Car rolls into front of parked bike - how bad?

[GaryIF]

My wife accidentally let her car roll into the front of my RT in the driveway tonight. It was a gradual roll, no momentum per se, ending with the front bumper of the car (Honda Prelude) resting against the front wheel of the bike. The bike was parked under it's cover, on the side stand, and in gear. The driveway is on an incline, hence the reason for the car rolling and my habit of parking the bike in gear.

 

There is no visible damage. My angst is the fork and/or telelever. Short of putting the bike on a trailer and taking it to my favorite dealer (Bob's BMW) to have the front checked and to make sure it's aligned and such, is there a DIY way to do the same or is whatever equipment a dealer has the only reliable answer?

[DavidEBSmith]

Did it hit the bike hard enough to knock it over? If not, I say meh.

[Tony_K]

The bike didn't fall over right?

 

Forks were in the locked position right?

 

So my assumption is that nothing happened. It takes a pretty hard twack to tweek the suspension. That's why they call it suspension. It moves.

 

Take it out and ride it a bit. You will notice a change if there is any but I bet ya aint got nothin' wrong.

 

No sweat.

[Clive Liddell]

Because it was on it's side stand and thus the front wheel on the ground the wheel itself would have "wedged" against the bumper and the ground harmlessly stopping the car in its tracks.

 

Think of a full on stop at 100mph for the 500lb bike vs the gentle stop of a 2000lb car at 0 mph. I would say the dynamic forces in the first case far exceed those in the second...

[John Dickens]

The Telelever set up would be better than conventional forks in these circumstances anyway. The actual Telelever arm would take the impact rather than the fork tubes bending.

[Paul Mihalka]

Check that with the key the steering lock locks and unlocks without any problem. Check that the steering movement left and right is the same as before, handlebar not hitting the gas tank or something. Ride it, starting carefully. If it does handle like before, not pulling left or right different from before, leaning into left and right turns like before, you don't have a problem.

[ShovelStrokeEd]

Even if it is "tweaked" a bit, there are really only a couple of bolts involved and it can be easily re-aligned. Doubt that the fork tubes are bent.

 

Bike on center stand and weighted so that the front wheel is in the air.

 

Two clamp bolts on the upper fork bridge. Two on the lower. Four on the axle. Loosen all, starting with the axle, no need to remove any, just crack them loose.

 

Now, tighten the bolts on the lower fork bridge. Factory torque specs will have to be given by others but, they are 10mm bolts, in steel, so somewhere around 35-45 nM will be about right.

 

Remove the bike from the center stand and bounce it a couple of times while tightening the axle clamp bolts in a criss-cross pattern between bounces. A buddy is handy for this, either as bouncer or wrench. Again, torque specs should be followed. These are 8mm bolts and in aluminum so 18-24 nM is probably close.

 

Now, back on the center stand and tighten the upper fork bridge clamp bolts. See above for torque.

 

Crack the lower bridge bolts one more time and re-torque.

 

Finally, a ride around the block to check that the bars are more or less where they used to be and, while riding in a straight line, the extended line between your upper fork bridge pivot, and your ignition switch, is at the top, center of the tank and ditto the dashboard.

 

Disclaimer: Torque specifications given above are generic for socket head cap screws in steel. Always follow the factory recommendations for torque.

[GordonB]

Could you posibly tell your wife it's terminal and you need to get that new 1200?

[eddd]

First of all I hope all is well with your bike. However...

 

I'm a bit surprised no one gave you advice on what to do with your wife. So I'll help in this area.

 

I believe weekly washing and detailing for a period of at least one year would be the proper penance for such a grievous sin.

 

What'd ya think?

[GaryIF]

All,

Thanks for the replies and check-out advice. To answer some of the questions:

- Bike was on it's side stand, steering locked left

- Force of car did not move the bike at all (it was parked in a Cycle Shell so it was resting on a hard plastic platform

- No change in the smoothness with which the fork locks / unlocks with the key nor any appearant change in steering feel when I backed the bike up a bit and resituated it in the Cycle Shell

 

I haven't had a chance to give it a road test but will follow ShovelStroke Ed's step by step instructions, if for no other reason, cause I didn't exactly do all that when I replaced the tires a year ago. Dang, something to be obsessive about, which I overlooked.

 

Thanks, all.

 

P.S. I'm not going near any of the spousal advice 'cause my wife doesn't ride and has no interest whatsoever in anything to do with motorcycles yet is completely supportive of my passion for it.