Triumphrat

juiceloosner · 12-28-2008, 05:53 PM

Oh woe is me!
I am not worthy.
Had my bike 1 week. 05 thruxton with 8,000 kms. Perfect condition. Not a scratch.
Done over 1000kms in the first week. so i think i am down and meshed with the bike.
Last night i put it in gear and ride about 50 cm and Whammo next thing im looking at my new baby lying like a stuck pig on the deck.
Its like i crashed into an invisible object.
W T F???
"Oh my" i have forgotten to take off the D Lock on the front disk.
First time that i have not put the little bag the lock comes in on the clutch lever as a helpful reminder to take it off. Theres a lesson.
I havent dropped a bike in twenty years.
After punching my self in the head a few times.
I pick the bike up (dropped Left Hand Side) and assess the damage. Bent clutch lever and gear shift foot peg bent in toward engine.
Very small scratch on back of pipe but not to bad considering.
Im sure that the lock hitting the caliper and stalling the bike in first is not good for the brakes or fork alignment.
But the major pain is that i cant get the bike into first neutral or second. Its stuck in fourth and fifth gear. I managed to ride it home but didnt sleep last night cause im hoping its a shifter problem not an internal clutch issue.
The shifter is clearing the gear spline so im kind of freaking.
I could bend it some more but dont think this will add any more mechanical funcionality as it already clears the rest of the shift line, and i dont want to snap it.
Im hoping the local triumph dealers and workshop are open over christmas.
btw thanks for all the posts here that make me feel like less of a knucklehead.
http://www.triumphrat.net/twins-talk...d-my-bike.html
btw no one saw it happen so i can be thankful for that

davidc · 12-28-2008, 06:28 PM

A sad tale indeed! I'd never use one of those locks - heard that same thing happening time and again. Although, I'll bet YOU never do that again, eh?

Greaser · 12-28-2008, 08:17 PM

They are called battle scars-live with 'em.

cafetbird · 12-29-2008, 12:17 PM

Sounds like an opportunity to get some Pazzo levers , Predators, and cool rear sets to me.... welcome to the club!

tgleaton · 12-30-2008, 02:42 PM

Sounds similar to what happened to me. 05 with around 780 scratch free miles when I got it. I took it over to my parents house and was turning in the driveway and they had just put fresh gravel on the road. As soon as I hit it we both went down. I was only going 2-5 miles per hour and it got my engine cover and right side mufflers. I got lucky that I was planning on getting Predators and thanks to someone on this site got the engine cover for free minus shipping charges.

I am hoping that will be the last time that happens!!

Geimer · 12-30-2008, 03:31 PM

On the bright side it sounds like its a pretty good anti-theft device... I'll bet you'll never try to steal your own motorcycle again

Here is an "almost" story; Last year on a company sponsored ride there's a guy with a Gold Wing who parks in a row with 20 other bikes all lined up parallel and pretty close together. He starts to get off without putting the kickstand down and managed to catch it right near the point of no-return. Now can you imagine the shame (not to mention cost) of joining the knucklehead club by knocking over 20 bikes at once? He escaped that embarrassment but just barely.
I dropped mine on Thanksgiving day after riding up a grassy hill. It ran fantastically going up, but when I tried turning around at the top I had a slow motion fall over. I am not used to turning around on the side of a slope.
More to your point though juice... Let us know how the shifting mechanism works out and your brake rotor alignment and such. I wish you the best of luck on those things. That's what I'd be worried about. I hope it does not cost too much.
You know... come to think of it the lock itself is not a bad idea... forgetting about it is the bad idea. (I'm not dissing you juice since I'm in the knucklehead club now too). But the manufacturers could easily design some sort of low tech reminder device right along with the lock. Something like a red string with one end attached to the lock that allowed you to tie the other end to the ignition switch... something like that and a person would never forget. How many thousands of people are now going to read this thread and from this time onward completely swear off brake disk locks? I would think a reminder device would be good for their business.

Tbirdnz · 12-30-2008, 04:13 PM

That's tough J-L, but you are definitely not alone in doing that, I don't think I could trust myself with a disk-lock. This sites full of such stories.

Hope you got your parts ok, enjoy your New Year.

------------------
Ride on !