I had one. Just the other day. Minor damage to the bike and myself. Rode home.

Only reason for posting is I have no idea what happened.

I approached this T intersection from the same direction as the car.
No one in front or behind.
Slowed to check for oncoming traffic, all clear and off I went.
Probably almost made it to the middle of the road (I did not go over the white line) and out went the back of the bike very violently.
Maybe doing 15-20kph?
Bike spun round and facing the kerb. Almost 360deg without travelling very far down the road.
Thankfully Duck, the tank stayed on despite the lack of clips



I have no idea how this happened. No warning. Tyres done 1500-2000km.
No rain. No visible oil or moisture.

Only theory I have is the tank overflow hose. I travelled about 4km after filling the tank (as much as I can fit in).
The overflow hose travells back to the rear tyre. Is it possible for enough fuel to run out and wet the side of the tyre enough to cause a back end lose?

The road down to the T intersection is 50kph suburban street with a few tightish bends and slightly down hill.
I used to go around this corner every morning on my way to work. I won't be that anymore.

You see I came off on my way to work on my last day after resigning. They thought I was joking.

The damage. You can see the road behind the bike. Looks very dry and uninteresting to me.



And the marks on the tyre from going sideways on it's side.



As a last note, the tank breather tube tends to rub on the tyre making it look shiny. Could this make it slick enough to lose grip?

I await your diagnosises, diagnoseese, thoughts.

rosskko. Only slightly damaged.

As you braked the fuel would tend to go to the front of the tank and be forced out the breather and with a full tank it would do it very easily.

I would agree with you & Rick about the fuel overflow on the tyre theory, slightly down hill with negative camber and fuel on the edge of the tyre, bloody unlucky. Looking at the pics the road conditions look good, just damn annoying if that's the case. If the bikes not insured I hope you did the right thing and dive underneath it to minimise the damage!
Glad that your alright mate , the bike can be repaired.

That's a strange one and it can be disconcerting when you can't pinpoint the exact causes. I'm with the others about the breather and bad luck. You might want to consider filling to a lower level unless you're doing long touring stretches between fill ups. I still haven't settled in my mind exactly what happened when I crashed the outfit on Thunderbolt's and broke those ribs....was a strange one and because I got knocked out I woke up with no proper memory of it.

Sane, Sean.

Bit o' bad luck there rosskko.

Glad to see there's no major damage...but it's damned annoying when it happens.

What a way to start your final day at work. certainly not the way any K owner wants to go out.
hoping it is all minimal to you and the bike . the bruising ( dent in the pride ) on the brain will subside , but never disappear.
hope you had a few turkeys when you got home to assess the damage.

Glad your ok Rossko.
No diesel on the road? Frost?

ouch rossko ....

good to hear no really big damage ol mate ...

ride well !

Basic2 wrote:Glad your ok Rossko.
No diesel on the road? Frost?

Yeah that sounds about right, Rossko was too heavy on the throttle with black ice on the road in Castle Hill !

mmmm...yes...fuel breather hose...I knew id forgotten something....be right back....   

would have loved to be the person taking your call at the office re: not coming in on your last day

Glad to hear that you are still in one piece....the bike can be repaired...we have the technology.

It could have been worst. You could have had a fairing on the bike.

Sorry to hear Rossko mate, glad you are ok. I don't think I have any parts that would help you but sing out if you need sommit.
Left Mudgee this morning at -2 deg c, bit of buttock clenching going on the way home, then 400k later, sleet.
I'm done for this season.

Looks like the bike went down on the right hand side, if you were in some dried off diesel it might make a difference. On a turn you are always in an area prone to diesel spillage. On its own probably not the worst on a turn and anyway you don't see the residue but with some power/torque on and with some petrol on the tyre, yes its a recipe for trouble. A bit like the roads with a small drop of rain after a long dry spell and lots of traffic.

Good to see though that its mostly dented pride as it were and not much more. Friend of mine over here did the same thing on a Suzuki and ended up with a broken shoulder and broken leg so it seems you were being careful enough.

The strange thing was I was over with my friend during the week and he was working on a GS. Anyway putting it back together he fired it up. Next thing I spotted it dripping liquid, told him and where it was and he was puzzled. My thought was petrol but he said no, petrol overflows are on the right hand side. They weren't.  It was petrol, the pipes were rubbing the right hand side of the rear tyre near where your marks show up. In other words it builds up there, at the edge. He was not impressed with the owner and where the pipes were routed, called it lethal. It went like this: new tyres need 100 miles miles to clean them off and get rid of the vapours before they are safe. Petrol on the tyre puts it back and worse again if it contains ethanol as it now does. It would seem you were on a tyre that was worse than a new tyre out of the box and on the worst part of the road.

So, one should check and cable tie [black cable ties, not white] the petrol overflow so it is well to one side of the rear tyre.

That's a good idea about the cable ties 92.
I've been cursed in the hills district over the years, with a major off at Rogans corner going over the medium strip and across two lanes of traffic, also rolling a mini minor on showground road , and being booked more than once out front of the Koala park.

Thing about the cable ties is you need to either leave them loose so as not to crush the overflow pipe, or preferably get a short length slightly larger diameter hard tube as a sleeve and thread the overflow pipe through it. The GS has a pair of very neat inline connectors for when you remove the tank, but on the K I think its as easy to just use a longer piece of new tube and extend it back far enough that the end does not get blocked by the road dirt the rear tyre throws up and also if there is overflow that it just goes straight to air.