Dangers of the bungy

[dangerous]

Well I'm thinking that a few of you lot out there use bungys to tie shit down, but today was a reminder how dangerous they could be. One of the mates traveling with me lost his bag and bungys while we were heading out to a popular swimming hole for a dip.... well he dident get to swim as his gear was somewere between Chch and Ashley gorge.
The thing I was thinking was 'what if' the bungy was to have got court in the rear wheel or chain/sproket, could get real nasty aye................ anyone ever had this happen to them?

[ajturbo]

not happened to me.... but a mate of mine was chasing a guy who's sleeping bag/tent was falling off, result..

bag fell off and jambed in back wheel, him/ her spat off, bike broken, mates F1 duke, taken out.... he walked away ......
the other 2, she in Hospital with broken ankle, him ok...

but i have used them heaps and nothing..... just have to be carefull, like most things.. who cares untill someone gets hurt! :stupid:

[crashe]

I use them all the time.....

But in saying that, I also check the condition of them on a regular basis....
as they are on the bike all the time...

I had to replace one recently as the rubber cords were snapping a few at a time... so that one got chucked out...

I also carry another type of strap/belt in my jacket pocket plus spare straps/belts in my back pack.... if I need to carry anything bigger than my backpack... and that the bungy's arent strong or long enough to keep it in place.

[ajturbo]

I use them all the time.....

But in saying that, I also check the condition of them on a regular basis....
as they are on the bike all the time...

I had to replace one recently as the rubber cords were snapping a few at a time... so that one got chucked out...

I also carry another type of strap/belt in my jacket pocket plus spare straps/belts in my back pack.... if I need to carry anything bigger than my backpack... and that the bungy's arent strong or long enough to keep it in place.

do you also have whips and hand cuffs??? ;)

[Skunk]

do you also have whips and hand cuffs??? ;)You're forever hopeful aren't you? :killingme

[inlinefour]

But I've got a purpose built one that came standard with the bike and has clips on the frame to anchor it well :2thumbsup

[scumdog]

Use those Mitre 10 type ratchet ties, less grief and more secure.

Saw a guy at the M.A.T.E.S. rally at Waikaia a couple of years ago who had a problem with his bungy cords, sleeping bag slipped, landed on top of his rear tyre, = result was one dicked $300 tyre (down to the canvas), one rooted sleeping bag, one impressively long skid-mark and a nasty stain in th eY-fronts!!
Moral: NEVER trust bungies alone!!!

[Jackrat]

Havn't used them in years.
Rode with a club in OZ that had a total ban on them after a "typical" sleeping bag incident put three bikes down.

[jrandom]

Hmmmph, mebbe I should find something else to strap my stuff down with, then.

[k14]

I use one over my pillion seat to put a bag there quite often. I always use insulation tape on the hooks and tape them to where I put them on the bike.

[Motu]

I've always used bungies and very rarely have a problem,you just have to rearrange your packing if stuff slips - and you find out it's not well secure by checking it often.

I was following a mate who had a chick on the back who was wearing a poncho - just a blanket with a hole on the middle - going around a corner the poncho got caught in the chain and tried to rip her off the bike,she managed to slip it off (no helmet) and it was out of the sprocket in half a turn anyway.Still it was bloody scary for her.

[Sensei]

Buy a BMW if you need to use those things . Have small back pack with middle belt to stop it flying round at speed . Other than that never use them
SENSEI

[dangerous]

Ventura Pack rack or similar... int that what they for?
True, but not quite that easy........ what about sleeping mat and tent?
I use bungys too, as you can see by the pic to hold the extra gear on, on a long haul. I inter twine the bungys so as if one was to unhook it wont go far, well thats the theroy anyway, hasent failed yet but I do check the load at every stop and the hooks are hooked onto the rack and bag.

[crashe]

do you also have whips and hand cuffs??? ;)

Now that would be quite telling now wouldn't it....PMSL... :) :) :)

[toads]

well we do use bungy cords but also use the straps on the pack as well, so everything is doubley tied down, haven't had any problems but then haven't had to take a large amount of gear on the bikes as yet either, we opt for tramping packs which have lots of adjustable straps and ties that can be tied to the bike as well as the bungies to hold it all in place, we always give everything a visual check each time we stop anyway, but are aware of the dangers of bungies, as for losing gear it's always a thing with bikes, just need to be careful.

[Redstar]

Never had a problem with Bungies but the Warehouse / 2$ shop ones are shit
I'm very carefull to secure things but noticed some old sagging back packs on racks sag over the rear lights on some dudes bike on the northern M-way and he probably unaware of the danger of that or not fussed? I like to be seen and have all the gear secured down tight.

Q. Bungy (Singular noun?), Bungy cords (modified noun becomes plural) Bungy's Plural or Bungies plural (sorry I got carried away with trivia again

Main Entry: bungy
bungy is one of more than 1,000,000 entries available at Merriam-WebsterUnabridged.com.

[WINJA]

A COP AT A CHECK POINT TOLD ME THERE REAL DANGEROUS TO HOLD MY LADDER ON MY CAR ROOF AND BUNGYS WERE GOING TO BE OUTLAWED FOR THIS PURPOSE AS ITS CAUSED A FEW ACCIDENTS, LAW OR NOT IT WAS GOOD ADVICE SO I WENT AND GOT PROPER TIE DOWNS, FUCKED IF I WANT TO LOSE MY LADDER AND INJURE SOMEONE

[Al]

Along the same line of thought, which tie downs are the best, "pull"-type or ratchet- type?
A mate of mine has tried to convince me that my pull type work their way loose on a trailer, not happened to me before. We used to do a lot of gravel road transporting of bikes into the mountains in SA and no loose tie down problems.
Thoughts?

Al

[Motu]

Pull downs for bikes because you have the springs to help maintain tension,plus they are made for bikes anyway,you don't get ratchet bike tie downs.Ratchet jobs for trailer loads etc.

[Kickaha]

Along the same line of thought, which tie downs are the best, "pull"-type or ratchet- type?
A mate of mine has tried to convince me that my pull type work their way loose on a trailer, not happened to me before. We used to do a lot of gravel road transporting of bikes into the mountains in SA and no loose tie down problems.
Thoughts?

Al

Everyone I knows ties them off so they cant "work loose" which can happen if they're old,covered in oil and crap etc

[loosebruce]

Have heard some nasty bungy stories before, i use bungy nets instead of single cords, heaps safer i reckon, bout $20.
They have 6 hooks, so if one goes the whole thing dosent fail, and if part of the net fails the rest dosent.
Keeps a helmet or backpack in place on the pillion seat, riding from akld to wgtn at my um normalish pace :innocent: and never a problem.

[inlinefour]

I would like to think that if someone has that much shit to carry then a larger vehicle would be in order. My Surf is great and although I have a factory bungy net type thing, I've never needed to use it.

[scumdog]

Pull downs for bikes because you have the springs to help maintain tension,plus they are made for bikes anyway,you don't get ratchet bike tie downs.Ratchet jobs for trailer loads etc.

Nace old Vokker on the avatar, the old man had a black Wyvern he got brand new in '56.

I use the small version of the truckers ratchet-tie and have had no problems, plus I find it real easy to "snug" it up when I've stopped fot fuel etc and find the load is a tad loose.

[White trash]

On one of our infamous Thursday night rides, we were returning at a good clip from the Wainui' Coast. Cycosis was in second place (it's not a race boys!) with me leading by at least 5 meters.

About 3/4 of the way back I glance in the 600s mirror to see where the sneaky little prick is, to witness him having to dodge a screwdriver that's bounced off the road in front of him.

I slows the pace a little and come to a halt at the side of the road, seems I've been "chucking" tools out from under my seat at him for about 2 kays now.

What had happened, was a ratchet tie-down, stowed neatly beneath the rear seat on my bike had unravelled. The end of it had then worked its way through a gap and dangled perilously close to the rear wheel. Eventually, the inevitable happened and it snagged my bikes speedily rotating wheel, dragging the big mechanical end of the tie-down out through a way too small gap. Smashed all the under tray of the bike and nicely opened the tool kit allowing tools to, one by one, be fired backwards at the persuing CBR.

Oh how we laughed........coulda' been a WHOLE lot worse.

[Jantar]

................ anyone ever had this happen to them?

Late 1970's I had my wet weather gear strapped on the back with a bungy. It let go, and my wets got caught in the back wheel bringing me to a sudden halt. No damage to the bike, but I continued the journey praying that there would be no rain. Since then I've continued to use bungys, but always with at least one and usually 2 more than is necessary to secure the load. I also check the condition of the bungy and discard any that look in the least suspect.

The main cause of bungy failure is not the cord itself, but the connection to the hook. A knotted joint is more secure than a metal clip. Also check that the hook itself is strong enough for the job. Most of the cheap cords have a hook that is to light for any serious weight.