One place to check the frame after an accident

[callison]

 

 

Hmm, attachment size limit in effect. Will carry on with replies.

 

Oh yeah, this is frame damage from a straight on collision going 20mph into the rear of a car going 15mph in reverse.

 

 

 

 

 

Obviously, it doesn't take too much to screw up the frame. This same accident also broke the front engine mount points on the front engine cover and cracked the transmission case where it was bolted to the frame. I don't need to go into the fork and wheel damage or post photos of same. If you've had an accident on a spine frame Guzzi, the spine is where you want to start checking first. The bike in Arizona that impacted the rear of a car and then burned had the bottom part of the frame folded up into the steering head so neatly you would have thought it was stock. It wasn't. Pretend you're a chiropracter for motorcycles, whatever, but check the spine thoroughly after any sort of impact accident.

[Guest ratchethack]

YYYYEEEEEEEEFFFFFFFFTTTTTTTTT!!!!!!!

 

A sober reminder of wot can happen and good info to keep in the back files, Carl.

 

Thanks.

[Guest Mattress]

callison, did you buy the frame from the wrecked, burned bike in Arizona? I wondered what he had left. I bought the shift lever. It was all black from the fire and I hope I don't get any bad karma from it.

[Greg Field]

I need me one of those precision garbage cans so I can take measurements down to the tenth of a degree. Where'd'ya get it? Home Depot?

[Skeeve]

 

 

Hmm, attachment size limit in effect. Will carry on with replies.

 

Oh yeah, this is frame damage from a straight on collision going 20mph into the rear of a car going 15mph in reverse.

 

 

 

 

 

Obviously, it doesn't take too much to screw up the frame.

 

Not much? A 35mph differential is the same that the NTSB uses on cars crashing into barriers. Have you ever watched crash test dummy videos? Those cages are totalled after an accident at that speed! Absolutely you'd expect the frame to be FU'd after such an accident! If you think that's "minimal," my brother used to work for a motorcycle frame-straightening shop back in the '80s ["motorcycle menders" iirc.] He said that the big problem with Gold Wings is that the headstock would take a tweak in parking lot tipovers! [it's a big heavy bike, and they're loosey goosey when ridden hard, so I can totally believe him; in fact, I *have* to, since I own a crashed GL1200 that has a permanent list to the left, even tho' the only damage was supposedly "cosmetic." Such is life...]

 

 

This same accident also broke the front engine mount points on the front engine cover and cracked the transmission case where it was bolted to the frame. I don't need to go into the fork and wheel damage or post photos of same. If you've had an accident on a spine frame Guzzi, the spine is where you want to start checking first. The bike in Arizona that impacted the rear of a car and then burned had the bottom part of the frame folded up into the steering head so neatly you would have thought it was stock. It wasn't. Pretend you're a chiropracter for motorcycles, whatever, but check the spine thoroughly after any sort of impact accident.

 

Well sh\t-howdy YES you'd expect the frame to be tweaked if the motor mounts broke: the engine is a stressed-member in a spiney! But thanks for the reminder that the spine frames are always going to be susceptible to such, um, unfortunate frailties as this. BTW, was that a short frame or long? The long-frame Sport derivatives [post-2001?] are of course going to be even more prone to tweakage from bumps & such, because as the length of the member goes up, the stiffness goes down [get yer minds outta the gutter!... Failing that, post your replies over in the Silly Banter section! ]

 

Wondering aloud here... what kind of space exists w/ parts near the frame, would it be feasible to take a section of 2" dia pipe [or whatever dia. matches the square section Guzzi member], cut it down the center lengthwise, and weld that section along the bottom of the spine for increased structural rigidity? The cross section would then be more like

|_| instead of |_|

U

 

Ride on,

 

[guido]

as the length of the member goes up, the stiffness goes down [get yer minds outta the gutter!... Failing that, post your replies over in the Silly Banter section! wink.gif

 

 

HM, interesting topic, and good pictures. This is an early frame, because of the colour, the later frames are the same except for the angle of the head stock. They are thus equally long, or short, if you want, but because of the position of the front wheel, they have different wheel bases, thus "short" and "long" frames.

And callison should be changed to collision

[callison]

I need me one of those precision garbage cans so I can take measurements down to the tenth of a degree. Where'd'ya get it? Home Depot?

 

Lowes. The angle measurements were done in Canvas (3.56) on my Macintrash.

 

callison, did you buy the frame from the wrecked, burned bike in Arizona? I wondered what he had left. I bought the shift lever. It was all black from the fire and I hope I don't get any bad karma from it.

 

Ricks headstock had the spine actually folded up and tucked in so neatly that you would have thought it stock unless you knew better. Rick took a pretty serious loss in the accident, both financially and with his physical well being. I wish him a full recovery and lots of luck. His bike was pretty badly mangled and burned. Not too much of it was salvageable which was really unfortunate.

 

Send the shift lever out and get it powder coated black. They look good that way and have to be sandblasted first anyway, so the crud on it will be gone in any event.

 

Guido: "Crash Cranium" sounds better.