Post by siriuslyandrew on Dec 21, 2015 21:06:09 GMT -6
So just before winter hit in full force and I had my put my bike away for storage, I had a slight accident. I wasn't hurt (except for my pride,) and the bike was mostly fine aside from some cosmetic and minor things which I'll get into in a moment.
It was first thing in the morning and it was pretty chilly out, if I remember correctly it was around 3c. Frost on the bike seat was normal and for these temps I was letting the bike warm up for a little longer than I usually did. Anyways, I set off down the road and it was a typical morning for me. I navigated a few corners incident free but when I was making my way onto the highway, which is a left turn at a set of lights, things went all sorts of wrong.
Things happened fast, but I remember trying desperately to make it a soft landing. The rear tire just completely gave up all traction and I might as well have been on a skating rink. Before I knew it, the bike was on its left side and I was looking at the traffic about to depart from their red light - I remember pacing, looking at my bike and the traffic waiting at their light and throwing my hands over my head like "what the $#@! have I done!" After my brief moment of shock I jumped into action, I turned the key off on the bike and checked the traffic lights, which just changed from yellow to red, then signaled to the drivers I was going to move to the far shoulder. I proceeded to pick up the mass of machinery without any struggle and wheeled it over to the shoulder before traffic even started moving. I think they may have waited for me to clear the way, but this is Kamloops traffic and everyone is an asshole so probably not lol.
Sitting there, bike on its side stand, I did a quick survey of damage. Nothing huge stood out except for the big scuff on the stator cover and the bar end weight which was also bent upwards. The left mirror came loose so I tightened it up and it was good as new. I hopped on and turn the key, everything came to life like it should. Some how in the mess I ended up in 4th gear, so I rowed the gears back to neutral while rocking the bike forward and backward to keep the transmission smooth. Once in neutral I squeezed the clutch a few times, see if the cable is tight or loose. Felt fine so I started the bike. Sounds perfectly normal - I remember thinking I got off scott free, aside from the scratches. I started off slowly and realize something is very wrong. The bars are crooked as all hell and driving a straight line meant holding the bars to the left. I hopped off and scanned the front end very closely but I couldn't see anything wrong with the forks or their immediate alignment but I did notice that the left side handlebar was slightly higher than the right side, so I figured the bars were just bent. But to be sure I rode to dealer and left it in their hands for inspection.
After work that day I picked it up. The fork alignment was still spot on, and all that was wrong was the bar was bent upwards. The rear passenger pegs got a hella scratching too that I didn't notice before, but they still functioned properly and didn't look too mangled. So I priced out new bars ($140CAD) and figured I'd just shop on Ebay for some bars.
I spent hours on Ebay trying to find handlebars that should fit almost exactly like the stock ones, but nothing specifically came up for GSR-750 or GSX-S750 so I went with these. The measurement I got from my current bars seem to match up almost identically to these ones, but I won't know till I go to install them after Christmas. I was thinking about putting bar end weights back on, but my bars are hollow compared to my stock ones which have threads for them... Maybe it's time to get bar end mirrors instead? Hopefully they don't vibrate to much. I suppose I could get new grips too. All new territory for me, never done stuff like this before lol.
It was first thing in the morning and it was pretty chilly out, if I remember correctly it was around 3c. Frost on the bike seat was normal and for these temps I was letting the bike warm up for a little longer than I usually did. Anyways, I set off down the road and it was a typical morning for me. I navigated a few corners incident free but when I was making my way onto the highway, which is a left turn at a set of lights, things went all sorts of wrong.
Things happened fast, but I remember trying desperately to make it a soft landing. The rear tire just completely gave up all traction and I might as well have been on a skating rink. Before I knew it, the bike was on its left side and I was looking at the traffic about to depart from their red light - I remember pacing, looking at my bike and the traffic waiting at their light and throwing my hands over my head like "what the $#@! have I done!" After my brief moment of shock I jumped into action, I turned the key off on the bike and checked the traffic lights, which just changed from yellow to red, then signaled to the drivers I was going to move to the far shoulder. I proceeded to pick up the mass of machinery without any struggle and wheeled it over to the shoulder before traffic even started moving. I think they may have waited for me to clear the way, but this is Kamloops traffic and everyone is an asshole so probably not lol.
Sitting there, bike on its side stand, I did a quick survey of damage. Nothing huge stood out except for the big scuff on the stator cover and the bar end weight which was also bent upwards. The left mirror came loose so I tightened it up and it was good as new. I hopped on and turn the key, everything came to life like it should. Some how in the mess I ended up in 4th gear, so I rowed the gears back to neutral while rocking the bike forward and backward to keep the transmission smooth. Once in neutral I squeezed the clutch a few times, see if the cable is tight or loose. Felt fine so I started the bike. Sounds perfectly normal - I remember thinking I got off scott free, aside from the scratches. I started off slowly and realize something is very wrong. The bars are crooked as all hell and driving a straight line meant holding the bars to the left. I hopped off and scanned the front end very closely but I couldn't see anything wrong with the forks or their immediate alignment but I did notice that the left side handlebar was slightly higher than the right side, so I figured the bars were just bent. But to be sure I rode to dealer and left it in their hands for inspection.
After work that day I picked it up. The fork alignment was still spot on, and all that was wrong was the bar was bent upwards. The rear passenger pegs got a hella scratching too that I didn't notice before, but they still functioned properly and didn't look too mangled. So I priced out new bars ($140CAD) and figured I'd just shop on Ebay for some bars.
I spent hours on Ebay trying to find handlebars that should fit almost exactly like the stock ones, but nothing specifically came up for GSR-750 or GSX-S750 so I went with these. The measurement I got from my current bars seem to match up almost identically to these ones, but I won't know till I go to install them after Christmas. I was thinking about putting bar end weights back on, but my bars are hollow compared to my stock ones which have threads for them... Maybe it's time to get bar end mirrors instead? Hopefully they don't vibrate to much. I suppose I could get new grips too. All new territory for me, never done stuff like this before lol.
