Query approved.

The only person who could tell you why you fell is only you.

however, there could be several reasons for your fall. The most probable reason is that you locked your front wheel by hard/panic braking while you were turning, causing you to skid over gravel. Pulsar 220's tire are competent enough to carry on day-to-day riding. No bike or tire would survive the situation that you were in probably. No need to lose confidence, it happens with almost everybody. However, braking in motorcycles is an art and you need to learn a few lessons on it. You have to be very careful when you apply the brakes, using both the rear and front brakes while keeping your handle as straight as possible.

Thanks a lot for your supportive answer..

Fall!!!

As Sunil rightly pointed out, the most probable cause is panic braking. The rider usually in such situations does not even realize that he is braking too hard, it happens sub-consciously. Even I own a Pulsar 220 with IRC rubber. The grip is quite decent...
If you start losing confidence due to such small mishaps, how will you ever improve as a biker?
I say "Every mistake is an opportunity to learn"

I feel you might have hit the back brake too hard, the back brake usually locks up when you slam it, even though you have lots of biking experience this is the first bike you're riding which has rear disc brake. It takes sometime getting used to. I've had two crashes because I the rear wheel locked up when I braked hard. Next time when you approach such a situation immediately slow down ensure you put your leg out so that you don't fall. drivers of big vehicles drive like they own the road but once we fall down and are injured there's no point in arguing with them. Ensure your safety first that's most important. TC

Re: Slippage of tyre Pulsar 220F

i am also facing the same problem of rare tyre slip... had met and missed a few major accidents. I am too much worried about the grip. i have mrf zappers. Bike skids for a considerable distance even at the speeds of 40-50 kmph. Brake pads are good enough too. My bike just did 15000 km and one year old. i do a travel of 50km daily. Please suggest me a solution. I am from Hyderabad. If tyre replacement is the solution how about pirelli 130/80 r17 and michellin. which one is preferable and where do i get pirelli tyres in hyderabad. i use nitrogen for filling the tyres. use a pressure of 32 psi front and back. i weigh about 82 kgs. and also i have observed that tyre became hard and slippery. my finger slips easily when i rub across the grip i heard about tyre siping technique used in European countries. is that technique available in hyderabad? Please provide me with a solution. no burnouts or drifts or any kind of stunts performed.

Re: Slippage of tyre Pulsar 220F

Dude,

Even I own a Pulsar (P150) so I do understand your problem, MRF which ever you take are really bad with there grips (dry as well as wet). In a span so some month (4-5) I have changed atleast 7 tyres (including front and rear). From this experiment of mine I learnt the best possible combination is Pirelli SD (130-80/17) rear and Michelin PS(100/80-17)front.Definitely I have compromised with top speed , acceleration and fuel economy but it has given me a damn control over my bike and a comfortable ride as well.

Tyres Changed as:
1. MRF (Stock)
2. Front MRF (stock), rear DUNLOP Tuff Grip (120/80-17)tubeless.
3. Both front and rear changed to Michelin Pilot Sporty (front 90/90-17, rear 100/90-17) .
4. Front same as abobve, rear changed to Pirelli Sports Demon 130/70-17 tubeless.
5. Front Michelin same as mentioned in point 3, rear changed to CEAT vertigo SPort tubeless.
6. Currently I have APACHE stock tyre as my front, Pirelli Sports Demon as my rear (130/80-17) tubeless.

Note: Pirelli Sports Demon 130/80-17 is a direct fit and needs no modification to fit .

Re: Slippage of tyre Pulsar 220F

I had a similar slow speed fall when I was new on 220. Reason of fall was simple touch of a jay walker coming into my way. The person never even felt what touched him.
My post fall analysis pointed to the front heavy construction of bike. And me being new on the bike could not understand how close the front portion was to avoid hitting the walker. By the time I realised it was a close call and handlebars swayed to one direction sharply.
In your case I believe you too miss judged the proximity of on coming innova and realised it at the very last moment. I believe you did not even get a chance to slam the brakes.
A habit of slowing down earlier and lookin for safe passage and proper analysis of the gap beforehand is a life saver.

Sent from my Titanium S1 using xBhp Connect mobile app

Re: Slippage of tyre Pulsar 220F

My P220 has done 7500kms. And I too have faced those skidding while hard braking issues sometimes.

I am very careful while using the rear brake. While applying brakes, my approach is to start with the rear brakes. When the rear is almost 20-30% engaged, start applying the front brakes.. keep on applying both brakes until you slow down to the desired speed.. then, release front brake first, and then release rear brake. It has become my habit to brake this way, no matter how small or how long the braking duration is.

This approach prevents rear wheel lockups.

However, at times, during hard braking, I have experienced front tire skids resulting in slight imbalance at the front. I am unable to figure out why it happens. It feels as if the front tire pressure is low and the bike's rims are digging into the tire, creating a sort of imbalance. Maybe its the dust on the road, causing the front tire to slip, yet providing enough traction to keep slowing down. Makes me wonder.. how complicated it would have been to develop ABS software..

Sent from my HTC Wildfire S A510e using xBhp Connect mobile app

Re: Slippage of tyre Pulsar 220F

is there like any chance to add like a braking assist or ABS to the rear brake of the pulsar 220?? that should improve the stopping distance right?

Re: Slippage of tyre Pulsar 220F




@all who are facing rear tyre skidding under hard braking:
You are doing it wrong! When on Tarmac, start with the front brake. The braking bias should be at least 70:30 favoring front brake.

Only apply rear brake first under non ideal conditions (gravel, off-road, bad roads or any other time you are more likely to skid)

To better understand panic braking, please head over to www.ridesafewith.me

Sent from my Nokia Lumia using Tapatalk

Re: Slippage of tyre Pulsar 220F

when a dog or a randoms decides to pop up from no where are you gonna do the 70:30 thing or slam on the brakes?? usually when there is time to react i do the front brake first and rear second thing but our roads just likes to surprise us with random things! but for sudden brakes there needs a solution to be found! all ideas are welcome

Re: Slippage of tyre Pulsar 220F

I would like to say few things about braking on Pulsar 220.

1. I have changed both my tires recently because earlier I was experiencing drastic slippage. I changed front to Birla Tyres 90-90-17 and rear one is MRF Zapper Q (width 130).
2. Tried installing after-market universal abs (Bought from ebay), just like the saferide/krp one, but it was having different grooves so I couldn't fit into my 220. Returned it anyways.
3. Now I'm left with no other option than to improvise my braking skills. Here in bangalore, you will get closed manholes on road a lot (a bit raised on roads here and there) and also many roads with a lot of gravel. So I'm definitely not enjoying my ride and the reason behind I always need to be extra conscious about my tires skidding and then with that much consciousness, you forget the enjoyment while riding way behind. In the stop and go traffic, I do accelerate, but in long vacant roads, I'm even scared to go beyond 50 because If something comes all of a sudden, and I applied brakes even quite properly, then also I'm sure rear discs will get locked up and tire will skid badly and I'll fall down.

Please suggest a way to cope up with this problem because after falling once, Now I have very less confidence while riding and the rear disc even makes my confidence again low, by skidding wherever I suppose it will skid a bit, it does, anyhow I control because of extra low speeds. No other bikes I see skidding so much and this things really disappoints me much.
What should I do ? Is there a real solution ? I also get it serviced regularly so there is absolutely no such problem as my disc plate/pad being dirty. Please suggest me every possible ways in which I can minimize it, not by improving my skills, because I know all those skills and I understand those, but just something I need to get changed or something which can be done to rear brakes.

Re: Slippage of tyre Pulsar 220F

You need to learn panic braking. Panic braking is also an art. So you need to practice as much as you can.

Indian roads are everyones worry with surprises from here and there. And since 220 is not equipped with ABS all you can do is learn different braking techniques. Lots of videos available on youtube.

And regarding scary moments. I am sure each and everyone of us had a nasty fall once or twice in life, but that doesn't mean you should live in phobia. Regain your confidence and 220 is not such a deadly machine.

If you still fear for wheel lockups, you should move to ABS equipped bikes.

How can you say you have all the skills, the rear brake is not locking up on its own. Definitely it is related to the user who is using it. In this case you. There is always room for.improvement no matter how much experienced you are.

One thing you can check is when the bike is on center stand, try moving the wheel and check if the rear wheel is jammed with the rear brake caliper. If it is jammed then caliper and the piston inside it needs servicing or few small parts replaced. If it is not jammed, improve your braking skills MORE.

Cheers,
Sanjay

Re: Slippage of tyre Pulsar 220F



Hi Sanjay
Thanks for the suggestions. You are absolutely right.
But one thing I noticed that like all other bikes have free moving rear wheel, that is not the case with my 220. I always thought that due to rear discs they are like that. At the time my bike was getting washed, with whatever force the washing jet at the service centre applies, the tire wont rotate unless rotated by hand. But this is from 3 years till the time I purchased my bike and serviced several times from that, even the rear wheel spocket has been completely changed and disc plates and pads also has been replaced once.

I just want to know is this a default setup or my bike has this thing only. If this is default its ok, if not then what more I need to get checked.
Changing the disc setup to new bybre one can help ?? If yes, how much they cost approximately ?