How to deal with Speed Wobbles / Tank slappers

READ, THEN COMMENT!!!!!!!!!!!

I made this video because there seems to be a ton of (enter insult) that leave comments saying your supposed to add throttle when you get wobbles, which is wrong. It is understandable that people could think that because dirt bike riders have a saying "when in doubt throttle out", but street bikes are completely different!
The proper way to deal with wobbles is to simply let off the throttle while simultaneously grasping the tank with your thighs and putting your weight forward WITHOUT PUTTING ANY INPUT INTO THE HANDLEBARS!

For those of you who don't know, you can get "speed wobbles/Tank slappers" from the front tire going out of alignment with the rear tire. What happens then is the front tries realigns by "jumping" back over to where it needs to be.
Unless you got a turbo bike with stock wheel base, the lifting the front end off the ground to stop the shake is not gonna happen! So if your arguing adding throttle is the best solution.....please film your crash so i can watch!

Yes, i know these are not bad wobbles and by no means are they tank slappers. But like the title says this video is to show how to deal with them. So if you say "oh yours aren't bad at all..." well that's because not only do i have a newer bike but I dealt with them properly which prevented them from getting worse!

Still got questions or comments, you know where to put them!

[elkey]

Today I had my first speed wobble at 120km/h. I shitted my pants like never but somehow managed not to crash. What I did was put strong hold on gas tank with my tights. I remember I had watched some tutorial on YT some time ago, maybe it was your video :). I have little experience (125 for a year, 600 for 1-2 months) but somehow grasping strongly gas tank is more natural than putting your throttle up (which in few cases might be problem, I mean cars and motorbikes). Anyway thanks for this video.

[rwill]

Awesome riding. Reacted instantly to the speed wobble and then went back to accelerating to complete overtaking the other cars. Great to watch man!

[TheAtcole]

I know surprises always happen on motorcycles, especially at high speeds, but in my opinion (this is from personal experience) once you get used to a bike and how it handles and reacts over the varying contours in the pavement, you kind of build muscle memory that automatically corrects things like the wobbles. Here's my example: I own a 2007 R6, no steering damper. The first month I had it I was doing 70 down a straight and fairly rough road (not fit for 70mph), I hit a rough patch and my front wheel came off the ground just enough to offset the front wheel, causing me to go into a pretty scary little tank slapper (saved it tho). It's been my daily driver/canyon bomber for the past year now. Yesterday on a mountain ride I was doing 125mph through a fast corner and I hit a shallow dip that spanned the width of the road. The whole bike came a few inches off the ground so you can imagine when it came back down it went into a wobble, but I knew how it was going to react to it because its happened so much before. You learn how to brace against the bike and after a while it doesn't even register in your mind that the bike is wobbling; its just doing its thing. Granted you have to be paying attention to the road surface (no shit Sherlock). But physics also play their part in the wheel keeping itself straight... 

[hondafo]

I think no input on the handlebars should be in all caps with no throttle.

[GJeff]

Dude I'm so focused on how fast you are goin threw the cars I didn't see any wobble. What's up dude. You got balls. Wish I did.

[iretrate]

Good man. Definitely the proper way to handle a situation. Especially leaving the handlebars alone and just putting weight forward.

[UnbarablePain]

I don't even ride and I know the uploaded is correct. It's simple physics on weight transfer. Laying off the throttle causes the front to become "heavy" and so does putting your body weight on it. When the front is heavy the tire is pushed more into the road and has more grip. Well, when the tire is sticking easier to the road it's harder for it to move due to friction. Thus, the tank slapping effect starts to cancel since that tire is having a harder time moving back and forth. In addition, with the weight transferring forward due to the forces of the rider and deceleration, the wheel wants to go forward. In car culture, this is what causes Understeer. The wheels want to keep going straight and not turn. If there's too much force pushing the car forward entering a corner it will Understeer and continue on straight off the road.
Thus, decreasing throttle and leaning forward is the proper way to stop you from tasting asphalt.

[zacharyfloydjohnson]

Well my neighbor who moved in two years ago, the husband was a motorcycle saftey course instructor in Washington. He has a few bikes and when my dad got his bike they started talking. A coversation that I sat in on was about high speed wobbles and taking corners. What he told my dad was to throttle it when you start wobbling wich takes the weight off the front of the bike. But your right I down own a street bike only a dirtbike so I am unfimiliar with that machine. Thanks,
Zack

[JVBabich]

I hit some loose gravel a few months ago and went into a slapper too. I am still relatively new to road riding (8 months), and because of this i remember panicking, stiffening my arms and trying as hard as i could to hold the bars still. BIG MISTAKE. 4 slaps later I high-sided. I completely agree with the point about loosening off your arms and adjusting weight. The main thing to try and change I believe is speed. Escape the natural harmonic frequency of the oscillation. Good info yes333yes!

[yesyes]

The rear wheel doesn't need to be off the ground or locked up for the rear-wheel to be going faster. The front brakes used hard enough can cause the rear tire to revolve slightly faster making it try to pass the front. Only option is to go around.
The rear can come out during a rear tire lock up, but once again that is because the rear of the motorcycle is stopping slower than the front so it usually goes out to the side because most people don't have a stable/balanced braking method.

[yesyes]

Sorry to hear that, but I'm glad you're good enough to write about it with humor.

[illcat]

Yeah...listen to the guy telling you to close the throttle and put weight on the front. Good luck trying to think about all that in the fraction of a second that a little wobble like this lasts. And to clarify, I didn't say ADD throttle. I said maintain it. But what do I know...I only do it five times every track day.

[termites]

great description. im no stranger to the wobbles. got nothing to say on top of what u said. but to the people who say to just buy a steering damper to prevent it... they only help make them less wobbly and if u dont do what it says up top, u can still wobble out

[yesyes]

If you're not trolling, sorry. It explains how to in the top of the video. As Diesel said it about grabbing on with your thighs/knees. When the wobbles are extremely aggressive it would in some cases be better to let off due to the fact your arms can't keep up with the movement which would be considered input, which is the last thing you want. That's why some people have said "my arms came off and IDK how it just straightened out..", cause your arms where making it worse.

[yesyes]

What you said is essentially what I've said to do; minus the putting your weight forward. I DO NOT recommend grabbing a handful of brake since the tire may be sideways as you do, which will make you crash (like using the front brake while turning).

[MattyH]

So... to be correct, in laymens terms, when you start to wobble let off the throttle and hold on tight, pushing all weight forward?

I don't ride yet but I do plan on learning soon, and that's easily the thing that has me worried the most (especially on these bumpy roads out where I live).

[yesyes]

A speed wobble can be a tank slapper but not the converse. A speed wobble can be very light in severity while a tank slapper is when the handlebars are completely rotating from side to side (some models actually hit the tank or frame when completely turned to 1 side).
Pulling in the clutch is input into the bars which would fight the bike, and it would decrease the pressure on the front.
Lack of input or being "light" on the bars is accomplished by leg and core strength and riding technique.

[yesyes]

There is a possibility that your clutch is slipping but that is fairly obvious because you will hear the rpm climb, without engaging while the clutch is fully let out. 600's are more difficult to take off on because of the low amount of torque, you can compensate with throttle, but practice will get you there. You can also get a larger rear sprocket by a couple teeth, or a smaller front but I'd only do 1 tooth front, 2 max. Lastly, make sure your clutch cable is properly adjusted. Ask anything

[yesyes]

lol, thanks man! Converted this beast to a racing bike and just got back from another successful weekend of riding. Should have some videos of it up soon!

[davetechme]

Had a pretty fun one a few months back when I hit big ass pothole on the 15 freeway at around 70mph. Intensity grew pretty severe and it shook what felt like ages. I was sure I was going to go down so I just gave in and relaxed my arms, kept a constant throttle (didn't want to chop it and risk a highside but I think that's more applicable with rear end slides), and luckily it corrected itself. Good thing to because there was a good amount of traffic.