04-28-2015, 10:24 AM
A few summers ago, I was turning left entering an intersection after the light turned green and was on the throttle fairly hard when I hit a very large -- like 1/3 the size of a car --patch of fresh oil (the motor type, not the tar type they use to seal the roads). I saw it, but thought it was water. It didn't occur to me that there would be a pool of oil that large on the road. The bike I was on had traction control, but I came very, very close to going down. Even with the TC (remember, I was pretty hard on the throttle and cornering), the tail swung out wildly. I'm still not sure if the TC bailed me out at the last second or if letting off the throttle arrested the skid, or if it was a combination of both, but let's just say the rest of the day I was shadowed by a feeling of relief, not to mention feeling a little humbled by the experience.
In any event, that really sucks that you hit that patch of oil. It sounds like someone tried to sop the oil up some with the sand, but the sand was probably as big a contributor to your fall as the oil. Could happen to anyone unfortunately. This is definitely one you should look at in a 'the glass is half-full' sense. Minor damage to you, minor damage to the bike. Could've been a lot worse. Glad you're ok!
In any event, that really sucks that you hit that patch of oil. It sounds like someone tried to sop the oil up some with the sand, but the sand was probably as big a contributor to your fall as the oil. Could happen to anyone unfortunately. This is definitely one you should look at in a 'the glass is half-full' sense. Minor damage to you, minor damage to the bike. Could've been a lot worse. Glad you're ok!