For anyone awake - Biker Build Off - Discovery Real Time

clevtrev

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Be careful if you order a DVD from the Discovery Channel in the US and you live in the UK.

When it arrives, it'll probably be a Region 1 disc, and more than likely won't play in your machine over this side of the pond (unless you have a multi-region player of course!).

You can play any region on your computer.
 

nkt267

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But look at the angle of the headstock Tom,the bike was in a speed wobble before it got to a ton.Girdraulics weren't made for that angle of attack.The bike is beautifully finished and he covered most of the front in clingfilm.The other bike in the rideoff didn't bother with salt protection and I personally think he had the desire to make it shift..Don't forget also that people like Rollie Free are special.John
 

Tom Gaynor

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Rollie Free and tank-slappers

Bear in mind this started because of the assertion that Vincents in standard trim were too dangerous to ride, and that Rollie Free himself might have been a factor in avoiding wobbles, on his dangerous Vincent, at 150 mph. I disagree with both assertions. Here's why.
I'm second to none in my admiration of Rollie Free, but the stability didn't come from his "skill and judgement" but from the steering geometry of the bike he was riding: Lightning "chassis" modification amounted to fitting rear-set footrests to a standard Rapide/Shadow/Comet frame.
I've experienced four "speed wobbles" (none on Vincents), three of which were all-out tank slappers. I can do no better than quote a friend: "Anyone who thinks he might control a tank-slapper has never had one. He'll have about as much control as a rat does in the mouth of a terrier." That describes exactly my experience.
 

Nulli Secundus

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Rollie Free and tank-slappers

From my experience of a tank-slapper on my Rapide, I fully agree with the quote made by Tom's friend.
 
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