696 Slow Speed Tip Over

[chisel]

Hi everyone,
2 nights ago I was leaving our company's underground parking garage when I encountered a motorist who didn't see me, backing out of their parking stall. I was traveling a little too fast for the situation as I couldn't fully see around the corner I was navigating, and put myself into a bad position.

When I saw the car in my path of travel, I was moving at about 5 mph and was nearly upright, so I thought I was safe to beginning straightening and pulling the brake in. I forgot how polished the floor was and lost traction in the front. I fell and did not slide more then a few inches. The motorist didn't even see me fall and left the scene.

I'm a little sore, and the bike didn't take a lot of damage. However I wanted to post this because of one key piece of damage: the steering stop tab welded to the frame bent inward slightly when the bike struck the ground, forcing the handle bars and controls into the tank cover. Subsequently, the tank cover cracked and the vent pushed in.

When I got home, I took the bike apart and popped the vent back into place. I replaced a couple of pieces and did a general check. During this check I noticed the steering stop issue. My suggestion to other 696 owners would be to find a way to reinforce the stop. My observation is that it is not strong enough to withstand much punishment and might be a good place to reinforce if possible. At some point in the future, I'm hoping to gusset the area, hopefully preventing any other unnecessary damage to the tank, etc.

Has anyone else encountered this? I'm wondering how flukey the damage was to my bike. Thanks very much.

[gearhead]

Thank you for the good advice.

[ProTeal55]

Glad to hear you are ok..
I hear ya on the slick parking garage floors..

[nkryptit]

I had a low speed-low side at the end of last season on my 696.  I will second your opinion on the weak steering stops.  Same damage to my tank/vents.  I'm not sure what can be done, it's just a little piece of steel welded on to the frame.  I would imagine the stops are only for keeping the bars from whacking the tank in everyday upright situations.  Any drop, and the weight of the bike is going to push those handlebars right into  the tank.  If you find anything that helps, let us all know.

Back to the 

[rockaduc]

Someone can correct me if I am wrong on this one...I have heard of insurance Co.'s TOTALING a bike b/c the steering stop tabs are damaged.  The reasoning is they are part of the frame and if the frame is damaged, they total the bike.  If this is true you should look into this.

[gearhead]

 I was thinking today on the nature of crash damage. I have had enough of these to observe the result. The energy created from an impact is simply transfered along a path of what ever it is you are riding. The weekest thing is the first to take damage and so on down the line until all the energy is absorbed. Some times an engineer will design components to absorb the energy first as to save a more vital/expensive component. In the case of the steering stop, if it were engineered to absorb an impact like you describe then the next thing in the chain would go, that being the handlebars. They would have bent and surely made contact with the tank and vent. We all desire a light bike that handles well so the manufacturers design bikes accordingly.  You would constantly be chasing the weakest component until that the mass of the bike would be greater than the object it comes in contact with. In your case that would be the cement floor and you bike would have gouged the floor out until all the energy was absorbed....lol.If we desired a bike that would withstand impacts then surely we would all be driving ill handling tanks. The other alternative would be to design mega buck feather weight bikes made from materials from area 51.

[booger]

I'd rather the bars bend than the steering stops. I doubt beefier stops would have a quantifiable effect on weight or handling.

[Loyalizer]

The other alternative would be to design mega buck feather weight bikes made from materials from area 51.

Hear thats how we got Kevlar and some of the materials that make up stealth fighters...

[hcomp]

I set my down from a dead stop and it bent the steering stops.  They are extremely weak IMO.  All I did was adjust the steering stops out a bit more so the bars did not hit the tank. I would rather have the bars bend than the steering stops as well.

[desmopr]

Someone can correct me if I am wrong on this one...I have heard of insurance Co.'s TOTALING a bike b/c the steering stop tabs are damaged.  The reasoning is they are part of the frame and if the frame is damaged, they total the bike.  If this is true you should look into this.

ditto...If you have insurance, I'd take the bike to the dealer for inspection.  On the older Monsters, it was almost always a total.

[chisel]

Most frame damage does translate to totaling a bike. I've had mechanics and dealers ask me point blank if I'd like them to tell the adjuster about any frame damage I've received on any of my bikes. A bike of mine was stolen some time ago. The thief broke the steering lock, which was welded to the frame, to steal the bike. I didn't want them to tell the adjuster then, and I don't want to tell an adjuster now about that sort of damage. I don't want to lose a bike I've spent a lot of time, energy, and money on simply because a tab was broken or bent on the frame, and nothing else.

I second many's thought that I'd rather the bars bend than the stop. Hell, I'd rather the tank cracks then the frame be damaged. My current plan is to, at some point, tear apart the front end of my bike, grind down the paint on the frame, cut the current stop off and design a removable / replaceable (therefore expendable) component to take the place of the the steel tab. I think of it like a slider puck for your steering stop. It might still mean contact with the tank, or bent bars, but it will certainly not have me worried about cracks or weakening parts in the backbone of the bike.

[Raux]

well to me the steering stop is the bendable/moveable part that's expendible. in essence it's the weakest link for a reason. its' easy to fix. just because insurance adjusters screw it up doesn't mean it's the end of a bike. if i remember right the 99 monster steering stops are on the head tube. cause when i had a tank slapper the steering stop DIDNT BEND it RIPPED open the steering tube. much rather have a bent steering stop on my new 696... knock on wood it won't EVER...

[gearhead]

Maybe the fact that I am a metal fabricater/welder by trade makes me biased. In my modest garage I own a $300 ,110 volt mig welder and a 5“ angle grinder which would allow me to fix the stearing stops within an hour. Now on the other hand it would be lot more difficult to make/straighten a set of handlebars never mind cheaper.   

[696DCRider]

Any new updates on this issue?

[Raux]

well to me the steering stop is the bendable/moveable part that's expendible. in essence it's the weakest link for a reason. its' easy to fix. just because insurance adjusters screw it up doesn't mean it's the end of a bike. if i remember right the 99 monster steering stops are on the head tube. cause when i had a tank slapper the steering stop DIDNT BEND it RIPPED open the steering tube. much rather have a bent steering stop on my new 696... knock on wood it won't EVER...

yeah FREAKING forgot I ever wrote this...  ended up bending my steering stops July 09