safe motorcycles LOL

[willieworld]

our favorite spot --count me in and sheri this time ----- willie

[Ratliff]

http://www.sprintex.com.au/Top_Bike_-_The_Edge_Photo_Gallery.asp

Jay Upton's "The Edge" streamliner Top Fuel bike is equipped with a drag chute (mounted on the wheelie bars) to assist stopping.

[dwarner]

As mentioned on the car side of this topic I am not trying to write a rule here.

IMO a rider parachute is not safe, I have yet to see a demonstrated example of the benefits of such a device. Who is going to volunteer to open their parachute in a non-emergency situation? I would guess a sidecar would stay kinda straight if the rider jumped off.

DW

[Ratliff]

As mentioned on the car side of this topic I am not trying to write a rule here.

IMO a rider parachute is not safe, I have yet to see a demonstrated example of the benefits of such a device. Who is going to volunteer to open their parachute in a non-emergency situation? I would guess a sidecar would stay kinda straight if the rider jumped off.

DW

The facts are John Dixon already did in 1982. That's 26 years ago.

Separating from a motorcycle at 200 mph is not safe.

It's separating from the bike that deploys the chute.

The demonstrated benefits are John Dixon walked away after separating from his rocket drag bike at over 200 mph.

The demonstrated benefits are personnel drag chutes have either eliminated or reduced injuries for many drag boat racers who otherwise might not have survived at all.

http://www.vintagekarts.com/Rockets/Rockets.htm#1050

Although fortunately he never had to use it, Jack McClure in 1972 was the first person in a land vehicle to wear a personnel drag chute.

[willieworld]

dw  so what you are saying is that you think that a motorcycle rider is safer at 200 mph if ejected from his bike without a chute than with one --if thats not what you said please correct me  if it is could you please explain why    thank you  willie buchta

in the sidecar class you have to demonstrate unrestricted exit (no other motorcycle class has that restriction)but you do it in TECH not on the track so why would anyone need to demonstrate a parachute except in tech--and if i show up wearing a personal parachute will tech stop me from wearing it    thanks again  willie

[Seldom Seen Slim]

I don't think you'd get away with wearing a chute on the naked bike categories.  There's a rule that you can't have the aero "hump" on your leathers, and I expect that the chute would be in a similar location.

Nancy and I have sets of Kevlar underwear that we wear under the leathers.  Full-length pants, with straps under the foot to hold the legs down, and long-sleeve shirts with velcro fasteners at the wrists to attempt to hold the sleeves in place.  We haven't tested them, although if you go to the site of the maanufacturer (www.dragginjeans.com, I think it is) you can see the boss/inventor being pulled down the highway on his butt -- wearing the kevlar.   We hope that if we should ever get off the bike - that the kevlar will reduce the abrasion injury that we might suffer.

Gotta go try and fix the 'puter at the house.  Later. . .

[fredvance]

Its the rolling and tumbling that get you. I've had 4 120+ mph get offs/go downs.Broken/cracked 16 ribs, 1 punctured lung, 4 broken collar bones, and my shoulder trashed once. I never hit any other inert objects. Just me and the pavement. Always had leather jacket, good helmet, jeans, and gloves all but once(tore up my hands that time). I cant imagine how much worse it would be at 200+. That parachute thin might be something to think about.

Fred

[Ratliff]

I don't think you'd get away with wearing a chute on the naked bike categories.  There's a rule that you can't have the aero "hump" on your leathers, and I expect that the chute would be in a similar location.

Nancy and I have sets of Kevlar underwear that we wear under the leathers.  Full-length pants, with straps under the foot to hold the legs down, and long-sleeve shirts with velcro fasteners at the wrists to attempt to hold the sleeves in place.  We haven't tested them, although if you go to the site of the maanufacturer (www.dragginjeans.com, I think it is) you can see the boss/inventor being pulled down the highway on his butt -- wearing the kevlar.   We hope that if we should ever get off the bike - that the kevlar will reduce the abrasion injury that we might suffer.

Gotta go try and fix the 'puter at the house.  Later. . .

Jim Deist, the man who created personnel drag chutes, is a design genius. The first man to wear a personnel drag chute on a bike, Arvil Porter, was the design genius who created hydrogen peroxide rocket bikes. However, I suppose even Da Vinci had people telling him, "I dunno, Leonardo, shouldn't she have a bigger smile?"

[Glen]

Before this turns into rule of any kind I think the motorcycle committee should be included in the Q & A. Van Butler is the chairman and they have others to consult as well as Deist and Stroud as manufactures. They and The committee need to be in the beginning of this topic. Lets all work together on this or it won't go anywhere.

[Ratliff]

Before this turns into rule of any kind I think the motorcycle committee should be included in the Q & A. Van Butler is the chairman and they have others to consult as well as Deist and Stroud as manufactures. They will
The committee need to be in the beginning of this topic. Lets all work together on this or it won't go anywhere.

That sounds like a great first step.

[willieworld]

look guys  i started this thread for cussin and discuccin some possible improvements in  motorcycle safety it was not my intention to change any rule --if someone who is a bni or scta member wants to submit a rule change  please wait until this cussin and discussin has ran its course and everyone has a chance to ad there 2 cents worth --this thread was started to put our heads together and maybe come up with some safety tips for us all --so that we can ALL be a little safer   thanks for all of your imput   willie buchta

[Seldom Seen Slim]

Willie, starting this thread's great idea -- one of the good things about having this forum available.  It's about as good as shooting the breeze at the workbench, talking over ideas and experiences, and hearing all sorts of things that haven't come across in your own experiences,  then taking the whole bunch, boiling it down a bit -- and then, if there's an obvious conclusion - that's what you use to go tothe next step.  The next step might be as simple as asking the M/C committee if they have any input (since neither Van nor any of the others on the committee are on the forum, and neither is Deist or Stroud).  The chute makers will likely have some professional guidance for us, and then we can take all of the sgtuff we've gathered to the committee.

Go0d job, Willie.

[hawkwind]

willie , the DLRA M/C tech committee has made mandatory some of the suggestions made here , all riders must wear a back protector , and any riders riding in classes which exceed 200mph full body armor ,we allow either the all cow leathers or standard racing leathers ,with any leathers having perforations the rider must wear an under garment of suitable fire retardant material .
We have only had 2 M/C accidents ,in both cases the riders suffered broken bones , shoulder/collar bone ,both the result of the fall from the bike and contactwith the salt , inspection of the leathers after ward revealed only minor scuff damage and a small rip in one set possibly from contact with some part of the bike during the fall ,all stitching was undamaged as was the zip on the one two piece , the helmets also showed scuff damage ,but other wise remained in tact ,the crush zone material was an unknown ,both helmets were retired from further use ,the most likely causes for the crashes were, bike one Yamaha R1 ,was using a narrow section front tyre on the rear ,valve stem was missing tyre was destroyed , we concluded the cause most likely broken valve stem caused rapid deflation of rear tyre and crash , we instituted all metal valve stems mandatory and  banning of the use of front tyres as  rear drive tyres , bike 2 a one off vintage Vincent black lightning ,talking with the rider , an uncontrolled tank slapper was the most likely cause , we instituted the banning of the old friction type dampers and the use of a modern style steering damper on all motorcycles regardless of class , these crashes also ushered in the mandatory use of back protectors and full body armor .
Jason I'm not convinced that 2 piece race suites should be banned ,do you have any proof that they separate in crashes ( on salt surfaces?) ,but the use of fire rated undergarments should be made mandatory .
Rider parachutes are worth investigating as are chutes for the M/c as well , but from our limited data the actual fall from the bike at speed and making contact with the salt surface seems to be the major cause of injury
cheers
Gary

[willieworld]

thanks slim --like i said im not doing this for a rule change--i already submitted my rule changes --but i think we can all learn from each other --i know there are people out there that have some great ideas --it doesnt matter it they are great or goofy as long as we cuss and discuss it --and besides if it goofy chances we wont even know your name just your computer name --believe me ive said some pretty goofy stuff in my day  but if it makes you stop and think then it was worth it  ---where are you jack    willie buchta

[willieworld]

thanks gary  great information -it sounds like the DRLA is on top of it and you gave us some important information  again thanks  willie buchta