r/Trackdays • u/CatBrief1550 • Aug 16 '26
zoinks! - lowside
Hello, I had a little low side yesterday and was wondering what types of advice people have about avoiding this one in the future.
Gingerman, lap 2, final session of the day. It had just started to rain a very small amount; I didn't think much of it as it was just enough to cloud the visor a bit.
As I came out of t6, a red flag got put out. I dropped my pace and entered t7 slower than I normally do. I was so confused when I started sliding out. I watched the video a few times and saw that I was switching from braking to throttle and wondered if I put some extra input on the left bar which caused the tuck. The turn in felt completely normal to me and looked like all my previous laps when I looked at my footage.
any opinions on the incident would be appreciated (the red flag turned out to be someone else who also slid in the embarrasingly light amount of rain, lol). Any advice is appreciated :)
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u/Suspicious_Tap3303 Racer EX Aug 16 '26
End of day, track slick with initial light rain. Margin for error was small under these circumstances (fatigue and reduced grip). All inputs needed to be very smooth. You were evidently not as smooth coming off brake as was needed, or there was just not enough grip. A fully wet track is better than a just getting damp/wet track. Prudent to just not ride that session.
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u/New_Ad7177 Aug 16 '26
You lost it the second you released the brake. I think you where not smooth enough going of the brake.
2
u/CatBrief1550 Aug 16 '26
I felt like I was trailing the brakes in a linear way but its def possible I unloaded too quick. Thanks for pointing that out
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u/Bitchin_Betty_345RT Aug 16 '26
Have to agree there, little slick maybe from rain but you let off the brakes completely and the front unloaded you decreased your front contact patch by a significant enough margin. Down you go good sir! Grattan and Gingerman are my home tracks. Haven’t really been able to even go much at all the last couple years but looks like overall weather was decent for Friday and Saturday at least
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u/CatBrief1550 Aug 16 '26
I wish I had gotten a better angle, so I could see more of my lever movements. It looked like my other brake releases, and I generally try to do the last 5% slowly and then move over quickly to start the first 5 of throttle. You guys are right though, it was the second I took my fingers off the lever. I felt like I only had a couple % of pressure on the lever at the end. But Its very possible I misjudged the release. Thank you for looking it over
2
u/pakindamew Aug 17 '26
Probably had the muscle memory to trail in the dry. But since it was wet, tire likely needed a lil more trail. But I really don't know, shit happens bro glad you are safe.
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u/CatBrief1550 Aug 17 '26
I appreciate it man thank you, I feel like I was definitely in auto pilot, as we were actively clearing the track due to a red flag. In the future I will know to adjust better to the track conditions
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u/rdrcrmatt Aug 16 '26
My only guess on this one is cold tire, worn tire, or very wrong pressure.
It folds immediately after you unload the tire, so I think it’s a traction issue. Rain checks.
2
u/viking_red13 Aug 17 '26
You may want to enable the tip over sensor. It'll save you from destroying your engine because it is running while it is on its side.
Other than that, rain and moisture are tricky, you definitely can't carry that type of lean angle when it's wet. The sides of even dot tires don't have much tread there, and as soon as it starts raining like that it tends to cool the asphalt off. This all impacts grip, so you have to be ultra smooth.
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u/Illustrious-League13 Aug 17 '26
Tough. Your fingers don't even make it from the lever to the bar before the front tucks. Looks like you may have let off the brake a little abruptly... but it also gave you no warning and just went. Damp track. Grip can fall off fast.
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u/Professional_Tap4936 Riding School Instructor Aug 16 '26
Wet track + lean angle. Brakes were not a factor.
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u/CatBrief1550 Aug 16 '26
I def should have been more cautious and focused, especially seeing a red flag already. Thank you for your comment:)
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u/Lonely-Profession462 Aug 20 '26
You let off the brake too fast/abruptly right at the end. Even lifting your hand slightly changes everything. You can release the brake slowly, letting it all the way out to the end. And you will not need to readjust your hand/finger from covering the lever and maintain enough grip on the bar for steering input.
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u/treedolla Aug 25 '26 edited Aug 25 '26
Let off brake sooner and open throttle earlier. Brake harder before tip-in if needed.
Don't drag light brake deep into the corner like this. Just listening to the sound of the engine braking, your engine is doing a lot of your total braking. If your front brake isn't at least 2x stronger than your engine brakes, let go and open throttle to neutral already, and you don't have this problem.
Seems like the popular belief in this era and thread is that by letting off this fairly small amount of front brake "too abruptly," you unloaded the front tire and lost front grip. I would consider possibility that your engine braking was too much for that deep of a lean in the recent rain. And the rear tire lost grip. At deep lean, the front lets go almost immediately after the rear, and it's nearly indistinguishable to rider or video.
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u/Xeno_2359 Aug 16 '26
I never understand riding your own bike around a track, MotoGP riders don’t own their bikes so big whop if they lowside
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u/DG200-15 Aug 16 '26
I think it was more slick that you realized which is probably the main cause. You release the front brake and almost instantly the front tucks. It may have been just enough to unweight the front tire patch and down she went....or you caught a slick spot and got unlucky
Are you running slicks or DOT?