Triumphrat

speedblastr · 05-13-2007

Perfect weather yesterday for riding.Went to a barbecue at some friends.My wife and I rolled in two up,she got off the bike and was engaged in a conversation with one of the hosts,meanwhile I was listening some and apparently way out in left field because when I went to set the bike on it's side-stand,assuming I already put it down.....It wasn't.Anyway because I wasn't firmly planted It went down and so did I in kind of slow-motion.Luckily the two left side foot pegs were down.(saved the pipes) but it Bent my gear selector, bent left bar light,bent clutch handle .It didn't just flat drop but it got away from me and my left leg got pinned,tough to get back up.Found a pipe at their house was able to bend everything back in place luckily,but scratched the left sideview mirror round and L bar light about made me sick as it went down slowly.Embarassing.Time to wake up and smell the coffee. Think I'll go the extra the extra mile for awhile and glance down first before I haphazardly assume that it(kickstand ) is down :cuss:

dazco · 05-13-2007

I've done that twice ! Thought i put the stand down, but nope. Usually happens when i stop and put it down, then realize i have to move it a bit more and i put it up to move it because i have to lean it or something. Then i forget i put it back up and wham !

Then theres the time just a couple weeks ago. I was bleeding the brakes and instead of using the jack i just put a block under the sidestand so the rear resivour would be more level. The block wasn't so high so that the bike was level, but i guess it was too close. I turned and walked to my tools and i hear a horrific crash. Amazingly nothing much happened except the mirror stem bent. I had another set that i ruined one of the mirrors so i was able to use a stem from those. Other than that i was very lucky because aside from a slightly bent brake pedal nothing else happened and amazingly even no brake fluid got on it other than a few slight drops. So no paint damage, and the bike landed on the bottle and spilled about a pint all over the floor !

That was about the stupidest move ever. I knew the bike wasn't stable, but i figured i was almost done and only had a few more pumps to get all the air out and was only going to have the block there for a minute. Good thing it was ok or i woulda had to hang myself right then and there.

speedblastr · 05-13-2007

I certainly know what you mean!Yesterday morning........I think I mistook the bottle of stupid pills for vitamins! Daz,your funny,man........Hang yourself?..........I know what you mean, that kind of stuff doesn't jive ,dropping the bike.......WOW! :brk:

[ This message was edited by: speedblastr on 2007-05-13 19:15 ]

singring · 05-13-2007

I got into the habit of leaving my bike in gear, and putting the side-stand down to turn off the engine. Then if I have to manoeuver it around I pull in the clutch. Once in place, I set it on the side-stand, and remove the key. Seems to work well. It took only one near drop to not want that to happen again.

speedblastr · 05-13-2007

Singring ,That's a good idea,it has a cut-off in gear with the stand down does'nt it.I had a near drop last year. Last night was the real Mckoy,I can't call it?Sudden Attention Deficit Disorder near Blackout if you ask me.I can't afford to not pay attention with that kind of stuff ; this time it didn't hit my wallet,knock on wood,no next time!

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[ This message was edited by: speedblastr on 2007-05-13 19:10 ]

singring · 05-13-2007

Yeah, it works the other way. too. When you want to ride, with the bike in gear, you have to pull the side-stand up in order to start the engine (with clutch engaged, of course). That way you'll never be able to take-off with the side-stand down.

TOMKRILL · 05-14-2007

I'm not telling what happened this time, (I wasn't even moving), but does anyone know if it is pretty easy to bend the clutch lever back to normal if it is bent down about 15 degrees or so, or would you spend the $25 and buy a new one?? :-D

mag10 · 05-14-2007

I'd say your chances of breaking the clutch lever bending it are pretty good. They are made of cast aluminum and are fairly brittle.
Is it just the lever that is bent or the housing it goes into?

TOMKRILL · 05-14-2007

Just the end of the lever, everything else is okay. OK, here is what happened but don't tell my wife, or Todd at Team Triumph- I still have to come up with a good story for them!!!!!!!!!

Driving through a little village near my home with narrow wooded streets on Friday at noon and was going like 3 MPH. I weaved around a turn and all of a sudden I am staring at the nose of a Cadillac! I pulled in the front brake and hit the rear brake, and as I stopped the front end flopped to the right and I couldn't hold it up; *****!! I picked it up immediately and the old guy in the Caddie got out and before he could say boo I said I'm okay, it was my fault and these damned things do weigh all of 507 pounds! He said nothing and drove off. Then I couldn't get it to turn over and rolled it down a hill and discovered I had shut the engine off with the kill switch as I was going down-automatic I guess. Clicked it on and off I went; embarrassed as hell, mad at myself, blaming the road, the bike, the wind, the weather, the city, the congress, the narrow road and those dang Cadillacs!! A few hours later, I blamed myself! :-D

singring · 05-14-2007

Tomkrill....if you can get the clutch lever off your bike, try this, it just might work for you.
Put the lever in an old pot of water, then bring the pot to a boil, and let it boil for 15-20 minutes. Prepare a work bench vise while waiting. Use some wood in the vise jaws to prevent marring the lever. Now get a 2-3 foot length of pipe.
After the boil, use tongs to remove the lever, and place into vise. then take pipe and using the leverage of the pipe length, bend the lever back a bit. then remove from vise, and boil some more. Repeat the process until the lever is back to the shape your want.

If this doesn`t work, add vegetables to the stock, simmer for 1 hour, remove from heat, and garnish with some metal filings. Serves 4.

Then get a new lever from your dealer.