Wet hairpin, sliding pillion and gravel washed across the lane
You ride a 125 cc commuter down a wet mountain pass with a pillion of about 70 kg and a top box loaded with 8 kg. The road descends at roughly 8% into a right-hand hairpin marked 30 km/h. Halfway down, the light delivery vehicle ahead brakes hard for a stray dog and stops across your line. Your front tyre has about 2 mm of tread left, the rear slightly more, and the surface is a mix of smooth wet tar and loose gravel washed across the lane from the shoulder. Your pillion, wearing a borrowed open-face helmet, is not holding the grab rails and slides forward into your back every time you brake. The drop on the left is unfenced and the barrier line on the left is solid through the bend.
1. Describe how you brake for the stopped delivery vehicle in these conditions, including the front/rear balance and why.
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Progressive, both brakes, with a reduced front bias compared with dry tar.
- Roll off the throttle and let engine braking start the slowdown. On a downhill with 78 kg of extra load, the engine and gravity are already working against you; grabbing brakes on wet tar plus gravel is the fastest way to lose the front.
- Front brake first, but gently. On dry tar the front does roughly 70–80% of the braking because weight transfers forward and loads the front tyre. On wet, gravel-flecked tar that weight transfer happens faster and the available grip is lower, so build pressure over a longer time and stop short of the point where the lever feels hard.
- Rear brake together with the front, lightly. The rear adds stability and helps keep the bike squatting rather than diving, but with a pillion sliding forward the rear can unload - so its useful contribution shrinks. Do not stamp on it; a locked rear on a wet downhill is a skid you cannot steer out of.
- Straighten the bike before the hardest braking. Brake with the bars straight, then release pressure progressively as you approach the point where you need to steer.
- Stop well short of the bakkie. You need a margin because your stopping distance is longer than a solo bike's.
If the front locks, release the lever immediately and let the wheel spin up again before reapplying.
2. Your pillion keeps sliding into your back. What do you change, and why does it matter for control?
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A pillion who is not braced changes the bike's balance far more than the extra 70 kg alone.
- Before the hazard: ask them, clearly and briefly, to hold the grab rails or put one arm around your waist and to keep their feet on the pegs at all times.
- Do not let go of the bars to push them back. That is how riders lose the front in a bend. Use your knees against the tank and your core to hold yourself steady instead.
- Brace with your arms slightly bent so the pillion's push is absorbed by your elbows, not transferred straight into the steering.
- Sit further back and keep your weight off the bars. A pillion sliding forward pushes your upper body over the front wheel, which makes the steering feel heavy and increases the chance of a front-wheel washout on wet tar.
- Ride to the load. Increase your following gap, brake earlier and more gently, and enter the hairpin slower than you would solo. With a passenger, the same bend needs more lean angle for the same speed.
- Open-face borrowed helmet: check it fits and is fastened before you set off. A helmet that lifts or turns at speed is a distraction you cannot afford mid-corner.
3. You must cross a patch of loose gravel washed across the lane while slowing for the hairpin. Explain your line and what you do if a wheel locks on the gravel.
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Get the bike straight, get off the brakes, and roll through.
- Line: aim for the clean wheel track where the tar is exposed, usually where other vehicles have pushed the gravel aside. Pick that line early - do not change direction while you are on the loose material.
- Attitude: bike upright, bars straight, throttle just cracked open so the wheels are rolling under slight drive rather than coasting. A rolling wheel pushes gravel aside; a braked or coasting wheel ploughs.
- No braking or steering on the gravel. Do all your speed reduction before the patch and resume gently after it, remembering the hairpin is still coming.
- Painted lines are slippery when wet - do not brake or lean on the solid barrier line or the markings through the bend.
If a wheel locks:
- Front locks: release the lever immediately. The bike will stand up and want to fall; letting the wheel roll again is the only recovery. Reapply much more gently.
- Rear locks: keep it locked and hold the bars straight until the bike has slowed or you are off the loose surface. Releasing a locked rear while the bike is sideways can throw you over the high side.
With a pillion and a loaded top box, the rear is already light, so a locked rear is the more likely of the two.