165 mph tankslapper. Yeah im a fuckin squid.

[bwh998]

Originally Posted by ThatguyDave

Glad you're allright skid marks on the rear and all. Seriously, its an early 10R Kawi I'm guessing, 04/05? What exactly happened. Where you on the gas when it started? You kept holding on the bars while it happened? You said your feet were off the pegs which seems to exacerbate the situation tenfold. Did they come off immediately, or like half way into the episode? I'm real curious to see if you're siduation jives with my suspicions about why bikes head shake and my soln to stopping the phenomonon. Thanks. Dave

yep its a 05 10r, the bikes that are known for head shake and also did NOT come from the factory with a steering stab. when i hit the bridge i was at WOT and when it pitched me sideways i dont know if i put my feet down on purpose or if they got thrown off the pegs but i do remember pushing on the ground with my legs struggling to keep my body up on the bike because the bars were shaking too fast to use my hands to support my body weight, i think that if i had put my body weight on the bars or chopped the throttle i would have got pitched off the side. i was using my feet to lever the majority of my body mass up onto the tank and keep my hands on or near the clips as much as possible and not chop the throttle.

[Smokey74]

Only thing you can do with a bad tank slapper is try to give it more gas and hold on... Most of the time, the bike will stabilize itself. The problem is most guys panic and wreck before the bike has a chance to correct itself. On that particular bike, you definately should invest in a damper if your into high speed stuff. Scotts top mount rotary damper works best IMO. Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good, glad you made it back in one piece.

[shotgun]

I had a 79 XS1100 Special Yamaha that would get head shake. It was kinda strange, it would start at about 116 mph and the faster you went the more it would shake. But it wasn't a violent shake it was a real slow wobble. I couldn't figure out why it was doing it. that was back when my balls were larger than my brain. theres no way I would ride something like that today.

[evil mechanic]

Glad your ok man! Sounds like its time to replace the pressure bearing in the triple.

[kjhilsinger]

Glad you are OK, but I completely disagree with what you did. There is no reason to have a stabilizer for high speed stuff unless you are on the track. No reason to endanger yourself and others on the road by pulling stupid shit like that on the road. When you are riding on the surface streets and highways, keep your head out of your ass and take it a little easier on the throttle.

[shift1313]

Tankslappers happen for a few reasons. Most of the time the rider is gripping the bars too tight. For instance when you get on the gas hard the front end gets light reducing available traction. While on the gas hard you are probably holding on tighter than normal and probably pulling back on the throttle side a bit. Once the front ends traction gets too low your extra force on the bar is great than the friction between the tire/road and the force of the rotating tire keeping it straight. If you have ever wheelied at high speed and turned your bars you will know that the force from a spinning wheel has a huge effect on the bike. usually when the wheel gets a little sideways the contact patch is off center with the rear wheel(how rake/trail affect the contact patch path). so when you shift or reach the point where the wheel starts to weight it goes to right itself(think about casters on a shopping cart). this pitches the bike to one side, the front overshoots and does the same thing over and over again until it can right itself or pitch you.

This seems to happen at high speeds because of aerodynamic lift and lightening of the front end. 165mph is no laughing matter. Without fairings your body produces a good bit of lift even if you are tucked in and holding on.

THE LAST THING YOU WANT TO DO is brake. loose grip, neutral throttle and let the bike settle. The bike wants to go straight. Taking your feet off the bike is a bad idea. It changes the CG a good bit and can make things worse. Keep your weight on the seat/pegs. Some people say fight it, gas it and so on. Its up to you and usually the split second it happens, its all reaction so unless it happens often, its going to be luck until it isnt


im sure weve all seen this(first part is just a commercial)

No Human has this much talent....he must be a...

[robsroadeater]

Originally Posted by shotgun

I had a 79 XS1100 Special Yamaha that would get head shake. It was kinda strange, it would start at about 116 mph and the faster you went the more it would shake. But it wasn't a violent shake it was a real slow wobble. I couldn't figure out why it was doing it. that was back when my balls were larger than my brain. theres no way I would ride something like that today.

Musta been an inherant design flaw ,I also had an XS1100S,did the exact same thing,almost like a weave very slight never worrying but noticeable all the same.Nice bike ,heavy fucker ha ha ..

[bwh998]

Originally Posted by shotgun

I had a 79 XS1100 Special Yamaha that would get head shake. It was kinda strange, it would start at about 116 mph and the faster you went the more it would shake. But it wasn't a violent shake it was a real slow wobble. I couldn't figure out why it was doing it. that was back when my balls were larger than my brain. theres no way I would ride something like that today.

my r1 is like that, i believe the previous owner mixed and matched triples and came up with a way steep rake. its pretty obvious just by looking at it.

[bwh998]

imagine this guy would have got his feet down and saved it, thats pretty much how mine played out.

YouTube - Terrible Bike Crash

[Wes4386]

Putting your feet down will only unsettle the bike more and make thing worse.