Almost went down....

[hubeerjw]

Well, I'm a little embarrassed to post this, and I really didn?t want too, but maybe it will help someone out in the future. Went on a ride last night and it was almost my last. I went to a buddies house about 10 miles away to show him Morley's carb kit and to brag about being able to ride while his bagger was torn down in his shop. I get ready to leave and I launch pretty hard and am flying through the gears and hit 5th doing about 125... all of a sudden my bike starts to shake wildly and I quickly get out of the throttle. My bike starts to veer off the road onto the shoulder (which is pretty wet and muddy.) My handle bars are cranked to the left, but keep going deeper in the shoulder. There is a 20 to 30' ditch I'm on the edge of heading down and start leaning hard to my left to keep my bike on the shoulder. I get it stopped and I am looking down to see why my bars are turned left, but my front wheel is pointing straight. I get off the bike, clean the piss and **** out of my pants, and look at my front forks cocked way out of wack.... I either didn't tighten my front axle, or it had come loose from doing wheelies. The axle was completely unthreaded from the right fork and the spacer had fallen out. I know I was in a hurry to get the bike together to test out the carbs, and I had put the front tire on a few months ago when I did the ss braided brake line upgrade, so I could have overlooked it. I keep trying to go through things in my head, but all I know is I am pretty lucky to be sitting here with everything intact. I think the only damage to the bike is a missing spacer/collar and my rotor ate into my right fork leg. My bike is over at my buddies house so I'll dig into it a little more later. I am usually very careful about checking things, but I almost have to believe my excitement got the best of me this time.

I have a new spacer on order, but it looks like it will take a week to get here. I'll try to post some pictures of my F-up, but I just wanted to say be careful out there and take your time. This forum is great and the people are even better! When things like this happen, it really makes you take a second look at things. I told the wife I had some electrical problems, and that is why I didn?t ride it home?

After we got my bike unloaded at my buddies shop, he told me to, ?open the fridge?. I think you deserve one? That Budweiser never tasted so good!

Be safe,

Jeff

 

[maleko89]

Jeff, glad you made it okay.

That proves to do a once over the bike each time you ride to make sure no leaks, brakes work, no loose bolts, etc. God knows I don't follow this advice.

Once again, good recovery. .

Mark
#1098

 

[maxcruiser]

Holy **** Jeff, no kinding that must of scared the crap out of you.

GLAD TO HERE THAT YOU AND THE BIKE ARE OK.

Probably best not to worry the wife about something like this.

Stay safe

Mike

 

[113s&s]

Jeff glad your ok..thats one ride you will never forget...people would of just assumed you went of the road from careless riding

 

[4gasem]

You don't call me when this happens huh?

Damn boy! Sounds like you had a hell of a ride.

When ever I work on my bikes I go back through it with the torque wrench and the torque settings and hit ALL the bolts just in case I forgot something.

Glad you made it out OK.:thumbs up:

 

[KJShover]

Glad you didn't take the tumble! Sounds like you were being looked after.:clapping:

 

[one2dmax]

Holy crap. I had a few chrome bushings on hand - lol! haven't had that happen yet. Had a real close call last year myself.

Sean

 

[Buster Hymen]

HOLY crap! :surprise: I've ridden out some tank slappers but nothing as bad as that! Man, I'm glad you made it through with no injuries :cheers: as that could have been very serious, if not fatal, if you hadn't been able to control it.
Maybe Sean will approach you for a testimonial of the power of his carb kit! "It ripped the front wheel right off"! :biglaugh: :rocket bike:
Let us know how much bike damage there is. Maybe we can scrounge up some parts for you.

 

[maleko89]

Maybe Sean will approach you for a testimonial of the power of his carb kit! "It ripped the front wheel right off"!

Hey....my Morley kit doesn't rip the front wheel off! I want my money back! lol

Mark
#1098

 

[shawn kloker]

Holy****,WTF,Alot of things come to mind!Thank God you saved it and didn't go down!I always blue loctite the axle pinchbolts.I am surprised that you didn't lose the speedo drive.

 

[RagingMain]

Glad to hear you are OK. Nothing like this to help us smell the roses.
Remember there are no take backs
Cheers:cheers:

 

[Redbone]

Wow glad you are OK! Oh and your Max too! That had to be one a hellva ride.

 

[lankeeyankee]

Dayumn Jeff! :surprise:
That is one hell of an exciting story. I am glad you got a second chance.

 

[Rusty McNeil]

Very glad your OK man....Hell of a story to, glad you're here to tell it......

I wouldn't have told the wife either...

Every thing you say can and will be used against you...:biglaugh:

Rusty

 

[hubeerjw]

Well, I finally got the bike back today from my friends place. I replaced the collar/spacer, and got everything good and tight this time... checked everything over quite a few times. The wheel seemed a little tight, but spun fairly free and the calipers/rotors didn't seem to rub or have any high spots, so I think my rotors are straight as well. I think I lucked out on this one big time! The only major damage appears to only be conmetic and was to the lower fork and you can't even see it since it is on the inside (unless you know it is there). I'm going to get out there and get a few more miles in today and come back and check things again.

Thanks to all those who posted comments, this is a great forum, and thanks to Sean Morley... always willing to help out where he can. I do owe him a new front axle (it is on the way).

I was in Wichita last week and got a few parts from Sean, one of them being a front axle (in cases mine was bent). I was flying back and getting ready to head through airport security, and I didn't want to check my luggage, and I didn't know if that axle would throw up a red flag... and it did! Shortened version- Airport security now has one front VMax axle, and I am down one. I guess they consider a bolt to be a "Tool" and since it is longer than 7"... I can't take it on board with me. I didn't argue too much since they are doing their job and they were pretty nice about it, so I just let it go. Lesson #2 learned.... no axles on airplanes

At least I'm back out there riding again!

Jeff

 

[4gasem]

At least I'm back out there riding again!

Jeff

THIS is what's important Jeff... You lived through what could/should have been a lot worse.

Now back to the NO2 thread...:whistlin: