Scary Incident - Glitch or Pilot Error?

Seems like overzealous twisting of the electronic throttle to me.
Its overly sensitive I find as it has so little resistance.
Give me a cable tugging a damper any day.

Could be that - I do remember thinking I should open the throttle a little to counteract a bit too much lean, and I could have been a bit heavy handed. However, although admittedly the bike was set to DYNA throttle response, it is worrying that something like that could be interpreted as I want full throttle and a wheelie right now, even though the bike was cornering and was not vertical. It has a sensor which provides lean information, so surely that should be factored into the throttle response.

When I get the video and audio from my dashcam footage sorted it might be clearer what happened though I'm pretty sure I can hear a chirp from the rear tire when it took off, which I have never heard before, even when grabbing a handful of throttle in more appropriate circumstances. It all leaves me a bit uneasy about the electronic aids - and I will certainly be avoiding DYNA mode for the time being.
 
Could be that - I do remember thinking I should open the throttle a little to counteract a bit too much lean, and I could have been a bit heavy handed. It has a sensor which provides lean information, so surely that should be factored into the throttle response..

I only say that as I find road mode a nicer mode to ride in when you've a million other things to think about (when commuting in heavy traffic in a city for example or slow manoeuvres) in dyna I just find it surges on sharp inputs a bit binary/lumpy if you will (coming from an 1150 I was a bit heavy handed with the throttle at first). I dont often agree with Engineer often but on this I think he has a point....the traction control and the input from sensors is only as good as the data put into the computer and the human created algorithm that processes it. Sorry but flaws are inevitable... Look at fuel injection there are always flat spots/lumpy bits/hesitation perhaps for other reasons but I just dont believe that a manufacturer can compensate for every permutation in their theory....and when the computer comes across a set of circumstances that falls outside its expected range it has a mini melt down.
 
Well I said I would publish a video if I could recover it from the corrupted files and get the audio back into sync with the video. I think it is now more or less in sync, so at the risk of exposing my incompetence to the world, here it is. There is one burst of throttle with some clutch slipping which I am pretty sure was me trying to straighten the bike up, but that is immediately followed another more violent throttle opening which caused a chirp from the rear tyre and lifted the front, leaving me headed towards the kerb. I'm still baffled by this. Maybe it was me, maybe it was the cruise control activating - I guess I will never know!

Fred

 
I usually use clutch or rear brake to deactivate cruise. Just need to 'blip' throttle as you do it. Takes a little practice!

Cruise is useful for resting throttle hand or arm. Otherwise I find it unnerving compared with cruise on a car. I think it is because on bikes the throttle is used much more interactively, making fine adjustments here and there.

My car has active cruise and Inrelly miss that on the bike.
 
Well I said I would publish a video if I could recover it from the corrupted files and get the audio back into sync with the video. I think it is now more or less in sync, so at the risk of exposing my incompetence to the world, here it is. There is one burst of throttle with some clutch slipping which I am pretty sure was me trying to straighten the bike up, but that is immediately followed another more violent throttle opening which caused a chirp from the rear tyre and lifted the front, leaving me headed towards the kerb. I'm still baffled by this. Maybe it was me, maybe it was the cruise control activating - I guess I will never know!

Fred


It looks to me like your rear wheel spun up on something, then suddenly gripped causing the jolt.

There's oil and a manhole cover on your riding line around where it happened.

That's what it looks like.
 
Maybe a little Harsh, just my opinion, :) and I certainly have been in this situation before myself, though not as close as the outcome could have been in your case, I think it was Rider, very tight roundabout, you were going very slow, and slipping the clutch, you relised you were taking it too wide going around had to turn in more and go faster let the clutch out more and then sort of panicked, and pulled clutch in more but not close the throttle, and then let the clutch out.
Remember as you were turning the steering your arms are stretched, and also remember you were in dynamic more and throttle very sensitive even at tick over.
One the good side, you did well to keep it up, most would have ended up on the pavement on their ass. I find it is harder to go slow hence ending up too slow than a little bit quicker and ride it around.
Please do not take it personally, I might be wrong, but even if you did catch the cruise control, it still was because you were in a situation that you were not in full control of the bike.
On another note, I do find the tyres OEM are pretty good except at slow speed maneuvering on tarmac, I tend to find the tram line a little and wander at very slow speeds.
 
Maybe a little Harsh, just my opinion, :) and I certainly have been in this situation before myself, though not as close as the outcome could have been in your case, I think it was Rider, very tight roundabout, you were going very slow, and slipping the clutch, you relised you were taking it too wide going around had to turn in more and go faster let the clutch out more and then sort of panicked, and pulled clutch in more but not close the throttle, and then let the clutch out.
Remember as you were turning the steering your arms are stretched, and also remember you were in dynamic more and throttle very sensitive even at tick over.
One the good side, you did well to keep it up, most would have ended up on the pavement on their ass. I find it is harder to go slow hence ending up too slow than a little bit quicker and ride it around.
Please do not take it personally, I might be wrong, but even if you did catch the cruise control, it still was because you were in a situation that you were not in full control of the bike.
On another note, I do find the tyres OEM are pretty good except at slow speed maneuvering on tarmac, I tend to find the tram line a little and wander at very slow speeds.

You are probably right, though I definitely only remember deliberately opening the throttle a little once. If the second throttle application was me, rather than say the cruise or some other glitch, then it was completely involuntary.

Fred
 
It's a possibility, but I don't recall any oil or manhole cover and can't see any in the video - and this Google maps picture doesn't show a manhole either:

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@48.6...wyXn7lXu2MfhFnIcCjgw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en

Fred

Hi Fred,

The 'manhole' cover was markings on the road, which I couldn't see what it was.

But the Oil tracks are there along your line of riding.

Another explanation is you've just left a petrol station. You could have picked up Diesel on a patch of your tyre from where you were stood refuelling. You're bike would have been leaning on its left side stand. Same angle as your roundabout manoeuvre.

This may have induced spin if the throttle had been applied at just the wrong time?
 
You are probably right, though I definitely only remember deliberately opening the throttle a little once. If the second throttle application was me, rather than say the cruise or some other glitch, then it was completely involuntary.

Fred

It does seem very odd though I have to admit. :nenau
 
I've had the engine spin up out of control toward the redline when slipping the clutch and giving it a bit too many revs. The engine doesn't like going very slowly with a slipped clutch and high revs, which is what it sounded like on the video.
 
Thanks for all the inputs guys. The way the front end came up it seems like I dumped the clutch while the revs were high, even though it seemed to happen just after I had closed the throttle, but maybe that is what I accidentally did. I guess I will just have to put it down to experience, but it goes to show that I need to do something about my slow riding skills (or lack of). Maybe I need to find a local deserted car park and do some practising, as I found the incident did affect my confidence for the rest of the trip.

Fred
 
@fred_JB Being Vertically challenged that is exactly what I do, any chance I get I ride around slow, more you do it better you get. it is a big heavy bike, hardest part for me is the slow riding etc. on tight turns.
 
Have you considered that you may have inadvertently given it too big a handful under slow control riding conditions that Dynamic mode isn't really for and the traction control had saved you? The first and second throttle applications you refer to are so close together they may more likely be a single throttle application (yours) with a momentary injected cut in power (by the TC) preventing a bigger 'event'. Just a thought.
 
Have you considered that you may have inadvertently given it too big a handful under slow control riding conditions that Dynamic mode isn't really for and the traction control had saved you? The first and second throttle applications you refer to are so close together they may more likely be a single throttle application (yours) with a momentary injected cut in power (by the TC) preventing a bigger 'event'. Just a thought.

If the wheelie had happened with the first throttle application, then I would agree with you that the gap could be down to the TC cutting the power, but it seems to me that it didn't. The wheelie looks like it happened only on the second stage of the incident. Though the TC may well have helped get the wheel back on the ground in time for me to steer away from the kerb, I don't think it was responsible for a gap in a single application of the throttle. Either I accidentally opened the throttle for a second time, having deliberately opened it the first time, or something else did.
 
Thanks for all the inputs guys. The way the front end came up it seems like I dumped the clutch while the revs were high, even though it seemed to happen just after I had closed the throttle, but maybe that is what I accidentally did. I guess I will just have to put it down to experience, but it goes to show that I need to do something about my slow riding skills (or lack of). Maybe I need to find a local deserted car park and do some practising, as I found the incident did affect my confidence for the rest of the trip.

Fred

Fred,

If you are able, I would strongly recommend the BMW level One off road course.

I like to think I am a fairly experienced rider - 40+ years continuous riding. IAM, Rospa, ex dispatch rider, 5 years Trials blah blah blah.

However, I tour a lot with my wife in the mountains of France, Spain and Portugal and my biggest fear was always of coming off/stalling/meeting a cow etc on a really tight steep uphill blind hairpin in the middle of nowhere.

I therefore booked myself on the 2 day course. It was unbelievable. I learnt sooo much about handling the big GS both on and off the bike as well as how to pick it up in all sorts of situations if things did go wrong!

I'm now far more confident and enjoy the tours without that worry!

All the best in the future

Phil
 
Fred,

If you are able, I would strongly recommend the BMW level One off road course.

I like to think I am a fairly experienced rider - 40+ years continuous riding. IAM, Rospa, ex dispatch rider, 5 years Trials blah blah blah.

However, I tour a lot with my wife in the mountains of France, Spain and Portugal and my biggest fear was always of coming off/stalling/meeting a cow etc on a really tight steep uphill blind hairpin in the middle of nowhere.

I therefore booked myself on the 2 day course. It was unbelievable. I learnt sooo much about handling the big GS both on and off the bike as well as how to pick it up in all sorts of situations if things did go wrong!

I'm now far more confident and enjoy the tours without that worry!

All the best in the future

Phil

Thanks Phil. Well worth considering, though I would have to make sure any course I go on uses hire bikes as otherwise I suspect mine would come back less than pristine! I have the same fears, which are much stronger when I have my wife on the back as I feel acutely responsible for her safety. I haven't persuaded her against her will to go on the bike, but at the same time I know she is not a committed biker, and only does it to share my hobby with me, so I would feel even worse if anything happened.

Fred
 


Back
Top Bottom