Wrecked my 2002 Lemans

[Greedyfly]

Slid on some sand while cornering in a dark parking lot, brought the bike straight up as taught in safety course, but then I locked the brakes because I was fast approaching the curb and panicked. Next thing I know I am lying on my bike with the bike next to me, still running. From the marks on the curb, one of the tires hit it. Shut if off, picked it up. Started it and tried to assess damage. Drove the bike home, parked it then looked it over again. Here is what I noticed and am looking for advice on where to get parts or if there is something else I should check out before ordering parts. First bike ever owned and only 3 months experience so any advice is good advice.

 

Damage noticed.

 

1. footpeg on left side dug into asphalt and snapped in half.

2. Cylinder guard scratched up

3. Both left turn lamp assemblies need replaced.

4. steering damper bent and arm assembly snapped

5. steering damper mount bent slightly

6. Steering stop on triple tree sheared off.

7. 2 inch section of fairing scraped off (need a new fairing or could a body shop fill and match paint?)

8. some of the fairing mounting bolts sheared.

9. Rear section of front fender (the champagne section of the red/champagne paint job) has fracture.

10. Minor scrape on Mistral muffler (enough to snap the ring on the front of the muffler)

11. Minor scraping on left side mirror and clutch handle.

 

Ride handling on the way home, about 10 mile ride.

 

Rode at 40 mph and bike went straight, but much more than that I noticed the front started to wobble some (because of steering damper? or perhaps me unconciously trying to straighten the handlebars..)

 

Although the bike went straight, the handlebars and dash are no longer aligned. They are aligned with each other but I would say the dash is about an inch off center when holding the bars in a position that allowed traveling in a straight line.

 

Engine ran sounded fine.

 

Noticed no fluids anywhere on the bike or beneath it after parking it

 

What of this can I just order parts and replace? lights, cylinder guard, clutch handle, and mirror seem likely candidates

 

My biggest fear is frame damage, but I don't know of a way to check it. Was hoping the bikes ability to go straight would be a good sign that frame is not bent.

 

Adjusting handlebar alignment sounds simple but is it? My biggest worry is that the shaft is keyed or something and I sheared something off.

 

Can the rear portion of the front fender be purchased separately or do you have to spring for the complete fender?

 

Am going to take some pics of it and if any want to see them to help me assess the damage I will post them if asked to.

 

Greedyfly

[Alex-Corsa]

Rode at 40 mph and bike went straight, but much more than that I noticed the front started to wobble some (because of steering damper? or perhaps me unconciously trying to straighten the handlebars..)

 

Although the bike went straight, the handlebars and dash are no longer aligned. They are aligned with each other but  I would say the dash is about an inch off center when holding the bars in a position that allowed traveling in a straight line.

 

Engine ran sounded fine.

 

Greedyfly

 

Yeah the hanldebars would need to be realigned unscreww clip on bolts and allign , then tighten again and check ,

ABout tankslap-front wobble have to take the dumper out and check again, there ia also a posibility of slight fork diss-alignment, or bent?!!, also check front wheel bearings.

[Admin Jaap]

Those accidents suck!

 

I can't imagine the frame is bent at that low speed. I took a dive at 50 km/h from a dike, no problems there.

Seems like only cosmetic damage.

 

Check the members here if they have parts for you and the order what you need at the dealer.

 

Good luck!

[callison]

Remove the tank. Carefully check the spine for ANY sign of bending, buckling or twisting - especially in the area around the rear bolts for the engine sub-frame mount. Also, with the bike upright and the wheels in line, check to see that both wheels are in the exact same vertical plane. My personal take on bent frame repair or replacement is that it isn't worth the cost and effort. If the frame is fine, then it's just a matter of chasing down repair parts and doing the repairs. That sheered off steering stop and broken damper would have me looking very closely for a twisted frame. This is the result of a 20 mph sraight-on impact into a car going 15 mph in reverse.

 

 

[jrt]

First off- glad you are ok. Second- take some time to think about the cause of the crash and where you made a mistake. Then, don't make that mistake again. (sounds easy, eh?)

Do you have insurance? Will they pay for parts? If so, then take the bike in to a good dealer and have them give it a once over. If you don't have collision, then you might want to replace parts with used pieces or aftermarket pieces. New parts will be very, very expensive.

Possible alternative solutions to buying new parts.

1. replace footpegs with buell footpegs if you want more legroom. Do a search for "Rich Maund" and "footpegs". He replaced his with Suzuki(??) pegs which he thought were more comfortable.

2. Joe Kenney makes very nice looking cylinder guards. http://www.swva.net/jkenny/

3. I think Buell turn signals are the same or very similar.

4. ?? dunno

5. you might can bend the mount back (carefully) with an adjustable wrench. Don't use a tool with teeth (like pliers) or you'll gouge up the metal.

6. bummer. Can't help you here.

7. body shop

8. local Ace hardware

9. drill a tiny hole at the end of the crack to prevent it from growing. Again, a body shop might be able to weld the plastic back together.

10. Kludgy fix is put a large hose clamp on it. I won't even charge for that one, it's such a bad idea!

11. Aftermarket mirrors- Napoleons, Rizoma, Buell, there are lot's of choices.

www.rebootguzzispares.com in Britain has used pieces- I think Carl knows more about them than I do.

 

Check your steering head and wheel alignment. The wobble is probably because the forks got twisted. Check the wheel itself for damage like a bent rim. If it's bent....get a new one.

[Greedyfly]

Some pics...

 

These show the sheared steering stop, the rear left turn and muffler damage.

[Greedyfly]

Few More...

 

 

These show the cocked steering or the position the handlebars/dash are in to go straight, and the front fairing/turn signal damage. Below is the footpeg

 

[Greedyfly]

Final ones, showing front fender damage and clutch handle damage.

[callison]

Now that I've seen some photos, I strongly urge you to remove the gas tank and carefully check that frame.

[Greedyfly]

JRT, Callison et al.

 

Thanks for responding. Tonight I removed the front fairing and the mirror mounting portion, along with the fuel tank (Thanks to Al's description of how to do it in the howto forum). I also loosened the 4 bolts on the triple clamp and the 3 bolts on what might be the steering head) The ones beside the clutch lever, the braker lever and the one that is directly south of the ignition. The front wheel looks noticably straighter now, but am not sure how to determine if its really straight until putting it all back together and riding it. It looks like it might be slightly turned to the left, but that could be due to the bike leaning on its stand, I plan to buy a jack tomorrow and get the front wheel off the ground and see what it looks like then.

 

How do I check steering head and wheel alignment? (Also exactly whats a steering head is it the upper "triangle" sitting on the shaft of the triple clamp where the fork adjustment bolts are? What is the difference between a twisted fork and a bent fork and is there a way I can check either?

 

Callison,

 

I took the tank off and don't see anything obviously bent. Can you give me some guidance on what I should look for or perhaps some items to take pics of and post here for further advice?

 

Also for anyone else listening, I have read elsewhere on the net that if the frame is out of alignment, the bike will pull to one side or the other when you take your hands off the handle bars while travelling in a straight line. If the forks are bent would this also cause the bike to pull to one side or would it be more of a wobble?

 

After jacking it up and looking at the front wheel vs the line of the bike are there any ways to roughly check if its aligned? I plan to put it back together after checking anything anyone posts here and riding it to see what it does.

 

Greedyfly

[callison]

How do I check steering head and wheel alignment? (Also exactly whats a steering head is it the upper "triangle" sitting on the shaft of the triple clamp where the fork adjustment bolts are? What is the difference between a twisted fork and a bent fork and is there a way I can check either?

 

I don't think that the steering head suffers damage directly because the fork tubes below the steering head tend to bend first. Note that the fork tubes are not parallel after an impact. Look closely and you can also see that the front engine case is cracked where the bolt attaches it to the front sub-frame.

 

 

 

Callison,

 

I took the tank off and don't see anything obviously bent. Can you give me some guidance on what I should look for or perhaps some items to take pics of and post here for further advice?

 

Look at the spine - not straight.

 

 

 

Frame removed from bike with digital photos and some software measurements of deflections from normal.

 

 

 

Also for anyone else listening, I have read elsewhere on the net that if the frame is out of alignment, the bike will pull to one side or the other when you take your hands off the handle bars while travelling in a straight line. If the forks are bent would this also cause the bike to pull to one side or would it be more of a wobble?

 

After replacing the forks, I put 2000 miles on the bike before finding out the frame was bent. Stable the whole time and little if any pull to one side or the other.

 

After jacking it up and looking at the front wheel vs the line of the bike are there any ways to roughly check if its aligned? I plan to put it back together after checking anything anyone posts here and riding it to see what it does.

 

Greedyfly

 

The shop manual has all of the measurements if you want to engage in that level of determination.

[jrt]

Also for anyone else listening, I have read elsewhere on the net that if the frame is out of alignment, the bike will pull to one side or the other when you take your hands off the handle bars while travelling in a straight line. If the forks are bent would this also cause the bike to pull to one side or would it be more of a wobble?

60337[/snapback]

 

You know, if your worried the frame might be bent, then this seems like a really suspect plan. Be careful, ok?

 

You can check wheel alignment with a string (nod's to BFG) or a long fluorescent light bulb. Align with the rear wheel and check to make sure that the space between the straight line and the front wheel is the same. The rear wheel is wider than the front, so there will be an offset, but it should be the same fore and aft on the front tire. Hope that made sense.

[Guest ratchethack]

You can check wheel alignment with a string (nod's to BFG) or a long fluorescent light bulb.

May I suggest an easy and more accurate alternative:

 

http://www.v11lemans.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=4778&hl=

[Greedyfly]

 

 

These are three frameshots. I am much less worried about the frame being bent based on what I see here, but what do you guys think?

 

The only thing that caught my eye is the the cylinders do not appear inline, but that may be a characteristic of Guzzis???

 

Greedyfly

[Greedyfly]

Here are two picks from the front. I have noticed that the front wheel has definitely moved more inline with the rest of the bike since loosening the triple clamp bolts. Have yet to jack the bike off the ground and it is starting to rain so don't know if I will be able to do so today.

 

Also have bought me a laser level so I can use the tip for checking alignment. Thanks.

 

Greedyfly