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Teathered Kill Switches (yes or no)

Discussion in 'General' started by Scott McKee, Jun 14, 2004.

  1. Shyster d'Oil

    Shyster d'Oil Gerard Frommage

    MarkB:

    Hey Hollywood-boy -- here's the WRONG fact you cited: "the fact that no other racing orgainization in the world has them".

    You liberals and Hollywood types are all the same.:p
     
  2. panthercity

    panthercity Thread Killa

    I ain't payin' you for this representin', Doyle!
     
  3. bigx1384

    bigx1384 Banned

    we were required to have a tether on our short trackers, i cant remember any incident where the switch or tether caused a problem and we could get those bars purty dam tite at times,,,,
     
  4. Mongo

    Mongo Administrator

    Not saying yes or no but needless to say I've been thinking about them all day. Not sure what potential downsides might be and that worries me when instituting something like that.

    One other point - a self closing throttle as already required should prevent the same issue - and this has nothing to do wiht the bike that ghost rode having any issues, just that you'd think the rule we already have would prevent the same thing. The tethers always seemed to be better for a bike on the ground with the throttle pinned.
     
  5. dtalbott

    dtalbott Driving somewhere, hauling something.

    One other thought:

    If the bike and rider are on the ground, with the motor still wide open, I figured it would be easier for the cornerworker to see the attached tether cord, grab it, and shut the bike off.
     
  6. tweety2

    tweety2 New Member

    Why is it that the only times that things get changed is when people get hurt? I have no examples to give. No need to really. We all look around in our worlds to see things that have changed due to public demand. This is no different.
    Why whine about a tether when we pay out the butt for steering dampers and case covers? It's not a cost that will break any of us.
     
  7. dtalbott

    dtalbott Driving somewhere, hauling something.

    Not trying to make money off of this, but if any WERA racers want to start using a tether cord, I feel that we could work out a cost plus shipping deal.

    Email me at [email protected] .
     
  8. GixxerBlade

    GixxerBlade Oh geez

    Thats a safety thing. If you have ever read any maintenance manual and seen **CAUTION** It means that someone before you has been down that road. I saw a cool program about NASCAR and how far they have come in the past 10,000 years that they have been racing and it was the same thing. Someone crashes and dies without wearing a seatbelt, seatbelts are mandatory. Thats how NASCAR does it but I like the idea of you racers trying to do something before it happens to you personally.
     
  9. bigx1384

    bigx1384 Banned

    i have observed quite a few bikes that idle around 1500-2500rpm, if the rider falls off the throttle plate is still open allowing the bike to motor on. if the tether pulls the plug the bike will stop from engine braking
     
  10. MarkB

    MarkB All's well that ends well

    :Dwell spotted. And true. I mean, yes, I was wrong there.


    I just dont know about all this extra safety. I mean, I'm sure a very persuasive argument can be for their use, but it just seems like all these other safety devices that plague my life. :

    - Why does the damn car have to "bing bing bing" at me when I leave the door open with the radio on? (it could at least 'bing' in time to the music...)

    - Why does the fire alarm constantly "blip" every minute - I had to tear that damn thing down it pissed me off so bad...

    - Why does the garage door stop closing when I try to run out of it. I have to simulateously leap and duck my head as I run out....smacked my head first time I tried that trick.

    Having said all that, I am glad they put handles on the inside of car trunks now.....
     
  11. joehayes101

    joehayes101 Well-Known Member

    my 2 cents

    I would not be opposed to teather switches.
     
  12. TrentThomas

    TrentThomas .........

    Pay attention, Greenie. You never know when this tidbit might prove useful... :D
     
  13. Robert

    Robert Flies all green 'n buzzin

    How are tethers long enough that a rider never accidently unhooks them by moving around the bike, yet short enough they don't get in the way of a his hands? I've never seen them so am curious.
     
  14. Eric_77

    Eric_77 Well-Known Member

    I was thinking I had never seen a ghost bike have any sort of incident then I rememebred yes I have my own bike in an endurance race(how would a tether work in end?) the rider came off the bike it ran down hill and started down the back straight towards traffic (counter race) first two bikes dodged it the third drafting bike did not bingo head on collision. Tucked the front ends on both bikes and riders were only slightly injuried.
     
  15. LAR

    LAR Well-Known Member

    Roach and I were just discussing this, as he used to run one on his 400 superbike. He said that one definitely has to be conscious of the fact that it's there, especially on the grid...accidentally forget about it and reach up to fiddle with your visor or whatever, and you kill the engine.

    It's long enough for the rider to move around, yet not so long that it's flapping around while you're riding.
     
  16. Speedballer

    Speedballer Banned

    Re: My $0.02

    Great post. I was on the fence til I read this...now I am against the teather switch. Good call.
     
  17. CB186

    CB186 go f@ck yourself

    i was thinking about mounting one in the area of the front of the gas tank, like where the two bolts are. the other end would attact to your leathers in the chest area, that way your hand are pretty free to move around. this is the way that snowmobile teathers are.
     
  18. jethromcb

    jethromcb Goldmember

    Who is to say that killing the bike immediately is better in every situation. Example: A rider comes off the bike and it ghost rides clear of the track and lays down- no big deal. Next example: Rider comes off bike with tether and kills it immediately. The bike may lay down on the racing line depending on where exactly the get off happened.

    My point is: It would be a big rule change to alter something that may never happen. It could potentially hurt more than help in some freak situations. No one really knows because of the dynamics of a motorcycle traveling at speed.
     
  19. guerrilla

    guerrilla Real King of the Jungle

    Bzzzzt wrong answer.

    There is completely no statistic to back this up but in the 5 or so years I chased the WERA Nationals across the country I saw about 100 high side crashes. If I were guessing I would say about 15-20 of these resulted in the bike continuing on its merry way after it ejected the rider. Hell it happened to Jeremy McWilliams this past weekend in MotoGP (there's an action clip of it in the PPV section of motogp.com). The good news was the bike Ghost Rode into the gravel trap.

    Now with that being said unless there is a automatic break locker upper a tethered kill switch would stop it at all.

    I was at Summit a couple of years ago and the EXACT incident occured in what I am assuming is the exact place. The good news was there was no bike in the way of the ghost riding bike. The corner worker wasn't standing where the bike was going and I had just moved over closer to T5. Otherwise I would have been hit. I was following the rider through my lens and when the dust settled the bike had jumped the berm and ended up on the hill.

    Since I am not a racer, my opinion means dick on this argument, but a tethered kill switch changes NOTHING, other than the situation Darrin described. So if you are looking for a SAFETY MEASURE this ain't it! But hey a $50 switch that could save you a motor sounds like a good thing to me. Well, for everyone except Greenie cause he would have a 1 in a million chance of installing it correctly! :)
     
  20. IF!

    IF! Buford;02 Polaris&trailer

    Back in the day we had a little endurance team (VBR) and tried teathers, nothing but trouble. We lost the race in Portland because of it (Mongo will correct me if I am wrong) and had more than our share of "incidents" because of them (and trust me we were famous for our incidents).
    Than being said if you want to run one go for it, however I don't think it should be mandated.
     

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