Bonneville America Forums Forums Rider Safety Forums Riding Technique First close call... saved by a freakout.

Here is Vegas rain is very infrequent. Last week I got caught in a downpour and the bike really got squirrely. I kept to the right lane and I had only about a mile to get home. I cannot tell how many times the rear wheel broke traction when accelerating even though I was being very gentle on the throttle.

The worst time came when the wind started to come from the right at 90 degrees and blew up to 60 MPH when I was on an oily wet street. Both tires lost traction at once and the bike started to slide to the left out of my lane. Thank goodness that the lane to my left was empty as the bike slid over 10 feet to the left and I could only just keep it upright and pointed in the right direction.

I have ridden on ice and snow and loose surfaces before but I never was as scared as I was on this day. I never experienced both wheels losing traction at the same time and I was lucky not to have dumped it. My speed at that time was between 15 and 20 MPH but I had no control of the motion to the left at all. If I had not been a block away from home I would have parked it.