Re: [ST] Tank Slap

["ksmith955" <ksmith955@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi, there Chris.

I have had a licence for 25 years and have ridden my share of dodgy bikes
with tankslappers, and stuff is a lot better behaved than it used to be .
Big Kawasaki two-strke triples could always be relied on to keep you awake
in that respect, but I digress.  Assuming everything on the bike is straight
and within tolerance, and tyres are OK, next thing to look at is weight
distribution.  The Sprints are not going to be that prone, with a relatively
long wheelbase and relatively relaxed front end geometry.   However, even on
such a well balanced bike, too much weight towards the back end, too much
power down all at once, a few helpful surface irregularities and you're
getting into the territory.  You can also get them heavily loaded, and
hitting the bow wave overtaking trucks - at least you could on a Norton
Commando.

As far as I remember, they don't come on suddenly ... you get a kind of
weaving to begin with, that then increases in ferocity over about two to
three seconds.  On the Kawasakis, this then presented you with the
interesting choice of accelarating through it, or braking.  The latter was
only marginally less exciting than the former!

If you do find a good slapping coming on, don't lock your arms up, throttle
off gently and apply rear brake to anchor the whole thing down and prevent
sudden weight transfer to the front end.  That used to work for me, and I
have lived to tell the tale.

Apologies in advance for the old joke:

Q:  does your bike weave at high speed?
A:  no, but it knits nicely around town.

Thank you and good night!

Kevin (Reservoir Dawg)
99 Sprint ST
London

,


- ----- Original Message -----
From: "Chris Maher" <mahervis@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <ST@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Saturday, June 15, 2002 10:52 PM
Subject: Re: [ST] Tank Slap


> G'day Kevin
>
> Tyres are new 020's and they are a big step up from the original BT 57's.
>
> Haven't had the experience of a slap yet, was more a question on what can
> you do to recognise a situation that may cause it to happen and what to do
> if it does etc etc.
>
> Cheers, Chris
>
>


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