Quote:
Originally Posted by greg737
Terminal, unrecoverable speed-wobble is one of the dangers when you land a high-speed wheelie.
Isn't it obvious? This dude tried to hide the evidence by trimming the video down to just as the speed-wobble goes from bad to worse.
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Given the video clipping / editing choices, I'd bet a fair amount that you're probably on the right track. But there's a possibility the rider is telling the truth. He posted up his story (quoted here)
https://jalopnik.com/worlds-luckiest...r-a-1823397322
Quote:
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How did I get the wobbles? NO I DIDN’T WHEELIE. I was merging onto the freeway, checking traffic while I ventured over to the carpool lane. When I got next to the carpool lane, I check if it was clear again, then merged in while quickly accelerating in first gear. When I got up to enough speed to pass traffic (Traffic was doing 75-80 MPH) I changed into second gear (where the clip starts). First mistake I made was having my weight WAY too far back on the bike while accelerating, that mixed with the extremely bumpy freeway and the acceleration of the bike caused the front wheel to go extremely light. Thus causing the violent speed wobbles.
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The earlier generations Z1000 did have a bad rap for steering stability though, and from reasonable journalists - not just those landing wheelies wrong and calling foul.
Here's one link that references the review.
Personally, I do find it cheap and unwise that manufacturers do leave out
steering dampers on bikes with aggressive geometry and high power. I almost threw myself down the road while accelerating on a bumpy road on an R6 I used to have, prior to fitting a damper. Only blind luck and the road going in the direction my bike was aimed kept me on board. Once I fitted a damper, no stability issues on bumpy roads. More laidback geometry on street-focused bikes, and/or alternate front-end designs like BMW, also lower the need for such a gadget. I don't have one on any of my current bikes and don't feel like I'm missing anything.