The aftermath

[Justdad]

As I said, and now you all can see, this wasn't a hop and go simple thing like on a production 1000 or something. Riding the bike fast out there was work and required a lot of finesse to cope with the dancing it was doing, particularly on deceleration.

Steering head bearing is not loose, nor too tight, it's in the window of correct, no click on pull of fork legs while front is lifted, but the bars freely fall to the stop.
1st run, steering damper was in the middle position, shocks at 10.5", valving at softest. Tires at 36f/33r.
2nd run, steering damper was in the tightest position, shocks at 11", valving at notch 3 of 4. Tires at 37f/35r.

Understand these aren't street tires, they're typically run at 26-28 psi, hot temps (around 80c). WSBK SuperBike race tire front, SuperCorsa SC rear (not the street approved SuperCorsa, track only). They are built on the same carcass, but the SuperCorsa SC3 has an extended temperature range of functionality to cope with the relatively cool temps via compound and the voids which help heat them more quickly than a full slick.

The wobble was self-correcting, but only just, and low traction made it take a lot longer to self-correct than on pavement. I'm fairly certain the delayed correction of the wobble was due to shock length setting the swing arm angle too shallow, providing "barely adequate" anti-squat on the back of the bike.

Without the four or five extra runs we were at disadvantage of unleashing the potential of the motorcycle even on a decent course. I felt comfortable pushing the bike as long as the frequency of the oscillating wasn't increasing or becoming more severe.

I appreciate the effort, engineering and your problem solving abilities. Given more time and a reasonable course I'm certain the results would have been outstanding and were still pretty darn good given the higher number the usual obstacles you had a deal with. I appreciate the opportunity.

 

[Gerald]

Sharing the following information for others who go out there or who may consider it. I consider 11.5" shocks (aka stock -1") the minimum length when paired with stock front fork length and a short front tire (125/70 or 130/70).

As I said, and now you all can see, this wasn't a hop and go simple thing like on a production 1000 or something. Riding the bike fast out there was work and required a lot of finesse to cope with the dancing it was doing, particularly on deceleration.

Steering head bearing is not loose, nor too tight, it's in the window of correct, no click on pull of fork legs while front is lifted, but the bars freely fall to the stop.

1st run, steering damper was in the middle position, shocks at 10.5", valving at softest. Tires at 36f/33r.
2nd run, steering damper was in the tightest position, shocks at 11", valving at notch 3 of 4. Tires at 37f/35r.

Understand these aren't street tires, they're typically run at 26-28 psi, hot temps (around 80c). WSBK SuperBike race tire front, SuperCorsa SC rear (not the street approved SuperCorsa, track only). They are built on the same carcass, but the SuperCorsa SC3 has an extended temperature range of functionality to cope with the relatively cool temps via compound and the voids which help heat them more quickly than a full slick. The Indian factory team was running the same tires.

The wobble was self-correcting, but only just, and low traction made it take a lot longer to self-correct than on pavement. I'm fairly certain the delayed correction of the wobble was due to shock length setting the swing arm angle too shallow, providing "barely adequate" anti-squat on the back of the bike.

It's great you kept such excellent detailed notes and information, only possible way to sort out possible explanation on what was happening and why it happened. You always want to know why, and this is a great step toward figuring it out.

 

[Justdad]

Here is the run where I crashed Rob's beautiful bike.

 

[Gerald]

Here is the run where I crashed Rob's beautiful bike.

Great video, loved the choice of music, sad ending with the loss of a sure record. Just wasn't possible this time, but you all learned many things that can be applied to future challenges. The team responded to all the challenges and difficulties and will respond to the next challenge going forward. We all got involved during the chase and salute the team for their effort and determination. You and the team made us proud. Get well quickly.

 

[Claviger]

Justdad thanks for posting this, I love the editing and some of the pictures I'd not seen until now, hope you're doing better now. The videos will let Mufasa live forever in my memory and gives something to watch when feeling nostalgic in the future

**** I'm glad you weren't sliding a little faster, you two were in your own little race for the same piece of salt it seems and neither of you made it to convergence.

I didn't realize it flipped so many times, 4 full rotations. Considering that.... the damage is... actually fairly minor Four full flips on a sport bike would've been a much worse yardsale of parts strewn across the salt lol.

Look at the end frames in 3 minutes 2 seconds. The front tire spikes up, nearly all of it's travel and back down very quickly (the only bump the fender is lost in view behind the lower triple tree), just after that is when the rear breaks loose, about the time when the rear tire would have hit the same bump. There are a series of bumps, the course was really rough, but this one is distinctly larger than the rest and unfortunately, coincidental with 2nd gear shift; so like most accidents, it's a series of individually innocuous events occurring with the just the right timing, culminating in a major event In my opinion after looking at the logs and this video, it was triggered by terrain and exacerbated by loose bike setup on salt at high RPM.

Keep in mind, Mufasa had a pretty hard front fork setup Wilbers springs + 10w oil + reduced air gap, so for it to knock the tire that high, it wasn't an insignificant bump.

 

[Justdad]

Justdad thanks for posting this, I love the editing and some of the pictures I'd not seen until now, hope you're doing better now. The videos will let Mufasa live forever in my memory and gives something to watch when feeling nostalgic in the future

**** I'm glad you weren't sliding a little faster, you two were in your own little race for the same piece of salt it seems and neither of you made it to convergence.

I didn't realize it flipped so many times, 4 full rotations. Considering that.... the damage is... actually fairly minor Four full flips on a sport bike would've been a much worse yardsale of parts strewn across the salt lol.

Look at the end frames in 3 minutes 2 seconds. The front tire spikes up, nearly all of it's travel and back down very quickly (the only bump the fender is lost in view behind the lower triple tree), just after that is when the rear breaks loose, about the time when the rear tire would have hit the same bump. There are a series of bumps, the course was really rough, but this one is distinctly larger than the rest and unfortunately, coincidental with 2nd gear shift; so like most accidents, it's a series of individually innocuous events occurring with the just the right timing, culminating in a major event In my opinion after looking at the logs and this video, it was triggered by terrain and exacerbated by loose bike setup on salt at high RPM.

Keep in mind, Mufasa had a pretty hard front fork setup Wilbers springs + 10w oil + reduced air gap, so for it to knock the tire that high, it wasn't an insignificant bump.

You have a better eye for the details than I do. I was too convinced that the course was better than it was the previous day which it really wasn't.

Half through first gear I should backed it off to the 1st run level of power....for me I think I chose poorly.

Unfortunately they did not send the drone footage, I'll wait a bit and ask for it for your review.

 

[Claviger]

It's all good, the king is dead. Long live the king!

Hopefully you'll be fully healed soon.

 

[stingray]

I can't believe they had you all out at dawn before the salt dried to back up a record run from the afternoon. At least run it again in the afternoon. It didn't sound like you ever had any traction on that last run. A sliding tire will always go to the front.

 

[Justdad]

I can't believe they had you all out at dawn before the salt dried to back up a record run from the afternoon. At least run it again in the afternoon. It didn't sound like you ever had any traction on that last run. A sliding tire will always go to the front.

Well the idea behind running first up in the morning is to better air density for example our 2nd run was done at 7223 feet and 89.4 deg Fahrenheit while the crash run was at 5565 feet and 64.4 degrees Fahrenheit.

Usually the wind is also lower and the course is fresh without having a dozens of cars ripping it up early in the morning.

Normally it is beneficial to run earlier in the morning and that was my expectation. However, looking back if given a redo I would rather run a little later in the day for the course to dry out more OR I should dialed down the rpms by the 1/8 mile.

I still would probably been alright if I'd not hit the divot or bump when I did.

 

[Claviger]

I'll offer, in my head, I wanted to do the traditional "impound overnight, backup early in the morning" to avoid any questions about the validity of the record and to keep it comparable to the procedures followed for 75 years.

In retrospect a three run Tueday and done was the better choice... retrospect though, is dangerous.