Almost dumped it! Is this cause at all familiar?

[spindrift]

So I'm cruising a back road just outside of town at 45mph in 3rd gear and approach a red light. The right hand turn has it's own dedicated curve-lane where you don't have to come to a complete stop (kinda rare setup, come to think of it). I drop to a pretty low speed, downshift, and enter the curve. As I'm in it I'm staying at a constant speed or slowing even more (instead of pre-braking enough and then rolling on throttle.) Suddenly to my great surprise the engine starts to chunk and it begins to stall (and does), and I instinctively pull in the clutch in the nick of time. Ultimate reason for the stall is that I was in 2nd gear but thought I was in 1st.

It was very close to fully stalling with a locked engine, and it jerked me to the right, nearly tipping me over. Had I not pulled the clutch, it would have dropped AND I would have launched a tad bit. While still rolling in my lane, I restarted the engine and rode off feeling like the dumbass newbie that I am.

What I learned:

- always prebrake enough to roll on throttle

- know what gear I'm in (rather, be fully aware of the rpm situation at all times). If I had of known I was in 2nd before the slow curve or payed closer attention to the rpms, I would have downshifted to 1st and also been in a position to roll on throttle. This is esp important with the Hyper low-rpm 'chugging'; I want to blame the bike a bit since it had NO business stalling in 2nd gear at the speed I was going, IMHO. But then again, I realize that ultimately I need to take measures to avoid this situation.

[Monstaman]

Mate you need KTM 990 SMR ... it would never let you get that low before rattling the bike to pieces and knocking ya fillings out

Glad you didn't get beaten which is the first thing, secondly at least you learned something without paying a demo price.

[Gilly]

For me it would have been perfectly acceptable to be in 2nd gear entering a dedicated turn lane, I have one right by the house. I think you answered your own question as to "why", you have to be mindful of where the engine is at. There is no reason why you could not have been in 2nd, and as you approach the turn have your hand on the clutch with the option to pull it in; enter the turn; then feather it back out with some revs.

As a matter of habit, it does not hurt to be prepared for everything when entering into an option play like you described. And by that I mean that you enter a turn slowing down with everything at your disposal, clutch, brake, gas etc. Usually you can expect a yield sign right after the turn or possibly other traffic decisions. My turn is at a corner gas station. It's banked with nice camber, but you are immediately dumped into a single lane which can have cross traffic or turn traffic and immediately after the dump, the entrance/exit to the gas station.

On perfect days, I have the green light and can really hit the turn, BUT I still have to be aware of three more traffic potentials no matter what. In the end you decide what the bike should be doing, but you have to do this before and not during and be ready with "plan b", just in case. In the mean time, hit that turn as much as you can, till you own it and can adapt to what is needed.

[minusone]

i installed a healtech gear indicator that works extremely well.
This for me is more about position adjustment for wheelstanding in the current gear. Previously I would look like a dork applying the wrong technique in the wrong gear, either that or almost flipping.

[MTScott2]

so you do a little mistake , realize it , adjust keep going , don't spend too much time thinking about what you did cause you should be thinking about the next manuver....
It is where you are at , not what you done , that counts ....
Yes I done similar ,like being in first thinking I'm in second , rounding a corner ...just a little wake up call..pay attention...

[Abarth]

Originally Posted by spindrift

.......

What I learned:

- always prebrake enough to roll on throttle

+1
I always prebrake enough to roll on throttle, because I once experienced the same as you did.
Although the Hyper has a plenty of torque in the low rpm's, slowing down (braking) too much regardless in which gear will stall any bike.

I've ridden a BMW bike not too long ago and I was surprised how quickly I liked the gear indicator. The only thing is with the Hyper, where to put a gear indicator without making it look ugly? Like to see some pics of gear indicators on Hypers...

[Steve C]

Originally Posted by Abarth

+1
I always prebrake enough to roll on throttle, because I once experienced the same as you did.
Although the Hyper has a plenty of torque in the low rpm's, slowing down (braking) too much regardless in which gear will stall any bike.

I've ridden a BMW bike not too long ago and I was surprised how quickly I liked the gear indicator. The only thing is with the Hyper, where to put a gear indicator without making it look ugly? Like to see some pics of gear indicators on Hypers...

I'm definitely spoiled by the gear indicator on my other bikes, interesting how quickly you start to depend on it.

Good on ya Spindrift for catching it, I don't have many hyper miles under my belt so I'm on the steep part of the learning curve and little stories like this are nice to keep in the vacant back part of my head.

Still trying to recover from a high CG situation due to the extra kilos I put on over in Abarths part of the planet, Amsterdam and Maastricht a few weeks back, those folks live on French fries and mayo!!!!

[Abarth]

Originally Posted by Steve C.

....
Still trying to recover from a high CG situation due to the extra kilos I put on over in Abarths part of the planet, Amsterdam and Maastricht a few weeks back, those folks live on French fries and mayo!!!!

haha, you are forgetting the frikandel speciaal...
You could have tried the boerenkool met worst. That's healthier...

Ontopic: anybody with a gearindicator on their Hyper?

[stryder]

What I've found with my ST3 is that I should gear down one more cog than "normal" so I'm in the right gear when it's time to roll on the throttle. My ST3 always sounds like it's going faster than it is, and feels like it's going slower than it is, so it took me some time to get used to the sensation of riding a Ducati as opposed to most other bikes. I have a gear indicator on my old BMW, and find it's a distraction more than anything else: with the Ducati, I have developed an instintcive "feel" for matching the gear box with the road speed, and know where I am much better than on the BMW with the gear indicator, without taking my eyes off the road, but it does take time. You need to get out more.

[spindrift]

yeah, I think the comment below hits the nail on the head. While 1st may have been more ideal in my specific curve-speed situation, going into it in 2nd should also be totally acceptable. Just get ready to clutch and then feather it while rolling on the throttle. I 'know' this abstractly, but wasn't focused enough to do it (or experienced enough for it to be 'automatic'. Like the way feathering the clutch in 1st gear in parking lots is now automatic, etc...)

Thx...

Rob

Originally Posted by billg69gmc

For me it would have been perfectly acceptable to be in 2nd gear entering a dedicated turn lane, I have one right by the house. I think you answered your own question as to "why", you have to be mindful of where the engine is at. There is no reason why you could not have been in 2nd, and as you approach the turn have your hand on the clutch with the option to pull it in; enter the turn; then feather it back out with some revs.

As a matter of habit, it does not hurt to be prepared for everything when entering into an option play like you described. And by that I mean that you enter a turn slowing down with everything at your disposal, clutch, brake, gas etc. Usually you can expect a yield sign right after the turn or possibly other traffic decisions. My turn is at a corner gas station. It's banked with nice camber, but you are immediately dumped into a single lane which can have cross traffic or turn traffic and immediately after the dump, the entrance/exit to the gas station.

On perfect days, I have the green light and can really hit the turn, BUT I still have to be aware of three more traffic potentials no matter what. In the end you decide what the bike should be doing, but you have to do this before and not during and be ready with "plan b", just in case. In the mean time, hit that turn as much as you can, till you own it and can adapt to what is needed.