tank slapping :o

[FighterBlade]

hey guys, had my first experience of the infamous 'tank slapping' phenomenon. Was going about 130ish past one of my mates, hit a bump in the road and it very viciously went full lock both ways rapidly for about 150m. I recovered it somehow and left wavey skidmarks all over the road. Just remembered to keep my arms loose and hang on and hope for the best. Scarest thing ever. Thought i was a goner.

[Weaselman]

never owned an old TL then

[wackyrider]

It scared the crap ou of me the first time it happened, had just gone past a mate as well and he couldn't believe I wasn't thrown off the bike...

Next day I went to order a damper

[WATEVR]

common now dont be nasty i havent had 1 slapper on the TL, the zx7r on the other hand oh yes i had a couple with that one

[Weaselman]

yeah ok
My RGV was worse

[sharky]

Had loads in the back of my van back in my punk days...:D

[crazymofo]

when the slapper happens, stay relaxed and pin the throttle, it'll ride itself out.

btw tank slaps are USUALLY occuring from the rear suspension being to soft.

cheers.joe.

PS. my tl has only slapped once since ive owned it... only a mild one, under HARD acceleration

[BANDITROD]

tl's are shockers for it i saw a mate recover one at 200+ kph it was scary to watch thats for fucking sure i though he was fucked but some how held on to it

[Lucas]

quote:Originally posted by crazymofo

when the slapper happens, stay relaxed and pin the throttle, it'll ride itself out.

btw tank slaps are USUALLY occuring from the rear suspension being to soft.

cheers.joe.

PS. my tl has only slapped once since ive owned it... only a mild one, under HARD acceleration






My susp is cranked all the way to hard and I'll be keeping it that way.

[Booster]

Check your steeringhead bearings and front tire pressure, all can contribute
nice scuff marks on the side of the tire ???

[Jockney Rebel]

i guess none of you were old enuf to experience the weird handling 70's jap bikes then ......plastic dunlop tyres ,frames made of elastic ,brakes that didnt ...oh and a few tank slappers too
theres nothin like ridin a bike out of a roundabout with the back end weaving and the front end hoppin about at only 30mph..welcome to the world of a 1977 stock Z1000..
i have heard the early suz 1000 v twins were bad tho
to me, bikes threse days ride like their on rails

[Weaselman]

GPZ's were just as bad

[Cruisecontrol]

You haven't experienced a tank slapper till you have ridden an RZ500. I nearly had my arms torn off from changing lanes...

[Watto]

i had an 85 gpz750 i fightered and it used to 'dance' at the front due to the amount of flex in the frame - be going into a weeping corner hard on the gas on the way back up to ballarat and could watch the top of the stem nut move a couple of inches either way but just relaxed and away she went :D

[HOS]

Did you leave skidmarks in ya pants ?

Had a few old slappers myself in the shape of Gixer 11s.... [}:)]

[TurboKat]

quote:Originally posted by crazymofo

when the slapper happens, stay relaxed and pin the throttle, it'll ride itself out.

That's a complete fallacy Joe, I've heard a few people say that over the years & every time I quizzed anyone about it they admitted they'd never actually experienced a tankslapper but that was what they'd heard you're sposed to do.
The fact is, it's impossible to do anything with your hands when you get a slapper, forget trying to use the clutch/brake/throttle/whatever, you're lucky to be able to even hang on.
My TL slapped me off while accelerating over a set of train lines, it was so violent, it just ripped the bars straight out of my hands in a millisecond & my feet came off the pegs so I actually fell off the side of the bike in the middle of it, broke the steering stop off too.
I will NEVER own another sportsbike without a steering damper, it's the cheapest insurance & peace of mind money can buy.

[JackTar]

quote:Originally posted by sharky

Had loads in the back of my van back in my punk days...:D


Nice one Russ, well done mate :D

[greg mulligan]

77 cn z650 no brakes no stopping whatfun hold on dont be suc a fucking gay

[zx12argh]

A mate of my flatmates had one after doing 120kmph hit a patch of gravel last weekend. hit a sign post and lost his leg below the knee. Late model cbr600. Not cool.

[Fight_fan]

FAAARK! Thats scary! Is he ok apart from the amputation? Poor lad...

[suxukifreak]

quote:Originally posted by zx12argh

A mate of my flatmates had one after doing 120kmph hit a patch of gravel last weekend. hit a sign post and lost his leg below the knee. Late model cbr600. Not cool.


Heard about that on the news.....

http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,23868490-3102,00.html

[Gix11]

My bars are nearly a metre wide. It would have to be one massive fucker to catch me out. Never had one with flat bars, only ever with clip-ons, only a handfull though. I had a 77 Z650, you never knew what was going to happen next with that. Even better was my mates GS1000 taken out to 1300+ but running stock everything else. He had to sell it.....

[zx12argh]

quote:Originally posted by Fight_fan

FAAARK! Thats scary! Is he ok apart from the amputation? Poor lad...


I dunno -last I heard it was "just" his leg. Everything else is where it should be. Him and his mate were fast riders and liked to keep the throttle pinned wherever they were. My mates backed off on a prior ride cause they could just see something going wrong the way they were riding. Too much speed not enough skill unfortunately. My ut most condolances to him, wouldn't wish this on anyone, but no real sympathy. Live by the sword, die by the sword....

[Fight_fan]

quote:Originally posted by zx12argh


quote:Originally posted by Fight_fan

FAAARK! Thats scary! Is he ok apart from the amputation? Poor lad...


My ut most condolances to him, wouldn't wish this on anyone, but no real sympathy. Live by the sword, die by the sword....


Yeah its kinda like that hey! Its such a shame...There is too many people gettin seriously hurt or killed lately! I dunno if its because bikes r becoming more mainstream now that people that wouldnt normally throw a leg over r now climbing on & not taking it seriously enough or what but its gonna make the rest of us look worse in the public's/government's eyes![V]

[renegade]

had it happen to me quite a few times when i used to ride dirtbikes on my folks' farm. would absolutely shit myself if it happened to me on the road though. the black stuff aint quite as forgiving as the brown stuff.

[2ndclasscitizen]

No Tank slappers per se, but a nasty death weave today. Need to bring the forks back through the triples and slow the steering a bit.

[scotty mac]

i've had plenty of tank slaps on dirt bikes but only a couple of lil uns on the gixxer that sort them selves out.
as for dirt bike tank slappers i've found as soon as it starts pull back sit back and the force of everything pulls the thottle on then 8/10 times it works it self out the other 2/10 hurt.[B)]

[Chrimsey]

My 85 GSXR used to get a Wobble up under hard accell at about 150 km but it used to go awya at about 170km and was worse with Worn tires
I have only had one Scare on the TL-s at about 180 km Passin a Softo on a duke hit a Lump in the road she shook a little but jusk kept her flat and she pulled out,thats the Only time i have had dramas on the so Called 'Headshaker Heartbreaker'

[serious groper]

My S4R from the factory had wicked head shake just skipping over small bumps in the road. Bloody scary at speed.

[hutch]

Had a good one last saturday put front down from flat in fourth with bars crossed

[StuNVA]

Just recently I pinned it out and around a car and smacked a lump (like a pushed up bit of tar) in the road, took about 40 - 50 mtrs to get it right, but had the heart pumping, dunno what the guy in the car thought. It sort of kicked in while I was still pointing it to the right a bit so I ended up out near the right hand edge of the road, just kept it on hard while leaning left as I had been told to and all come good thanks god, I was up around 200 by the time I steadied it and looked down. Bloody country roads keep you guessing.

[Razorback]

Steering dampers save lives..... and underpants

[ShedBoy]

quote:Originally posted by Weaselman

GPZ's were just as bad


My first big bike was a GPZ 1100 and I thought it was just the norm. Maybe I should have put a damper on it.

[ShedBoy]

quote:Originally posted by Cruisecontrol

You haven't experienced a tank slapper till you have ridden an RZ500. I nearly had my arms torn off from changing lanes...



I picked up one of these for a mate and rode it home for him. I think he was trtying to kill me. Evil handling bike. He ended up dropping it in spectacular fashion leaving a roundabout trying to impress some ladies. Chicks don't dig low speed high sides apparently.

[ShedBoy]

Now that I think of it tank slapping seems to be one of the strong ponits of all my bikes. First bike was an RD200 1973 vintage complete with original ribbed front tyre sagging back shocks and 120kgs of me not helping. Nailing the throttle on that one didn't help to much. I recently had a tank slap on a 1969 Tas Keystone minibike on a railway siding road while trying to ride to the pub 20kmh. Didn't spill me drink but shook it right up. Fuck it has been a while since I have experienced gravel rash. Made it to the pub but got refused at the bar due to the blood. Whimps. Chicks don't dig blood either.

[hotmilk]

Nearly cleaned up a mate who had the death slap on a vtr 250 at about $1.50 going over a huge drop in the road. I felt the bump in the pants but not in the bars, but apparently the old vtr is real flighty in the front over 120.... was pretty scary seeing him rolling down the rd, but once he got straight up and picked up the bike and we all stopped, i turned into a pretty piss funny story later once he was ok lol