rear brake in knee-slapper?

[lonesoldier84]

would it be useful to stabilize the bike while gently letting off the throttle?

or should you just hold the throttle steady and pray?

[oldfast007]

Explain further, are we talking a wobble, real tank slapper(rare) or something different, head shake?? Under what conditions, acceleration,deceleration, hard braking, exiting a corner??

[wolfc70]

If you have a genuine, dyed in the wool tank slapper, you need to accelerate to unload the front tire and stop the oscillations. Decelerating or braking can in crease the severity of the oscillations. It depends on the speed too. I had one pulling out of a parking lot (15 mph) and stiffening my arms and a constant throttle made it disappear.

[Scott64a]

lol by the time your handlebars start going WHAPWHAPWHAPWHAP like that you're already out of control.
Dive off it so you don't eat a footpeg.

[oldfast007]

A full on tank slapper at speed is very hard to recover from indeed...

You've all seen this one b4

Tank Slapper - Video

[lonesoldier84]

well what im talking about is there are times i come across a nasty bit of pavement where there are tar snakes all over the place and unless i slow right down (which i do) the back wheel tends to slip outwards ever so gently. i was wondering what would happen if i was going quick to the point of the rear tire sliding out cinsiderably....and then snapping back when it finds traction on normal pavement....and then possibly snapping back and forth a few times? is that what would happen?

if that is what would happen, apart from holding the throttle steady,m and increasing gently the throttle, what else can i do?

does the rear brake play a role in rovery in this situation?

[oldfast007]

IMO, tar snakes(crack sealer) are usually small but numerous so the "slip" is quick, I just maintain a steady speed and try to keep the bike in a neutral position and do not use the rear brake as this may exacerbate the slip. If any adjustments are made it is with the throttle in as smooth a movement as possible.

The ones that torque my ass are the somewhat blind corners that are laced with crack sealer.

I just try and ride it out at a steady pace trying to prevent a high side.

[Hellgate]

Originally Posted by oldfast007

A full on tank slapper at speed is very hard to recover from indeed...

You've all seen this one b4
Tank Slapper - Video

Yup, THAT was a tank slapper! A classic one.

I can see the guy thinking, "Oh man this is going to hurt!"

I had a bicycle with Campagnolo carbon fiber wheels and in a tuck, above 50mph that damn thing would slap so damn hard. I wasn't worried about crashing, but the Suburbans beside me going 70 mph and running me over. I sold the wheels and went back to regular aluminimum wheels and had no more problems. That was a case of too little.

[oldfast007]

Too little Too light, right? A definite "pucker moment" I bet...

[Scott64a]

Well, at low speed, when one has the rear end slip out, it's best to just maintain a neutral position. The rear brake locks pretty easily, so I use both brakes.

It's not going to throw the bike out of control unless you're cornering hard.
Then again, it's always different.
Prevention is the best medicine here...
If aren't really familiar with the piece of road you're on, or you see a bunch of crack sealer, or a construction zone, (pea gravel sux,) or it's just plain windy, go slow.
-you can still have fun in 2nd gear.