Oil on Track - May 25th 10 - Video

Posted on behalf of my friend Oswaldo:

As some of you may already know from the BOMO May 25th thread Oswaldo’s bike went down to a big oil spill. In any event, he is asking to post this in order to get the record straight. So first, he would like to issue an apology for everyone affected by the incident: BOMO, fellow riders and track side staff. Furthermore, he thanks BOMO for putting another great event together.

So anyway, from the attached video you can clearly see that the bike started to smoke up prior to the accident. Oswaldo notes that he did not see the smoke and that he would have stopped otherwise. In any event, as some have noted the entire scene was covered in oil – even his helmet.

So he took the bike back to the shop that installed the woodcraft engine covers and changed his oil immediately after the incident. He spoke with the owner on the phone and he noted that he is not going to be able to look at the bike prior to Tuesday of next week as he is out in a conference. But here is where it gets interesting:

While in the shop the mechanic that did the work reached into his belly pan and sure enough pulls the oil drainage bolt from inside of the oil. So after some discussion, the mechanic states that he isn’t sure that he could be blamed for the incident. The mechanic then noted that he apologizes in the event he caused the incident. Seriously?

What do you think?

Here is said video (p.s. Fastforward to about five minutes for footage on the crash):

YouTube- OIL ON THE TRACK ??? TAKE YOUR ON CONCLUSION !!!!!!!!!

sounds like the shop owes him some free services at the least that will make up for some/most of the cost of repairs to the bike. as a buisiness owner, you would think the guy would want to make it right.

Great video.
Tell us who the shop was please.

Aside from that that is the reason why I safety wire my drain plug and filler cap.
You look like you're going fast enough that you should be safety wiring that plug and your caliper bolts at minimum.

As a trackday rider, i find it very discomforting, knowing riders are going out on the track without checking over their bikes..at least the most important items.
While the shop "may" not have torqued the bolt properly, if in fact the drain bolt fell out IMHO it's 100% riders fault for not checking his bike over before starting the day.
I also don't quite understand the theory of having to wire your spin on oil filter, but not the drain plug and filler cap?

Nice job by the C/W to get those guys moved out of the way. I was behind Ox & the other bike which went down in the oil. Glad everybody was OK.

+1 on wiring! Even though the requirements are pretty light for TDs, it doesn't take a ton of time to wire up a few of the other critical items like oil drain, oil fill and brakes.

I'm glad everyone was alright and I don't wanna sound pissy but that's one bolt that should have been checked by at least 2 people before going out, the rider and the person doing tech. I've only seen that checked by 2 organizations at tech(and one just wiped their finger over it so they didn't really check) and the other is actually just some private days I go to every year run by a huge safety nazi (which I like).

I just went through my timer and counted 6 session from Tuesday so really there's only one missing. not a big deal really as its not uncommon to miss a session either cause of crashes or just simply sitting out a session. so really there's nothing to be mad about.

If you ride your Bike on the track You are wholly responsible for that being track worthy. you owe it to yourself and the people who you ride the with to take every precaution and to Make sure your bike is good. That being said Shit does happen and we wont get into the what if's just be glad nobody got hurt. and check dem bolts.

I had a master cylinder go bad on me and lock up my front wheel (when i had the throttle wide open) I broke my ankle and the guy behind me broke both his ankles and totaled a very expensive GP bike.

The track is dangerous enough without oil on the track.

kinda late now, but convince your buddy to buy some pre-drilled bolts & safety wire everything...including the oil drain plug

Just wire em. Doesnt matter if its a street bike, if youre gonna do many track days its just as easy to wire them. My street bike is like 75% race prepped at this point. Takes 10 minutes. The other advantage of wiring is you know you had your fingers on the bolt.

no doubt every rider is responsible for the trackworthiness of his bike, and should have torqued that bolt. however, it doesnt take away from the fact the shop should at least show an attempt to make things right, even if it isnt money out of pocket.

What did you eat before climbing in those leathers, your ass looked ANGRY!

I was also a lil concerned with the flagger escorting people behind the barriers. He was walking through the crash zone and had his back to traffic. BoMo, if you could remind workers that you really need to face traffic when in a crash zone just in case, I'd feel better.

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Originally Posted by DBKromz

kinda late now, but convince your buddy to buy some pre-drilled bolts & safety wire everything...including the oil drain plug

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Jim, there's a good thing to do to get some extra cash. (this isn't a joke.)

Buy a truckload of undrilled bolts, drill them out, then sell them.

Never know, you could end up starting a business, as people find drilling to be a real PITA.

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Originally Posted by Kurlon

What did you eat before climbing in those leathers, your ass looked ANGRY!

I was also a lil concerned with the flagger escorting people behind the barriers. He was walking through the crash zone and had his back to traffic. BoMo, if you could remind workers that you really need to face traffic when in a crash zone just in case, I'd feel better.

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he could have been watching for people coming into 3 (and there might have been someone else there to help) since it was just at the barrier there. Whoever is in the tree house you would think would be on the radio to let him know if anyone is coming. this is all conjecture on my part though.

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Originally Posted by Pittenger5

Just wire em. Doesnt matter if its a street bike, if youre gonna do many track days its just as easy to wire them. My street bike is like 75% race prepped at this point. Takes 10 minutes. The other advantage of wiring is you know you had your fingers on the bolt.

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+1

Such an expensive bike! That thing had a ton of trick bits on it. Too bad about the crash.

We looked at safety wiring requirements and did some market research. People have a real hang-up about safety wiring their street bikes and it would simply have alienated another section of trackday customers (some of whom have a real problem conforming to the barest minimum of requirements). We may have to take a closer look into requirements for the future. It's a shame, but there are always going to be people who either don't know how to or don't care to check over their bikes prior to a trackday. we try to catch everything in tech and our guys to a great job of catching most things, but ultimately, the responsibility lies with the rider to make sure their bike is safe and mechanically sound.

Secondly, we use pro-flaggers, and we use them for a reason. They are professional corner workers and know what they are doing. The riders were milling around and the corner worker moved them out of harms way. That's all that can be seen from the video. Maybe the Pro-Flaggers guys here can comment on this for us?

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Originally Posted by R7

As a trackday rider, i find it very discomforting, knowing riders are going out on the track without checking over their bikes..at least the most important items.
While the shop "may" not have torqued the bolt properly, if in fact the drain bolt fell out IMHO it's 100% riders fault for not checking his bike over before starting the day.
I also don't quite understand the theory of having to wire your spin on oil filter, but not the drain plug and filler cap?

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I totally agree Mark. Unfortunately, the majority of trackday riders, especially new ones, simply are not interested in drilling holes in their street bikes.

It looks like tech is going to take much longer in future at Boston Moto events.

We still don't know the name of the mystery shop, do we?

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Originally Posted by Degsy

I totally agree Mark. Unfortunately, the majority of trackday riders, especially new ones, simply are not interested in drilling holes in their street bikes.

It looks like tech is going to take much longer in future at Boston Moto events.

We still don't know the name of the mystery shop, do we?

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I didn't wire my track bike last year, but rest assured, I will be this year. It's mostly wired now anyway. The only things that aren't presently are the oil plug and filter, since I need to change the oil.

a lot of people seem to be very lazy

i just did my first track day and i wired what i felt was anything i felt would REALLLY suck to come lose, so i wired my oil drain, filler and filter. also did all the brake bolts after reading about what happened to mondo last season

I agree with Degsy and Ted - Ultimately the responsibility does lie with the rider. Too bad he relied on the shop to torque that bolt like they should and learned it the way he did.

With regards to the shop's name, I am afraid I don't know it myself - Oswaldo said he would make that information public if they do not in the least acknowledge that they did not torque that bolt.

I think there are two lessons to be learned here: always double check your mechanics' work; and if you are going to be using that bike in the track primarily than you should probably safety wire every single bolt.

Oswaldo did say that he agrees with what some said in this forum with regards to him bearing the responsibility to ensure his bike is safe. From what I gather I believe he is planning to safety wire his bike.

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The fact of the matter is, if you bring you bike to a shop for an oil change you dont expect the drain plug to fall out. i dont know if this was his street bike or not but what if it came out on the highway and not the track. a motor siezing from lack of oil at 70+ would have been much worse.
id be livid if that happened to me

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Originally Posted by SVRACER01

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The fact of the matter is, if you bring you bike to a shop for an oil change you dont expect the drain plug to fall out. i dont know if this was his street bike or not but what if it came out on the highway and not the track. a motor siezing from lack of oil at 70+ would have been much worse.
id be livid if that happened to me

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had my drain bolt fall out in the HOV lane during rush hour. not sure how it happened. I always do my own oil changes and I check that bolt multiple times before finishing up (its wired now). I couldn't even see the cloud behind me in my mirrors. my friend pulled into the little breakdown pull off in front of the tow truck and then it hit me. He said there was a huge cloud behind me. not really sure how I even stayed up cause my rear tire was covered in oil. got lucky and there was still oil pouring out so no damage to the bike.

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Originally Posted by Degsy

It looks like tech is going to take much longer in future at Boston Moto events.

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Won't matter to me so long as every one of our customers knows why the tech line is a mile long and isn't moving because we're checking hardware on everything.


Better yet, why don't the "trained technicians" learn how to complete their simple tasks....or am I expecting too much?


Eddie - Your friend Oswaldo needs to drop the hammer on that shop, no two ways about it. They were the last people to perform work. They have the (supposedly) trained and certified technicians working on things so, IMO, they are the ones responsible for this nonsense. Their customer (Oswaldo) paid for a service and that mark was grossly missed.

Overlooking an oil drain bolt is inexcusable for a certified technician and if this were my shop, the tech would be looking for a new job.

Inexcusable.

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Originally Posted by bergs

Won't matter to me so long as every one of our customers knows why the tech line is a mile long and isn't moving because we're checking hardware on everything.


Better yet, why don't the "trained technicians" learn how to complete their simple tasks....or am I expecting too much?


Eddie - Your friend Oswaldo needs to drop the hammer on that shop, no two ways about it. They were the last people to perform work. They have the (supposedly) trained and certified technicians working on things so, IMO, they are the ones responsible for this nonsense. Their customer (Oswaldo) paid for a service and that mark was grossly missed.

Overlooking an oil drain bolt is inexcusable for a certified technician and if this were my shop, the tech would be looking for a new job.

Inexcusable.

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+1

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Originally Posted by bergs

Won't matter to me so long as every one of our customers knows why the tech line is a mile long and isn't moving because we're checking hardware on everything.


Better yet, why don't the "trained technicians" learn how to complete their simple tasks....or am I expecting too much?


Eddie - Your friend Oswaldo needs to drop the hammer on that shop, no two ways about it. They were the last people to perform work. They have the (supposedly) trained and certified technicians working on things so, IMO, they are the ones responsible for this nonsense. Their customer (Oswaldo) paid for a service and that mark was grossly missed.

Overlooking an oil drain bolt is inexcusable for a certified technician and if this were my shop, the tech would be looking for a new job.

Inexcusable.

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I agree with you Bergs with respect to what Oswaldo has to do with regards to the shop and with respect to the tech spec side of business.

Regarding Oswald's incident, personally, I do not think that tech inspection had anything to do with it. Judging from my experience tech inspection has always done a thorough job.

In my rumble opinion, trackday bikes are not and should not the subject to the same level of scrutiny as racing bikes. For one, trackdays are non-racing/not timed events that allow for street riders to go out and have some fun while allowing them to better their riding ability. On one hand, the rider should always ensure his/her bike is safe whether on the street or the track. On the other hand, you would just not expect that something could go wrong right out of the mechanic shop.

Now, there is an obvious benefit to checking every bolt on every bike prior to a trackday. However, is it practical? Is it effective to the extent you will cover every contingency? It is obvious that mechanical failures happen all the time, and from a cost benefit perspective as Bergs said it might not be practical to subject trackday bikes to the same level of scrutiny as a race bike.
As a rider, you are the ultimate stakeholder; however, your bikes safety clearly benefits the other riders.

In my opinion, as you do more trackdays you become a safer rider and you learn from your and other peoples mistakes and you also learn from more experienced riders.

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The issue as bomo said is that if you heavily increase the trackday prep requirements, you'll end up with a very safe trackday that severely lacks attendance and loses thousands of dollars. Even now there are always several people who show up to tech and haven't Secured their oil filter and we end up having to scrounge around and find a way to do it for them.

And the folks posting up on internet riding forums about bike safety aren't usually the folks you need to worry about in this sense, its your everyday street rider who also happens to be a poor mechanic.

Unless you want tech to take the whole morning increasing the requirements to absolutely ensure the prevention of all incidents is pretty unrealistic.

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If you change your own oil then take the 10 min while its draining to drill your drain plug for safety wire. you dont have to safety wire but someday you might have to or want to.
if you have a shop do your oil changes, you could always ask them if theyd be willing to drill it for you. its worth asking

That totally sucks... a shop should friggin know better than to not torque a drain bolt. You shouldn't have to worry about a friggin thing after a shop does work on your bike.

... however it's an imperfect world and I agree that the rider always has the final responsibility for bike safety.

Sucky situation all around though.

So anyway, Oswaldo was wondering if someone here would be willing to assist him safety wire his bike - for a fair compensation, of course. He lives in Lynn but would transport his bike to your shop if you are willing to help. Any takers?

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Originally Posted by Eddie

So anyway, Oswaldo was wondering if someone here would be willing to assist him safety wire his bike - for a fair compensation, of course. He lives in Lynn but would transport his bike to your shop if you are willing to help. Any takers?

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I will. I'm in Georgetown, about 25 minutes away.

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If anyone wants pre-drilled bolts for oil drain or brake calipers, boston moto will supply them at our dealer cost. Just tell us bike type and year and we will supply them to you from pro-bolt. Take 25% off pro bolt web site prices.

hmmm, I'm torn.

On one hand: What about people who have no mechanical ability and rely on the a shop to check the bike and make sure it's ready?

A bunch of people have said they would check their mechanics work, but the simple fact is that are many people who simply lack the knowledge to adequately to do so. That might be why the paid someone do it in the first place, no? I imagine there are people like that at a track day.

On the other hand: When I help put on track days for cars one of our national requirements is to have a competent (read qualified) mechanic checkout the car before the event. Trackside we spot check a few things to try to catch any gross issues. We can't check everything and we've been advised not to get too detailed on the spot checks. To do so could open the door to blame the club for not catching it in the first place and expose us to more liability.

I'd caution BoMO, or any other organizer for that matter, to tread carefully and think things through thoroughly before changing tech.

My .02 based on input from all the risk managers and legal staff I've talked to.

My logic as far as trackday tech is this...

If each person goes over their bike carefully, it takes maybe 5 to 10 minutes per person - in parallel (meaning everyone can do it simultaneously).

If the trackday org has to do it, it still takes 5 to 10 minutes per person... but it's in series - so you could spend several hours doing tech.

Bottom line is that it's YOUR life on the line... and possibly the life of someone near you on the track.

Is your life worth the 10 minutes it takes to PUT A WRENCH on every critical bolt? (drain bolt, oil filter, brakes and wheels - and then grab and shake all levers, pegs, etc)

If you really don't feel qualified to check the tightness of a bolt, you should tell your garage buddy and ask for their help. Speaking of which... everyone should have a "garage buddy" - someone that knows where your stuff is and what to do in the event you have an incident. Your emergency contact hundreds of miles away is important...but your garage buddy is on site and can help immediately.

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Originally Posted by "Dangerous" Dan K

I will. I'm in Georgetown, about 25 minutes away.

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PM'ed!! Thanks.

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Originally Posted by Degsy

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If anyone wants pre-drilled bolts for oil drain or brake calipers, boston moto will supply them at our dealer cost. Just tell us bike type and year and we will supply them to you from pro-bolt. Take 25% off pro bolt web site prices.

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:plusone: for Degsy

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Originally Posted by Eddie

In my rumble opinion, trackday bikes are not and should not the subject to the same level of scrutiny as racing bikes. For one, trackdays are non-racing/not timed events that allow for street riders to go out and have some fun while allowing them to better their riding ability.

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I think the opposite is true. The level of safety to be expected at a trackday is far higher than the rigors of racing (and chances being taken on the track).

Trackday bikes should be safer than any racebike.

Race = 8 laps.

Trackday = ? laps

My janky looking EX may be ugly as sin, but I touch every bolt on that bike and safety wire any single point of failure fastener.

It is the responsibility of the rider, not the trackday organization, to put a wrench on the heavy hitters in the "has to be checked" fastener department.

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Originally Posted by Eddie

PM'ed!! Thanks.

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NP. I replied. I'll get him sorted out.

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Originally Posted by Danz19899

a lot of people seem to be very lazy

i just did my first track day and i wired what i felt was anything i felt would REALLLY suck to come lose, so i wired my oil drain, filler and filter. also did all the brake bolts after reading about what happened to mondo last season

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coming from the guy with headlights visable for 2/3 of the track day :twofinger

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Originally Posted by WordTooYoMamma

coming from the guy with headlights visable for 2/3 of the track day :twofinger

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None of the trackday organizations REQUIRE headlights to be off.

The only requirement is that if the lenses are glass, that they be taped.

It is a requirement that BRAKE lights not show. (I used to just pull the bulbs)

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pfft. I heard wrong then, all 3 hids will be blazing next time.