Fill search field, and press [ENTER].
Pages
Categories
This was originally written on 2007-06-21. It was re-edited on 2009-10-05.
I experienced my first tank slapper on 2007-06-20. That’s when a harmonic instability causes the handlebars to swap from side-to-side as far as they can go (AKA full lock). I purchased a Suzuki SV650SA7 one month earlier (2007-05-19), and I already have over 1200 miles on it. Anyway, I was coming out of the parking lot on the NE corner of Iowa and 23rd in Lawrence, KS after lunch. These cars were coming at me pretty fast so I wanted to accelerate out-of-there. I gunned it while I was leaned over. First the rear wheel starts spinning, or I hit a false neutral, or who knows what (VROOOOOOM), and then the handlbars are doing a high speed dance (JIGGY-JIGGY-JIGGY), and left foot comes of the peg. Afraid? HAH! Danger is my middle name! Embarrassed? You bet.
Here is a video of a tank slapper that looked like mine:
Here is a much-worse-ending one:
Great example! I too have had a few tank slappers and ended up destroying a car.