(video) Holy Yikes! Rider knocked out by bellypan to head at TD!

mpusch

mpusch

Micah
Used to check in the Jalopnik every day, but not so much with their content anymore. Some of the comments are ignorant, but I guess if you don't know, you don't know.

I do find it kind of funny how everyone is saying that tech should catch this and prevent it from happening. Guess what, people remove their bellypans in between sessions all the time. I think the rider even mentions that he will only attend race days because of the higher level of tech scrutinizing. Even racing, you don't go to tech every time you touch your fairings. In the end, it's still up to YOU to make sure your bike is in good order - for your safety and those around you. Fortunately this mistake didn't cost more than it did.
 
gcally

gcally

Greg Callahan #11
The tech thing is BS.

If my memory serves me right some race organizations require you to remove your belly pan during tech.
 
wmhjr

wmhjr

Grandpa
Control Rider
I don't want to throw cold water on folks, but the tech thing isn't BS. During tech, the person that is doing the inspection shouldn't just be looking at whether or not the dzus fasteners are secured (at a TD and not a race). Even if it's for a WERA or CCS race for example and the belly pan is removed, checking to make sure that it's not just a single zip tie holding a body panel on, or that it isn't cracked to all heck without any additional means to secure it is part of the inspection. Tech won't catch if the dzus fastener is secure every time the bike goes out. It should catch if the bodywork is in really poor condition and not well secured beyond the dzus fasteners. Let's just say it's interesting some of the things you see coming through tech. We don't know why the belly pan came off in this instance so it's impossible to say if a proper tech would have caught it. But rest assured, loose bodywork has been caught in tech before. The writer of the article was making a valid point.
 
mpusch

mpusch

Micah
wmhjr said:
I don't want to throw cold water on folks, but the tech thing isn't BS. During tech, the person that is doing the inspection shouldn't just be looking at whether or not the dzus fasteners are secured (at a TD and not a race). Even if it's for a WERA or CCS race for example and the belly pan is removed, checking to make sure that it's not just a single zip tie holding a body panel on, or that it isn't cracked to all heck without any additional means to secure it is part of the inspection. Tech won't catch if the dzus fastener is secure every time the bike goes out. It should catch if the bodywork is in really poor condition and not well secured beyond the dzus fasteners. Let's just say it's interesting some of the things you see coming through tech. We don't know why the belly pan came off in this instance so it's impossible to say if a proper tech would have caught it. But rest assured, loose bodywork has been caught in tech before. The writer of the article was making a valid point.
Click to expand...

Sure, maybe I didn't elaborate enough. Tech catches stuff all the time (couple weekends ago the gentleman noticed my clip-ons rotated a little when he tugged on them hard. Very helpful to know!), but expecting tech to catch everything is silly. Like you said, we don't know why the bodywork came off in this case. Could have just been crappy bodywork (probably easy to catch), but if it was just unhooked Dzus fasteners (might have been caught if it was loose before tech, obviously couldn't be if it was undone during the day) it's a different scenario.

Frankly, I was surprised to see (don't remember if it was the comments or the article) that there's no tech at some TDs over there. If that is true, that IS pretty scary. I spend quite a bit of time making sure my bike is track worthy and safe, but I always appreciate the extra sets of eyes when you line up for tech.
 
CBRtist

CBRtist

Well-Known Member
Removing side arguments... Any dislodged MC part assualting you (tech aside), and a having your body rendered unconscious while approaching a sturdy structure and having no control over what is propelling you at high speed because... well you're knocked the f*ck out... SKETCHY.

Not meant to instill paranoid fear, Lightning only strikes once, but this (and capturing it on film) is still crazy.
 
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