Steering damper ?

[Muskie1]

 I am wondering if there is anything that would work to limit my Mini 4 handlebar from doing a complete 360.
I have had front end washout on my mountain bikes many times, usually ended up with catching it.
   Last week I had my worse wreck ever. The city repaired a broken water main and never cleaned the loose sand up, I cleaned my driveway and in front of my house. , while pulling out of my drive I applied the brakes to slow for a car, I was just at a roll.
I hit my brakes, front tire broke loose, got my leg down but maybe because of the slope and bike weight I couldn't stop the bars from a total spin, I guess once the cables wrapped it stopped.
Down I went, foot is now stuck in rear spokes twisted in a way I can't get out from under it..
Luckily a neighbor saw me a few minutes later and came to help. I asked him to rotate the back wheel to loosen my foot, he said no I have to call EMS , I asked why ? Reply was you are bleeding  bad.
Somehow during the fall the entire left brake lever managed to puncture my groin area, close call with a certain body part I would like to keep.
Paramedics arrive lever was in a high risk area , discussion was possibly transporting me and the bike together.  Luckily the bleeding was worsening so they had to cut my belt , shorts, underwear off, I did explain I just took a shower so that may explain the shrinkage factor of a certain part.
So other having to be naked in front of the neighborhood, the lever slipped out.
No stitches could be done, wound has to stay open and packed daily for awhile.  Only a little over a day in the hospital, managed to go from walker to cane in about a week.
Sorry for the long story . I was just thinking if I had a way that I could stop the bars from doing a total spin I probably could have caught the fall. Maybe a stabilizer, stop or damper.  Any ideas would be appreciated.

Thanks

[Hehateme]

Holy smokes, gruesome story. That sounds painful, scary and embarrassing. Glad to hear you are thinking of ways to get back riding and not let the accident ruin something you enjoy.


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[joeliniowa]

Rad has a fork dampener spring on the RW4.  Take a look at it, see if you could adapt it!

[Muskie1]

Thanks, didn't realize the stab, packing in about 10 inches of Mesalt daily using a mirror is not fun, only a few more weeks.

[tacomanatx]

Pretty sure both of my Rads have this
https://bicycles.stackexchange.com/questions/38942/what-is-this-spring-between-the-fork-and-the-frame

These are the first two bikes Ive ever had with this spring, but its there so I installed it.

[Muskie1]

 I realized today after my incident how lucky I was. 1 block ride no helmet, what could happen?
I made it about 20 feet crash was very violent at walking speed.  My head was bleeding a little so neck collar had to come on.
Many years ago I thought motorcycle safety classes, most deaths happen at low speeds.
So today back to the Trauma clinic for a wound check.  I could not stand the pain to repack yesterday.,a old Polish man holding a mirror, flashlight, wound  cleaner and a 70 lb Huskie made me skip it.
I ramble sorry, today's visit a partially collapsed lung, noticed in my emergency room  10 days ago.

Be safe.

[Altema]

Pretty sure both of my Rads have this
https://bicycles.stackexchange.com/questions/38942/what-is-this-spring-between-the-fork-and-the-frame

These are the first two bikes Ive ever had with this spring, but its there so I installed it.

I think Rad calls that a "deflopinator", and it's mostly to keep the front wheel from flopping sideways on bikes with the double kickstand and a load on the rear.
It works well for that purpose, but in the event of a crash, I don't think it would do much except wrap around and snap.

I do have a motorcycle steering damper I plan on attaching to my Radmini. It's purpose is to stabilize the steering at speed, and although my 3D printed frame mount would likely break in a crash, a metal mount might be strong enough. A link to the damper is below.

https://amzn.to/3BI5My4

[Muskie1]

 Thanks for advice, I think the fork geometry has something to do with the bars spinning during a wash out.
Another possibility is getting a little old.

I wish I had  3d technology and a printer, I am almost there, I have a 1964 Viewmaster.

[Eric7]

I am sorry you got hurt and I hope you would heal completely and soon.

I don't think a tiny spring, unless it is very strong, would help. 

As you say, the fork geometry makes the 180 degree position the most stable one in the event of a crash.  There is a small stability (potential well in physics) pointing forward this allows you to ride with the hands off the handlebar.  But the biggest stability (after you hit a rock) is pointing backwards with the wheel trailing the axis of the fork - like the wheels on a shopping cart.  I know physics but I don't have the correct terms to describe this.  I guess to avoid it, we have to hold on tight but usually I am flying off the handbars at this point due to the sudden deceleration. Once it is turned backwards, it is no longer controllable and leads to the next stable state which is falling and having the bike on the ground.

I've had many crashes and they all end up with the front wheel rotated 180 degrees.  If you hit a ditch or a big rock and you are not holding tight, it is going to flip and you will fall.

It does not happen on a motorcycle because there is more inertia. That's my guess.

To test the theory I should repeatedly hit the pothole again and again until I get it right but I don't want to do the experiment anymore. 

[Tree]

I realized today after my incident how lucky I was. 1 block ride no helmet, what could happen?

Be safe.

man, heal up and hope you get back on your bike soon.

i definitely wear my helmet no matter how far I'm going, thanks to an (non-head) injury my wife suffered.

She used to skate roller derby. and was VERY good at it. helped guide her team to the league championship, made the travel team, etc etc.

one night we went to a casual skate a roller rink. she opted not to wear her knee pads - "what could happen that's more violent than the collisions I have in derby?" she asked.

as it turns out, a small child falling directly in front of you and you leaping over them and smashing to the ground to avoid killing them is more violent.

she wrecked her knee, had surgery, came back 18 months later, but wasn't the same skater she was before, and returned a year after that after 8 years in Derby (8 years in roller derby is a VERY long time for most skaters, so it sucks that a random injury basically ended her skating career).

Everytime I get a wild hair up my a$$ to ride a short distance without a helmet, I think of that.

[Muskie1]

 Well thanks for the support.  Visiting nurse came by today, lung is at near normal.  About 4 to 6 more weeks for the hole to heal.
On the bright side this is my third strange injury , hopefully my last, I am getting a little tired of " I have never seen anything like this" and of course  " how the hell did you manage do this" .

[Muskie1]

I knew  I bought a cheap bike. I had to sell my car for medical issues. Trying to get on it doesn't work, so disgusted

[tacomanatx]

I knew  I bought a cheap bike. I had to sell my car for medical issues. Trying to get on it doesn't work, so disgusted

Ive had crazy wrecks on really expensive bikes, sometimes sh!t just happens....

How bad is the bike?  Is it still rideable?

[Muskie1]

I knew  I bought a cheap bike. I had to sell my car for medical issues. Trying to get on it doesn't work, so disgusted

Bike is fine a little tear on a grip. Best thing I have bought is a folding milk crate on my rear rack, seems to absorb the impact very well.  One fall
Ive had crazy wrecks on really  Texpensive bikes, sometimes sh!t just happens....

How bad is the bike?  Is it still rideable?

[Altema]

Glad you are on the mend. One solution to the handlebars spinning in a crash is to change to an inverted fork. The range of motion is restricted by the bike frame. A less expensive option that just popped into my head comes from my racing mechanic days: On cars that had issues with motor mounts tearing, we stopped it by using aircraft cable between the frame and the engine block. It could be possible to use two short lengths of steel cable, and each one would attach to the front rack mount. The cable be routed under the frame and across to the other side of the fork, and be attached to the for by either a bolt tapped into the top, or a bracket clamped to the top of the fork tube. The cables would stop the fork turning past whatever point you want, which is set by the cable length. The RadMini fork tubes are 32mm in diameter, so I ordered motorcycle steering damper mounts which are pretty strong. I'll see if they are possibly strong enough to prevent the fork from spinning under loads like a crash.

Of course, I ordered the mounts to actually install my steering damper, and that in itself might be a better solution than the cables. I was only planning on one damper, but a dual damper setup with one one on each side seems like it would be pretty strong.