tank slapper,and head shake

what is a tank slapper and a head shake,im going to buy an 2001 r1 and dont want to kill myself ive been riding my friends for a couple of months just putt puttin around and feel comfortable on it do you think i should go ahead and get one?

how old are you? how long have you been riding motorcycles? if you right now feel that.. maybe the R1 would kill you. I strongly suggest starting on something smaller. a tank slapper is when your bike wobbles underneath you due to a faulty wheelie landing. a headshake is when the steering bars wobble and you're trying to hold on as good as you can which makes You wobble (head shake).

im 23 and ive been riding three wheelers and dirt bikes for about 4years i dont think i will kill myself as long as i respect it cause ive been riding one for a few months and feel comfortable

oh boy.. we got another one... you are asking what a tank slap is and you want R1 for your "first" bike????? hhmm :iamwithst

Just to expand on Swedies comments a little; A tank-slapper and headshake are basically one and the same; just to differing degrees. A tank-slapper derives from movement of the steering head from right to left lock and back.... essentially slapping each side of the tank. Headshake would be twitching of the steering head experienced before a full-blown tank-slapper. Headshake and tank-slappers or whatever you like to call 'em are basically a product of bikes with seperate forks. Essentially uneven road surfaces and ripples aswell as landing wheelies upset the suspension by slightly compressing one fork while the other fork is rebounding... something which if not rectified in short order results in a "seesaw" effect which increases the movement of the forks and the steering head. I've heard lots of conflicting advice on how to survive such occurances but it really depends on how severe they are and how quickly they progress.... however a method I've always employed if possible is to unweight the front tyre enough to let the suspension settle and then load the front a little on the landing by using a little bit of back brake.... but it seems to differ on different bikes with different suspension settings so don't quote me on that... all I know is it works for me.