NWTrtle's blog

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cdillon23 · Sat May 17, 2008 3:47 am

Glad your okay man. Sorry about the bike but and I hope you get the insurance stuff worked out.

Flesher · #12 Unread post by **Flesher** » Sun May 18, 2008 5:12 pm

cdillon23 wrote:Glad your okay man. Sorry about the bike but and I hope you get the insurance stuff worked out.

+1

Hope you're back in the saddle soon, take care.

#13 Unread post by **NWTrtle** » Tue May 27, 2008 10:48 am

Well, the local insurance agency head called my house and told my mother that he did not have good news. I called the agency and asked about the status and they said only the agency head could talk with me. I asked that he call my cell, and he has not called.

Turns out my left fork is bent. I had a guy from a local motorcycle forum stop by and take a look with me and he spotted the bend. I took the forks off and sure enough, the left has a nice bend in it. The right seems straight....not sure why it would be ok. Now the search for either a replacement, or take it somewhere and have the upper bent tube replaced with a new one. Not sure which will be more cost effective.

The most frustrating part of this whole thing is I have a regional meet I plan on attending this weekend with another forum. No way my bike will be ready, so the only way to go is by car.

I kind of feel like if I don't go I will kick myself even more for the accident. Of course, going without a bike is lame. I keep waffling about going or staying home. Right now I am still planning on going, but as the day gets closer I change my mind throughout the day. Oh well.

Flesher · #14 Unread post by **Flesher** » Tue May 27, 2008 3:07 pm

Hopefully the news isn't as bad as you're anticipating insurance wise ... might as well preserve some hope.

For the regional meet, is taking the Hyosung an option? or does the wife not trust you with HER bike now

#15 Unread post by **NWTrtle** » Wed May 28, 2008 7:10 am

Flesher wrote:Hopefully the news isn't as bad as you're anticipating insurance wise ... might as well preserve some hope.

For the regional meet, is taking the Hyosung an option? or does the wife not trust you with HER bike now

Actually the seat, and seating position, are not comfortable. This is part of the reason for moving to a standard/sport bike. I could take her bike (and yes, she did say I could), but the comfort issue would become huge since the meet is approx 600 miles from here.

On a positive note, I did win a pair of forks off an ebay auction and the sellers offered me overnight shipping. I agreed and sent the money.....now just waiting for the tracking info. I might still be able to take my Ninja. We will see.

#16 Unread post by **NWTrtle** » Tue Aug 05, 2008 9:13 am

Geez. Its been a long time since I last posted.

Well, I got the forks off e-bay the morning I was to leave on my trip. Unfortunately as I was bolting everything back up the housing for the speedo gear at the wheel snapped. I didn't have the thing rotated correctly and when I started to tighten using the torque wrench, it broke. I quietly (mostly) put my tools away, loaded up the mini van and took off for California.

Had a pretty good time in spite of not having a bike.

#17 Unread post by **NWTrtle** » Tue Aug 05, 2008 9:20 am

Now I am working on getting the Ninja back legal for riding. I got a new speedo gear unit off e-bay and have discovered how to correctly install without destroying the unit.

I ordered a standard round headlight and fork mounting brackets. I removed the fairing mounting supports and have installed the new headlight. The blinkers mounted nicely to the the brackets and I used some "L" brackets to mount the instrument cluster above the headlight. Now I am waiting for a pair of bar end mirrors to arrive so I can start riding the bike again! I did take it around the neighborhood the other day. Looks like the forks I got off e-bay are slightly bent. I can't get the handlebars and front wheel to align correctly. Luckily it did not effect the ride ability of the bike any. When I have some time, I will take some pics of the bike with the new front end set-up and post them.

#18 Unread post by **NWTrtle** » Thu Aug 07, 2008 5:55 am

Finally got the bike done and legal to ride on public streets! Today was my first day riding into work in quite some time. I did ride my wife's bike a couple of times, but the riding position is just not comfortable on her little cruiser.

I purchased the CRG Hindsight LS 3" Mirror from Bevel Heaven and got them mounted. Nice little mirrors, although I have to move my head a lot further in order to use them. But they work fine and make me legal, and safer.

The wind while riding is not bad. It has been so long since I rode without any wind protection that I was sort of wondering if it would bother me any. Was not an issue at all....of course my commute is less than 8 miles with a top speed of 50 mph.

I suspect eventually I will buy a replacement fairing, for ease of selling, but I know I would never get the cost back out of it.

Overall, it is just really nice to have my bike ridable again.

Thu Aug 07, 2008 11:53 am

Good blog.

I was only in Olympia a couple of times...I loved it.

#20 Unread post by **NWTrtle** » Thu Aug 07, 2008 3:23 pm

I've been to Vancouver a couple of times and loved it too! I would love to ride up there at some point and explore.

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