[SouthernDropbear]

"Death Wobbles/tank slapper"

Had my first "death wobbles/tank slapper" on my 9 yesterday! I came up to a car that was sitting on 100kms/hr, which is fine for the road that we were travelling, but since he was blocking my view of the road ahead (and all of the dips and bumps that I was trying to avoid at the time), I decided to overtake him on the next straight section. When the straight overtaking section came, I looked down the straight... nothing coming... on the throttle up to about 120kms to casually go pass him... and out I go onto the other side of the road to go around him. As I said before, since the car in front of me (a large 4X4) was blocking a lot of my view, I didn't see the big hole in the road where the bitumen had sunken, until I moved out from behind the 4X4, and then the hole was right there, about 10 meters in front of me :yikes:. I couldn't have timed it any better if I WANTED to go into the hole! Before I knew it, my bum was in the air, and my bike had disappeared so far down the hole that I thought I would need a gold miners head lamp to find it again, and then all of a sudden, my gut was being compressed into a space that my heart and lungs were objecting too, and I was staring at my tacho, as my face was now only 2" away from it. Then I realised that my bike was acting like a down hill Slalom Skier at the winter Olympics, and my handlebars were going back and forth so fast that my arms were about to get ripped out of their sockets. Now coming to my senses and realising what was happening, I opened up the throttle to settle the bike down, and prayed that I still had enough time to get past the 4X4 and back onto the correct side of the road, before another cigar came over the top of the approaching hill to splat me like a giant bug on its windscreen! After yelling some choice words :cus: (into my helmet) about the people that are supposed to be maintaining the roads, I then thanked God for keeping me upright so that I could make it home again safely that night ray:. If things had of gone differently, I wouldn't have known what happened until it was all over... hopefully it wouldn't have been ALL over!

 

[sutphen771]

glad you made it out ok. In the sportbike community we call that a "tank slapper" it usually happens at high speeds or when comming back down from a wheelie. On a sportbike the best way to get out of a tankslapper is full throtte, I dont know if that will work on a 109.

Glad you ended up driving through it, most of the time the wobble is uncorrectable once you get to a certian point.

 

[camtek]

Sounds Nasty! Glad you made it through.

 

[jakobreid]

you should take your tank off, and slap the governor with it.. and the president while you're at it.

 

[SandyM109]

you should take your tank off, and slap the governor with it.. and the president while you're at it.

Hey jakobreid.

:dontknow:All the Da*n Dipsh*t's that are suppose to maintain all road's!!:duck:

We've hit a few big hole's,and have also been very lucky..ray:ray:.
:agree:Let's hit the Govenor with the tank,and the Presidant with the Pipe's!..:a20:

Take Care,Ride Safe:bigthumbsup:

 

[08-109LE]

Wow! Glad you pulled it out! I had to check to see where you were from because I thought for sure you had to be from Michigan where our illustrious governor Jenny ("I'm gonna blow you away you away") Granholm has allowed our roads and infrastructure to so deteriorate our roads are DANGEROUS in far too many places. She's far to concerned with pouring our hard-earned tax $$ into the welfare constituency to keep them both dependent and on the vote-buying list! Rant over! :edit::swear::verymad:

 

[ooinkk]

Way to Keep your Head in the moment , I had that happen to me on a GoldWing , I had just Bought it used and was taking it home
my best friend and wife where following me when it happened , i got it calmed down and pulled to the side and left it there
my buddy asked what was wrong(thru hysterical laughter)
he Took it back to the seller ,i refused to Ride it any more
I didnt get back on a bike for a year !!

 

[mariner fan]

Way to Keep your Head in the moment , I had that happen to me on a GoldWing , I had just Bought it used and was taking it home
my best friend and wife where following me when it happened , i got it calmed down and pulled to the side and left it there
my buddy asked what was wrong(thru hysterical laughter)
he Took it back to the seller ,i refused to Ride it any more
I didnt get back on a bike for a year !!

The same thing happened to me on a Honda 750. Talk about puckering you up!

 

[Zoom]

Wow, way to maintain your cool bro. I think I would have pulled over and had a serious conversation with myself about the need to keep riding.

 

[kerri4vols]

Scary! Glad you were able to get through it safely.

 

[k109]

glad you are able to tell us this story be safe

 

[THUNDER217]

I'VE DONE THAT

I had the same thing happen to me cruising down the SOUTH MD 301, came up on some railroad tracks within the track there was a pot hole or a missing section of metal the size of a xerox box and as I changed lanes I ran smack into the hole, I hit the gas and pulled the bike up but did experience the high speed wheel wiggle untle I hit the throttle and brought it back under controle. It is a mouth dropping experience. :agree:

 

[Guest]

Had my first "death wobbles/tank slapper" on my 9 yesterday! I came up to a car that was sitting on 100kms/hr, which is fine for the road that we were travelling, but since he was blocking my view of the road ahead (and all of the dips and bumps that I was trying to avoid at the time), I decided to overtake him on the next straight section. When the straight overtaking section came, I looked down the straight... nothing coming... on the throttle up to about 120kms to casually go pass him... and out I go onto the other side of the road to go around him. As I said before, since the car in front of me (a large 4X4) was blocking a lot of my view, I didn't see the big hole in the road where the bitumen had sunken, until I moved out from behind the 4X4, and then the hole was right there, about 10 meters in front of me :yikes:. I couldn't have timed it any better if I WANTED to go into the hole! Before I knew it, my bum was in the air, and my bike had disappeared so far down the hole that I thought I would need a gold miners head lamp to find it again, and then all of a sudden, my gut was being compressed into a space that my heart and lungs were objecting too, and I was staring at my tacho, as my face was now only 2" away from it. Then I realised that my bike was acting like a down hill Slalom Skier at the winter Olympics, and my handlebars were going back and forth so fast that my arms were about to get ripped out of their sockets. Now coming to my senses and realising what was happening, I opened up the throttle to settle the bike down, and prayed that I still had enough time to get past the 4X4 and back onto the correct side of the road, before another cigar came over the top of the approaching hill to splat me like a giant bug on its windscreen! After yelling some choice words :cus: (into my helmet) about the people that are supposed to be maintaining the roads, I then thanked God for keeping me upright so that I could make it home again safely that night ray:. If things had of gone differently, I wouldn't have known what happened until it was all over... hopefully it wouldn't have been ALL over!

Moments like that show you are a good rider, and handled what was needed to be done automatically.Well done!!

 

[SouthernDropbear]

Thanks for all the nice comments, and encouragement guys. :bigthumbsup: Ride safe... things can happen at any time, and when it does, it happens fast!

 

[Jack Daniels]

Never experienced a tank slapper on anything but a bicycle when I was a kid, lol.

 

[silverreaper9]

wow crazy story glad ur alright

 

[stickbowhunter]

As I read your story I was going aaaaaahhhh! glad you're able to talk about that in front of your computer instead of from a hospital bed.

 

[Kev]

glad you made it out ok. In the sportbike community we call that a "tank slapper" it usually happens at high speeds or when comming back down from a wheelie. On a sportbike the best way to get out of a tankslapper is full throtte, I dont know if that will work on a 109.

Glad you ended up driving through it, most of the time the wobble is uncorrectable once you get to a certian point.

"TANK SLAPPER" you say.....I remember that :bigthumbsup:

16 y/o first bike....200cc trials bike....had to see what it would do....the bars started to wobble and as I was on full throttle there was only one way I was goin.....OVER the furkin bars :yikes:

Had a jacket and helmet on....roadrash on my legs and broken thumb.....not too bad

 

[Wudz]

Good story but really... And this is open to anyone... What should one do to get the bike back under control while riding on a 9 and this should happen? Roll on the gas?

 

[Zoom]

Good story but really... And this is open to anyone... What should one do to get the bike back under control while riding on a 9 and this should happen? Roll on the gas?

That's the only fix for it. The last thing you want to do is hit the brakes and put more weight on the front end. And loosen your arms so they act as snubbers, don't stiffen up.