February 5th, 2012, 11:52 AM | #1 |
ninjette.org guru
Name: Toly
Location: NY
Join Date: Nov 2010 Motorcycle(s): KTM 390 Duke Posts: 428
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Had a tank slapper today
As they say, never say never. Whenever I watched tankslapper videos I secretly hoped this destiny would bypass me, and took some comfort that these scary things are rare. Well, today was my day. I stumbled upon a particularly poor section of the highway, full of cracks and small potholes, and before I knew it, handlebars were going all over, left and right. It was very sudden and very unexpected. The slapper has been going on for over a full second before I even realized what was happening. It was very surprising and unsettling feeling, but while my hands and bars have been whipped all over, the bike appeared to track straight and somehow felt in control. So I did nothing, stayed loose on the bars and the slapper was over in a few seconds, as I exited the nasty patch of the road.
As I pulled over to check for any damage (there was none), my buddy who was riding behind told me that my rear end was wobbling all over, but I didn't even feel it - I felt only crazy hopping of the handlebars, as the bike fought to stay upright. The whole experience gave me more confidence in bike's inherent abilities to straighthen itself and keep shiny side up. While I have the electronic steering damper (this happened on my CBR) I am not sure how much it helped and how worse would I have fared without it. The moral of the story is: don't get scared,trust your bike, and stay loose. Let the bike work it out by itself. In a way, I am grateful to this experience. I wish I had a helmet cam - it looked just as bad as in videos on YouTube - but it felt more unsettling than scary or anything. Ride safe! Last futzed with by Toly; February 5th, 2012 at 08:33 PM. |
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February 5th, 2012, 03:09 PM | #2 |
cuz
Name: Israel
Location: Houston (me) Galveston
Join Date: Jul 2011 Motorcycle(s): 09 ninja 250r Posts: A lot.
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LIKE A BOSS LOL dude im glad that ur ok that kind off stuff can turn ugly FAST!!
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February 5th, 2012, 07:08 PM | #3 |
1/4 English, 3/4 Kick Ass
Name: Jeremy
Location: Dayton, OH
Join Date: Sep 2011 Motorcycle(s): 2002 Triumph Speed Triple 955i, '05 Suzuki SV650S(retired), '11 Ninja 250R(sold) Posts: A lot.
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Damn man, glad you got out of that scary situation.
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February 6th, 2012, 07:31 AM | #4 |
CVMA / AFM / M1GP #250
Name: Steve
Location: Los Angeles
Join Date: Sep 2009 Motorcycle(s): 2009 Ninja 250r, 2011 Zero S, 2009 KLR 650 Posts: A lot.
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Link to original page on YouTube. |
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February 6th, 2012, 02:07 PM | #5 | |
ninjette.org guru
Name: Toly
Location: NY
Join Date: Nov 2010 Motorcycle(s): KTM 390 Duke Posts: 428
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Quote:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvHtChodNk0 Now, it seems that there is no clear opinion on how to deal with it: some advocate staying loose on the controls and riding it out, while others emphasize the need to do something to fight the oscillations and dampen the shake before it grows into a full tankslapper. That "something" is either manual tightening on the bars, or changing the speed by hitting either the throttle or the brakes. It is good advice - in theory. In practice, it's pretty impossible to have any reasonable control of the front end - in my situation all I could do was to hang on to it, as the bars were whipped around violently. Any input to the front end controls in such situation could have been disastrous. I considered applying rear brake gingerly, but it was over before I had the wits to try it. It appears, that aside from luck, steering damper (hydraulic or electric) is a lifesaver. I considered it a neat "extra" that came with the bike, now I won't ride any bike without it. |
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February 7th, 2012, 01:09 PM | #6 | |
Daily Ninjette rider
Name: Hernan
Location: Florida
Join Date: Mar 2011 Motorcycle(s): 2007 Ninja 250 Posts: A lot.
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Quote:
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February 8th, 2012, 07:12 AM | #7 |
ninjette.org guru
Name: Toly
Location: NY
Join Date: Nov 2010 Motorcycle(s): KTM 390 Duke Posts: 428
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February 8th, 2012, 12:34 PM | #8 |
The Black Widow
Name: Eva
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Join Date: Jul 2011 Motorcycle(s): 2010 Ninja 250 Posts: 189
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Never had one, sounds scary!
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February 8th, 2012, 01:11 PM | #9 |
ninjette.org member
Name: Jen
Location: NYC
Join Date: Jan 2012 Motorcycle(s): 2010 Kawasaki Ninja 250 Special Edition Posts: 95
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Have you considered purchasing a steering damper? I guess everyone thinks they are invincible until things like this happen to them. I think dampers are worth the money because of their safety benefits
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February 8th, 2012, 02:46 PM | #10 |
ninjette.org guru
Name: Toly
Location: NY
Join Date: Nov 2010 Motorcycle(s): KTM 390 Duke Posts: 428
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Yeah, I have the damper (it's electronic, comes built in with the CBR 600), and I totally share your sentiment. The vibrations were getting worse before they smoothed out, so while it's possible that I simply rode it out, it's also quite likely that the damper saved the day, and spared me from posting in the "I crashed" section or worse.
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February 8th, 2012, 10:33 PM | #11 | |
ninjette.org member
Name: Jen
Location: NYC
Join Date: Jan 2012 Motorcycle(s): 2010 Kawasaki Ninja 250 Special Edition Posts: 95
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Quote:
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February 19th, 2012, 09:24 AM | #12 |
ninjette.org member
Name: Thomas
Location: AZ
Join Date: Nov 2011 Motorcycle(s): 09' EX250J, 01' EX250R Posts: 33
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This is what I have done a couple of times. This situation has happen numerous times and even coming down a mountain side road, which ended with my sliding sideways and managing to straighten it going 60mph. That was the most scary thing to happen to me. Luckily no cars, I would have been a hood ornament. Try and take weight of the bars, while clutching the tank with your legs for dear life. It's hard, but core exercises will help tremendously with fatigue.
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February 19th, 2012, 02:12 PM | #13 | |
wat
Name: wat
Location: tustin/long beach
Join Date: Sep 2009 Motorcycle(s): wat Posts: Too much.
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February 19th, 2012, 06:16 PM | #14 |
CVMA / AFM / M1GP #250
Name: Steve
Location: Los Angeles
Join Date: Sep 2009 Motorcycle(s): 2009 Ninja 250r, 2011 Zero S, 2009 KLR 650 Posts: A lot.
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