slippery when wet !

[howie333]

9 hours ago, PhotoAl said:

WOW glad you saved it!  I do a lot of race photography and having the back step out leads to some really scary moment for those who save it.  Had a 2012 CBR600RR and then a 2014 ZX6R 636 ABS, relative to the Tracer GT they didn't have the low and midrange torque.  Between the ZX6R and the Tracer GT I had a BMW F800GT which didn't have TC but not so much power either.  It wasn't so good for my habits as I could get away with more.  I've approached the Tracer GT carefully after reading lots of posts about bad suspension and bad OEM tires.  For me it has been a well behaved bike but I always respect the road particularly wet road surfaces.  Have spun up the rear a couple of times on other bikes in the wet but fortunately was going mostly straight.  My BMW was probably closer to your Ninja 650 and there is a difference in the midrange power of the Tracer GT.  

I see you are from eastern TN.  A few years ago I was riding up to see my mom in Chattanooga and took Suck Creek Road (?) over Signal Mountain from Dunlap TN.  At the foot of the mountain there is a near 180 degree turn.  Was on my CBR600RR and the road was wet so I slowed way down (or so I thought) and was tiptoeing thru the turn as a group of Harleys were going the other direction.  LOL the back stepped out a little bit and all I could think was please don't drop this bike in front of those Harleys.  When I went back and looked at the GoPro video I was surprised at how much lean I did have when I thought I was going slow.  a couple of months later went back over that road in the dry - a fantastic road and had lots of fun.  

Yea, Happened 1st where it's really tricky not to slip in wet on Montvale road heading toward Top of the world and Foot Hills Parkway. Real hairpins, bad esp. coming down off mountain !  You can get it both accel and decel.

 

[nhchris]

On 1/31/2021 at 11:16 PM, howie333 said:

Thanks for replies; I didn't brake before or after incident and rarely do in turns , but accelerated, probably too hard, not gradual enough. 

       Thanks again ! Howie...

Yup, that will do it when leaned over for sure.

Even in STD mode my FJ throttle hits hard with just a 1/4 turn of the wrist.  This makes brake-to- throttle transitions more difficult than on other bikes I've ridden.  But with practice you can adjust to it.  I have actually grown to like it because once you stand the bike up on corner exit you can really blast out of the corner.  Just don't dial up the power too soon.

As in all racing and riding, smooth is fast.

Edited February 2, 2021 by nhchris

[howie333]

17 hours ago, petshark said:

I also have those tires on my new-to-me tracer and I do not trust them in the wet.

Opinions on this tire tend to be very polarized. They have a very long life and seem to be excellent value for commuters who don't push the bike or perhaps also for very experienced riders who don't mind their tire slipping and sliding on anything but perfect asphalt. This is not just my opinion, there's lots of reports to be found on the web and when I had my suspension set up last week, the tuner also said the same thing from experience; "take forever to warm up, too rigid, no grip, never again".

I don't want to take anything away from the other advice here as it all is relevant, but because nobody mentions the bad rep these tires have for some of us, I just wanted to throw that in there. I wasn't there but there is a good chance that you would not have slipped on tires like a pilot road or something.

 

17 hours ago, petshark said:

I also have those tires on my new-to-me tracer and I do not trust them in the wet.

Opinions on this tire tend to be very polarized. They have a very long life and seem to be excellent value for commuters who don't push the bike or perhaps also for very experienced riders who don't mind their tire slipping and sliding on anything but perfect asphalt. This is not just my opinion, there's lots of reports to be found on the web and when I had my suspension set up last week, the tuner also said the same thing from experience; "take forever to warm up, too rigid, no grip, never again".

I don't want to take anything away from the other advice here as it all is relevant, but because nobody mentions the bad rep these tires have for some of us, I just wanted to throw that in there. I wasn't there but there is a good chance that you would not have slipped on tires like a pilot road or something.

I used to use the Michelin PR4's on my Ninja 650 w/ no problem; but also; lower power @ rear wheel. I may have to lose the fear of dropping the bike now in iffy turns. I may have to put some miles on to get my confidence back.  

[petshark]

3 hours ago, howie333 said:

I used to use the Michelin PR4's on my Ninja 650 w/ no problem; but also; lower power @ rear wheel. I may have to lose the fear of dropping the bike now in iffy turns. I may have to put some miles on to get my confidence back.  

I also had PR4's on a Er6n = practically same bike. It was glued to the road.

I don't think there could ever be a use for the almost double HP on the Tracer in a turn. Once the bike is upright.. sure. It all comes down to smooth throttle control, something that I spent a lot of time on with the Versys (again same engine as the ninja) because it also had that on/off response. I ignored all the ECU flash advice because I actually think that the Euro norms are a good thing and followed instead the advice to practice micro-movements on the throttle. You can become very smooth and loose the on/off response completely, even in A mode.