Just a friendly Public Service Announcement for the idiots out there like me... MAKE SURE YOU CHECK YOUR BOLTS BEFORE RIDING! I didn't and I'm lucky it didn't really hurt/kill me or someone else. So after not riding any kind of moto for over a year due to being too busy with work/life/etc, I decided to take a break and join a couple buddies for a trackday at NCM this past weekend. My 2013 Kawi zx6r had been sitting in my garage collecting dust and cob webs until I rushed to load it up the night before. I admit, I didn't take the time to get it properly prepared before I left for the track. It wouldn't even start so I had to buy a battery at the track from a vendor Sat morning. But after that, everything seemed fine. I checked to make sure the controls worked, and nothing was leaking or obviously loose, but didn't go much further than that. Saturday the bike worked fine, and despite some bad cramping/fatigue from being out of shape, I was having fun and decided to stay for Sunday to see if I could make some progress on figuring out the track. By Sunday morning my body had loosened up a bit, and I started to get back up to speed by mid day. But then in the 2nd session after lunch, IT happened. I was coming into what I think is Turn 16, the high speed sweeping right after the middle straight (I think it's called "table top", where you get a nice little 100+ mph wheelie coming over the hill=so much fun). I went through the little kink/dip at pretty much full speed and went to brake and initiate the turn when my right clipon/handlebar came OFF! For those that have been to NCM, you know that this is probably the worst spot for something like this to happen. There really isn't any runoff straight ahead, you NEED to at least try to turn or you could easily reach the tire wall at that speed. I didn't really have much time to think, but I knew where I was on the track and that it wasn't going to end well if I didn't scrub some speed. The clipon was still dangling in my hand, wires and brake lines attached, so I tried to apply the front brake. I ended up doing a 100+ mph endo and threw myself over the front end, doing some kind of flip, and I think I landed on my back. Chris Parish was behind me and saw most of it apparently. He gave me "style point". I'm not for sure, but I think I had the "best" crash of the weekend. Not sure if anything was caught on camera though. I have been down a few times, but this was by far the most violent crash I've even been in. I fully understand the "ragdoll" effect now. I never thought I was going to stop sliding, but luckily ended up about 10 feet from the tire wall. I got banged up pretty good, may have torn a ligament or something in my knee but otherwise I'm ok. I'm going to wait a few days to see how it goes before seeing a doc about the knee. It hurt pretty bad Monday morning and, but isn't too bad anymore, although I'm still using crutches. The bike actually didn't look too bad, but I haven't had a chance to check it out fully yet so who knows. I'm just happy that nobody was in front of me and that besides causing a red flag, nobody else was effected. So the moral of the story- CHECK ALL YOUR CRITICAL BOLTS BEFORE YOU RIDE, especially if the bikes been sitting for awhile. Even if it looks tight and you haven't had any issues, go back and reapply your thread locker every now and then, apparently that stuff has an expiration. I know what your thinking... "Thanks Mr. Obvious" , but if it saves one person from a potentially BAD crash, I guess it's worth the hit I'm about to take for being careless with my maintenance. I'm sure there are going to be a dozen people that respond saying they always check their stuff and how I'm irresponsible, but I'm pretty sure the majority of the paddock is not much better than me when it comes to this stuff. So pass on the word for everyone's sake.
Glad to hear you came away relatively unscathed. Even the most fastidious person makes a mistake every now and then, but keeping that approach to maintain any equipment that your life depends on is certainly the right way to do it.
Had that happen at Roebling last year, including the endo.. it's a incredibly weird and unwanted feeling when the clip on moves.
I had the front brake lever turn downward on the h/bar going down the backstretch at Rockingham due to one of the screws stripping, apparently when I last used the brake exiting the infield the previous lap. Fortunately, I was able to move it back into position before I got to the turn into the infield. But having a clip-on actually come off? I've only read about that happening, including a couple of times to professional riders.
tl;dr - but heal up quick! as a ducati rider , i should check all bolts before and after every ride. also during breaks. and in the middle of the night, when i can't sleep.
I guess I should say the bar came off, not the actual clipon part that attaches to the fork. There are two little allen bolts clamping it down. The inside bolt was still tight, the outside was loose. The bar never felt loose up until that point. I tend to put a lot of force on the bars with my riding style and think it just happened to finally let go at a bad time. It was a Vortex, not that I'm saying it's their fault.
LOL tl;dr? How did you know I was hurt then? Come on, it wasn't that long, 2 minute read, tops. Like you guys are doing anything better anyway. Its a Tuesday, your probably wasting time at work.
Another reason to race vs track days. Tech at a race would have had a better shot at noticing that before you got on track
Maybe. But it just depends on the actual guy doing the tech. One of the N2 guys grabs the bike by the bars and pulls it towards him hard. Caught a loose clipon for me....
I doubt any kind of tech would have caught it, unless they actually checked with a torque wrench. Remember, this was the next day, tech was the previous morning (they don't make you re-tech as long as you don't crash). I had been yanking on that sucker for hours by that point and didn't notice anything strange until it suddenly let loose. WERA tech is probably better than most, but we still shouldn't rely on something like tech to make sure our stuff is safe. Even if you have a trusty Livengood type that does your work for you, it's probably still a good idea to do a quick check yourself of the essentials every morning before you get on the bike. Even good pit crews have bad days. In fact, isn't that one of the reasons Ben Spies retired early? Yamaha GP crew didn't tighten a bolt or something on the swingarm causing him to crash and get injured? Even the best screw up I guess, unless you are one of the conspiracy types that think they did it on purpose to make way for Rossi...
