I was riding my ninja 250 today. It had rained earlier in the morning but when i left the house it was just drizzling. Everything was fine on the highway but once i got off and was riding on regular streets, i encountered some problems. On two occasions i tried to engine brake by downshifting at low speeds and both times my rear tire skidded. The first time was no big deal but the second time i strayed to the left and had to save my motorcycle from falling. Is this normal? This is the first time i ride in the rain. What did i do wrong?
Rain will always mean less grip between your tires and the road, but some situations are worse than others, depending on the quality of the road surface, how hard it is raining/the amount of water on the road, and how long it is since it last rained. The light drizzle that you mentioned can sometimes make the road especially slippy, especially if it hasn't rained for a while, as the moisture pulls all the pollution, diesel particulates and dirt in the road to the surface, but there isn't enough rain to wash it into the gutter. You are going to have less grip on wet roads, and you have to pay much more attention to your riding style. A bike like yours is going to give you plenty of 'feel', and with practice you should be able to feel how much grip you are getting out of your tires, and when they are getting close to letting go. You want to be braking smoothly and progressively, using both the front and back brakes, and when it's more slippery you want to use more back brake than you would normally. If you managed to almost crash (highside?) your bike purely through down-shifting/engine braking, it sounds to me like you are putting undue stress on your bike when you have perfectly good brakes for that job. Do you find that you get through chains and sprocket sets especially quickly?
Did you down shift 1 gear? The rear brake is easier on traction when traction is weak.
Rain will always mean less grip between your tires and the road, but some situations are worse than others, depending on the quality of the road surface, how hard it is raining/the amount of water on the road, and how long it is since it last rained. The light drizzle that you mentioned can sometimes make the road especially slippy, especially if it hasn't rained for a while, as the moisture pulls all the pollution, diesel particulates and dirt in the road to the surface, but there isn't enough rain to wash it into the gutter. You are going to have less grip on wet roads, and you have to pay much more attention to your riding style. A bike like yours is going to give you plenty of 'feel', and with practice you should be able to feel how much grip you are getting out of your tires, and when they are getting close to letting go. You want to be braking smoothly and progressively, using both the front and back brakes, and when it's more slippery you want to use more back brake than you would normally. If you managed to almost crash (highside?) your bike purely through down-shifting/engine braking, it sounds to me like you are putting undue stress on your bike when you have perfectly good brakes for that job. Do you find that you get through chains and sprocket sets especially quickly?
Did you down shift 1 gear? The rear brake is easier on traction when traction is weak.
