75mph slip n slide = no fun

[blinxbuell]

Yeah, so...just wanted to make sure everyone is doing alright and enjoying their rides. Just a heads up, make sure your front suspension, rear suspension, and tire pressure are sound before heading out. I would now consider buying a steering dampener for my xb9sx. A few days ago I was passing a dump truck down the interstate, got to the front of the truck and the wind whipping off the front caused my front wheel to wobble pretty bad. I sped up a bit to pass him and the wobble worked itself out. Shifted lanes to allow other vehicles to pass me and the front wheel started wobbling even worse. I tried to speed up. Didn't help. I then tried to back off and the wobble wouldn't go away. At this point I was tank slapping at about 75 mph. I knew I was about to hit the pavement and I knew there was a dump drunk following behind me. It took everything I had to snatch the bike off the road into the grass where it seemed to straighten up and was held full throttle. My gut said let go...so I did. The bike and I slid for about 150 feet over the wet grass and mud into a concrete filled ditch. I woke up a few moments later with a headache and watched the guy who drove the dump truck running down the hill yelling 'are you ok?!'. I wiggled my body a bit to determine if I was alright, figured out I was missing a shoe, and gave the guy a thumbs up. I was rushed to the hospital to find I ended up with a bruised left shin, a pulled left calf muscle, pulled hip muscle (which hurts btw when you sneeze or laugh), and some skin missing off my thumb. Overall, I'm good and absolutely thankful to be alive. The bike is repairable, but needs a new front end. Please, please, please wear a helmet. It'll give you one hell of a headache, but will keep it intact.

 

[konarider94]

wow, quite the story. glad you made it out of that in pretty good shape. could have been much worse from the sounds of it.

 

[stensg]

Glad to hear your ok. What do you have maybe someone can help with parts.

 

[FlaXB9R]

Sounds like you encountered more than tire pressure/suspension possibly wheel bearings?

Glad to hear you're ok.

Also [up] to gear

 

[squidbuellie]

It sucks but... I like this quote...

I was alright, figured out I was missing a shoe, and gave the guy a thumbs up

Hope you get back on your feet soon

 

[snrusnak]

ya that doesn't sound normal. My bike is smooth as glass up to 90mph, don't really have much experience beyond that so don't know. Glad you are ok though.

 

[thrstrmech]

Glad you're ok, mine @ 110... she starts a slight wobble, but think it's due to the Shinko Raven front tire, the groove in the tire grabs at rain grooves on the freeway, bearings seem ok, checked 'em recently when I had the wheels off the bike.

 

[50dro]

Glad you're ok boss! [up] to you!

 

[Theycallmecrash]

Yay! You live and the bikes does too!

Doesnt sound normal, im an idiot trust me. Ive done 140mph from vegas, not a wiggle. Something came loose. Check all yee bolts replace any structural ones small than 3/8-10mm ( thats my expierence, it was bad )

 

[buellxb9rs]

thrstrmech: mine wobbles at 110 and I have a Michelin on the front. After 100 it's bar to keep the front end of mine down, it just wants to lift up and wobble.

 

[wolfo68]

That sounds like a bearing went bad.

If you decide to put her back together and need something hit me up. I imagine I have the parts.

 

[kidtronic]

Im not a 100mpg and + rider but when I do,
leaning my chest torwards the front helps out.
Glad you are ok bud. [up]

 

[Theycallmecrash]

I dont think any of us get 100MPGs though id love that

 

[netty2424]

damn crazy story! glad you made it out ok! [up]

 

[MrFantastic22]

Thank God you are ok.

 

[christianmb]

Glad you are ok, man! I've had the low TP wiggle at about 90, and it scared the hell out of me. Fortunately it was nothing worse.

 

[Alfatango1]

Never had it happen on my Bolt on high speed runs, 130+ but it did happen once on a high speed sweeper with a cement barrier about two feet to my left. That was scary! I made some major suspension adjustments and put a few psi in my tires after that. I think the fairing on the Bolts help but a damper would be the way to go. I've always wondered with my ZX10 comes stock with on but my ZX12 does not. Even the new ZX14's don't have them.

 

[fireinxb]

Hmm, I've topped out my Bolt countless times and have never had any real wobbles. A few times switching lanes over uneven road I've had a weird feeling in the bars that never evolved into a real wobble.

Once i got a flat tire and didn't realize it until i went to pass 2 cars on a backroad, as soon as i let off the gas coming back into my lane i knew it felt funny. No wobbles at all there either. just kind of a loose rear end. I pulled over immediately and everything was fine.

My Buell is the most stable bike i've ever ridden.

 

[blinxbuell]

Yeah not entirely sure what it was. I took a look at the front wheel to see if a bearing had gone bad but the center of the wheel is already warped from impact. There's no telling at this point other than to see if the bearings are bone dry inside. The wheel is not flat and doesn't have any sign of puncture or nails. Everything was riding fine up until that moment. I've done about 120 mph before on a straight away and didn't have any sign of wobble. You know what though...I did give it a bath late the night before. Maybe it was just pissed off at me because I used dish washing soap and a quick rinse...

 

[Iamarchangel]

I hate the "mine is good, yours should be too" reasoning but, in this case, I'm inclined to agree. Something else went wrong.

I had a bike that behaved the way yours did. It turned out that the forks were ever so slightly bent from a previous unknown to me collision.

I've crashed my 9R twice and it's still rock solid at any speed. Trucks and high winds are all part of the deal on most roads around here.

Glad you walked/limped away. For what it's worth, when I did my 100 mph slide out, I told the the manufacturer, Joe Rocket (Canada), about the bruises on my head. Within an hour and a bit, on a Sunday night, the president of Joe Rocket called me. We talked and, over the next few days, when I acknowledged that being able to complain instead of eating through a straw meant that the helmet worked, they replaced the helmet.