When locking up rear wheel, I get clunking and skid to the right slightly


cyberal

cyberal

New Member
Hi everyone,

Today, while riding back from work, I had to do a hard brake on a stop sign and I locked up the rear wheel briefly. Almost immediately after the rear wheel locked up, I noticed a clunking sound coming from the back and left of the bike. This seemed odd, so while I kept riding home, in moments where it was safe (another stop sign or red traffic light, no car behind me), I'd use the rear brake exclusively, locking the wheel on purpose. The same clunking sound would happen. I don't need to be going real fast for this to happen, just enough to lock the wheel and skid one or two feet. In that distance, I hear a quick "tac-tac-tac" sound, where each "tac" resembles the sound of when you pull the kickstand up, or when you try to shift down to 1st while still going fast and the gears won't match. Maybe I should mention that during the whole tim, I have the clutch lever completely squeezed. Along with the clunking, I also notice that the rear wheel skids right, even if I'm going perfectly straight.

During my tests, I also noticed that this is more likely to happen if I'm braking while on 1st, but not in 2nd gear. In second gear, i found it harder to lock wheel and if I do, the rear won't skid to the right. Instead of 3 "tacs", I only hear one and it's much less evident.

Got any idea of what could be going on here?

Thanks!
 
cyberal

cyberal

New Member
Yeah, that's what I read in some other forums, but I'm still not sure if the skidding to the right is normal. Perhaps i'm not going as straight as i thought.
 
0

06330i

New Member
From my knowledge. most roads have a grade that goes like this ^ (not so extreme obviously) so that water drains to the edge. So more than likely thats why its going to pull to the right.
 
cyberal

cyberal

New Member
And precisely because of that grade is that I tried repeating my little experiment in a parking garage that I know for sure doesn't have that shape (it has a slight incline downwards from the perspective of my motorcycle).

Anyway, maybe I'm just overthinking things. Thanks a lot!
 
M

MistahT

Mistah T
Elite Member
The banging with locking up, yeah, I've experienced that. First time I was approaching a light with plenty of room when a stupid cager jumps in front of me and stops dead about 10 feet in front of me. Needless to say, first time I locked the brakes on the FZ6R.

I don't know about pulling to the right. Maybe you have more weight on one leg than the other, especially when pushing the rear brake lever. That could be a reason for sliding to the right. Try overcompensating and pushing harder on your left side and see if you can get it to go the other way?
 
N

Nastybutler

Cynical Member
Elite Member
I don't know if this is your case, but when I was a kid with a BMX bike that would lock it's rear brake when you pedaled backwards, I'd always do my skids so that the rear wheel would come around on the right side. Now when I lock up my rear on my motorcycle, I'd be comfortable with it coming around on the right as that's my muscle memory. I don't know if that makes any sense or applies in your case, but that's what came to mind.
 
B

bleedinblue

Senior Member
Elite Member
If you arent getting the same results in 2nd gear, I say pull in the clutch

Edit, sorry im not trying to be rude.But motorcycles countersteer correct?The chain is on the left, your pulling to the right.

With the engine load off of the chain, it will screech predictability without clunking like Nasty mentioned doing above.It will just risk a flat spot on the tire.

If the loads on the engine, your brakes are causing the chain to halt, while the countershaft sprocket has momentum and compression, making the chain pop.
 
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Bert-Aus

Bert-Aus

Well-Known Member
IMO -it would be a mixture of road camber (cross grade) and your muscle memory -everyone has a preferred leg for strength and your riding memory responds to this by attempting to get the preffered side down first.

If you want to test for it whilst not on the bike, stand with your feet together, relax and fall forward whichever foot saves your fall without forcing is your preffered side
 
C

cloudfire

Member
The slide to the right is a just physics. You're riding a two wheel vehicle. You're pushing hard enough on the rear brake with your right foot to lock it up. If you stand on the just the right peg without counterweight, what's gonna happen to the bike? It will fall to the right. So, probably without realizing it, you are counter-balancing the bike when you hit the rear brake and leaning the bike slightly to the left, which will cause the rear tire to slide right. If you're in second gear, you're usually going fast enough that the gryoscopic effect of the wheels and engine make counterbalancing less necessary.
 
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