you butt off at me when I was almost 16 I had a Kawasaki 350 Bighorn scrambler with knobbies on it. It had rained like a cow peeing on a flatrock. The streets were flooded and the oil had been brought up out of the asphault. The turn light turned on I hit it and was on my butt before I had went 3 feet. This happened 5 more times. Then I caught on and barley creeped out of the hole my flattrack attitude got me bruises from one end to the other plus two broken mirrors and two very scratched up sides of a metal gas tank. I had it repainted by a friend fairly cheap the new stickers cost a small fortune though. I never did replace the damn mirrors. Cops here have better things to do than hassle bikes. prairiedawg ??

[NateTheGreat]

Yes we have all had our bad commute days. ? I rear ended someone once. Damn knobbies. That is part of my motivation for the SM conversion on my S. ?

I suggest you learn where the res switch is by feel so you don't have to pull over next time you run out of fuel. ?

[Seamus]

Yes we have all had our bad commute days. ? I rear ended someone once. Damn knobbies. That is part of my motivation for the SM conversion on my S. ?

I suggest you learn where the res switch is by feel so you don't have to pull over next time you run out of fuel. ?

Absolutely. That was just one of the problems, and I'm working on it as we speak.

New bike to me, and the first one I've had in a long time that has a Res switch and no fuel guage.

Good stories. Thanks all. ?

Jim

[NateTheGreat]

On second thought I should mention....

Don't be afraid to use that front brake to its full potential now that it caused you to have a tumble.... It can deliver a ton of stopping power even with knobs actually. I have locked mine up on the street too in the past and it can make you scared to use it to its fullest.

When I rear ended that other vehicle I wasn't agressive enough and definitely under-used it..... it may be a good idea to do some practice braking runs to get used to it with the knobs and all. Get all your weight up front and see how quick you can bring it to a stop.

That way you know its limits the next time a car pulls out in front of ya. ?

[royjani]

As a teen I was more on my ass next to the bike in the road than on the dirtbike from knobbies. Was always trying to be a "show off". I learned my lessons fast.

When comparing full knobbies to road tires. I would go on a limb and say that knobbies have 300% more traction in dirt but on dry pavement only 60% traction of a road tire and on wet pavement only 10% if that much.

And the front knobby can bite really good on pavement when stopping in a straight line.

Roy

[dhuber]

I'm glad I live in a small town. You're brave riding in heavy traffic:jawdrop:. In Wyoming I'm typically am more concerned about deer jumping in front of me than other cars.