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Took a Spill. What should I be checking?

Discussion in 'XJ Technical Chat' started by Khan, Sep 2, 2015.

  1. Khan

    Khan New Member

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    New rider here, so naturally within the first two weeks of riding my Seca I took a turn a little too wide and ended up in the gravel. Here's my damage:

    Bent handlebar, broken choke lever, broken clutch switch, cracked headlight housing, battery warning, and a ruined paint job that used to look really nice :( nothing too crazy bad all things considered.

    Bike still ran, started and idled fine - even goosed the throttle a bit and she sounded as good as ever. I've ordered parts and tackled most of the stuff above but I'm curious as to the opinion of these boards on what I should check? I did make sure my forks were aligned, they were a little off but they seem to be straight now. Spun the front wheel while it was up in the air and it felt a little slow but I couldn't tell if that was brake drag or bad bearings. She looks fairly straight although I suppose I won't truly know until I hop on and take her for a ride and see if she acts funny.

    Am I at least on the right path? Is there anything I should be looking at that I'm neglecting? I will be doing an oil change and fork oil change while she's in the garage. I should also mention that the previous owner took good care of her and followed most of the advice in this board (aftermarket battery, new rear brake shoes, aftermarket rear suspension etc.).

    I figured I'd just just ask rather than lurking, searching for answers, and wondering what I'm missing...lemme know what I can do!
     
  2. Toomanybikes

    Toomanybikes Well-Known Member

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    As long as your ok!
    Pull the fork assembly off and spin the upper fork in the lower and you can see right away if they are tweaked. Fork should slide smoothly back into triple clamps and if they do great. Support front of bike and loosen axle, and all the pinch bolts. Re torque all the bolts starting with lower triple clamp, upper, then, top nut and finally axle.
    Bleed the brakes as the bike being on its side may have introduced air into line.
    Final step use a string around rear wheel to the front wheel to ensure front and rear tracking correctly.

    And remember don't look at the ditch your heading for,look down the road you want to go!! Your bike wants to follow your eyes.
     
  3. Johnius

    Johnius Member

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    If your battery is a conventional one, you may need to replace it. The lead plates bend when you spill the bike. (Not that I know from experience...:() this causes a short inside the battery and the voltage looks good, but you get no amperage and it doesn't crank.

    If it's an AGM or Li-Ion, keep on trucking and look for the sensor bypass wire to have disconnected. It should run from the positive post or the lead to the starter solenoid to the wiring harness.
     
    Last edited: Sep 2, 2015
  4. Khan

    Khan New Member

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    Battery is an AGM but it did indeed turn out to be the soder to the resistor broke on impact. Easy fix.

    Definitely going to bleed the brakes, thanks for the advice!
     
    Johnius likes this.

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