So, without going into the details, I dropped my bike in the garage today while working on the mirrors. It wasn't hard and I caught it in time to take away much of the fall. Anyway, scraped the left clutch lever is all I see and it seems to ride fine. However, when checking things out I noticed that when turning the handlebar all the way to the left it hits the tank. To be honest, I'm not sure if it had always been that way or not (just purchased in February this year) but I'm thinking I probably would have noticed it before. Visually looking at the handlebar it doesn't appear to be bent in any way nor do I see any other damage. I guess my question for the experts here before I take it in is, is it possible that the fall (even if mild) knocked something out of alignment in some way and, if so, what would I want to look at and how big a repair deal am I possible looking at? Disclaimer - I not much of a mechanic. Thank you.
My guess is either the bar is bent or the steering stop is broken/bent.
Bent steering stop behind the headlamp. Just unscrew the bolt so it reaches out a little more. Be glad it didn't crack the tank skin! $$$$
Thanks guys. Is that a big deal (expensive) for the shop to repair?
Although the bike may otherwise be fine, I hear the insurance companies total the bikes when the steering stops are bent as it constitutes frame damage.
That's would be a huge bummer as the bike didn't fall very hard really and I was partly breaking the impact. Just curious do other bikes have the same type of issue or are Duc's engineered in such a way that it is prevalent?
Also, when an insurance company totals a bike generally what do they pay you for?
I think you are fine. I got all worried about this, adjusted the steering stop and then realized that the tank was latched down kinda funny (read the plastic tank thread). If its just a couple of turns on the steering stop i think you will be fine.
That's comforting to hear . Thank you. Should I have the dealer look at before calling the insurance company in case they wouldn't want to take that approach or does it matter? Just curious.
Quote from: whatsup on July 06, 2009, 07:38:40 PM
That's comforting to hear . Thank you. Should I have the dealer look at before calling the insurance company in case they wouldn't want to take that approach or does it matter? Just curious.
don't call your insurance, is my advice. It could be any number of things. The steering stop bent, the bar bent, maybe the bar just rotated in the clamps. Hard to say without pics or seeing how it fell.
Turned out to be a bent bar is all. I was worried. It takes a while to get those parts in though, but it's completely safe to ride I just need to not turn it into the tank (or where flip flops on the slick garage floor).