Tankslappers explained

[jubilant]

riff raff , cheers for this post and to the admins for it being a sticky, it came in use today as i had a moment on the way home from work, just been cut up by a boy racer in his mums car so to avoid him i pulled into the other lane and hit a man hole cover...tank slapper time ( on my hyo 250 gt ) made me crap for a sec but i relaxed my grip and leaning forward sorted me out....shit my knickers though .....im just sitting down with a nice cup of tea to calm my nerves !!

thanks for this , if i hadnt have read it a few nights ago i wouldnt have had a clue and most likely have been on my way to northshore hospital to die of swine flu or mrsa or just through old age in the waiting room....

[batboy]

Right wondering if anyone has ideas on this...... weighted barends?

Now i have a set of these on the monster and one thing they do well is remove some vibration from the bars, but on the topic of tankslappers, do you think they will accentuate any slap that may occur.
My thought is that adding weight furthest away from the steering head would increase the oscillations in the event of said slap? does this make sense?

/discuss

[motorbyclist]

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Right wondering if anyone has ideas on this...... weighted barends?

Now i have a set of these on the monster and one thing they do well is remove some vibration from the bars, but on the topic of tankslappers, do you think they will accentuate any slap that may occur.
My thought is that adding weight furthest away from the steering head would increase the oscillations in the event of said slap? does this make sense?

ok, i'm not in the mood to run the numbers, but it would make it slap slower, and possibly get into a slapper easier.

might be more complex than this, but generally, the bigger the mass the slower the resonant frequency

however, it would make the bars less prone to deflection, but only slightly.

[Geemsee]

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Right wondering if anyone has ideas on this...... weighted barends?

Now i have a set of these on the monster and one thing they do well is remove some vibration from the bars, but on the topic of tankslappers, do you think they will accentuate any slap that may occur.
My thought is that adding weight furthest away from the steering head would increase the oscillations in the event of said slap? does this make sense?

/discuss

A bit late in the day, but i thought bar end weights were for damping handlebar vibrations not really for tankslappers?! Best fix is a steering damper kit but that might just be disguising the root of the problem ie I had a Z650 way back when it had Dunlop Endurance tyres on it when I bought it and boy did it used to tankslap, fixed it by putting some decent tyres on it, no damper required!!

[Corse1]

Well luckily managed to survive a massive slapper around the East Coast between Te kaha and Waihau Bay on Wednesday. Leaned over powering out of corner and hit bump. Away she went with both tires chirping almost at the same time side to side about 8 times.....sounds like I did the right thing as I did not bin it only reading this sticky tonight.
I thought I was a gonner though for sure. Radical Speed triple geometry combined with harsh standard rear shock. I have some investing to do as I sure do not want that to happen again!!

[pritch]

I have never felt the need for a steering damper. Until just lately - the thought having recently occurred on a number of occasions. I note that Ohlins list one for the model, and that at least one road test recomends it. Now if only I could figure out how to pay for it...

[rok-the-boat]

I agree with the premise of the original posting, but, it is not only the surface of the road - it can also be the design of the bike. My mate's Suzuki GT750 would tankslap between 80-90mph. It would start with a steady weave and then turn violent. You could ride thru it and come out the other side 90mph+ or, slow down - the usual instinct. If you accelerated fast you would go thru 80-90 so fast you wouldn't notice it, but you knew you have to go back down thru it - very disconcerting, as I remember. It did this on any road, any surface etc, bumpy or smooth.

[FlyingKiwi]

Well, this all makes for some scary reading! Fingers crossed for me I guess

[Metastable]

With a true sudden lock to lock tank slapper there is NOTHING you can do. Like some guys have said, you're on for the ride. I was going over a set of double railway tracks and BAM!... the bars went lock to lock 3 times and the first one ripped my hands straight off the clip ons, which is probably a good thing... she went into a strong weave and then settled down. It happened so fast that I really couldn't do squat.

Suspension set up is HUGE! It can make things a lot less likely to happen and of course a steering damper is a good idea too..... although maybe I'm just stupid, because don't have one on my trackbike yet.

[bkker]

man, sounds bad. glad I haven't had to experience this yet, not looking forward to it. I've been on a few really bumpy corners, but luckily no slapping :P

[Chrislost]

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riff raff , cheers for this post and to the admins for it being a sticky, it came in use today as i had a moment on the way home from work, just been cut up by a boy racer in his mums car so to avoid him i pulled into the other lane and hit a man hole cover...tank slapper time ( on my hyo 250 gt ) made me crap for a sec but i relaxed my grip and leaning forward sorted me out....shit my knickers though .....im just sitting down with a nice cup of tea to calm my nerves !!

thanks for this , if i hadnt have read it a few nights ago i wouldnt have had a clue and most likely have been on my way to northshore hospital to die of swine flu or mrsa or just through old age in the waiting room....

One twitch upon hitting a man hole in the wet, doesn't even smell like a tank slapper.
may make ya heart beat a tad faster if your not expecting it tho...

[thepom]

I had a real bad one on the gravel and woodsman was following me,I was doing 100 k,s and it spat me off after a hundred meter slapper,bike landed on my ankle after I face planted myself..........woodsman said it was hilarious...

[Woodman]

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I had a real bad one on the gravel and woodsman was following me,I was doing 100 k,s and it spat me off after a hundred meter slapper,bike landed on my ankle after I face planted myself..........woodsman said it was hilarious...

Hilarious and scary at the same time.