Bike knocked over - kickstand side - what to look for?

[N4teTheGreat]

It seems ok, but I'm sure something got f-ed up. My bike got knocked over this week, already bitched in general, now I need to fix things. It went down on the kickstand side which I think means it went down hard.

Visible damage:
-- Bent clutch lever (will replace)
-- handlebar likely bent needs replaced
-- Minor ding in tank, I'll just dab some clear coat on it to prevent the pain from rusting
-- Grab handle rashed, I'm not sure I care
-- handlebars go further left before hitting full lock, which means I have to jiggle them to get the keys out , not sure about this, I'm mildly concerned

i couldn't find any marks on the rearset or swingarm, the engine case is also clean. The bike was covered, so that may have helped.

It started rough, but idle smoothed out quickly and it only farted blue smoke for a couple seconds.

I suspect I should check the air filter for oil, and give a good wash to get any leaked fuel off the paint and parts. What else should I consider? I'll likely have a pro give it a once over / tune up once I do the easy stuff.

-- Nathan

 

[ALANRIDER7]

Inspect the steering stops.

 

[quicksparks]

Inspect the steering stops.

Most likely your ignition switch budged. Without knowing specifics of your bike, probably the mounting bosses on the top clamp of the triple tree bent or broke.

When you lock your steering a bolt (like the deadbolt of a door lock) protrudes from the ignition switch and sticks into a cavity in the neck of the frame to keep the handlebars from turning.

 

[N4teTheGreat]

Thanks for the info, sounds like I didn't make it out as easy as I was hoping. I'll have a look this weekend.

-- Nathan

 

[msethhunter]

Raise the front end of the bike up off the ground, Loosen everything in the front end up (clamps/bolts/etc). Give it a wiggle, then tighten it all back up. Check to see if it's still turning to far to one side. If it just got knocke over, it's probably just tweaked and not bent(if that makes sense). A bike should be able to handle a tip over with no major damage.

 

[matt fe2o3]

I got briefly schooled last weekend on emission systems and tip overs as part of a tune. Underlying message was if your tossing fuel down the vacuum lines during a tip over try to sort that out and drain any liquid out of lines. The vacuum is not a big fan of fluids and can take a while to work itself out. Good luck!

 

[EastBayDave]

I'd be wary of doing any high-speed stuff for awhile. Try some testing on your favorite faster twisties, at a lower speed than usual. See if the bike does anything "funny," or anything weird happens, like:

wobbles/wallows
twitchyness, pulling to one side or the other
braking/accelerating to one side or the other

make sure it's positively "neutral" & as normal as it was before attempting any high-speed stuff. If it does anything weird/funny, you need to look deeper before you get hurt. Sometimes a simple tip-over can bend things like:

triple clamps, swing-arm, frame. <read this again. Yes this happened to me.

As mentioned above, you should loosen the entire front end & bounce on it to un-tweak it if it's "bound-up" (to release any binding), & then torque everything back up (via torque wrench to specs.)

Hopefully you got away w/it w/o any of the above...

good luck

 

[Busy Little Shop]

Raise the front end of the bike up off the ground, Loosen everything in the front end up (clamps/bolts/etc). Give it a wiggle, then tighten it all back up. Check to see if it's still turning to far to one side. If it just got knocke over, it's probably just tweaked and not bent(if that makes sense). A bike should be able to handle a tip over with no major damage.

My thoughts too... Good advice...

 

[N4teTheGreat]

Thanks everyone, Odds are I'll have a shop confirm everything is straight since I'm not confident in my skill to do that myself. Hopefully things like the clutch lever and handebars absorbed enough energy to protect the expensive bits.

-- Nathan

 

[sicks]

Next time invest in carbon fiber kickstand

 

[keeprocking]

Invest in a set of frame sliders if you havent already done so

 

[msethhunter]

Thanks everyone, Odds are I'll have a shop confirm everything is straight since I'm not confident in my skill to do that myself. Hopefully things like the clutch lever and handebars absorbed enough energy to protect the expensive bits.

-- Nathan

Not a bad idea at all. But make sure you take it to a reputable shop that isn't going to tell you you're bike is totally screwed up if it isn't.

"Know when to fold 'em"

 

[oorahduc]

Gerry in Napa! He can check/straighten anything.