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HELP! - Wind Blowover - Handlebar bend - Throttle loose - Tank moving

3K views 8 replies 5 participants last post by  mbikeboy 
#1 ·
Hey Friends,

Sad news again. I had the 400 out during the night with a cover on and handlebar lock on. The wind blew it over overnight, onto the opposite side of the kickstand [it fell on the right side], must have been quite violent out there. Now I stood her back up and I got her started and she runs ok. Idle sounds fine. Here are the things I noticed, and I hoped you could give me some help/ advice on how to deal with it.

1) Handlebar lock was on, so the right bar took the full force of impact and bent downwards by like a solid 10 degrees. So the brake lever is now above my hand. I will just swap out the handlebar at this point, because it's really uncomfortable to drive with such an offset.
2) THE TANK MOVES. Is this just post-crash paranoia? I can fixate the bike with my legs to the ground and then wiggle the tank from right to left by like 0.2 inches with some effort, and the plastic around it moves a little. Is this just normal or should I check the fasteners?
3) The throttle is a little laggy once every 20 pulls or so. When I give the engine short burst of rhythmic throttle in Neutral it sometimes doesn't even open up for a split-second.

Any thoughts on what I should definitely get checked?
Is it safe to ride like this?
What does one generally have to worry about if a bike was on its side for several hours?

Thank you for any help/ advice
 
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#2 ·
Oh man, sorry that happened to you! Here in Illinois, the wind has been kicking. The other day I thought it was going to blow me off the road when going about 65 on an open country road.

The tank should have no side to side motion at all and sounds like some fasteners got broken. This is not for sure, I can only diagnose by your description, but my best guess. You have to be very careful, because play in the gas tank can snap your fuel injector rail if pushed far enough and/or your fuel line itself. You do not want to do further damage to anything, either so tread carefully!

Is your dealership nearby? Ride it if safe, or find a way to get it there and do an assessment of the damage (U-haul, buddy with pickup, etc).

If you have full coverage insurance (which of course you should), you can put in an insurance claim. But first have the dealership assess the damage and make sure it is safe to ride. Then assess how much they would charge you to repair it. After, make your insurance claim and see what they assess the damage to be and repair cost.

Sounds like your throttle cable is out of whack, so I would ride it as little as possible and make sure it is safe to ride.
 
#7 ·
Oh man, sorry that happened to you! Here in Illinois, the wind has been kicking. The other day I thought it was going to blow me off the road when going about 65 on an open country road.

The tank should have no side to side motion at all and sounds like some fasteners got broken. This is not for sure, I can only diagnose by your description, but my best guess. You have to be very careful, because play in the gas tank can snap your fuel injector rail if pushed far enough and/or your fuel line itself. You do not want to do further damage to anything, either so tread carefully!

Is your dealership nearby? Ride it if safe, or find a way to get it there and do an assessment of the damage (U-haul, buddy with pickup, etc).

If you have full coverage insurance (which of course you should), you can put in an insurance claim. But first have the dealership assess the damage and make sure it is safe to ride. Then assess how much they would charge you to repair it. After, make your insurance claim and see what they assess the damage to be and repair cost.

Sounds like your throttle cable is out of whack, so I would ride it as little as possible and make sure it is safe to ride.
Thank you as well. I will make sure to check. I think its not as bad as you think though :)
 
#3 ·
My bike fell on the right side too, my guess is a taxi or Uber tried to illegally stop their car near where my bike was parked. I only noticed home that the throttle wouldn't come back. Took it to the dealer and they said it was an easy fix (I don't even know if they charged me). It was nothing in my case, but always check with the dealer.
 
#4 ·
are you sure the clip on bent or just the M/C didn't move? is there any free play in the throttle? you don't need the engine on to check that as far as the tank,if you have the mechanical capabilities,remove seat and check the 2 10mm bolts that fasten tank and if you want take tem out and just make sure the post in the front that secure it are in place. if there are no dents in the tank then I see no reason why its loose !! nearly impossible to damage fuel rail during this process so don't be hesitant !
 
#6 ·
Thank you mate, this is the second time you have given me great advice!!!
Yeah I figured to pull of the tank and inspect all involved fasteners and threads for damage. But it really only budges very little, DEFINITELY not enough to break any lines. Like an entire ant (🐜) in its length would probably be a good measure of playroom here.

FYI the clip-on is bent as ****. Like a solid downward banana 🍌. So I got a new one coming and also a new throttle tube bc I think the problem is literally just the clip-on and tube being bent out of shape to rotate smoothly.

P.S: What do you mean by M/C?
🍌🍌🍌🍌🍌🍌🐜
 
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