torch
Well-known member
The other day I was getting off the superslab, around the break of dawn in a light rain. Typical exit ramp -- gentle right hand followed by an uphill left hand to the overpass. Traffic was building, so speed was limited. Visibility was poor -- just shades of dark grey amid the glare of lights on the wet visor and windscreen. As I lightly braked down in the left hand side of my lane, I hit a patch of oil film floating on the wet road. The bike started to wash out, dropping towards a low-side as it slid across the lane. I barely had time to start to react, just starting to release brakes and take pressure off the left handlebar in an attempt to recover when I slid out of the oil.
As soon as they were out of the oil, the PR5s bit. Not just a sandpaper-on-softwood bite, this was a 6" velcro pressed down with a steamroller kind of bite. The left handlebar kicked like a mule as the almost-low-side suddenly tried to turn into a high-side, popping the bike vertical with a speed-wobble like oscillation. My shoulder is still sore, but probably not as sore as it could have been otherwise. I did manage to keep it in the lane and brake down before reaching the car ahead of me.
I'm not certain if the sudden recovery of traction was a good thing or almost a bad thing, but I was really impressed at just how much traction those PR5s have when the road is just wet, not oily.
As soon as they were out of the oil, the PR5s bit. Not just a sandpaper-on-softwood bite, this was a 6" velcro pressed down with a steamroller kind of bite. The left handlebar kicked like a mule as the almost-low-side suddenly tried to turn into a high-side, popping the bike vertical with a speed-wobble like oscillation. My shoulder is still sore, but probably not as sore as it could have been otherwise. I did manage to keep it in the lane and brake down before reaching the car ahead of me.
I'm not certain if the sudden recovery of traction was a good thing or almost a bad thing, but I was really impressed at just how much traction those PR5s have when the road is just wet, not oily.