HOW TO PREVENT A DEATH WOBBLE! (MUST WATCH)

How to avoid the tank slap/death wobble!

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[judsonspruce]

I know this won't sound like fun, but my advice is to just ride slower and relax. I've been riding since 1966 and had my street racing days and carving canyon roads at speed, and I thank God I've had no serious mishaps. For the last few decades I ride with the traffic, not constantly passing it.
It's actually fun, just enjoying being on two wheels.

[michaelb.]

I just got out of the hospital a week ago July 2024 after spending a month there. I was in intensive care for a week, then general for three weeks. I had my right kidney removed, shattered 6 of 9 right ribs, my right calf exploded on impact, and I hd respiratory failure. Couldn't breathe when I was lifted into the ambulance which seemed like 5 minutes after my crash. What happed was my front tire immediately lost all its air at 50mph and I got the speed wobbles I couldn't recover from, so I went down. I will watch your video with extra care and PLEASE be safe my brothers and sisters out there on two wheels.

[Robshotipod]

This video made mad sense. Especially the point where you gave the analogy of giving the little bit of throttle when going over the bump etc. We learn that in basics but your brought that point home great!

[Eastsie]

I’m glad you said 1st thing check the tire/ tire pressures especially

[stevenotterbeck]

I went through a death wobble on free way at 90mph. Thought I was going to die. I let up on throttle slowly. Probably was not the right thing to do. I crossed over one lane slowed down to 60. I think it was weight in bags not equal. I didn’t ride for weeks. And it has slowed me down. No more ride it like I strolled it. I’m still gun shy. Please check tire pressure and equal weight in bags

[LibertyEver]

Adding energy to an unstable system tends to make it less stable, not more. Motorcycles are gyroscopically stabilized. They want to stay upright and travel in a straight direction. Reducing power and allowing the bike to stabilize is generally the best solution. Fighting the front tire motions usually adds energy that increases the instability. A loose grip on the handlebars and a firm grip on the tank and frame to add mass to the stable portion of the system attenuates the instability.

[IsaacBeasley-oi]

I've had 2 death wobbles. The first one was 2 weeks after getting my license in the early 80's. I only had 3 weeks of riding experience and I hit hot asphalt with no real experience. I hit a tree trying to land in someone's yard, but I did avoid the parked cars. Fortunately the only thing damaged was my pride and the bike. Of course the city charged me for the repairs on the tree. I only knocked off a little bark. I was told by my father's friends, I should have increased the throttle. My second one was in 2008, but this time I was a motor officer riding a Harley. I jumped the gun on wet pavement at a light to assist officers in a fight. Thank god no one was filming. I did recover.

[Lwimmermastermetalart]

I too survived a death wobble. It simply wasn’t my day to die. My experience led me to 13 days in ICU so much pain I was on morphine. This happened on a tricked out bagged. What happens on rubber mounted Harley’s is this. If your motor shakes, because the trans is solid mounted to the motor and the rear swing arm the motion goes directly to the rear tire. So in my case the top motor mount bolts had worked their way out because a certain mechanic never installed them correctly. At over 70 MPH when it violently started shaking all I could do is slow down all the while thinking F**k I’m gonna crash. And indeed I did. By the grace of God I was saved. Not only because I landed in between two things that would have killed me instantly, but also that an off duty cop coming the other way ( divided 4 lane highway ) just happened to see me. Otherwise I’d have never been found in time. First helicopter ride and not in a fun way. Anyway the last thing I would have thought about was to accelerate rather than slow down. You really don’t get educated on that so this is something everyone should be required to learn. Now a tank slapper in this case is a bit different than one on a sport bike I believe. Although I’ve been told by experts that any bike can be put into a tank slapper. As for the Harleys with this happening so much aftermarket companies developed devices to eliminate this on the rubber mounted motors. One was invented called a True Track. This inventor and I spoke in great length over the whole situation and how he proved to Harley the design flaw in their bikes. Took me quite some time till I rode like I used to. Thanks be to God I’m still alive (74 years now ) and still riding. Good video with great information.

[edconcepcion]

It happened on my’87 Electric Glide. Had just entered Connecticut on a 2 lane (each way) highway heading north. I took a curve at above 60 mph and at the end of the curve the road was wavy (up & down). Since I was leaning and hit the wave while leaning, at the straight away, the rear of the bike started (dancing) wobbling. What a scary situation, I started to ease off the throttle and eventually it straightened out. Was very fortunate that all the traffic behind me noticed it and stayed a good distance behind me. This happened over 20 yrs ago. Needless to say I don’t go overly fast on curves unless I’m familiar with the road (still). Glad you made a video on this, thanks.

[Jeremybaland]

Some of this advice is solid but some is very dangerous especially for newer riders. If you are not at an advanced level of rider you should always set your tire pressure to the manufactures recommendation. Taking advice from someone on youtube to set your front tire with more pressure than the back could get you in trouble. I have never seen a manufacture or the max cold PSI listed on the tire call for more pressure in front. Less pressure equals more heat. Weight/downward force is what makes for better traction along with a warm tire. Generally more weight is carried on the back of the bike so more pressure is usually called for. More pressure in the front could make for a colder tire causing it to break traction first which is much more difficult to recover vs the rear tire. The front isn't designed to carry the weight so why would you run more pressure up front? Listen to the manufacturer, but I'm just a guy on Youtube too.

[LiLgPnoy]

Had this happen to me, I had no idea what the fudge was happening. I was freaking out. I stayed calm, eased off the throttle and let the bike regain itself. I don't know if it was right, but it worked for me. Staying calm was what helped me through.

[johnhuntington]

My experience came in my dirt bike days. Coming downhill on Honda cr250 2-stroke. Bike shook its head like a dog trying to throw off fleas! My solution was to move rearward on the seat and apply throttle. This kept the front end light and allowed me to save it. Still…scary!

[tomprusak]

I had one on my Harley chopper at 100mph. It kicked in so Fast. I was covering 2 lanes on the Xway, going back and forth, I don't know how many times. I let off the throttle. THE ONLY SENSIBLE THING TO DO And DO NOT Reach for the Foot Brake or BRAKE Any, , , just ride it out down to a manageble slowly started to to lessen from 2 lanes to a lane and a half to 1 lane to a half a lane and 25 mph. before I could throttle up again to 60 mph, , I looked back over my shoulder and there were 3 cars holding back all lanes of traffic behind me, , and catch my riding partner that was waiting on the shoulder up ahead. No Joke... Do Not reach for your foot Brake Pedal.... The motion will Unbalance you and the bike and You Will Go Flying Off...

[bobsullivan]

I owned four Harleys over a 50 year had a newer bikes must be crap.
I used to love my got over it. I now ride a KLR 650....Love it.

[motorcycleden]

Been through one death wobble at a little over 90 mph and don't want to do that again. I did exactly what you said, throttle through it. It's definitely not natural to give it gas when that happens, but we need to push through the urge to let off the throttle and open it up. Good video!

[mattdonna]

Years ago my 1st generation V-Max started to wobble at 145 m.p.h. I let off the gas, slowed down, all okay. It's an experience you don't forget. I miss that bike occasionally.

[christinavaneyll]

Where old road meets newly laid road got me into one. The funny thing was, it was on a 125 scooter 😅
I thought; "Seriously? Of all the bikes I've ridden, I'm going down on this heap of 💩?" 😅

[RGHD]

Never experienced the death wobble on my Gsxr or my Road Glide, but had a minor wobble over 80mph on my RG, changed the tires and no more wobble, I’m 205lbs. And I like 38psi front and 40psi rear. Just my .02 ! Keep up the good content, like the channel bro

[neilhoogendoorn]

Survived two D wobbles and every guy I know who rides allot has experienced it also, if you have not you most likely have not put on the miles or have been very lucky. Thank you for your perspective and will keep these tips in mind.

[kzrider]

Just check my tire pressure on the bike good thing I did was pretty low both tires. I have experienced this but, nothing like I have seen on some of these videos. I hope more people just learning how to ride come across your video and helps them prepare for it. It is not a matter of will but, when it will happen.