Scared of riding my bike!! (its a 400!) HELP MEEE!

[daz_d_biker]

Ok, so heres the deal...

Yesterday night, i was overtaking my friend who was in his car on a perfectly straight road, and when accelerating hard, I got a wobble... I thought nothing of it and powered through it. About 3 seconds later I had another and it turned into a monumentally HUGE tankslapper! Resulting in me hurting my knee on the frame and straining my back.

Now, I've had them before (well more like a wobble) when on a hoon powering out of corners and also on my GPZ but with badly leaking fork seals but nothing this big, and then I've had another 2 today, still not as big, but big enough and again in a straight line when simply accelerating over bumps.

Now I know the suspension needs setting up, but I don't know exactly what to do with it. The front seems ok to me, but I don't know about the rear. Tyre pressures are ok... head bearings are tight, forks are straight.

To make things even worse I'm going to the TT on it weekend after next
I'm thinking a steering damper for a quick fix, but the TT and the mito 350 has left me pretty skint as it is

any help is greatly appreciated,

Cheers, Daz.
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"bikes are replaceable - but a complete nutter aint."

[McGee]

lol Pussy.

lol 400.

lol Tank slapper!

I highly doubt it was a tank slapper.

lol 400.
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◙◙► K6 GSXR 600 ◄◙◙◙◙► K5 GSXR 1000 ◄◙◙◙◙► K5 GSXR 600 ◄◙◙◙◙► 96 RF600r ◄◙◙
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Its pronounced Jixxer!

[Blackwolf]

[_Will_]

Simple fix.

Go to doctors and get him to fit you a pair of testicles.

https://img72.imageshack.us/img72/2406/esede1.gif
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Past -Honda qr50 | 2004 Peugeot Tkr s 50| | 1996 Yamaha XJ600s Diversion|

[ZaphodBeeble]

Suspension setup shouldnt really cause a slapper in a straight line as far as I'm aware. Check your wheel bearings/balancing/head bearings. What bike is it?
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Current bike: VTR1000F Firestorm. Previous: Firestorm (written off) - XJ600 Divvy - NSR125 - DT125 and a load of offroaders.

[Paddy Blake]

See if the back is to high or the front to low.
Do you have a box on the back with stuff in it.
Tyre pressure as you said would be a factor.

What bike is it by the way.

Paddy.

[daz_d_biker]

Its a ZXR400H. I think the rear might be a little hard/high? I will also check to see if my front wheel is not balanced.

And mcGay, I know what a tankslapper is. And my 2 friends in the car behind me(Who are bikers) backed that up.

Daz.
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"bikes are replaceable - but a complete nutter aint."

[McGee]

If it was a proper tank slapper your thumbs would be broken and you would of wrecked

It was a bit of wobble.

lol 400.
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◙◙► K6 GSXR 600 ◄◙◙◙◙► K5 GSXR 1000 ◄◙◙◙◙► K5 GSXR 600 ◄◙◙◙◙► 96 RF600r ◄◙◙
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Its pronounced Jixxer!

[Paddy Blake]

I had the tank slapper on a bicycle McGee.
It can happen.

Paddy.

[t121anf]

wtf is your bicycle doing with a tank on it?

[mr_pete]

[Wave2k]

I had the worst tankslappers on my 400 , the forks had leaking all the oil out and any dampening was lost.
Your 1000 is a pussy mobile mcgee that ANY person can ride, with absolute ease.

Best thing to do when in a tankslapper is dont fight it, and stay smooth on the throttle, i get monumentas ones on the RSV because of its current poor setup.
Power goes on, shock set up to soft sits too much, causing the front to become light and skip on any uneven surface.
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Ducati 1299 Panigale
2009 Corvette C6 z51
RS125->CBR400->RXS100->GSXR750K2->Ducati749S->CBR600RR5->TL1000R->DRz400->RSVR1000->Honda VTR SP1->CBR400->GSXR1000K6->Honda H100->CBR600RR3->Ducati1299

[krebsy]

Had similar on the ZZR, though not as extreme.

One test is to ride at about 15-20mph in a straight line and slowly release pressure off the bars to the point where you're barely touching the grips. Then let your hands rise off the grips (an inch is fine) and if the bars start wobbling then it's probably a wheel balancing issue. You won't notice anything if you're gripping normally so you have to carefully test it.

I had a habit of stretching my back by letting go of the bars and swinging my shoulders back for a second to "click" my spine (got a bad back that stiffens up over time if I've been on a long ride) and one time the bars started wobbling like mad the second I let go whilst riding home. turned out it was a wheel balance issue which sorted itself once I had new rubber put on.

K.
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What's my New Year's resolution?

1280 x 1024.

[McGee]

[.....]

[sickpup]

[Timmeh]

[MarJay]

I have the same trouble, but I have a Fireblade.

I basically don't want to ride it. I've made myself do it and my confidence has improved immeasurably. What has also helped my confidence has been to set up the static sag on my suspension for my weight.

The best way to do this is to get a mate to lift the front of the bike and measure from the top yoke to the top of the fork dust seal. Then sit on the bike and get your mate to measure the same distance again. The distance between the topped out measurement and the measurement with you on the bike should be exactly one third of the suspension travel. If it is less than a third, reduce the front preload by the same amount on both fork legs until it is correct. If it is more than a third, you need to increase preload to suit.

You then need to do the same with the rear. Get your mate to lift the back end of the bike so the shock is topped out. Measure the distance from the wheel spindle to a fixed point on the tail unit. Then sit on the bike and measure the same distance and do the same as above. Bear in mind the front suspension travel will be different to the rear so the front and rear rider sag will be slightly different.

Any other adjustments from there will be damping related, but getting the sag right is the key to a good setup. If the bike still isn't right then you might need new fork oil or possibly a shock rebuild or something like that.

My confidence isn't what it once was, and I am tempted to sell the blade once its fully sorted and get something else. Perhaps a street triple or something...

As for the Mito 350... I can't see that helping your confidence at all. I looked at Klause's bike at the weekend and the suspension was rock solid. I can't imagine your tankslapper issues getting any better on a bike like that! However his bike does have 916 forks and an RGV250 rear shock...
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British beauty: Triumph Street Triple R; Loony stroker: KR1S; Track fun: GSXR750 L1; Commuter Missile: GSX-S1000F; Cheap project: CBR900RR FireBlade
Remember kids, bikes aren't like lego. You can't easily take a part from one bike and then fit it to another.

[McGee]

[Moonie]

[Wave2k]

i always thought, power goes on, forks go up shock goes down as all the force is then pushed to the back of the bike.

Hense why i came up with the idea of why my bike handles crap, i still think its a rear shock setup problem.
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Ducati 1299 Panigale
2009 Corvette C6 z51
RS125->CBR400->RXS100->GSXR750K2->Ducati749S->CBR600RR5->TL1000R->DRz400->RSVR1000->Honda VTR SP1->CBR400->GSXR1000K6->Honda H100->CBR600RR3->Ducati1299

[ken]

I have just logged in to say that McGee remarks have made me lol 400...
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latest bike 03 R1 in zee red and black

[McJamweasel]

The rear actually rises slightly when you're on the power, there was an article about it in one of the rags a couple of years ago with all the reasons for it. Alas, I have slept since then though so can't remember anything.
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BCF: Be yourself, just don't be an arse.

[Wafer_Thin_Ham]

[sickpup]