UP Police chase, STOP & save burning TVS Apache motorcycle on the highway [Video]

A bizarre incident from Agra Expressway caught on video shows a speeding TVS Apache RTR on fire. The video uploaded by Aditya Tiwari is taken from inside of a mobile Police Control Room (PCR) van on the expressway. The cops were chasing the bike on the highway on the video. Here’s what happened.

TVS Apache RTR on fire

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"ऐसे फिल्मों में ही देखा जाता है जान बचाने के लिए हूटर बजाते रहे और वाह भगाता रहा अपनी बाइक"

मैं सलूट करता हूँ @up100 के PRV-1617 के पुलिस टीम को

इटावा के सफाई का मामला pic.twitter.com/nfzSekFnOq

— Aditya Tiwari #Stayhome #Staysafe (@adityatiwaree) April 14, 2019

The video taken from the cabin of the PCR shows the cops starting their vehicle and putting on the emergency hooter to clear the way. They keep on the driving at high speed, overtaking other vehicles on the road and keep on saying that they can smell the burnt bits of the bike. A few seconds later, the video shows the bike and ball of fire on its side at high speed.

The cops onboard the vehicle then scream at the biker and ask them to stop. The bike rider, who was with a pillion rider without a helmet was not aware of the fire at all and was cruising at a comfortable speed on the highway. As soon as the cops flag them down, the biker slows down and stop on the side of the road. The cops rush the bike with a fire extinguisher and remove all the luggage from the bike that had caught fire.

The cops, who regularly set-up patrolling on the highways and park their vehicles on the side of the road must have spotted the speeding bike on fire. It could have ended in a disaster if the police did not chase them down before the fire engulfed the whole bike.

Why did it catch fire?

From the video, we can see that the bike had a lot of luggage and bags hung on the sides. Most of these bags were plastic bags, which are highly inflammable. This video shows why it is dangerous to properly place your luggage on the bike before starting a long road trip and why it is important to check the luggage every now and then.

The exhaust of any motorcycle can become hot pretty quickly. The hot combustion gases escape through the exhaust that increases the temperature very quickly. However, most exhausts offer a heat shield that reduces the effect of the heat. However, the heat shields do not completely reduce the effect of the hot exhaust and that’s why one should be very careful.

The luggage tied on the side of the bad must be touching the exhaust and overtime, it became so hot that it caught fire. The small fire must have spread across the luggage due to the wind of the speeding bike, which is why when the cops stopped the bike, the fire had engulfed one of the bags completely.

How to avoid such fires?

While carrying the luggage, one should use proper saddlebags that can be secured on the pillion seat. Most of these bags are designed to fit the motorcycle in a way that they maintain a good amount of gap from the exhaust. Using such bags ensure that the luggage stays at a safe distance from the exhaust. If there is no saddlebag, one should use multiple bungee cords to tie the luggage and safely and ensure that there are no loose straps waving around that can touch the exhaust and catch fire.