The importance of making sure your bike is safe and secure

[easter bunny]

Yeah, agree not the job of tech to check every bolt.

Tech is done with the belly pan off anyway. You don't go back to have them check you've secured it.

I saw an AFM racer last round with two bolts holding on his rear sprocket. "Wtf, I know there's gas in it"as he came in off the track.

Was that on track? How'd you see it at speed? How did the marshals see it? Or was it on the grid and he got pulled. Only black flag I remember was belly pan guy.

 

[Blankpage]

How did he get knocked out, was the helmet shattered?

 

[vkb]

How did he get knocked out, was the helmet shattered?

Why do you think a helmet need be shattered for someone to be rendered unconscious?

The brain is basically floating in your skull. When your head suddenly accelerates or decelerates the brain lags behind and gets mashed against the inside of your skull and that is what caused the damage that knocks you out. The primary purpose of a helmet is to dampen that acceleration/deceleration via the compressible EPS liner in the helmet, but striking a flying belly pan with your head at 140mph imparts more force than the helmet can adequately dampen.

 

[thedub]

I saw an AFM racer last round with two bolts holding on his rear sprocket. "Wtf, I know there's gas in it" as he came in off the track.

I don't understand, what does gas have to do with his rear sprocket bolts?

 

[ZCrow]

How did he get knocked out, was the helmet shattered?

He was struck in the head with an oil pan at 140. No one said he was decapitated. :laughing.

 

[Escape pod]

^

 

[HondaHeathen]

It looks like the bike that dropped the bellypan might have had a bunch of duct tape on it. Can't be certain because of the speed, and quality, but is that something that should have caused concern and maybe get a more intense inspection or something?

At the end of the day it still is on the owner of the bike in my opinion to check his bike, but I'm just curious. Never been to a track day.

If the bike WAS held together with duct tape does he (or i suppose the track) have any legal obligations for the guys med bills? Or does this fall into the " Shit Happens" category?

 

[i_am_the_koi]

Was that on track? How'd you see it at speed? How did the marshals see it? Or was it on the grid and he got pulled. Only black flag I remember was belly pan guy.

Saw him pulling onto the hot pit after doing practice, Marshalls never saw it.

I don't understand, what does gas have to do with his rear sprocket bolts?

His bike was lurching like it was out of gas. It sounded funky.

 

[Shaggy]

I saw an AFM racer last round with two bolts holding on his rear sprocket. "Wtf, I know there's gas in it"as he came in off the track.

Saw him pulling onto the hot pit after doing practice, Marshalls never saw it.



His bike was lurching like it was out of gas. It sounded funky.

JFC... :facepalm

 

[cg_ops]

I have never seen loose screws "checked" in tech. And I have done a ton of track days with more than a dozen different people. Racing orgs check that the oil plug and filter are safety wired, so the oil pan could actually be off at tech. There is a lot of crap that gets passed at track days anymore that I won't do. I wire everything, and run Water Wetter instead of coolant.

Z2 may be more thorough than others, I suppose. I was notified about a loose screw on the passenger peg of my WR250 at tech last year.

This year, as part of my training to work the grid, I was told to look over the riders and bikes for things like: unstrapped helmets, unzipped leathers, loose GoPros, loose screws (as in visually backed out), un-taped wheel weights, etc.... anything that can be a danger to the rider or other riders.

I did a TD with another provider at Buttonwillow earlier in the year and tech was them looking at the bike for 5 seconds and making sure I had a sticker on it before I rode off.

 

[thedub]

His bike was lurching like it was out of gas. It sounded funky.

lol, just working through the trouble shooting process.

 

[thedub]

I did a TD with another provider at Buttonwillow earlier in the year and tech was them looking at the bike for 5 seconds and making sure I had a sticker on it before I rode off.

At Apex Trackdays in Utah, you "self tech". Just bring the filled out tech form to registration and they never look at the bike. I got my tech sticker without even unloading the bike out of the trailer.

 

[cg_ops]

At Apex Trackdays in Utah, you "self tech". Just bring the filled out tech form to registration and they never look at the bike. I got my tech sticker without even unloading the bike out of the trailer.

:wtf Wow... I would not really want to do a TD with that level of carelessness for safety.

But I guess if there's only 1 or 2 tracks in the area with as many TD companies, I'd take what I could get.

 

[clutchslip]

Z2 may be more thorough than others, I suppose. I was notified about a loose screw on the passenger peg of my WR250 at tech last year....

Not really. But, there is always worse, I suppose. Did they check your brake pads? Did they check your chain slack? Tech might touch stuff sticking out like pegs. If it is loose they might say something. The best track-day for safety is probably 3Js at Sonoma. They have you bring your equipment to tech to check like it is a real race. ALL providers should do this, in my opinion. :ride

 

[clutchslip]

At Apex Trackdays in Utah, you "self tech". Just bring the filled out tech form to registration and they never look at the bike. I got my tech sticker without even unloading the bike out of the trailer.

That is obscene. I haven't done a day with them in a long time. The last was a couple of Pahrump days with them, and it was "normal/average" tech.

 

[cg_ops]

Not really. But, there is always worse, I suppose. Did they check your brake pads? Did they check your chain slack? Tech might touch stuff sticking out like pegs. If it is loose they might say something. The best track-day for safety is probably 3Js at Sonoma. They have you bring your equipment to tech to check like it is a real race. ALL providers should do this, in my opinion. :ride

:wtf Do they have like 40 riders or is tech 3 hours long? I've been to TDs with 8 different providers and none were that thorough. Nor should they be - TD's shouldn't have to be nannies. If it were up to me - a basic tech is enough, if you're caught with any dangerously loose parts at any part in the day, the day is over for you. That way you provide motive for the riders to be doing the inspections they ought to be doing any way.

But I'm looking at it from a rider AND a business person's standpoint. The logistics of a full-tech, like you're wanting, is likely to drive prices up a lot due to the staff needed to do that. Then you start getting into the break-even analysis of income vs attendance versus marginal improvement in safety. Diminishing returns and there will ALWAYS be something missed...

 

[clutchslip]

:wtf Do they have like 40 riders or is tech 3 hours long? I've been to TDs with 8 different providers and none were that thorough. Nor should they be - TD's shouldn't have to be nannies. If it were up to me - a basic tech is enough, if you're caught with any dangerously loose parts at any part in the day, the day is over for you. That way you provide motive for the riders to be doing the inspections they ought to be doing any way.

But I'm looking at it from a rider AND a business person's standpoint. The logistics of a full-tech, like you're wanting, is likely to drive prices up a lot due to the staff needed to do that. Then you start getting into the break-even analysis of income vs attendance versus marginal improvement in safety. Diminishing returns and there will ALWAYS be something missed...

What are you talking about? By your own story, YOU should have been banned, or your tech should have taken 3 hours at Zoom-Zoom. I have done MANY days with them. They are no better than Keigwins or Pacific Track Time. It all depends on who is doing tech at every provider.

Do a 3js and tell me your b.s. story about 3 hours. It's a charity, so your money will go to a good cause.

 

[cg_ops]

What are you talking about? By your own story, YOU should have been banned, or your tech should have taken 3 hours at Zoom-Zoom. I have done MANY days with them. They are no better than Keigwins or Pacific Track Time. It all depends on who is doing tech at every provider.

Do a 3js and tell me your b.s. story about 3 hours. It's a charity, so your money will go to a good cause.

:rolleyes k

 

[anytwowilldo]

WOW, that was bad, very bad, but could have been so much worse. People do need to keep their act together. Glad it finished as well as it did!

 

[atomicOp]

Not really. But, there is always worse, I suppose. Did they check your brake pads? Did they check your chain slack? Tech might touch stuff sticking out like pegs. If it is loose they might say something. The best track-day for safety is probably 3Js at Sonoma. They have you bring your equipment to tech to check like it is a real race. ALL providers should do this, in my opinion. :ride

I've had conversations about chain tension, pads and my oil plug/filter with the tech guys at Z2. I can't say it's every time and every tech guy, but they seem to be pretty thorough including light tugs on plastics.