Karma or Luck

[Khyren]

Well, I found that it was a little odd that I was just mentioning a tank slapper in avogt's thread and I find myself having one. This morning at about 6:15 I was leaving a gas station and when I did I went across the area where the bulk of traffic sits for this intersection. Slowed briefly and then went right on the intersecting road but was still in second gear. Got onto the road and straightened up and gave it a good amount of throttle. This caused the rear to swing to the left. And so I got out of it apparently too fast and the rear caught again and everything started wobbling starting the tank slapper. I tried one of the methods that I had been told about keeping hard pressure on the bars and it should have straightened out. But when the bars went to the left again I must have had too much grip on the bars as when it went all the way to the left the throttle got cracked open again and the rear just spun and then the bike went down on the left side and me sliding on my belly. The bike slid about 40' on the side. I had just taken off my "highway pegs" with UHMW to finish them the day before and they were in the backpack in the passenger position. So, the left side cover has been ground down, the frame has a nice mark on it, the tank was dented and rashed (I later punched it at work), clutch lever was ground down on the ball, shift lever was rashed, rear plastic rashed, front plastics broke, front stay bent, and headlight assembly broke. My cortech jacket has some rips in it but is still very wearable and I'm glad it was that and not my chest. The JR gloves have a hole in one finger area. I was only wearing normal jeans but they held up well and I only have impact "carpet burn" and a couple bruises. My thumb hurts like I jammed it but is just a little sore.

Some would use this as a good reason to go naked. Instead I'm using this as a good reason to get it painted all black. A guy at work has offered to fix my plastics for free and paint them for free. And as luck would have it, a fellow board member has an FZ that he got for a kart project for free and is passing it onto me for nothing. He said that most of the parts are there as it was a wrecked bike but the frame is gone. As for my frame, I'm going to just sand it with some 800-1000 git paper and then spray it with color matched frame paint.

Lessons learned: Don't go through intersections across the possibly oiliest spots, don't get on it while on cold roads with cold tires, WEAR YOUR GEAR, get more gear, finish my pegs with slider material or get normal frame sliders as they will save you money and mental anguish. Oh yeah, and when your wife says, "Have a good day!" Say ok, I'll try, you too, or ANYTHING but "I will." That's just asking for it.

Now for the pics:

Khyren

 

[wrightme43]

Suck man.

Glad your ok.



Did you hit a good bump or what?

 

[Khyren]

Suck man.

Glad your ok.



Did you hit a good bump or what?

Nope, no bump it was smooth road. Guess it was oil, dew, cold tires, and cold pavement. No clue on what was the cause besides too much throttle.

Khyren

 

[grommit]

That is nasty.

Glad your ok.

 

[Nelly]

Im sorry you went down mate, on the bright side you are ok and you get to have your bike fixed and painted.
Please post up when done.

Nelly

 

[Wavex]

I tried one of the methods that I had been told about keeping hard pressure on the bars and it should have straightened out.

Sorry for the bike... glad you`re ok though, and that you`ll get some help to fix everything! that's cool that you`ll get the paint and plastic fixes for free... you`re talking quite a lot of savings there!

About the quote ^^, this is actually the opposite of what you should do during a tank slapper.... if your handlbar starts to wobble, the best solution is to put as little pressure on the bar as possible... let the handlebar do its thing and it should straighten out on its own. Applying more pressure will only increase the effect of the tank slapper.

I had a tank slapper start on me once after going WOT on the freeway... I opened up right when going over a pot hole and the handlebar started going nuts... I remembered what I had read in Proficient Motorcycling and almost let the bar go... the bike came back straight within a second.

Anyway, good luck on the next black project... will look sweet!

 

[Khyren]

I forgot to mention the reasons for the karma or luck.
12-31-06 - Total Taurus in a hydroplane accident.
6-17-07 - Wreck bike on 3rd day of ownership.
7-21-07 - Tree fell on truck overnight in windstorm. And then later the back glass that wasn't previously damaged by the tree was shattered in a freak contact point in removing the truck from the tree. Was still driveable but only 2 panels on the truck weren't dented. I was also going to pick the bike up from the shop from the June wreck's repairs.
2-08-08 - Coming down a guy's driveway in snow on a crf50, I hit some ice and then hit the guy's car denting the fender and hood. Still waiting on the gov't check to pay him off.
5-7-08 - I was busy learning to ride better and it was a drought anyhow, I neglected yard duties of cleaning up the tree that fell on the truck totally until this day. In trying to push some of the stuff out of the bed, my feet slipped and I ended up shattering the center glass of the sliding glass rear window that I had put in after the tree incident.
5-21-08 - Well we all know what happened today...

So do you think that I need some rabbit's feet or what?

The decision to go back all black is that I really wanted a black 08 but can't afford one so I might as well make mine as close as I can get.

Khyren

 

[christod1]

I forgot to mention the reasons for the karma or luck.
12-31-06 - Total Taurus in a hydroplane accident.
6-17-07 - Wreck bike on 3rd day of ownership.
7-21-07 - Tree fell on truck overnight in windstorm. And then later the back glass that wasn't previously damaged by the tree was shattered in a freak contact point in removing the truck from the tree. Was still driveable but only 2 panels on the truck weren't dented. I was also going to pick the bike up from the shop from the June wreck's repairs.
2-08-08 - Coming down a guy's driveway in snow on a crf50, I hit some ice and then hit the guy's car denting the fender and hood. Still waiting on the gov't check to pay him off.
5-7-08 - I was busy learning to ride better and it was a drought anyhow, I neglected yard duties of cleaning up the tree that fell on the truck totally until this day. In trying to push some of the stuff out of the bed, my feet slipped and I ended up shattering the center glass of the sliding glass rear window that I had put in after the tree incident.
5-21-08 - Well we all know what happened today...

So do you think that I need some rabbit's feet or what?

The decision to go back all black is that I really wanted a black 08 but can't afford one so I might as well make mine as close as I can get.

Khyren

Oh mate. I know how you feel. I believe we all have had periods in our lives when everythings seems to go wrong. Mine for instance was 1995. Terrible year. The most important thing is that you keep your head up and don't let it bring you down too much. I assure you that one day in the future you will laugh about it and kick yourself for worring so much...:thumbup:

 

[craig007]

watch out for black cats! I think you karma is about to change because you found someone to fix your bike for free. That's pretty lucky in my book

 

[clunk]

You need to make a list of all the bad things you've done in life and cross them off one by one as you make amends. Then Karma will be on your side again.

Oh wait, that might only work if your name is Earl.

 

[gomd3]

ouch, looks like the bike took a beating, hopefully it'll be a cheap fix... you can always go naked... also the only way you're going to straighten out a tank slapper by grabbing a hold of the bars is if you're really strong. I got one the other day too, coming out of a gas station but managed to pull out of it. it's always good to be careful when coming out of these spots since there is spilled oil and diesel fuel everywhere.

 

[cv_rider]

Would frame sliders have prevented some/all of the damage? I'm hoping the ones I have ordered from Kneedraggers will get off backlog before I drop the bike. I'm still not totally envisioning how a frame slider works, never seen one in person. Seems like its a first mod for many, is cheap and easy, so I decided to do it.

What is the definition of a "tank slapper," BTW?

 

[VEGASRIDER]

Sorry to hear about your minor wipe out. Thanks for posting the pics. My question, how many miles did you have on the bike? Well at least this was one wreck where a horn wouldn't have saved you. What you have provided everyone is how important it is when it comes to choosing your line. Even though you were just jetting across the intersection, this is a very good reason why you should not ride on the center portion of the lane. The surface is much slicker from the accumulated grease. Stay on the line from the tracks of the tires.

 

[Doorag]

Glad to hear you are ok. Bikes can be fixed, humans are harder to repair.

Now, karma. You'd have to deeply reflect on what you have done in your past (this life or earlier) to cause you this run of 'bad luck'. Hopefully you have moved on and won't have too many more bad things happen. I guess it all depends on what you have done in the past and how you choose to view what happens now.

Like someone said, you're getting your bike fixed up for free (that's good, yes?) and it gives you a chance to go to black (the best colour I might add) and that could be a good thing if viewed in the right light, yes?

Buddhist lesson of the day: Nothing positive can come from a negative cause.

Namaste

 

[Khyren]

Yeah, there was a good outcome from this is that I can get it made black like I wanted. It's what made me in a better mood yesterday because I now had a plan to make it black and remembered that the 04 silver bikes had alot of black pieces on them. As for mileage, there's 8849 on it. It may be ugly but there's zip ties holding everything back together so that nothing flies off.

Khyren

 

[Hellgate]

Ouch! I'm glad you are okay. The bike can always be fixed sometimes you can't be. Again, glad you are okay. The frame sliders do help a great deal.

As Wavex said once the slapper starts keep a light grip on the bars. The oscillation will pass, as long as the rear end doesn't step out, hook up and spit you over the high side.

On a side note I've only seen one steering damper and it is for the '04 and '06 models. It will not fit the '07 and '08 due to the change in the top clamp/handle bar clamp assembly.

Has anyone looked into tweeking a steering damper to make it work on the newer bikes???? I've seen a few and I think with some mirror machining an R6/R6S model may work. Thoughts???

With my old 1970's and 1980's vintage bikes a steering damper was a must. The new bikes are so much better they usually don't need them however it is a nice insurance policy to have. Thoughts???