I hit some jack-azz on a bmx bike *is it easy to tell if somethings bent?

[chippie_dee]

On Friday on was traveling down a 4- lane city road (2 lanes going each direction). I was in the left lane, and there was a car ahead of me in the right lane about 2 car lengths ahead of me. Then all of a sudden, after the car passes him, a guy on a bicycle decides to cross the street from the gutter and does a 90 degree turn to the left. He immediately sees me about 10 feet before our paths collide. So he then freaks out and turns the bike directly in my path(headed the same direction) about 4 feet in front of me. I slam directly into his ass as i'm doing my first accidental stoppie.
The bicyclist just got a little road-rash, but my front/top cowling got screwed, and the bracket that holds the front cowlings to the frame cracked.
Can I just 'eye' the forks and handlebars to tell if they're bent, or do I need to take it in to be sure?:cry

 

[Wrong Way]

No you can't eye the forks to see if they are bent or not. One thing you can do is check for stiction. The forks should move up and down smoothly and rebound to the same point when you test them at a stand still. While off the bike, the forks should extend on their own allowing you to lift up the bike no more than about 10mm further.

The only way to tell for sure is to take them apart and test them on a flat surface. Having said that it is highly unlikely you bent them unless you hit something that was fixed and not moveable, like a tree or curb. You would have to punt a bicyclist down the block to generate enough force to bend forks.

As for the clipons, I would say you could eyeball those. If your bike laid down they may have bent but it usually takes a high side or if you crashed by continuing your stoppie and went over the top, one side may be bent downwards. Taking some components off might help to visualize any damage close to where the bar mounts to the triple clamp.

 

[chippie_dee]

No you can't eye the forks to see if they are bent or not. One thing you can do is check for stiction. The forks should move up and down smoothly and rebound to the same point when you test them at a stand still. While off the bike, the forks should extend on their own allowing you to lift up the bike no more than about 10mm further.

The only way to tell for sure is to take them apart and test them on a flat surface. Having said that it is highly unlikely you bent them unless you hit something that was fixed and not moveable, like a tree or curb. You would have to punt a bicyclist down the block to generate enough force to bend forks.

As for the clipons, I would say you could eyeball those. If your bike laid down they may have bent but it usually takes a high side or if you crashed by continuing your stoppie and went over the top, one side may be bent downwards. Taking some components off might help to visualize any damage close to where the bar mounts to the triple clamp.

Sounds good! Thanks for the feedback!

 

[clutchslip]

You should sell your bike!!!!!
If a BMX, at slow speed, can mess-up your forks and triple-clamp, your bike is a p.o.s.
My $.02

 

[chippie_dee]

You should sell your bike!!!!!
If a BMX, at slow speed, can mess-up your forks and triple-clamp, your bike is a p.o.s.
My $.02

Yeah, and you would probably be the first one to give me an offer:barf

 

[tygaboy]

Give Gerry at GP Frame and Wheel a call. He's in Napa. He can check and fix (if needed) the entire bike - frame, wheels, swing arm, etc. I've seen brand new bikes that were out of spec. Well worth the time and cost.
And sorry to hear about your accident.

 

[mercurial]

your forks are fine. don't blow a bunch of money getting all the geometry checked, just to have them tell you everything is fine.

good luck collecting from the dipshit on the BMX, you should've impounded his bike right then and there as collateral :laughing