Biker goes down at Texas Mile

[promachine]

This might sound stupid but I`ll throw it out there anyway.
The open dragboat drivers use a chutepack strapped on to slow
there bodys down when the boat gets out of shape and tosses them
out. Has anybody ever tryed this on a lsr bike.
I know this paints some funny pictures and no, I don`t want an ejection
seat in the roadster. Just thinking (maybe to much).

[JackD]

In my humble opinion the Ron Cook
handling problem was mainly due to the fact that in lowering the bike he moved the fork-legs up in the triple-clamps thus changing the front-end geometry.....not the right way to "lower" a land speed racing bike.  On "tank slappers"...
my ride on a Vincent in the early 1980's, (at a mere 125mph, I was looking for a soft spot to land on the salt) ......by givng more throttle, and dragging the rear brake, saved my cookies.

Lowering the back an equal amount only served to reduce the ride height, the geometry stayed the same.
The back end loaded up as the rear wheel caught up and it pulled to the side towards the chain.
It was a common problem that was most clearly seen as a bike drove out of the water under power at the Drags and hooked up. The undampened frame flex made worse by the damper and the actions of the rider did the deed. Speeding up will often change the frequency and reduce the oscillation. Dragging the rear brake changes the direction of the load and the friction dampens the flex.
A lot of people get it backwards.

[JackD]

This might sound stupid but I`ll throw it out there anyway.
The open dragboat drivers use a chutepack strapped on to slow
there bodys down when the boat gets out of shape and tosses them
out. Has anybody ever tryed this on a lsr bike.
I know this paints some funny pictures and no, I don`t want an ejection
seat in the roadster. Just thinking (maybe to much).

It has been done on a Rocket bike and was very successful. The problem he had was related to his fire protection suit not working as well as leathers.
It was Larry Dixon that also used it on a HD TF bike.
Part of the problem is the chutes are not as reliable as a skilled rider, that is also scared as long as the doesn't hit anything including his own bike. Learning how and why you fall off and what to do about is a really important step in riding fast. Most of the contributing mistakes are the rider.
Water is harder than dirt or salt if you fall on it from speed.

[Larry Forstall]

Ron Cook had a great deal of ballast which probably was far enough back to give an unfavorable weight bias toward the rear. The small diameter Kawasaki forks and notoriously offset steering head exacerbated the problem.
      Don Engebretsen in the 80's riding a turbo Honda  purchased from the Gansberger-Ranger stable had a custom chute mounted on his back. It was never released. The large lump didn't have the aero benefits of the current humps.  

[bak189]

Regarding the Ron Cook bike....I must say that I really did not look the bike over very much when he was racing it....However,  if he did lower the rear end and was using shorter shocks, the relationship of the front sprocket to the rear sprocket ....under power it would try to pull the rear wheel up and lower the rear of the bike even more...this in turn would effect the front end.  Also keep in mind that the Cal. Highway Patrol had handling problems with their Kawa KZ patrol bikes ...mainy due to "weak" frt-forks and all the stuff they had on the back of the bike..
Ron was riding a KZ...right....not known for a "good handling" bike.

[JackD]

I participated with the CHP and San Jose PD in that study of the Kawi Police specials and the only change generated was the breakin procedure and limitations of a new tire.
You might ask them.
The Aero hump would still be a lump when you hit the ground and be a liability. The chute pack would be empty and flat. A suitable back protector would be of much greater benefit that the attempt at fire proofing.

[jimmy six]

Just an observation. But accelerating during a "tank slap" at Bonneville looks like a good idea as Jon says. But with the shorter shut down at Texas and Maxton riders may have a harder time thinking of this. J.D.

[mtkawboy]

I dont mean to be ignorant here but if its happening under power , how do you accellerate when youre already wide open at Bonneville ? Ive had them on stroker Sportsers & a GS1100 on the street years ago and its a tough decision to make, like how fast do I want to be going when I crash ? I havent run at Bonneville, just a fan so Im no expert and Im disabled. Dont mean to offend anyone.

[Hans Blom]

On the rake/ trail issue, the newer high power bikes are already set up pretty well for high speed, but what bout the older bikes, other than bigger forks and kick it out a 'bit', is there combination that should be shot for?

[bbb]

getting back on track you threadjackers   here is what I posted elsewhere. Russ is home today and surprisingly doing very well. 204mph on asphault and DIANESE are a good combo. he has zero rash.

just got into the best western an hour west of SA for some rest before heading home in the morning. +/- 16 hours...

Russ went through the traps at 204.xxx and the wind was coming at a slight right angle to him as he started to brake. He sat up at the same time. the best we can piece together is he was pushed harder by the wind backwards than his previous passes. (5 of 202mph+!) as he sat up, the wind pushed him back further than he had planned causing him to grab the throttle and inadvertantly the brake hard. he washed the front out, came off the bike to its left, the bike went into a slight spin and then cartwheeled at least twice coming to rest on the opposite side of the track. Russ was Life Flighted to Brakenridge Hospital in Austin where he will be for a day or two:

Broken non-displaced clavicle fracture.
Displaced multi position scapula fracture.
Massive right flank hematoma of unknown origin.
Essentially no rash. Dianese deserves massive credit.

We loaded up his bike onto my trailer and brought it back to the pits. Huge crowd of gawkers of course, but the winds continued to increase and 1/2 the bikers packed it in. A few more braved the conditions.

Amber had essentially just finished with our shakedowns/tire pressures/boost settings when this happened. She never got the chance to really get after it. Even if Rus had not gone down, there was no way I was going to allow her to run. We had fun and it ended in near tragedy. Lesson learned.

We loaded everything up, drove his truck with his gear, my truck with our gear and trailered both bikes to Austin. His local buddies Steve and Adrian helped us transfer the bike which had a flat front and a tranny stuck in gear to another truck, Russ' dad came up from Houston and took over sitting with the gimp. Russ is stoned but in good spirits and looking forward to a good chew and assessing the damage to the scooter.

Thanks to Racetrack14, 9secondjen and neon14 for help getting us loaded. Thanks to TrickTom, CD107 and the cast of characters who lent a hand. RUss extends his appreciation to everyone who helped. He will be back online in the next few days. I will post some pics in a day or two as well.

One last thing; the Texas Mile crash crew did an outstanding job of his emergent care, crash scene management, clean up and communication during a very unexpected incident. Kudos to them.

[Glen]

BBB
Glad to hear he will be ok, it's something to be aware of when it gets windy. We SCTA have a 15mph wind max. cross wind and we shut down.
A tail wind is a lot more forgiving and we do allow some runs under this condition. The starting line is notified and the decision is in the drivers/riders hands. Most will not take the chance. The thing to think about is a tail wind turns into a cross wind when turning off the course and even at slower speeds either can get one in trouble.
Best of luck for rest of the season and hope to see youa on the salt.
Glen

[gunracer1]

the wind was gusting pretty good when we decided to call it a day sunday morning. i am glade to here he is doing well.