bike knocked over - now a grinding sound

[eadc]

After a long bout with the electronics on my bike, I finally got it running, went to see some family and the mountains. But the on the morning that I was leaving my sister's place, she backed into and knocked over my '96 VFR.

The brake pedal was bent under which locked the back wheel. I took it off, bent it back, made it functional. I'll find a replacement online.

The left mirror got bent up so that it won't go back to it's usual position. I did some bending / rigging, and it's usable. Same as above, I can replace it.

The back tailpiece got scuffed up (but not broken) next to the turn signal. And the upper left fairing took a big ding next to the fairing bolt. I feel like with some bondo (does that work on plastic?) and some primer / paint, I could fix that, too. The arm that holds the mounting bolt is bent a bit, but replaceable.

I took it for a spin around the block and everything seemed functional, so I told her not to call her insurance, since I thought I could fix it for less than their deductible.

I hit the highway towards Charlottesville and stopped for gas an hour later. Now when I start moving, between 0 and 30mph, I get a weird grinding / rubbing sound up front. I thought maybe the wheel got dinged or something, but when I pull in the clutch, it goes away. It seems to go away by the time I hit third gear, which might be from the speed, or the different vibration, or gear.

My dilemma is this: I didn't hear this sound at first, so it's hard to say if it's just something new wrong with the bike or if the fall jarred something that didn't get audible til after I got up to highway speed or rode for awhile. My sister offered her insurance over and over, but I thought I could save them (her family) the rate bump. Now that it's making this noise, it needs a fix, but I don't want them to pay for it if it's not from the fall. They have USAA, who I hear is very flexible and fair.

Any good advice, aside from "don't park behind your sister's minivan" ??

[Britt]

If I were in your place I would first diagnose the problem and figure out how much it will cost to fix it. Knowing the cost should help you and your sister determine if it is worth involving insurance. It could be a $30 part, or it could be much worse...

As far as the diagnosis goes, I am afraid that I'm not much help but I'm sure that another member can help steer you towards the culprit.

Good luck!

[mikeym]

Well, my clutch is siginificantly louder in neutral than in other gears. Which I heard is normal. But I could be wrong. Nevertheless, if this is a noise you haven't ever heard before its probably not normal...

Good luck

[reg71]

Originally Posted by eadc

The back tailpiece got scuffed up (but not broken) next to the turn signal. And the upper left fairing took a big ding next to the fairing bolt. I feel like with some bondo (does that work on plastic?) and some primer / paint, I could fix that, too. The arm that holds the mounting bolt is bent a bit, but replaceable.

Not sure on that one. I have seen some members use fiberglass somehow to repair stuff. Search for 'how to repair plastic' or something close to that.

Originally Posted by eadc

I hit the highway towards Charlottesville and stopped for gas an hour later. Now when I start moving, between 0 and 30mph, I get a weird grinding / rubbing sound up front. I thought maybe the wheel got dinged or something, but when I pull in the clutch, it goes away. It seems to go away by the time I hit third gear, which might be from the speed, or the different vibration, or gear.

Any good advice, aside from "don't park behind your sister's minivan" ??

so much for my parking advice... I recently had someone do the same thing, though. So if I get this straight, you hear the noise when sitting still? That would negate my first thought that you had bent your rotor or something, but you'd feel that in the bars probably. IS there fluid in you clutch resevoir? Is it working ok? The slave and master cylinder are fairy cheap/easy rebuilds. I don't think they'd cause the noise really, though. I did a full-on clutch rebuild not long again and typed it up if you have to go that route. I suppose it's possible that something got knocked loose in there when the bike was knocked over, but it doesn't seem very likely.

Man, I hate trying to diagnose something without being able to get hands on it...

Anyway, if you were to rebuild the clutch, AND the master and slave it's still probably cheaper than her deductible if that helps your decision at all. I think I spent just under 200 for the barnett clutch kit, and the last time I did a slave cylinder for the clutch it was less than $20 for a kit from ebay. Now, if these things would fix your problem...that's another story...

here's the link for how I did my clutch, though: clutch EBC vs Barnett vs ?

[eadc]

I had a friend, who's been riding much longer / often than, ride the bike, and he's pretty sure that it's my chain and front rotor. The chain and rear sprocket are looking pretty tired, so I'm going to give it a tighten, but order a new chain / sprocket kit and see how it goes.

I'll keep ya posted, thanks for the ideas. I need to find a local VFR club where I can learn from the vets. Anything in DC / VA / MD like this?

[powderrecon]

Rotor was my guess. Its probably warped.

[reg71]

Originally Posted by eadc

I had a friend, who's been riding much longer / often than, ride the bike, and he's pretty sure that it's my chain and front rotor. The chain and rear sprocket are looking pretty tired, so I'm going to give it a tighten, but order a new chain / sprocket kit and see how it goes.

I'll keep ya posted, thanks for the ideas. I need to find a local VFR club where I can learn from the vets. Anything in DC / VA / MD like this?

yeah, it's called VFR World <--- . We are everywhere just like Chickenman...



Just keep an eye out for locals that are on here. We have forums that focus on pretty much anywhere in the world, just post up a message there and sooner or later someone'll post back...

Now, if your problem is the chain and sprockets, that's not too big a deal eaiter as long as you have the right tools. A dremel to cut the old chain, and a chain rivet tool kit make the job muc smoother. You can probably do the job in a couple hours give or take. The rotor if it's bent I'd probably just buy new. I'm not sure it's worth the effort to try and fix if even possible. You'd probably just waste a lot of time and it'd never be right. It's easy enough to take it off and see if it's flat or warped, though...