TOOLS1 wrote
Do you have a steering control problem?
TOOLS
No problem, I just read this and want to avoid such a thing if I hit a big pothole.
"The problem comes when you hit a sufficiently large bump. The front suspension compresses, the wheelbase of the bike gets shorter and suddenly, what was on the cusp of driveability becomes totally unstable. The front wheel will tilt to one side or another and then the suspension returns to its normal length. As it does this, it sets up a standing-wave in the chassis of the bike which, because of the gyroscopic forces generated by the front wheel, forces the steering over the other way. Now the suspension geometry and gyroscopic force of the spinning wheel together try to straighten the front wheel again. At this point, the bike is in a headshaker - the head of the bike is being shaken back and forth by a rapidly oscillating front wheel. There are ways and means out of this, but if you don't tackle it quickly, things will rapidly go downhill. The headshaker will get more and more violent because now, the wheel starts to slam back and forth from one side to the other. The handlebars will get ripped out of your hands and the steering will go from lock to lock very quickly, slapping the handlebars against the tank of the bike - hence tankslapper. The inevitable outcome of this is normally a highside where the bike will throw you off sideways and upwards. Once you're off, the suspension unloads, the bike settles down, and momentum will take its course as the bike drives off in a straight line without you. This is the reason for steering dampers, and one of the reasons the Suzuki TL 1000S was recalled within weeks of being put in the showrooms - it went into vicious tankslappers without any provocation."
78 CB750F3 Super Sport
Austin, TX
Locked
