what happened man! im guessing you got some massive head shake, maybe a tank slapper? well for the future, scotts steering damper is about as good as you can get. glad you made it out okay, what gear were u wearin. i just got home from a short ride and my friend linked me this, scary. did u have full coverage on the bike? details man, details.

 

Smart riders ALWAYS wear their gear. Glad to hear you're O.K.

 

damn skippy, you never know when its your turn.

 

ditto...I NEVER rode without my full leathers.

 

i feel safe in my leathers. it feels weird to ride without them now.

 

oh crap man, glad your ok. I dont like riding anywhere without my leathers but sometimes you just got to.

 

Indeed. Glad you're alright.

 

Dang! Glad you're okay. That's amazing you came out with just bumps and bruises. And I was just going to take a class, get my license, and buy a bike! Did you take a motorcycle class at all?

 

Glad you are ok.

I had to take El Camino because of you. Ducatis need steering dampers my old 03 999 came with one but shook quite a few times like a 96 gsxr750.

 

Holy Crap! Someone was watching out for you. Glad you are OK. That was a nice bike, I was thinking of getting a monster too.

 

Glad you came out ok....


Can someone describe what tank slap is... and how a steering dampener plays in? I am not familiar with this (I have ridden motorcycles but mainly the non crotch rocket slow kind!)

tia

lndbrusr

 

damn as long as u ok that's all it matter

 

I'm an old dirt biker, so I may not be 100% correct on this, but I'll give it a go.

Whenever I see someone say tank slapper they are referring to being pushed hard into the gas tank with their crotchal regions after having the front wheel up in the air. When the front wheel stops spinning while it's lifted off the ground it will sometimes slow the bike down hard when you put it back on the ground while it's getting up to speed. Kinda like downshifting without revmatching in your car.

If the speed difference between the bike and the front wheel is great enough when you set it down you might get what some people call "speed wobbles." You see this on a lot of pro crashes where the front wheel starts violently swapping from left to right. Most of the time if your front wheel starts turning left/right that fast it's too difficult for you to stop it and you wipe out.

steering damper: it looks like a shockabsorber mounted to your bike frame and your front wheel steering assembly/forks. It provides an (usually) adjustable amount of resistance when turning the front wheel. This helps you get the bike back undercontrol if you start getting the shakes or speed wobbles because it stops them from being as violent or fast. Steering dampers will also help if you hit road debris or other objects because the steering won't be as jumpy or touchy. Steering dampers slow down your ability to crank on the bars very quickly, but they also make the bike easier to handle in most sudden situations.

 

damn dude... ur bike looks like the little pocketbike on dumb and dumber that they took to aspin

 

i had my winter gear on.. Frankthomas goretex.. not waterproof anymore..got holes on the arms.
Dainese gloves plams got worn all the way through,
Jeans got no rear pockets got holes by both knees
SIDI boots, the wear slides needs replacing on both boots

jacket saved my shoulders and arms
backpack saved my back
jeans saved my legs
boots saves my ankles..
gloves save my hands
helmet is clean.. no significant damage..

overall without my gear i would be toast.. literally

as for what happened, as much as i can remember
i was changing lanes from carpool land to first lane. I saw the car behind me in the fast lane accelerate a bit so i gassed a bit too hard..
went over the bump between the lanes and by the time i was in the 1st lane tankslapped back and forth many times...
the guy driving behind me said he say my rear tire go in teh air and spin out when it hit the ground again...

but ya when i sat up i saw my bike 100' farther down the freeway in a ball of fire in the middle of the freeway.. the picture is after the FD washed it down and pulled it to the side of the freeway.

this is a picture of the melted engine cooling fins