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I hit a deer

By SSHANK42,
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SSHANK42

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I hit a deer broadside at 60 mph and crashed the bike. I managed to get it back on the road and was able to ride it home. For the most part the bike and myself faired pretty good. I dented the gas tank, scuffed some plastic, and maybe bent the bars. Now that I have had a chance to look at things it appears that the bars and wheel are not exactly straight. The dent in the tank came from the left turn signal. If I turn to full left lock the brake hose barely hits the edge of the tank. When I go full right lock it appears that there is about 1/2 in. difference between the distance from tank to fork, from one side to other. What the best way to try and get things lined back up? Also if I need to buy new bars I want something with the bend but an inch taller. Any suggestons there also.

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rudepig

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Sure that wasn't a dear mouse? :doh: I can't imagine hitting anything at 60mph on a bike and being able to walk away, never mind drive the bike away. As to your question though, put the bike on a stand, loosen the triple clamps and front axle nut, if it doesn't fall into place, straighten, then tighten from the axle up. That's the way I do it anyway. Then you replace the bars if it still isn't straight or look for bent forks.

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Lego70

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Glad your ok. You might have broke or bent the stop tabs on the front of the steering head causing the handlebars to move more inward on one side.

That's no big deal other then for resale, because that's one of the first things I look for when buying a used bike. It's a tattle tale way of saying the bike has taken a hard spill. Hopefully it's just the handlbars are bent and as far as the rest of the front end, do as suggested above and loosen everything up, align and tighten back up. Good luck.

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udaloy

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I hit a deer broadside at 60 mph and crashed the bike. I managed to get it back on the road and was able to ride it home. For the most part the bike and myself faired pretty good. I dented the gas tank, scuffed some plastic, and maybe bent the bars. Now that I have had a chance to look at things it appears that the bars and wheel are not exactly straight. The dent in the tank came from the left turn signal. If I turn to full left lock the brake hose barely hits the edge of the tank. When I go full right lock it appears that there is about 1/2 in. difference between the distance from tank to fork, from one side to other. What the best way to try and get things lined back up? Also if I need to buy new bars I want something with the bend but an inch taller. Any suggestons there also.

Loosen the 2 of the 3 bolts securing each fork tube, and twist the fork tubes back to alignment. It will help if you have someone holding firm the front wheel.

I am using the Africa Twin stock handle bar, it's about 1.5 inches taller than the stock bar.

What happen to the deer ? :doh:

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DirtMonkey8

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I guess what I did a couple of times was wrong... I just pushed the bars aginst the stop hard enough to move the bars back into alignment with the front wheel. It seems as though I need to do some loosening and tightening and maybe staighten the stops...

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waxclan

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I hit a small one at 50 mph in August of 2007 (killed it, ended my riding season early with 4 broke ribs). Experience with bars, if you think they're bent and you straighten them, you'll always have a question in your mind, "are they really straight?" Mine were tweeked a little so new went on. Wondered about the front wheel and the local dealer said if the fork tubes are not bent (they were not) the wheel is ok (it is).

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