Judging crash damage.

[Mike Britton]

Dude,
I'm sarting this thread here as I don't know where it should go. If you want to move it, you're the boss.
I fell on my Scram yesterday, details on another thread. Not a bad fall, less than 5,or so miles per hour. Bent the handlebars, broke of the shifter pin that sticks out of the shift lever, and bent, but didn't break the clutch lever. a little rash on the clutch cover by the lifter. That's all.
My question is, how do I asscess if , or how much the front end is tweaked out of plumb?
In my logic, if the bke fell hard enough to bend the handlebars, the front end mayhave gotten moved around. Am I worring about this when I shouldn't?

 

[Sal Paradise]

Ride it slow and careful in your neighborhood - if its out of alignment it will be obvious. Other than that carefully look at the fork tubes from every angle.

 

[Mike Britton]

Thanks Sal, I love your signature

 

[Sal Paradise]

Thanks Mike. I bastardized a Nietze quote. .

I doubt you tweaked the forks unless you hit a curb or something. There is a world of difference between bending handlebars and bending fork tubes. I would add - ride it slow and careful, after replacing the handlebars and it should be obvious. Alignment is real sensitive.

 

[tooblekain]

Absolute best way to know if you bent your forks or not is to pull them off and put on a wheel balancer and rotate them with a dial gauge and see if they wobble and how much.

Also riding it around the block to see if it tracks straight is another way.

I doubt you bent your forks. It takes a good crash to bend them. Ive bent the forks on my Daytona 675 from a crash where it landed down an embankment. It was obvious that it was bent because fork oil was just flowing down.

 

[Mike Britton]

Thanks guys. I'm a little paranoid because it's been a real long time since I owned a bike I didn't bring home in boxes, and I want to do right by this one.
I straightened out the bars the old flattrack way with a 4 foot piece of exhaust pipe, and replaced the pin in the shifter lever. Clutch lever seems OK aside from some rash.
I took it out around the block, and it feels OK. Hands off, it starts to slip to the right, but it's done that since I got it, and I suspect the rear wheel my be a touch off from the last chain adjustment. At any rate, the slip to the right is no worse now than it was before I threw it down on the pavement, so I'm calling it good.
I probably should go around and check tightness on everything more from the 11,000 some odd miles than anything else. Thanks for not raggin' on me for my rookie mistake, I checked tire pressure this morning and front was at 30 and rear was at 32. I've been running 34 f 36 r, so maybe that had something to do with my suprise attack yesterday.

 

[Kirkus51]

I did a flying W over the handlebars and bent the forks, but that was at about 15mph.

 

[JRMSR]

Dude,
I'm sarting this thread here as I don't know where it should go. If you want to move it, you're the boss.
I fell on my Scram yesterday, details on another thread. Not a bad fall, less than 5,or so miles per hour. Bent the handlebars, broke of the shifter pin that sticks out of the shift lever, and bent, but didn't break the clutch lever. a little rash on the clutch cover by the lifter. That's all.
My question is, how do I asscess if , or how much the front end is tweaked out of plumb?
In my logic, if the bke fell hard enough to bend the handlebars, the front end mayhave gotten moved around. Am I worring about this when I shouldn't?

If you want to check the alignment of the front and rear wheels; run through a puddle of water and continue straight for about 30 to 40 ft. Stop and check to see if the front is tracking with the rear and vice versa. You can go another way and use a magnetic dial caliper gauge.

Set it up on a metal stand near the front fork tubes. Touch the gauge to the middle of the tube. Loosen the tube in the triple tree and rotate a full 360 degrees. Retighten the tube in the triple tree and move to the other repeating the same. You shouldn't vary more than 1 degree per fork tube.

None of this is difficult and will give you a pretty good indication if they're bent or not.

 

[nohawk]

You could also remove the front wheel, loosen the triple clamps and see if the fork can slide all the way through without binding.

 

[Mike Britton]

OK, I'm hijacking my own thread. Being computer illiterate makes me crazy sometimes.
A week or so ago, somone asked me for a pic of the old flattracker. I can't find that post.
So now that I have photoshop working again, here it is.
The old dog has been quiet for about thirty years now, with about an hour on the latest engine rebuild.
She's next in line for a complete restoration just like she is.
.040 over '56 TR6, Norris flattrack cams,11/1 Hepolite pistons, a very little head work, QC barnes on the back, Akront on the front. I think the shocks are Sportster, I'm 235, and there's not much bounce. Betor front end.
58 tooth sprocket. I have robbed some minor things off her over the years to keep other bikes alive. This the best "sliding" bike I've ever ridden. Bought in'69, matching numbers, with title. John Deere tractor bottom end tourqe! Scary, but guilty fun to ride. Never was competetive, but I would go out and run hot laps with the newer bikes and had a ball.
I hope whoever asked me for info on this bike is looking, otherwise, sorry for the tangent. Mike