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rogerthechorister · Jul 21st, 2009, 19:51

You are too young to have ridden a bike with girder forks!

A tank slapper happens when the front wheel of a bike starts sliding - the front wheel goes out, gets the tyre onto the sidewall - no tread (assuming it's dry) = more grip - and it's behind the centre of castor so that whips the handlebars out of control onto the lockstops the other way (ie the bars hit the tank) and then so on alternately. That's why it's called a tank slapper.

The consequence (but not the cause) is similar to the effects of gyroscopic torque of precession when front brakes were first introduced on non-IFS cars with balloon tyres.

Jul 21st, 2009, 19:51	#7
rogerthechorister Rogerthechorister Last Online: Dec 16th, 2023 02:15 Join Date: May 2006 Location: Rochester	Tank Slapper You are too young to have ridden a bike with girder forks! A tank slapper happens when the front wheel of a bike starts sliding - the front wheel goes out, gets the tyre onto the sidewall - no tread (assuming it's dry) = more grip - and it's behind the centre of castor so that whips the handlebars out of control onto the lockstops the other way (ie the bars hit the tank) and then so on alternately. That's why it's called a tank slapper. The consequence (but not the cause) is similar to the effects of gyroscopic torque of precession when front brakes were first introduced on non-IFS cars with balloon tyres.