Loudon Nh Crash

[Spaghetti]

I crashed on 6 in Loudon NH last weekend, still not sure what happened. It was raining on part of the track and it was the first lap of the second session so conditions didn't help. Coach said tires weren't ready.

 

The next day during the expert races I noticed that all bikes were riding an earlier apex (you can see the light tire marks close to the inside, that's where everybody was going through more or less). That turn has lot of camber and I was lured in to the middle of the track to try a faster turn. Also the front tire direction looks wrong to begin with in the first pic and might be an hint of what I did wrong. Shouldn't the front point slightly to the outside when leaning on a corner?

 

I'll appreciate any feedback. Thanks, Spaghetti.

[Hotfoot]

You're correct about that front wheel, it shouldn't be turned in that far, so in that picture it is already sliding. When you entered that corner, could you have been putting any pressure on the bars? How is your lock-in, when you are braking and going downhill, are you solidly locked on the bike or do you have to brace yourself with your arms to keep from sliding forward?

[Spaghetti]

It is possible that I put too much pressure on the handle bars. That turn 6 in Loudon feels like going into a hole, despite the curbing, and the force push you to go on the handle bars. From the picture it's hard to say, it actually looks like the elbow is outside and the shoulder down. Not the typical tense position. It felt like the bike went down in a microsecond. I had no sign of losing the rear or front before the crash.

Thanks for the input!

[ktk_ace]

the front geometry looked waaay too steep

; did you by any chance lower the front OR lengthen the rear's height (as in making it higher) ?

rake angle geometry is a science im beginning to touch and my guesstimate is that the bike is too maneuvable at the expense of stability , giving way too easily due to a very small unwanted steering input.

I presume there was no steering damper too ?

[Kevin Kane]

The Bowl at Loudon is a difficult corner to get right and you can over load the front tire very easily if your tires were cold or the surface was wet; conditions you alluded to in your initial post. The last time I raced at Loudon I crashed out in the same spot. My circumstances were different but I know I overloaded the front and right after turn in it was goodnight Irene. That corner is 180 degree left at the base of a fast downhill section so you already have heavier front loading to deal with regardless of tire temperature or surface conditions.

 

Rainman

[YellowDuck]

Pretty classic front end tuck it looks like. But your hand is not on the brake lever in the first picture, so I doubt you did it with the brakes.

 

Nice SS! I am guessing a 750 Sport, since only one front disc?

[Spaghetti]

Good guess, thank you for the input.

 

The consensus is front-loading, but I suspect there is something more to it. This is a quite sharp (180 degrees begin to end) corner with lots of camber. Entering the corner towards the middle of the track means riding downhill to reach the apex and the bike suspensions can play funny on the uneven cambered surface.

Conversely, exiting the corner while accelerating uphill makes it easier for the suspensions to work.

Of course, if the corner has a larger radius you can possibly ride in the middle of the track begin to end and never have to travel up and down.

 

Do I get this right? Isn't there something about bike suspensions on cambered turns?