The tankslapper guy

[mr_kranky]

...which happens to be me! I wanted to say thanks to Nolan, Kim, Brent, Dave, Matt, Jeff, and quite a few others who came over to help pack us up and just say "Glad you're ok!" and offer encouragement.

It could have been much worse, somehow I avoided the guardrail after the tower (sheer luck) and managed to walk away with only a sore left hand and a twisted knee. Thank goodness for back protectors! In any case, I wanted to see if the fellow I was passing on the front straight had to clean out his leathers as well. I will certainly be buying an aftermarket steering damper instead of relying on HESD from now on!

Pics of the bike to come, but surprisingly little damage, mostly cosmetic. Broken rearset, bent shifter, and some bodywork damage is about all. Guess this means that I get to do some upgrading this winter! I was supposed to do the Autobahn on the 24th and 25th, but I'm going to wait until later to hop back on and make sure that my knee is all set.

Thanks again for the help and support from the NESBA crowd.

Tim

 

[cooker1]

I was really worried when you didnt come back in I was behind you for a minute and then you were gone your riding has improved awesomely I guess I need a little more HP if Im to keep up ! Get well quick see you in the spring !

 

[SpEeDy GoNzAlEz]

Tim, I seen the entire thing! It looked very bad from the fence where I was pitted (after the tower). I heard a pop and thought you blew a tire or your chain snapped. It did look like you were gonna save it but then seen you had to bail. Glad to hear you walked away with minor injuries!

 

[Hitman954]

really glad that's all you had wrong with you. I felt sick when I saw the bike. Took 4 guys to pull it outta the weeds. Heal up and I'll see ya next year

 

[mr_kranky]

I thought I might save it after it straightened out in the grass but the bars were still twitching uncontrollably. It started as a hard upshift on the front straight and didn't ever really stop.

Bottom line, I didn't want to end up in Wisconsin, so I left. My bike had mentioned it was interested in seeing the woods anyway.

 

[gkotlin]

mr_kranky;212204 wrote: I thought I might save it after it straightened out in the grass but the bars were still twitching uncontrollably. It started as a hard upshift on the front straight and didn't ever really stop.

That's how it started with me in 2009 on my 2003. No damper, bad geometry, the perfect storm of bad luck. Glad yours turned out better then mine did. Next time (hopefully there isn't one), try some rear brake while you hold or VERY slowly roll off. I figure, the brake will help it slow, rear to help the rear end squat and increase trail. That's what I figured might help, but if yours was as bad as mine (I was told that it was) there isn't anything you can do because the bike is just pitching and jumping around so bad. Glad to hear your relatively ok.

 

[geekmug]

mr_kranky;212196 wrote: I will certainly be buying an aftermarket steering damper instead of relying on HESD from now on!

Tim, glad you got away with it! But please don't assume it's was just a failure of the HESD to be aggressive enough to dampen the slapper. I still use the stock HESD damper and have never had an issue. A better damper is a bandaid. I'd encourage you to look at your bike setup and take honest appraisal of your technique on the bike. If you still want an aftermarket damper, I won't blame you for wanting the peace of mind, but please find and fix the underlying issue and stay safe.

 

[mr_kranky]

geekmug;212212 wrote: Tim, glad you got away with it! But please don't assume it's was just a failure of the HESD to be aggressive enough to dampen the slapper. I still use the stock HESD damper and have never had an issue. A better damper is a bandaid. I'd encourage you to look at your bike setup and take honest appraisal of your technique on the bike. If you still want an aftermarket damper, I won't blame you for wanting the peace of mind, but please find and fix the underlying issue and stay safe.

I'm glad you mentioned this - I am not blaming the event entirely on the HESD. I am running a slightly taller tire in the rear (211 GPA's) than OEM and I was advised to adjust my front suspension to compensate. I also was contemplating taking out some rebound on the rear shock - unfortunately, I never got the chance to try it. As for my technique, perhaps some pictures of the accident will surface and further analysis will be possible.

I will probably get the bike all back together in the next two months or so and drop it off to Turn One Racing to sort it out properly. The human factor portion is me heading to YCRS early next year to make sure that my head is in the right place!

My wallet is already sobbing in a corner.

 

[MikeyR6]

Hey, Tim. Good meeting you this weekend. Hope your knee is feeling better. See you out there next year!

 

[beac83]

Tim, glad this wasn't any worse.

I'm probably headed back to YCRS in April. When are you planning on going?

 

[geekmug]

mr_kranky;212220 wrote: I'm glad you mentioned this - I am not blaming the event entirely on the HESD. I am running a slightly taller tire in the rear (211 GPA's) than OEM and I was advised to adjust my front suspension to compensate. I also was contemplating taking out some rebound on the rear shock - unfortunately, I never got the chance to try it. As for my technique, perhaps some pictures of the accident will surface and further analysis will be possible.

Awesome attitude, already plotting how to fix it. I've never used 211s so I can't give specific advice, but you definitely should keep an eye on how a change of tires effects the attitude of the bike. If the 211 rear raised the rear but the 211 front didn't raise the front as much as the rear, then you probably lost a critical amount of trail. I would expect that raising the rear and leaving the forks in the stock position would tend to be quite twitchy, so I have never tried it for fear of the result you had. I'm sure Turn One can help you sort it all out, and if you see me next season, feel free to come by and I'd be glad to help or tell you everything I know about how to setup a 600RR.

 

[Kim]

mr_kranky;212204 wrote:

Bottom line, I didn't want to end up in Wisconsin, so I left. My bike had mentioned it was interested in seeing the woods anyway.

OK, nothing funny about your crash but this made me LOL.

You probably have no idea how happy both Nolan and I were to see you walking around with just a bag of ice on your hand. When he came in and said "It's TIM" and gave me details of your off it was a serious gut check for me. After the conversation that we had that morning, the sense of pride and responsibility I feel for each rider I work with was once again highlighted. I'm proud of how you handled yourself and I know you'll do everything to learn from the situation so it doesn't happen again.

Heal up and we'll see you out there again. You were riding really well this weekend too!!

 

[iamnotgreg]

I think my friend Mark was the bike next to you (all white gixxer with blue leathers #e68)
Sadly he doesn't run a camera - I will send him this link and hopefully he will sign up and reply.

He isn't really all that into the whole computer thing. Pretty sure it was him though based on both of your descriptions.

 

[mr_kranky]

Kim;212295 wrote: OK, nothing funny about your crash but this made me LOL.

You probably have no idea how happy both Nolan and I were to see you walking around with just a bag of ice on your hand. When he came in and said "It's TIM" and gave me details of your off it was a serious gut check for me. After the conversation that we had that morning, the sense of pride and responsibility I feel for each rider I work with was once again highlighted. I'm proud of how you handled yourself and I know you'll do everything to learn from the situation so it doesn't happen again.

Heal up and we'll see you out there again. You were riding really well this weekend too!!
Thanks for the kind words! You guys were truly my mentors those first trackdays and I won't ever forget that. Also, Nolan offered his assistance in putting everything to rights over the winter - which I intend to take full advantage of. Unfortunately, I won't be able to make the Autobahn this month, but I'll be back at it in the spring. I might come out and spectate if you guys are going to ride.

geekmug;212274 wrote: Awesome attitude, already plotting how to fix it. I've never used 211s so I can't give specific advice, but you definitely should keep an eye on how a change of tires effects the attitude of the bike. If the 211 rear raised the rear but the 211 front didn't raise the front as much as the rear, then you probably lost a critical amount of trail. I would expect that raising the rear and leaving the forks in the stock position would tend to be quite twitchy, so I have never tried it for fear of the result you had. I'm sure Turn One can help you sort it all out, and if you see me next season, feel free to come by and I'd be glad to help or tell you everything I know about how to setup a 600RR.

Thank you sir! I would appreciate any expertise on our bikes. Matt G suggested that I just get a Gixxer but I think I'll stick with the trusty Honda for the time being. Ohlins rear shock and forks on the way, plus some odds and ends like new rearsets and brake lines. I look forward to meeting you in person next season.

 

[trailmug]

mr_kranky;212309 wrote: Matt G suggested that I just get a Gixxer

..a "motorcycle."

 

[j_fuggin_t]

glad to hear your ok, two crashes on the front straight this weekend was just odd to me, for what its worth i don't trust the HESD at all, had far too much headshake out of my 600rr with that on there, it managed but the ohlins revalved one that i have on my kawi works a million times better, afterall if it can stop the shaking from ACC it can stop anything LOL heal up bud

 

[Derick]

Glad to hear your ok, I was looking forward to riding with you on sunday. Dont learn too much at the yrcs or the only riding we'll be doing you passing me multiple times. Heal up, fix the bike, see you back next year

 

[mr_kranky]

trailmug;212368 wrote: ..a "motorcycle."

LOL!

Yeah, a Yamaha GSX-R....right?

 

[mr_kranky]

j_fuggin_t;212369 wrote: glad to hear your ok, two crashes on the front straight this weekend was just odd to me, for what its worth i don't trust the HESD at all, had far too much headshake out of my 600rr with that on there, it managed but the ohlins revalved one that i have on my kawi works a million times better, afterall if it can stop the shaking from ACC it can stop anything LOL heal up bud
Thanks man, yeah I had heard horror stories of inadequacy with HESD but I ignored them at my own peril. I have Ohlins forks, rear shock, and damper on their way.

Derick;212373 wrote: Glad to hear your ok, I was looking forward to riding with you on sunday. Dont learn too much at the yrcs or the only riding we'll be doing you passing me multiple times. Heal up, fix the bike, see you back next year

No kidding guy, I was looking forward to riding with you as well. Congrats on the bump, btw! Next year we can play

 

[Nolan1000]

I had a front row seat to both of the big front straight crashes this weekend and let me tell you its a hard thing to watch when you spend time working with, talking to and getting to know members coming up the ranks. Tim your crash gave me flashbacks to my first day as a CR when Greg did the exact same thing out of T7 and ended up taking a heli ride. It also was on a 600rr with the rear ride height raised up. After looking at your bike and seeing that you had a 190 D211gpa on stock suspension geometry, I'm sure the reduced trail made the front end extremely light as you motored down the front straight and when you let off past the tower the front tire planted and the tank slapper ensued. You were riding close to Advanced pace and unfortunately improper setup can really show once you pick the pace up. Anyway like I said I will be happy to help you rebuild it in the off season. Make sure you talk to Geekmug Scott and Joe at Turn One also to help get the best geometry setup. See you soon.