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Old 08-08-2022, 09:26 PM   #1
jerry
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question ??/

A bike going at 65mph on straight motorway all is happy when suddenly steering seems to lock up and bike drifts right accross middle and outside lane and scrapes along central reservation and crash barrier for 40m and then steering can get control back and safely get to hard shoulder without rider coming off , extensive damage to fairings but rider my daughter is OK but very shaken up as am I who was following her on a Monster

her bike is a 2019 Kawasaki Ninja 650 twin mint condition only 4200 miles ,, I saw it all , no speed wobble or bad tarmac
There was a severe smell of burned rubber but I cant see what caused the loss of steering luckily she did not panic and had the sense to not hit the brakes
conditions were calm no wind , dry today and no overtaking traffic ,,, we had been on a 30 mile ride together
Im very concerned , confused and scared stiff as to what could have happened to her ????

she is distaught , I have test ridden the bike but cant see or feel anything obviously wrong
Im taking the bike to Kawasaki dealer tommorow ??? I test rode it for a couples of miles
but inconclusive so I trailered it home tonight

Any theories????
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Last edited by jerry; 08-08-2022 at 09:34 PM..
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Old 08-08-2022, 10:01 PM   #2
Nickj
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On your test ride did you notice the rear brake pedal pulsating when braking?
There have been some issues with the ABS on these, a few rear caliper problems also. These have usually been put down to old fluid or poor maintenace rather than a faulty system.
Air in the ABS lines can cause some odd event I read, crud in a return valve also causes problems.
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Old 09-08-2022, 09:02 AM   #3
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The bars locked slightly off centre to right totally unable to free them until bike hit crash barrier initially the event started at 65mph she did not hit brakes ,she tried leaning to compensate , no good after the bike scrapped along crash barrier at about 50mph the steering came back and she was able to get it to hard shoulder still at about 50mph

when I tested it I could not feel anything wrong , No ABS invlolved , tyres are all new , i have ridden bikes in speed wobbles and tank slappers and this was not what I saw or she experienced
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Old 09-08-2022, 09:18 AM   #4
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Now I know nothing about the bike in question, but the steering symptom sounds like it could potentially relate to a steering lock engaging, or a cable/line jammed somewhere it shouldn't be, that a bang on the crash barrier subsequently disengaged. I would be looking for squashed components around the head stock.
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Old 09-08-2022, 03:30 PM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bitza View Post
Now I know nothing about the bike in question, but the steering symptom sounds like it could potentially relate to a steering lock engaging, or a cable/line jammed somewhere it shouldn't be, that a bang on the crash barrier subsequently disengaged. I would be looking for squashed components around the head stock.
Hi Bitza yes we carefully checked around headstock , steering lock and cables , hoses .. all are in correct order ,, bike is now at dealer .
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Old 12-08-2022, 10:07 AM   #6
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well we got bike back from dealer they checked wheels , bearings tyres, cables ,brakes , almost a full MOT too etc etc then 2 of Alfs ex racer guys and a mechanic all rode it none of them or me can find anything wrong

So conclusion is PILOT ERROR , or a SENIOR MOMENT !! ha ha she is 23 , she has already booked in with advanced riding instructor who will follow her around and work out what she is doing wrong she is not frightened of riding she says its like falling of a horse and getting back on again

He will also guide her to her unlimited A license

One indicator smashed , one part of right hand fairing scraped and pannier bag abraided,, repair cost will be about £200 but no rush , she says she will delay cosmetic repairs until she passes advanced license as she may add a few more scrapes ha ha
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Old 12-08-2022, 02:02 PM   #7
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This is a real straw clutcher, but I have three lines of thought.
Not sure I would have asked Kawasaki to try and diagnose this potentially life threatening problem as I imagine the first priority would be to make sure that they could not be implicated in any way, but I might just be being cynical?

So did they knock the steering head bearings out and have a look?
While very unlikely, it's possible that some foreign object picked that moment to drop into one of the bearings and lock it up and then jolted out on the rough stuff. It would not be inclined to move very much if stuck with grease and so may well never do it again. But it will still be in there somewhere if indeed that's what it is, and would have been from assembly time. Another thing to test would be to push cables and lines back as a headwind might.

I think the most likely explanation would be some piece of road debris being flicked up into the yoke area somewhere and wedging in to jam the steering.
You did report strong burning rubber, that could have been from a very recently disintegrated tyre which would probably not be that obvious on hot black tarmac. It would take just the right sized and shaped piece of tread to wedge in place, but after discounting aliens it could be possible?

One thing bothers me and might be just poor observation during a panic, is that moving or locking the bars to the right will cause the bike to turn left, so I am claiming that the bars were actually locked slightly to the left, not that it makes much difference, but might change where you look for a potential jamming.

My third line of thought might be slightly more worrying to you.
Many years ago my father-in-law had a bump into the bank in his new Ford. He claimed that the steering wheel became disconnected and he was unable to control the car. (he was teetotal). Ford could find nothing wrong with the car accept the minor damage from the bump. Moving forward, relatively soon after this incident, he was diagnosed with a very severe heart disorder. (Which sadly finished him off eventually!) It was generally accepted that he most probably greyed out whilst driving and as far as he was concerned the car was not responding properly to his inputs.
There are all sorts of medical conditions that will temporarily rob you of reality for a moment or two, low blood sugar, low oxygen, hyperventilation or a trapped nerve Etcetera etcetera. I hope she is in good health of course, but it might be worth having a think about other signs recently however subtle?

Failing all the above it could just be that the bike is possessed by the Devil?
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Old 12-08-2022, 03:11 PM   #8
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Gazza I like your thinking echos mine ,, she admits she has issues with right handers , and she was a little tired at the time ,but she swears she was not greying out although I have asked her to get a check, she dad just had a nice dinner ,, but she has an eating disorder ,,

she also thinks her inputs on bars may have been wrong when she , tried to compensate

I have 100% confidence in the bike , I was getting up to 120mph putting violent steering inputs in cranking round bends, weaving , it was responsive as a monster and totally stable . she does not ride like me , although she has actually done track days in Thailand .

we shall see what the instructor says
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