art
Member
Posts: 2737
Grants Pass,Or
Grants Pass,Or
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« on: August 09, 2011, 02:42:31 PM » |
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My friend was going on a trip to Washington St. to see a dirt track race over the weekend on his harley with some friends an almost didn't make it .He had ape hangers . while passing a truck on the freeway in the fast lane he hit a bump in the road an his handle bars broke off in his hands at 70 mph.From what I hear he used body english to stear the bike around the truck to a off ramp where he dropped the bike after slowing down.Hard to believe but I will get more information an update when I hear more.
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Daniel Meyer
Member
Posts: 5493
Author. Adventurer. Electrician.
The State of confusion.
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« Reply #1 on: August 09, 2011, 03:07:58 PM » |
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Risers are important...and there are some really crappy ones out there...   |
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CUAgain, Daniel Meyer  |
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Bugslayer
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« Reply #2 on: August 09, 2011, 04:56:53 PM » |
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My friend was going on a trip to Washington St. to see a dirt track race over the weekend on his harley with some friends an almost didn't make it .He had ape hangers . while passing a truck on the freeway in the fast lane he hit a bump in the road an his handle bars broke off in his hands at 70 mph.From what I hear he used body english to stear the bike around the truck to a off ramp where he dropped the bike after slowing down.Hard to believe but I will get more information an update when I hear more.
Tell your friend, "GOOD JOB".  It sounds like skill and a cool head saved his life. |
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Ferris Leets
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« Reply #3 on: August 09, 2011, 05:06:53 PM » |
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Wow, seriously good reflexes and skill.
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« Reply #4 on: August 09, 2011, 05:10:27 PM » |
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Bloody good job.
If he'd been riding a Gold wing or ST1300 he'd have been in trouble.
Both bikes have a bad head shake at about 35mph when hands free and slowing down.
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bscrive
Member
Posts: 2539
Out with the old...in with the wooohoooo!!!!
Ottawa, Ontario
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« Reply #5 on: August 09, 2011, 06:41:22 PM » |
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I am glad your buddy was able to get out of that situation ok. He must be one hell of a good rider with a cool head on his shoulders. Never could understand why people would want ape hangers though. My hands fall asleep sometimes with the valk and those bars are not anything like ape hangers.
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 If global warming is happening...why is it so cold up here? |
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Big Blue VTX
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« Reply #6 on: August 09, 2011, 07:54:44 PM » |
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Risers are important...and there are some really crappy ones out there... Hmm, looks just like the QuickRelease risers I got from a new China vendor... |
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BF
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« Reply #7 on: August 09, 2011, 10:11:31 PM » |
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Apparently, it's a common problem with the Harleys......something with the "riser bushings". I've got a couple of co-workers....one with a Fatboy and one with a Road King. Both have had issues. The Fatboy had cracked bars and the Road King's bars broke as he was turning into his driveway. The bars just snapped completely into between the risers. He had been up in west South Carolina riding the mountains just a couple weeks before the bars broke. Could have been much, much worse.
Never heard of riser bushings before, but apparently Harley has 'em.
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I can't help about the shape I'm in I can't sing, I ain't pretty and my legs are thin But don't ask me what I think of you I might not give the answer that you want me to  |
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RoadKill
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« Reply #8 on: August 09, 2011, 10:15:13 PM » |
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Risers are important...and there are some really crappy ones out there... Dan, I dont care what it says in the shop manual. Correct torque is "1/4 turn before it breaks" ! |
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The Anvil
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« Reply #9 on: August 10, 2011, 07:44:37 AM » |
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I am glad your buddy was able to get out of that situation ok. He must be one hell of a good rider with a cool head on his shoulders. Never could understand why people would want ape hangers though. My hands fall asleep sometimes with the valk and those bars are not anything like ape hangers.
I had someone actually tell me that "ape hangers are where all your control is". Really, then why don't superbikes and motocross/supermoto bikes have them? Ape hangers suck for everything but looking cool and the only look cool to people who don't know any better. H-D handlebars are mounted with rubber bushings. Some people (especially guys with apes) replace them with solid mounts. This is a bad idea, but they do it anyway. While there probably are some crappy risers out there, there are way more lousy mechanics who don't even own a torque wrench. |
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Boxer rebellion, the Holy Child. They all pay their rent.
But none together can testify to the rhythm of a road well bent.
Saddles and zip codes, passports and gates, the Jones' keep.
In August the water is trickling, in April it's furious deep.
1997 Valk Standard, Red and White.
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art
Member
Posts: 2737
Grants Pass,Or
Grants Pass,Or
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« Reply #10 on: August 18, 2011, 09:15:41 PM » |
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A friend of mine almost bought it last week when he an three other harley riders where going to s. washington st. to a dirt track race.
he just entered the freeway an was passing a truck pulling doubles when his ape hanger handle bars broke off at the upper triple tree.He was doing 75 mph an thr bars were not attached to the bike .He still had brakes an gas.He was in the fast lane with a cement barrier to his left an the truck to his right.All he could do was to use his body english to guide the bike behind an to the right of the truck an across three lanes to an off ramp an stop the bike.If he had hit the barrier or the truck it would have been all over fo him.He was on lucky rider .
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solo1
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« Reply #11 on: August 19, 2011, 07:51:18 AM » |
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I worked in environmental testing. When you combine ape hangers with vibration you have a long lever that has a resonant frequency of some amplitude. If ANY steel object such as a long thin tube is subjected to its resonant frequency for long, it will eventually break because of metal fatigue.
In other words, ape hangers are not a good idea in the presence of vibration, especially if they're hard mounted instead of using dampening material.
My old Yamaha SR500 would break its horn bracket constantly until I made a new bracket of two thin pieces of steel with special rubber sandwiched between.
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DIGGER
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« Reply #12 on: August 19, 2011, 08:11:33 AM » |
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not the same, but once a llloooonnnnggggg time ago I was on a trip with some guys to Colorado from Texas and on a long straight road in New Mexico running about 70 I decided to try and slip my down filled vest off while using body english to steer. Almost had it off and the darned thing got tangled up with my arms behind me. Went into the panic mode but kept enough sense to keep her going straight with body english while I wrestled with the vest......finally got it loose. Never tried that again. Scared the crap out of me.
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czuch
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« Reply #13 on: August 19, 2011, 09:54:56 AM » |
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I had a Pan Head many years ago. I put apes on it and took em off after 3 days.
I felt like an idiot, didnt like the way the bike handled, my arms got numb.
I'm still an idiot, but I'm an idiot on a Valk!
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Aot of guys with burn marks,gnarly scars and funny twitches ask why I spend so much on safety gear
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Bobbo
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« Reply #14 on: August 19, 2011, 10:09:46 AM » |
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not the same, but once a llloooonnnnggggg time ago I was on a trip with some guys to Colorado from Texas and on a long straight road in New Mexico running about 70 I decided to try and slip my down filled vest off while using body english to steer. Almost had it off and the darned thing got tangled up with my arms behind me. Went into the panic mode but kept enough sense to keep her going straight with body english while I wrestled with the vest......finally got it loose. Never tried that again. Scared the crap out of me.
That reminds me of a scene from one of my favorite movies! Starts about 4:30 into this clip:
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DIGGER
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« Reply #15 on: August 19, 2011, 12:21:22 PM » |
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not the same, but once a llloooonnnnggggg time ago I was on a trip with some guys to Colorado from Texas and on a long straight road in New Mexico running about 70 I decided to try and slip my down filled vest off while using body english to steer. Almost had it off and the darned thing got tangled up with my arms behind me. Went into the panic mode but kept enough sense to keep her going straight with body english while I wrestled with the vest......finally got it loose. Never tried that again. Scared the crap out of me.
That reminds me of a scene from one of my favorite movies! Starts about 4:30 into this clip: Planes.Trains.and.Automobiles.highway scene 1hahaha....yepper.....that's about the way I felt. |
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