You need a bigger scooter!
Craig Vetter's still at it!
Posted on 04/28/2007 2:09:35 PM PDT by martin_fierro
Police motorcycle branded threat to safety by inquiry into officer's death
MICHAEL HOWIE HOME AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (mhowie@scotsman.com)
A POLICE motorcycle used by Scottish forces poses a "serious and continued" threat to riders' lives, a coroner has ruled.
Dr James Adeley yesterday said he intended to write to chief constables warning them of the "catastrophic result" which can occur with the Honda motorbike.
Dr Adeley was speaking at the conclusion of the inquest into the death of police motorcyclist David Shreeve, who was thrown from his bike while on a training exercise. The father of two, who worked for Merseyside Police, was crushed to death under a lorry after he fell from his Honda Pan European ST1300.
The Scotsman has learned that police riders in Scotland have been told not to exceed 100mph on the bikes amid concerns.
Merseyside Police withdrew all its models after the accident.
But there are still about 400 ST1300s in use across England and Wales while in Scotland a number of forces still use the bikes.
Strathclyde Police said it had 31 1300s in use. A spokesman for Lothian and Borders Police said its fleet of 12 ST1300s had been modified and individually risk-assessed since the death.
A police source said: "A speed limit of 100mph has been put on the bikes. It is something that forces are working with ACPOS [the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland] to address."
The inquest in Lancaster heard PC Shreeve lost control of his vehicle after it began to shake violently while travelling at high speed.
The phenomenon, known as high-speed weave, refers to a sideways snaking motion which can cause the rider difficulty steering and makes the bike uncontrollable.
Dr Adeley told how after the death several bikes of that particular model underwent comprehensive safety checks.
In one of the tests an examiner broke his leg and fractured both wrists after being thrown from the Honda, which experienced an identical high-speed weave.
PC Shreeve, 38, was travelling at about 110mph along the M58 motorway near Skelmersdale, Lancashire, on 9 November, 2005 when he crashed.
The inquest was told the problems affected only police models of the motorcycle, which has been specially fitted with heavy emergency and communications equipment. The extra kit altered the centre of gravity of the machines.
The ST1300 was released in the UK in March 2002 and the police specification model was delivered at the beginning of November that year. The first reports of high-speed weave problems were made by officers in January the following year.
A Honda spokeswoman said: "For Honda the safety of our riders is paramount. We will continue to liaise with the police in light of the coroner's verdict."
Meredydd Hughes, the head of the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) Uniformed Operations Business Area, said: "The death of any police officer while on duty is a tragedy, and on behalf of all our colleagues I offer my sympathy to his family, friends and colleagues."
Mr Hughes, also the Chief Constable of South Yorkshire, added: "Where officers have complied with ACPO guidelines and testing procedures, no-one has been killed or injured as a result of this issue.
"The ACPO committee will consider the coroner's comments and any new evidence presented to the inquest to consider what - if any - further measures need to be taken. As always, ACPO's primary consideration will be officer safety."
Paul Smith, the founder of road safety campaign group Safe Speed, said all police forces should withdraw the model until the problem is fixed. "There have been rumours about the safety of this bike in police circles for years now," he said.
"There have been various complaints and a couple of police officers have died. It would seem a sensible move to withdraw the bikes from service until they get to the bottom of the problem."
I don’t get the concept of the “high speed weave”. Are they referring to a “tank slapper”, where the front wheel violently shifts from one full side to the other, causing the handlebars to slap against the fuel tank, first right, then left, then right, repeat... until the rider is ultimately usually thrown from the bike.
Problem fixed. Why do wimmin always have to solve these problems?
“I have a few friends that enjoy their big Honda bikes, and just wondered if they should be aware.”
not in the least, there is nothing wrong with that bike just a case of poor setup. i’m sure the eggheads at honda will be all over this to fix this issue. all that police gear adds allot of weight but i don’t see how it could be anymore then riding with a someone on the back. i’m still betting it was the shock setup that could happen to any bike.
“My ‘76 R90 will start that at 117MPH (indicated). It’s caused by the Vetter fairing I have installed.”
YOU PUT A VETTER ON A R90????? i am soooo telling the beemer police on you. that is just plain wrong.
my r75/5 will not go over 85 but at that speed it does a little wiggle but nothing too bad. the 02 VFR will run at 150+ all day rock solid.
I too had the Vetter full drop fairing....and bags..
Always ran with the little Plexiglas “window ports” open..
I guess the fairing could set up some weird eddy currents or harmonic resonance at certain speeds — but I only experienced the spooky rattle going DOWN HILL...
Same speed or nearly same speed on the level — no problem...
I’ll have to think more about that..
One of the snarliest bikes I ever rode, was a 3 cylinder, 2 cycle 500cc displacement - all three cylinders forward and abreast of one another.... Kawasaki..
Can’t recall the name or model.
Acceleration was so unexpected out of the “little” 500cc crotch rocket - that my first full on kick brought the front wheel at least a 24 inches off the road and pushed my ass all the way back to the short little sissy bar at the rear of the seat..
Had it not been there - I’d have been dumped on my ass in front of a lot of bad dudes who would have been my “former” friends...
Here's Slim and his ride, and we let him hang around.
The R75/5 was spec'd conservatively to make 109mph...
Were you carrying a lot of faring, bags and weight?
Nice Stella! I love whitewalls. We’re a two-Lammy family here; I have an Indian GP200 and my husband has a ‘60 LI150.
Maybe your tagline should be “Willing to fight for two-stroke oil”... ;)
I’m willing to guess it was a ‘69 Kaw 500. One of the fastest bikes for quite a while.
Big prob with them was the torque curve, it didn’t hit it until 9,000 rpm or so...then the front wheel had a terrible habit of slowly floating up, up, up. This happened with each shift. I sold mine rather quickly and went back to 4-strokes.
I think that critter was called a Mach lll 500. A very fast and light machine.
Yes — thank you all — I’m pretty sure that was it..
Mach III 500...
I’m sure that early version of a crotch rocket killed a few kids... It very nearly got me, and that would have been one hell of a loss for my sainted wife..
That whole tankslapper issue would probably go away with the simple addition of a steering damper.
No self-respecting crotch-rocket driver should go without one.
At least not more than about 80 mph.
Yep. 0-60 MPH in 4 seconds right out of the crate. Amazing for its time.
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