CHECK/TIGHTEN YOUR BOLTS!!!

[mikesitter]

So it was a beautiful spring morning here in Denver (temp was up to low 60s by 7 am) and how could I just leave the Rocket sitting in the garage? I suited up for the commute to work and got underway.

About a mile and a half from the house, I started hearing this awful scraping sound every time I hit a bump. My first thought was that I picked up something off the road (a piece of brush or something, perhaps). I pulled into the nearest neighborhood, only to find the bottom pipe on the right side kissing the asphalt! Both bolts holding it to the hanger were nowhere to be seen.

Thank God it happened so close to home...I was able to limp back to the house with nothing worse than a scraped tip on the pipe.

I know this has been discussed on this forum before, but make sure you check the bolts holding various bits to the bike often!!! I had done such a check maybe 300 miles ago but the bolts obviously backed out quicker than expected.

My next mod to the bike will be liberal application of Loctite.

[tbsrider2000]

Good idea! I took off to work on my Road Glide last year after installing a new set of speakers in the fairing. I take off to work about 5:45 AM. I have a good 40 mile enjoyable ride to work, so I'm tooling along when all the sudden my right front turn signal clunks and is facing back toward me! I forgot to tighten the two nuts that old it and that fairing bracket. No problem, I keep going
as I can temporarily tie that up with something when I get to work.

However, the turn signal wires are pulling on some other wires inside the fairing. About a mile from work, on a 6 lane highway, all the lights go out.. it's still very dark outside. So, I quickly put on my flashers and have to pull across all six lanes to the nearest safe place to park. I pull out the find a blown fuse, and luckily, have a spare. I put it in and very fortunately, make it on base before the fuse blows again.. hahaha.

Made it home safely (day time).. but those two loose nuts put me in a dangerous situation quick when all my lights went out on a 6 lane highway..

[Toystoretom]

Hey Dave!!!

I think the best tool you had on that ride was the ability to stay calm when things started to fall apart...

I know we talked about checking your bike over, and you should. Anyone can forget something or leave something loose, its called being human. Plus... parts can have hidden flaws in them that don't show up until later.

Most of the techs I work with refuse to work on bikes, it makes them nervous. Bikes are not like cars, if you make a mistake on a car it will probably still be on 4 wheels and the occupants are inside a safety structure. Chances of getting hurt are much less. Something goes wrong on a bike and ... yikes! You should hear the talk about airplane mechanics and what they have to go through.

One of the guys I work with won't work on his own bike... he usually has me do it. We normally work on the bikes on the weekend and it cuts into his beer time. I MADE him put pipes on his Dad's HD and it took more than 3 hours to do about a 45 minute job. A lot of bathroom breaks :hammer:

[Ugarte]

I don't have a scary "bolt fell off" motorcycle story but I did have a bolt unscrew on a reduction drive for my ultralight. The bolt slowly routed a nice channel in the prop and finally fell out before castrating the blades completely. I landed without even knowing till I saw the prop.

[tbsrider2000]

Yep.. remaining calm in those situations is the only way to get through them..

Ugarte, your story out does them all. Atleast on a bike you have a short distance to fall.

[Tatonka]

had the same happen a couple of weeks ago...bottom two bolts gone right side lower pipe. a good ole boy stopped to help with tools and a welders glove. took one bolt off the top to get going again. replaced bolts with plenty of loctite added and now carry an adjustable wrench as nothing in the "tool kit" works for such things.

[Diego]

> One of the guys I work with won't work on his own bike... he usually has me do it.

Good post, Tom. It's very much worth remembering that proper procedures are critical when there are only two wheels on the ground ...just as when one is thousands of feet above it.

I don't mind working on my own bike, but I don't want to be the ONLY one who ever works on it.

I might have the luxury of more time to do the job, and thus stand a smaller chance of forgetting to re-attach something properly due to the hurry of being on the clock. But that's not a guarantee I'll do everything right, either, especially when it's a task I don't perform several times a month.

Sometimes I do find something a pro has overlooked--and that just reinforces the realization that there are things I might overlook too! Thus, I consider a regular visit to the shop a valuable opportunity to have someone knowledgable doublecheck what I've done.

[YETI]

On 2006-04-10 10:55, mikesitter wrote:
So it was a beautiful spring morning here in Denver (temp was up to low 60s by 7 am) and how could I just leave the Rocket sitting in the garage? I suited up for the commute to work and got underway.

About a mile and a half from the house, I started hearing this awful scraping sound every time I hit a bump. My first thought was that I picked up something off the road (a piece of brush or something, perhaps). I pulled into the nearest neighborhood, only to find the bottom pipe on the right side kissing the asphalt! Both bolts holding it to the hanger were nowhere to be seen.

Thank God it happened so close to home...I was able to limp back to the house with nothing worse than a scraped tip on the pipe.

I know this has been discussed on this forum before, but make sure you check the bolts holding various bits to the bike often!!! I had done such a check maybe 300 miles ago but the bolts obviously backed out quicker than expected.

My next mod to the bike will be liberal application of Loctite.

wow???