| Author | Message | ||
     Kellaupat |
I hit a deer 3 weeks ago at about 40 mph. Actually it ran in to me on the right side. By the grace of god I did not go down but somehow managed to break my right radius above my wrist. I am also bruised at the family jewells from I guess being thrown on to the top of my air cover box, and the frame pucks stopping me from flying. Damage to my bike from what I see is the front lower fender gone, left side air scoop gone and beak is cracked at the bolt holes. Deer impact was between front wheel and motor, and I was able to get home (3 miles) very slowly on my own. I put bike up on lift today and checked front wheel and brake, ok. and steering bearing resistance test is good, no play at all. However I drove it today at very slow speeds and I am getting lots of vibration through the bars and when I hit the front break can feel something not right. My question is this, If steering bearing is good on the lift, could it be a bad front engine isolator? I can see movement in it while bike is on lift and I lift up on the forks. I would think however this is what the isolator is supposed to do. My bike is an 09 with 13000 mikes on it. I am pretty slow at work and really dont want to start replacing good parts. Anyone have a guess on what I should replace. | ||
| Bdrag |
I would say you probably shifted the forks in the clamps. Try re alighning the forks. Loosen the pinch bolt on the front axle and bounce the front end some and retorque. Check and make sure the triple clamps are not cracked or busted. Some of the damaged parts may be in a bind against the motor as well. If you have a shop you trust, have them look it over as well. Good luck and glad you survived as well as you did. BDRAG (Message edited by bdrag on October 31, 2010) | ||
| Kellaupat |
Thanks Bdrag, I will check that. Didn't cross my mind about that, but the front end did get rocked hard enough to break my arm. Thanks for the help. I am probably going to take the bike up to Frederick Buell next week and have them go over it. Ratbuell works up there, and I have had good luck getting service there. Hopefully it is something easy. I love this bike, my friends cant believe how tough it is. BTW The deer was killed and the poor guys from V-Dot had to pick it up. | ||
| Ddaleuly |
Glad you weren't hurt worse. Hit my deer last summer (a glancing blow) at about 70 - bike went into speed wobble, threw me off, and then went down hard on it's right side. The side cases made the front wheel dig into the pavement - front windscreen and instrument case was smashed and handlebars bent. Took the bike to our local RaceTech authorized site, he removed and reworked forks, checked steering head, and put on the new bars. I replaced the rest. Ended up being ok. He basically said what you needed to do was to take it apart, make sure nothing is bent, put it back together, and see how it goes. Hope this helps - Good Luck! | ||
| Ourdee |
Better PM Ratbuell before looking for him there. | ||
| Kellaupat |
I thought he (Ratbuell) was still there... The last time I was there was last year to get tires. Thanks Ddaleuly for your advice. Glad to see you made it. The more I look at my front isolator the more I think it is toast. I can see on the metal part of it where it has made contact with the back of the triple tree, and when i look with a bright flashlight, it looks like the rubber is torn. I am going to order a new one from American Sportbike and hopefully that will cure my issues. If not I will be taking it to a pro. | ||
| Ratbuell |
Yeah, Ratbuell hasn't worked there since March...but if you'd like a set of eyes on the bike, just drop me a PM  Fork torque is easy to check. Loosen the pinch bolts on the lower tree on both fork tubes. Put the front wheel in a vise, or have someone sturdy hold it straight. Check the handlebars for straight; if they aren't, hold that front wheel steady and give the bars a crank to line them back up. Having the lower tree loose will let the legs and trees shift where they need to go. If you want to get real precise, get some twine and wrap it around both wheels, front to back, so you have a "straight edge" along each wheel showing when the front wheel is lined up with the rear wheel. Once you have that set, check your bars (measure from one bar end to a point in the center of the airbox, then from the other bar end). And your isolator shouldn't really "move", at least not much. It's more a vibration damper than a long travel device. Check for a bent rim and/or front rotor. Jack up the front wheel so you can spin it, and grab a pencil. Hold the tip of the pencil close (real close) to the rotor and spin the wheel. If it touches here and not there as it spins...you gotta bend. Same thing with the bead of the wheel. To hold the pencil steady, brace your hand against a fork leg and keep the pencil steady and close while that wheel spins. It's not a high-tech way to check runout...but it works in a pinch. | ||
| Kellaupat |
Thanks Ratbuell, I will check out everything you said. I already checked rim and brake rotor, all were good. I am going to do the fork trick and see if that works. Feeling I am getting when I am on the front brake is a "something's loose" feeling. At idle I have alot of new vibration through the bars, but it is when I brake with just the front brake that I get the sensation and feeling through the bars that something is about to break. Sorry to hear you are not up at the dealer no more. I had real good service from them guys last time I was there. I bought my bike at Winchester H-D, and they just seemed to despise Buells. | ||
| Hangetsu |
Just yesterday I was riding 2-up wiht my wife on Co Rd 126 between Deckers and Highway 285 (Colorado). We hooked up with some guy riding a GS800 and started getting a little competitive through the splendid curves that road has to offer. we were keeping a clip of a little over 70 until we passed the first "reduced speed" sign coming into the town of Buffalo Creek. Fortunately we did heed the signs request, because just around the next corner a whole frick'n family of deer crossed the road directly in front of us. The GS rides was a few meters in front of us and he barely had time to slow and avoid the deer. My wife and I were probably safe from the deer, but we most certainly would have hit the other rider or his bike after he went down. It was a pretty close call. | ||
| Johnboy777 |
Hey Kellaupat, Glad to hear you are okay - I read the stats, some time ago, on deer strikes with motorcycles, and the survival rate was pretty low. You're lucky. . |
