The speed wobble (AKA, death wobble), and how to handle it.

[mattrowe19]

I noticed in one of the You Tube videos that buddy's digital speedo recorded over 100 mph at a coupla' points (I'm assuming it wasn't 100 km/h).  I will NEVER get even remotely close to that speed.  The road he (I'm assumin' it's a 'he') was on looked like some back country road...hardly suitable for excessive speeds.

That was my thought while watching that video. Excessive speed + poor road surface is not a good combination. IMHO, those speeds should be reserved for the track rather than a public road. In public, the damage caused by a wreck can be o more than just the rider.

[LOKi]

Holy Hannah!  After reading and watching all this stuff about speed wobbles, I've got a knot in my face a boy-scout couldn't untie!

I noticed in one of the You Tube videos that buddy's digital speedo recorded over 100 mph at a coupla' points (I'm assuming it wasn't 100 km/h).  I will NEVER get even remotely close to that speed.  The road he (I'm assumin' it's a 'he') was on looked like some back country road...hardly suitable for excessive speeds.

120kmh = 75mph. Not exactly excessive. If so I'm a freaking lunatic.

[natehawk750]

LOKI you are a lunatic man!!!

[Mongo]

My old 87 can-am 406 dirtbike did this more than any other bike I owned, I had my bike down at our (sorry) illegal saturday nite street races, years ago. I almost lost control at the finish due to a "death wobble" I knew not fight it, so at close to 100mph I just clamped the bike tight with my legs and let go of the bars. It straightened right up. Between the light trail a dirtbike has and knobby tires this is a NO,NO!! I lived AND learned.


Aww yeah! by the way I won against a 13.50 second 71 camaro! I miss that big thumpin, fin-rattlin, left side kick, 2 stroker!!

[shelby427]

So your saying put weight on your back tire? And it is ok to use back brakes? What do you mean "High side"? BTW, I instictavly held tight, but not too tight.

From Wiki:

Wobble, shimmy, tank-slapper,[1] speed wobble, and even death wobble are all words and phrases used to describe a quick (4 - 10 Hz) oscillation of primarily just the steerable wheel(s) of a vehicle. Initially, the rest of the vehicle remains mostly unaffected, until translated into a vehicle yaw oscillation of increasing amplitude producing loss of control.

An example:

A few weeks ago i suffer one of thoses... an there´s only one way to survive it (i was turning at about 60 MPH)

Keep your mind cold, acelerate and twich the clutch to re align the giroscopic efect of the wheels... that will get your bike on control again.