Hello.

its that part of the year, the leaves start to lay on the road, and i can tell its started, got very cold on nights now, i live in a very wood land tree area, and some of the roads leading into my area are covered in wet leaves from rain.

Coming home i slowed down for a speed bump going down hill ( long stretched one ) And back end went, my legs naturally swung out for balance, manage to keep balance and continue cover the speed bump and carry on, the car driver backed right off was kinda funny when came to next speed bump she must of thought i was going to come off lol.

don't you just hate Wet leaves on roads, specially on bends or over speed bumps on a down hill.

Leaves made your scooter slip, I dont believe it,

i spent each winter telling my rail passengers, that train was late cos of leaves on line,and no one ever believed me

Was it only last week I was walking around town at lunchtime in a short sleeved shirt feeling how blisteringly hot it was? Today its woolly and coat and I still felt cold!

Its a regular hazard noted in Police driving training this time of year, leaves at the side of the road can be fatal. Still remember using it in my commentary on police driver test.

lol I wear shorts all year round, rain shine or snow lol except on my scoot when the leathers come out

Simple answer, read the road, I ride similar lanes and I know the worst spots, but I also look out for new ones forming and rely on the numpty car drivers to push them into the gutters. Seriously if you know the lane is bad for leaves then think about your riding before you get into that situation again. First thing to ask yourself is did you need to brake? Could you have rolled off the throttle earlier so you arrived at the correct speed. Brakes should not be your first choice for simply changing speed.

Well done though for staying on the bucking beast, and thank that driver for not braking hard on the leaves you hit else she might have not slowed.

Na they wasn't there that morning it was clear, but been raining heavy and windy and afternoon comes and the speed bump was covered in wet leaves, unfortunately for a 125 going down hill, the 125s don't have any engine braking on a 125 x9 so brakes where needed to slow down, the road was a 30mph, and i was only doing 20mph and still needed to brake to go slowly over the leaves as with no engine breaking going down hill the 125s just keep going and pick up speed lol and still manage to slip at 15mph lol

It funny just how a few leaves can be So slippy.

Its got a lot colder, i got a Anti-freeezz Gray winter jacket on today with the thermal layer inside and a shirt and jumper and neck warmer and my Fusion black thick padded Warm helmet and still cold lol.

When somebody tells you about reading the road, they are not suggesting you rely on what you saw that morning, but are looking at the road as you ride in the "now".

Being downhill explains why the rear brake locked up and you slipped. Motorcycle braking is all about weight and grip. If you have no weight on the tyre it will more easily loose traction with the road as it also looses grip. Sound like you do what many riders do and think you should rely more on the back brake and times like this catches it out. Your real braking is from the front wheel as when you first start to brake you load up the wheel, shifting the weight of the bike forward, increasing the grip between tyre and road. Going down hill is like riding on the horizontal with a slight front brake applied. The weight of the bike is already forward.

Downhill braking should start with the front and ease on the back to the point the back starts to feel to light, the point of breakaway is being reached. if it does start to slide or lock, ease off the rear brake and the whole bike will come back into line.

If you get the chance, do scrambling off road on a proper bike. I rode Enduro when I started riding in the 80's and this taught me a lot about braking. Another useful site for winter riding advice is: http://www.lazymotorbike.eu/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I've only nearly come a cropper once on leaves on my SH and that was when I was pulling away from the gutter and gave it too much throttle. Fishtailed all over the place and nearly lost it at 2mph. Taught me a lesson!

ridinhigh wrote:Leaves made your scooter slip, I dont believe it,

i spent each winter telling my rail passengers, that train was late cos of leaves on line,and no one ever believed me

I spent 19 years on the railway, leaf contamination could end up like a hardened black coating which is tougher and slippier than a teflon coated frying pan.
Not unknown for the speedo to drop to zero while the train is still doing 90 or so.
Scary stuff....