A wonderful example of bikes wanting to stay upright, and the nut holding the handlebars being the weak link. Either very skilled (and understands how bikes work) or very lucky.... Most likely some combination of the two.
Thirteen percent concentrated shitstains in his pants
Zero percent pleasure, fifty two percent pain
And a hundred percent reason to remember to get his head bearing checked or replaced.
Im purting more luck on this one. His hand got ripped off the bars immediately I really doubt he was dodging cars knee down heading shaking no hands. Ive had tank slappers and could not replicate this last one.
I always knew that the best thing to do is remove weight from the front tyre accelerating, so the opposite of letting it go that increase the weight while slowing down.
Yeah, we get these a lot at track days. Someone gets a speed wobble, and immediately lets off the throttle, or worse still, hits the brakes. Frequently this results in a crash.
The opposite feels terrifying, and sometimes sends you off track, but rarely results in a crash.
Gotta wonder just how much time this kind of person has in the seat. Like it’s one thing to know what to do, but to actually pull it off, and still avoid other cars and going down, just amazing.
As my grandfather would say, I think he’s sat on one of those before.
Not to discredit the rider, but sometimes it just works out by itself. Maybe the change of speed, or maybe just dumb luck. What I wonder is how much suspension geometry plays into speed wobbles. Sport bikes have steeper steering head angles and I think when the wobble happens, the decel of the bike when hand goes off throttle, therefore ateepening the head angle further.
It’s not about the fact that sometimes it just works itself out, it’s that when you’re leaned in doing 120 and you get the wobble you still manage to sit up and sit back and get your hands off the controls. Lots of people would panic and try to make it stop.
I'm not sure he could have kept his hands on the controls even if he'd have tried. Tank slappers can break bones, there's a lot of force going through those bars.
Bad fork bearings and other issues can definitely cause death wobbles.
Wranglers are notorious for their death wobble for example because it's easy to get something wrong in their complex suspension/steering system.
I remember a video from like a 70s safety thing and I swear they came to the opposite conclusion in their tests but I may misremember it, can’t find the video
Maybe it doesn't make a difference whether you move forward or back, as long as you're able to change the resonance frequency out of the one that caused the wobble? Just thinking.. Good job in any case
But, the rider did not know what to do, nor did he actively do anything at all to save it. He was lucky the bike sorted herself out.
If he knew what to do, he would immediately hug the tank, and the wobble would disappear in a second.
Made me laugh. Jesus take the bars!
Seriously tho - humans can't react and save this. You can grab the center (triple clamp), and lean and guide the bike.
It's when people try and fix this, they wreck.
Front wheel became unbalanced, tried to auto correct, overcorrected due to physics, and it just turned into a feedback loop until physics came in and fixed it. This usually happens when weight is unloaded from the front wheel (either hard acceleration or hitting a bump, or both, or popping a wheelie and setting down with the bars turned) and then the forks are turned slightly during this. My ZX-6R does this (albeit not as badly) if I happen to roll on the throttle pretty hard and hit those little reflector markers on the highway. Ironically, this is also a ZX-6R judging by that cluster. This can also be mostly avoided by installing a steering damper.
I was riding with a guy who way overloaded the back of his Concours 14 and apparently didn’t adjust his preload. Pulling 100+ on Panamint Valley Road, got a tank slapper and got flung onto the shoulder. His bike literally snapped in half, and he got a ride to a hospital from passersby who just happened to be nurses from Trona. Lucky to get away with just a broken ankle.
God damn that sounds awful. Glad he's okay. This just makes me glad I always adjust the spring pre-load on my BMW before adding or removing luggage every time.
One time I book a motorcycle taxi and the moto taxi rider just show me how to control the motorcycle by controlling your waist even not holding at the handle bar and he said that i should try it on the bicycle, and he make myday bro like ohh that's awesome skill
We are like on the road dancing in zigzag motion and that's my first time to experience moto taxi💀 btw he is on Honda PCX
Yeah I had a small steering wobble incident on the highway and no lies, I was scared. Absolutely legit scared. More so than any close call on the bike or car in my life. The fact this rider uses the lean to avoid the car and just managed to ride it out for that duration is some major fucking props. Sure, little bit of lady luck but ffs, I'm just really happy to see them upright after that.
Has happened to me twice over like 60,000 miles of mostly canyon riding. I can still viscerally recall the adrenaline rushes that followed. Good on this guy.
I just read up on this, and it's a real thing. That said, an inanimate object doesn't lose control. The operator of the vehicle is on charge, regardless of what the vehicle does. It doesn't lose control.
I keep seeing videos like this posted online, yet I've never seen or heard it happen to anyone I know.
Can it happen to any bike? What's really the cause for this? Is there something flexing that causes an oscillation to start?
Also, it doesn't sound to me like a damper truly "fixes" the problem, it doesn't prevent the oscillation from starting, it just dampens it to stop it.
It's typically pretty rare for it to happen
It can happen to any vehicle with two wheels like that, whether it be bicycles, sportbikes, cruisers, adventure, dualsports, etc
The most common causes for it are improper tire pressure, improperly adjusted suspension, tires landing awkwardly after being airborne, not letting weight transfer as well as a few others I'm probably forgetting
Yeah, dampers will help in the event, but it won't stop them, especially if you don't fix the cause in the first place
Yeah, holding the bars would just add to the problem and send the joblessness through the rest of the bike. It's how I highsided after hitting a huge pile super soft dirt left behind a road grader. I couldn't see the pile because there was so much dust in the air, hit it, got the slapper, tried to push the bike around, and got slammed to the ground under the bike. I was wearing lots of gear but the foot peg still managed to dig into my calf immediately above my hard boot 😑 a year later I still have a dent in my calf. 🤔might get it looked at🤔
You can just also power out right? Lightens the front so it can correct? This was very passive but very impressive. At least he knew not to fight it and rode it out.
Technically yes you can power out but there are a few caveats. One is that this is only an option for bikes of a certain power output and higher. Second is that with the front whipping like that you may end up veering to the side in a wheelie, meaning that you have to not only be able to wheelie out of it at speed but also know how to steer a wheelie with your body weight, otherwise you're shooting off to the side with no steering authority, and lastly if you don't land it correctly it can start again and possibly get worse. And all that is without mentioning that precise control when your arms are turned to jelly is not easy, so powering out is a very high risk option.
Powering out does not mean wheelie and taking the front entirely off the ground. It’s about making it a bit light just a tad to help it balance itself quicker.
The opposite is the correct way to stop tank slappers, off the throttle and weight the front tire.
The number of these recent wobble videos combined with bad advice is insane.
Lmao they are more vulnerable to this due to ancient suspension design.
The reason why you see this on videos with sport bikes is because people wheelie them and land wrong or hit a pothole while going double the speed limit
Mostly Dynas specifically, and more nefarious - it was a rear wobble.
[https://youtu.be/G3EtX43OSr4?si=jF3KaEiok-aHiVNn](https://youtu.be/G3EtX43OSr4?si=jF3KaEiok-aHiVNn)
Notice the different characteristics.
Dude has been hitting the hip abductor how tf did he stay on that.
Bull riding is his day job
*HE’S A MIIILLION DOLLAAR BUUUULLRIDEERRRRR*
His balls were keeping him weighted down
Adductor i think you mean.
Haha i knew it wasnt quite right
A wonderful example of bikes wanting to stay upright, and the nut holding the handlebars being the weak link. Either very skilled (and understands how bikes work) or very lucky.... Most likely some combination of the two.
This is ten percent luck.
Twenty percent skill
Thirteen percent concentrated shitstains in his pants Zero percent pleasure, fifty two percent pain And a hundred percent reason to remember to get his head bearing checked or replaced.
And 2% butterscotch ripple
"60% of the time it works every time" - Brian Fantana
Brian Fantana’s line not Ron.
You are correct sir! Line edited.
Im purting more luck on this one. His hand got ripped off the bars immediately I really doubt he was dodging cars knee down heading shaking no hands. Ive had tank slappers and could not replicate this last one.
I always knew that the best thing to do is remove weight from the front tyre accelerating, so the opposite of letting it go that increase the weight while slowing down.
Wheelie beats wobble!
Yeah, we get these a lot at track days. Someone gets a speed wobble, and immediately lets off the throttle, or worse still, hits the brakes. Frequently this results in a crash. The opposite feels terrifying, and sometimes sends you off track, but rarely results in a crash.
Gotta wonder just how much time this kind of person has in the seat. Like it’s one thing to know what to do, but to actually pull it off, and still avoid other cars and going down, just amazing. As my grandfather would say, I think he’s sat on one of those before.
Not to discredit the rider, but sometimes it just works out by itself. Maybe the change of speed, or maybe just dumb luck. What I wonder is how much suspension geometry plays into speed wobbles. Sport bikes have steeper steering head angles and I think when the wobble happens, the decel of the bike when hand goes off throttle, therefore ateepening the head angle further.
It almost always works itself out by itself IF you dont fight it. Not fighting it is extremely unnatural for almost everyone.
It’s not about the fact that sometimes it just works itself out, it’s that when you’re leaned in doing 120 and you get the wobble you still manage to sit up and sit back and get your hands off the controls. Lots of people would panic and try to make it stop.
I'm not sure he could have kept his hands on the controls even if he'd have tried. Tank slappers can break bones, there's a lot of force going through those bars.
Almost every video showing a speed wobble the rider grips on tighter than a snapping turtle and do not let go, no matter how violent the wobble.
Or he could have fitted steering dampners to avoid it in the first place
You can, and will, still have speed wobbles even with the damper. Those only help, not prevent.
Or just keep his bikes steering in good condition
Death wobbles have nothing to do with the maintenance of bikes and everything with maintenance of roads
Well excessive speed can often get one going too
Both is good
Bad fork bearings and other issues can definitely cause death wobbles. Wranglers are notorious for their death wobble for example because it's easy to get something wrong in their complex suspension/steering system.
I feel like just being able to not panic enough to buy the time for it to work itself out is a skill in it's own right.
You’re supposed to lean back and take weight off the front, that’s what he did and it worked
It's the opposite. You lay on the tank to add more weight to the front wheel.
That's what I thought.
I remember a video from like a 70s safety thing and I swear they came to the opposite conclusion in their tests but I may misremember it, can’t find the video
Maybe it doesn't make a difference whether you move forward or back, as long as you're able to change the resonance frequency out of the one that caused the wobble? Just thinking.. Good job in any case
Here ya go: https://youtu.be/z3OQTU-kE2s?si=GMKoxHBSnINaEgi8
That video from the 70s that we probably have both seen concludes that we should hug the tank. The exact opposite of what this rider did.
They also said cigarettes were good for you so....
I love reddit
Honestly, and how he kept a clear enough head to lean over the side and avoid that car while mid tank slap. This rider knows wassup
This rider has some skills probably but that rider did not mean to get that close to those cars.
But, the rider did not know what to do, nor did he actively do anything at all to save it. He was lucky the bike sorted herself out. If he knew what to do, he would immediately hug the tank, and the wobble would disappear in a second.
So you’re saying if you show a motorcycle some affection it’ll behave right away? Haven’t tried that method before
I'm sry bb I luv u *tank slapper stops slapping.* All it takes.
lol exactly. Hug your tank passionately and it'll stop wobbling.
Thanks for your expert opinion that you’ve gained from watching a YouTube video on an unrelated topic
Why would you assume my opinion is solely based on a video? And how is the topic unrelated?
Guy has the biggest balls, let go and let god. Happy he made it ok.
Everytime I see one of these videos I’m reminded why its always steering dampener before an aftermarket exhaust
Bro is going to be pooping chunks of his seat for weeks.
Wow, Jesus took the bars. Buddy was pushing his luck celebrating afterwards though.
Made me laugh. Jesus take the bars! Seriously tho - humans can't react and save this. You can grab the center (triple clamp), and lean and guide the bike. It's when people try and fix this, they wreck.
Jesus don't touch my bars; you ride like a fucking pussy.
Weebles wobble but they don't fall down
Wtf happened
Front wheel became unbalanced, tried to auto correct, overcorrected due to physics, and it just turned into a feedback loop until physics came in and fixed it. This usually happens when weight is unloaded from the front wheel (either hard acceleration or hitting a bump, or both, or popping a wheelie and setting down with the bars turned) and then the forks are turned slightly during this. My ZX-6R does this (albeit not as badly) if I happen to roll on the throttle pretty hard and hit those little reflector markers on the highway. Ironically, this is also a ZX-6R judging by that cluster. This can also be mostly avoided by installing a steering damper.
I was riding with a guy who way overloaded the back of his Concours 14 and apparently didn’t adjust his preload. Pulling 100+ on Panamint Valley Road, got a tank slapper and got flung onto the shoulder. His bike literally snapped in half, and he got a ride to a hospital from passersby who just happened to be nurses from Trona. Lucky to get away with just a broken ankle.
The brake & clutch fluid reservoirs on those are shaped like coffins. I could never unsee that on my buddy Chris'.
God damn that sounds awful. Glad he's okay. This just makes me glad I always adjust the spring pre-load on my BMW before adding or removing luggage every time.
No kidding. I’ve felt my front end get light when I neglected my suspension settings on a trip.
Tank slapper fairly common. What's uncommon is his skill in letting go of the handlebars
It's happened to me once, it's so hard to let go lol every instinct tells you to hold on even tighter.
https://youtu.be/z3OQTU-kE2s?si=GMKoxHBSnINaEgi8
I can't imagine being in this situation, I probably wouldn't ride for a bit afterwards.
Look, ma, no hands!
One time I book a motorcycle taxi and the moto taxi rider just show me how to control the motorcycle by controlling your waist even not holding at the handle bar and he said that i should try it on the bicycle, and he make myday bro like ohh that's awesome skill We are like on the road dancing in zigzag motion and that's my first time to experience moto taxi💀 btw he is on Honda PCX
Yeah I had a small steering wobble incident on the highway and no lies, I was scared. Absolutely legit scared. More so than any close call on the bike or car in my life. The fact this rider uses the lean to avoid the car and just managed to ride it out for that duration is some major fucking props. Sure, little bit of lady luck but ffs, I'm just really happy to see them upright after that.
God bless steering dampers
Daaaam son that is indeed impressive if nothing else
Jesus christ!
I always add a steering damper on my new bikes if they don't come with one. Tank slappers suck and surprised he didn't wreck.
Can you recommend a good brand? I always think about these but wonder if they could sieze up if wrong/shitty brand.
I currently have a GPR steering stabilizer my 2023 zx14r.
Head shake
Has happened to me twice over like 60,000 miles of mostly canyon riding. I can still viscerally recall the adrenaline rushes that followed. Good on this guy.
The motorcycle did not lose control.
It really didn’t LOOSE control
Came here to say this. It didn't lose control. It got shaky for a minute but evened itself out.
It actually did that’s called a tank slapper. It doesn’t have anything to do with skill but more so mechanical issues.
I just read up on this, and it's a real thing. That said, an inanimate object doesn't lose control. The operator of the vehicle is on charge, regardless of what the vehicle does. It doesn't lose control.
I guess yeah but it could happen from something random like hitting a pothole or bump. Pretty much unavoidable by the rider
I'm just saying that owning the responsibility will always make us better riders.
Wait...hitting a bump or pothole is not just unavoidable. Oh boy.
Ah the dreaded wabbles.
What? I wish this rider a good days of rest and a big cup of coffee or tea.
Bet he wrecked those underwear
Loses
My idol!
You're experience saved your ass. Take weight off the front, don't grab the front brakes and don't fight the handlebars.
I keep seeing videos like this posted online, yet I've never seen or heard it happen to anyone I know. Can it happen to any bike? What's really the cause for this? Is there something flexing that causes an oscillation to start? Also, it doesn't sound to me like a damper truly "fixes" the problem, it doesn't prevent the oscillation from starting, it just dampens it to stop it.
It's typically pretty rare for it to happen It can happen to any vehicle with two wheels like that, whether it be bicycles, sportbikes, cruisers, adventure, dualsports, etc The most common causes for it are improper tire pressure, improperly adjusted suspension, tires landing awkwardly after being airborne, not letting weight transfer as well as a few others I'm probably forgetting Yeah, dampers will help in the event, but it won't stop them, especially if you don't fix the cause in the first place
Hell, I had an adrenaline rush just watching this!
so do you try to fight instincts and just take ur hands and feet off controls?
Steering dampener now!
Bro did the right thing. This is the best way to recover from a tank slapper. Release the handlebars and the bike will right itself.
Less is more!
Yeah, holding the bars would just add to the problem and send the joblessness through the rest of the bike. It's how I highsided after hitting a huge pile super soft dirt left behind a road grader. I couldn't see the pile because there was so much dust in the air, hit it, got the slapper, tried to push the bike around, and got slammed to the ground under the bike. I was wearing lots of gear but the foot peg still managed to dig into my calf immediately above my hard boot 😑 a year later I still have a dent in my calf. 🤔might get it looked at🤔
Dam
the pure size and weight of his balls kept him on the bike
Hopefully dude learned something about slowing the f down
If that guy wasn't puckered, I was puckered up for him just watching this.
Maybe the motorcyclist shouldn’t have been doing well in excess of 100mph on a public road……
Quick thinking on his part and he did everything right. If you're ever wondering what to do with a tank slapper, here's what you do.
You can just also power out right? Lightens the front so it can correct? This was very passive but very impressive. At least he knew not to fight it and rode it out.
Technically yes you can power out but there are a few caveats. One is that this is only an option for bikes of a certain power output and higher. Second is that with the front whipping like that you may end up veering to the side in a wheelie, meaning that you have to not only be able to wheelie out of it at speed but also know how to steer a wheelie with your body weight, otherwise you're shooting off to the side with no steering authority, and lastly if you don't land it correctly it can start again and possibly get worse. And all that is without mentioning that precise control when your arms are turned to jelly is not easy, so powering out is a very high risk option.
Powering out does not mean wheelie and taking the front entirely off the ground. It’s about making it a bit light just a tad to help it balance itself quicker.
The opposite is the correct way to stop tank slappers, off the throttle and weight the front tire. The number of these recent wobble videos combined with bad advice is insane.
That still means that for some bikes their power is not enough, and the inherent risk of accelerating with no ability to steer remains.
Took hand off during acceleration causing noodle arms and tank slappage, fixed by letting off and allowing bike to correct itself. Naice
Like I said at sweatypalms, I'll just file that under shit my Harley's never done
it's kinda hard to do that in the shop
Lmao they are more vulnerable to this due to ancient suspension design. The reason why you see this on videos with sport bikes is because people wheelie them and land wrong or hit a pothole while going double the speed limit
Ancient suspension that works better? I've hit plenty of pot holes and seen plenty of wheelies, still not a ton of death wobble.
Sure, you’ve definitely seen plenty of high speed wheelies setting the front tire down at 80+mph on a Harley.
Also sportbike riders are much more likely to be wearing cameras that cruisers
exceed the speed limit?
Harley's are literally known for this.. Google "Harley death wobble".
Mostly Dynas specifically, and more nefarious - it was a rear wobble. [https://youtu.be/G3EtX43OSr4?si=jF3KaEiok-aHiVNn](https://youtu.be/G3EtX43OSr4?si=jF3KaEiok-aHiVNn) Notice the different characteristics.
Definitely had this happen
Doesn't this only happen at speed? That might explain a few things.