Hi Folks,
Just been talking to the guy who's mending my 1125r, He reckons my forks are bent slightly but it's not the chrome sliders it's the alloy legs just under the yokes. He says it's minimal but needs specialist work to straighten them, I inquired if this would weaken the structure of the alloy & he said no.
Anyone know if this is correct?
My other question is regarding the Air cowls, Mine were painted to match the tank as they had been scraped before I got it, the paint shop guys won't touch them because of this & he wants to replace the left side with a new one, They're gonna look very different, can I insist both are changed?
Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks. JB

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Ride Safe & Stay between the hedgerows.

Don`t have a second hand job done , then the amount of new parts will scrap it.

Yeah,
I could insist on everything being perfect but my bike wasn't & I'm trying to be reasonable.
I'm not trying to profit out of this, (it was just an accident) I only want to get my bike back the way it was & I would rather have it back not written off.
I know & like that particular bike, it was a great runner & I was very happy with it.
I don't really care if the forks are straightened or not, I'm more concerned with the safety regarding this type of repair.
Thanks. JB.

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Ride Safe & Stay between the hedgerows.

I wouldn't try to straighten an aluminum outer fork tube. 1st, it'll never be straight enough, it'll always have a bit of runout or will ovalize in the process and will only make the fork bind instead of slide freely. 2nd, aluminum leaves very small cracks from the process of straightening. You'll need a good magnifier to see it but even a machine shop with dye penetrant testing ability will find them easy. It'll just lead to faster fatigue in said areas.

St. Paul H-D has a couple left leg assemblies in stock. For the right leg, you could pinch the outer tube and other bits from one for a complete rebuild, but I'd check the runout on your inner tube as well.

Insurance has been raping me for years and never given me anything in return but increased rates each year. I wouldn't worry about their bottom line. Forks are a critical component, outer tuber to the axle clamp casting which can develop a fracture real easy in an incident. Trust me, my Guzzi Stelvio broke an axle pinch clamp casting in the first 2 months of ownership. Cocked the wheel when it broke, locked against the fork and fender and sent me flying at 70 mph. Concussion, 3 broken ribs, clavicle in 7 pieces (1 piece permanently removed) and broken heel. I faired a lot better than the Stelvio. I got repaired when I got home from Canada.

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Bob Krzeszkiewicz
2012 XR1200X - 2011 Kawasaki Z1000SX - 1999 Buell X1

.....and I'd be amazed if the yokes and frame aren't damaged around the headstock !

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Mithered ta death.
92 MB
96 S2T
98 S1W
00 M2
01 X1
03 P3
10 CR

The assessor said they were fine.
I'm not sure that I'm in a position (or have the engineering expertise) to argue with an insurance assessing engineer who has all the relevant equipment at his disposal to check these components out.
I think if it was a write off, they would have done it without question.
Maybe I'm being naive, but I'm pretty sure it's not in their best interests to be wrong especially with the reputation they have, or the fact that it ain't their cash that's being spent.
Couple that to the fact it was a non impact crash, my tendency is to think they're probably correct in their assessment but we'll see I guess. JB

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Ride Safe & Stay between the hedgerows.

This bike has had fingers in pies all over it so far, £2k so far I bet , then they will try a few things more then it will be beyond economical repair and all of them have benefitted , without lifting a finger .

Yeah, I think you're probably right there Topgumm.
Bloody shame though, it was a very nice bike & I really wanted it back.
Still heard F**k all regarding them taking the Honda back, other than we'll pass it to the dept who deals with it. Not sure how much that's costing per day & I asked them to take it back 5 days ago.
Maybe it's time to start being a proper righteous c**t if it's going that way anyway.
Being reasonable doesn't seem to be benefiting my cause any.

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Ride Safe & Stay between the hedgerows.

Seen this loadsa times, storage and bike loan cost eventually outweighing value of bike/claim.....don't know how they get away with it

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Mithered ta death.
92 MB
96 S2T
98 S1W
00 M2
01 X1
03 P3
10 CR

and check the access on the loan Honda too
they drag there ass , so they can charge the other company a fortune
I wonder why our insurance is so expensive bastards

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Feros Ferio

I had the pinch bolt on a pair of Norton Roadholders crack. The handling got very wayward Welded up lovely though

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If your dreams don't scare you, they are not big enough.

Yeah,
My alloy forks tops are being replaced now as I asked for a guarantee of safety re straightening which they couldn't provide.
See Knocked off for interesting developments. JB

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Ride Safe & Stay between the hedgerows.