"Interesting" experience at GR yesterday

[mdubya]

I picked up my buddy B_palmer in Frostburg yesterday (300 EXC) and took him up to Green Ridge for his first outing there. We parked at lower Mertens and set out for a full lap. My 520 has been performing quite nicely at GR lately. I think my tube/tire/flat issues have been resovled and the bike alternately rails around turns and floats across the rough sections. As we approached the descent down the long twisty hill where Stafford goes down to meet 15 Mile Creek Road, I began to feel excessive play in the front. It felt like the steering stem had come lose and that there was now significant play in the head tube area. It got worse the further down the hill I went. At the 15 Mile Creek Parking area, I stopped to check what was going on. Turns out the handlebar clamps had come loose where they bolt into the top triple clamp and were rocking back and forth in the 1/8" gap that had created. The clamps bolt in to the triple from above, through the lower bar clamp, so the bolts could only back out to the point where they hit the handle bar. Talk about sketchy feeling! I sent Brad ahead and I tiptoe'd back to Mertens. Nobody (including me) had a 6mm Allen wrench, so our day was done.

I am going out to fix the problem now. If I fix it, I might head back up to GR for the afternoon. Beautiful day here.

[Laoch]

DAMN dubya, between that and the tire issue you need to maybe carry a fannypack tool kit.
That could have went way bad.


Pack this

In this




along with this

[mdubya]

You're right Bruce. I had a bucket full of tools in the truck. I still didn't have the correct tools though, even at the truck. B_palmer had a tool pouch on his bike. Only when I stopped to check the bars did I find out it was empty. That said, the mounting bolts take an 8mm Allen key and I don't think too many people were going to have that in their on bike tool kit. I have a tool kit on my DRZ with a 5mm and 6 mm Allen key.

I pulled the bars yesterday, pulled the mounting bolts, cleaned them up and blue loctited them.

Then I took off on the DRZ for a late afternoon strafe of the nearby twisties. Just before the first big pass in Aurora I felt the rear wiggling away. Flat. The local gas station didn't have fix-a-flat (not sure it would have worked). Luckily, I found a guy who was willing to give me a ride back to Oakland.

[hondahawkrider]

FWIW - I hate raiding my tool box for tools every ride - CruzTools makes a kit that has most of what you need to do road sides fixes (all I added was a patch kit and some Co2) -
http://www.motorcycle-superstore.com/2/ ... l-Kit.aspx

they show up on ebay for LOTs less .. You can strap it on and ride - or tie to to the back of the bike,..


It's what Greg used to change his flat near the powerlines a year or so back..

[Roadracer_Al]

I had my bars come loose at GR last time I was there with Kyler. I think that GR beats the shit out of your bike so bad that stuff vibrates off.

If you *seriously* don't want them to back out again, safety wire them. If I have trouble with my bars again, that's what I'm doing.

[Rut Row]

If I have trouble with my bars again, that's what I'm doing.

I used to have trouble with bars too - then I quit drinking...

[mdubya]

I had my bars come loose at GR last time I was there with Kyler. I think that GR beats the shit out of your bike so bad that stuff vibrates off.

If you *seriously* don't want them to back out again, safety wire them. If I have trouble with my bars again, that's what I'm doing.

Mine seemed to come loose after a couple of puddle drenchings. I was thinking of getting longer mounting bolts so they extend through the bottom of the triple clamps and adding nylock nuts, along with the locktite. For sure I will need to add 6mm and 8mm allen keys to my list of tools. So much for surfing naked.