So I dropped my 696 a couple months ago and I'm planning on cleaning her up a bit this winter. One question I have is about the steering range. Before I dropped her, the bars seemed limited perfectly so that they would stop right when I reach the Air intake hole on the tank. Now when I crank the bars all the way to the left, the end of the bar actually go into the air intake, where the little screen got knocked in initially.
Question, is there some mechanism that could have broken, causing the bars to move further than intended, or are my bars just bent now? It only happens when I turn too the left, and that is the side of the bars that the bike fell on.
Could be a couple of things. Yes, it is possible your bars could've bent. Also, your left steering stop may have bent or cracked when you dropped the bike. I'm not familiar with the 696, but on the older monsters there are screws on both steering stops that you can turn in and out to limit/expand your range of steering.
Check to see if your bars are bent and if they aren't, it's probably your steering stop and just adjust as needed.
There has been another report on the 696 steering stops being much weaker than on other/older Monsters.
It bends out of place quite easily, it seems. Maybe it can be bent back, maybe not. Dealer check?
Quote from: stopintime on December 10, 2008, 10:03:33 AM
There has been another report on the 696 steering stops being much weaker than on other/older Monsters.
It bends out of place quite easily, it seems. Maybe it can be bent back, maybe not. Dealer check?
I bought my monster after it had been dropped and the steering stop was cracked and the bolt was bent. As a result, I could not adjust the current stop bolt to keep the bars off the tank. I had to cut the stop bolt to get it out and I replaced it with a slightly longer bolt so I could keep the bars off the tank. Works fine until I can get in there and bend the stop back and weld it.
Steering Stop...That's the answer I'm looking for. I know it's hard to visually tell if bars a bent slightly, but the amount of extra rotation I get to the left is enough that if it were bent bars, I think I could tell. Where are the steering stops usually located? I looked around a little, but didn't see much that looked promising.
Thanks guys!
On most monsters they are on the lower triple clamp on either side of the steering head.
I dropped my bike too and left side of handlebars went into ventilation grid.
I could not see any bending in handlebars but when I took them of and put it on the flat surface it was noticable.
I think it is just handlebars
Now I have LSL which are higher then stock and touching tank just above ventilation grid.
Quote from: nkryptit on December 11, 2008, 08:24:51 AM
Steering Stop...That's the answer I'm looking for. I know it's hard to visually tell if bars a bent slightly, but the amount of extra rotation I get to the left is enough that if it were bent bars, I think I could tell. Where are the steering stops usually located? I looked around a little, but didn't see much that looked promising.
Thanks guys!
I had the same problem a few weeks ago when I dropped my 696.
The steering stop is under the lower part of the front of the frame. It's just a lid of metal. It stops the steering when the screw on the steering head base hits the lid. If the lid is not bent too far, you can extend the screw on the steering head base and everything will work as if it was new.
Giordy
Quote from: giordy on December 15, 2008, 04:44:40 PM
I had the same problem a few weeks ago when I dropped my 696.
The steering stop is under the lower part of the front of the frame. It's just a lid of metal. It stops the steering when the screw on the steering head base hits the lid. If the lid is not bent too far, you can extend the screw on the steering head base and everything will work as if it was new.
Giordy
Thanks...What's with all these dropped 696? I don't feel so alone anymore.