WJBertrand
Ventura Highway
I was splitting lanes on my way home the other night and when I went to change gears, the engine just stopped as I pulled in the clutch. This engine stall thing seems to happen randomly every few months, probably less than 10 times since I bought the bike in summer '15. It usually happens when riding at low speeds or decelerating like approaching a stop sign or signal. I was probably doing 30-35 MPH. I Usually just pop the clutch to bump restart the engine in such cases and carry on. This time when I popped the clutch however the rear wheel started sliding and veering to the side instead. Holy shit! I did not expect that! There’s not a lot of space to be going sideways when splitting! I had to quickly pull the clutch back in to get the bike straightened up. Whew! Didn’t touch any cars luckily. My next thought, and second scare, was that perhaps the engine had locked up or failed catastrophically in some way. Finally, I hit the starter and I was relieved when it fired right back up and ran totally normally, as though nothing had happened, the rest of the way home, including the stop at the store for some new underwear. Very strange.
I’m thinking maybe there was something slippery on the road right at the spot where this happened? Conditions were clear, dry and temperatures were in the low 70s.
I’m thinking maybe there was something slippery on the road right at the spot where this happened? Conditions were clear, dry and temperatures were in the low 70s.