LincolnMercury
Member
Sick Bike Parts Saved My LIFE!
(a cautionary tale)
A couple of weeks ago i ordered the basic shifter kit from Sick Bike Parts. Ordered it on a Sunday; it arrived on Wednesday! I had already ordered and received their expansion pipe and used the header portion to install a pipe I had gotten for scooterparts.com. It was basically the same chamber; the scooterparts pipe had a larger, longer (quieter?) muffler on it.
Now, a few weeks earlier I noticed the frame flexed under load and could develop a wobble. I had checked all the fasteners and mounting brackets on the engine, and the weld joints and drop outs on the frame. Everything was solid. Still the wobble would appear now and again. It really showed up when I had a 12 back of beer on the back rack. And this was before I had anything to drink; so it was not PIO (pilot induced oscillation).
Well, the shifter kit was well packed and everything was there. I broke out my tools, red and blue loctite, some rags and commenced to take the bike apart. It was when I removed the engine that I discovered the cause of the wobble. I had wrapped the and wired tied innertube to pad the frame @ the back and lower engine mounts. When I removed the innertube padding from the down tube, I discovered the down tube had fractured; split in two! It was held together only by the lower motor clamp! OH S**T! Then remembered the post about the south FL MB'er that suffed a "mechanical failure" and had to be medevaced. I cannot tell you what a sobering moment that was! I had hit 30 mph while testing the pipe, before I ran out of road. If the top tube or head tube had failed, or if I had hit a bump at those speeds and had a "mechanical failure"? Scary thoughts. And for the record, I wear a helmet and long pants and sleeves and no sandals or flipflops.
The morale of this story: if it does not "feel right" it is NOT right. Find what it is and do not stop looking until you do. Your life depends on it. If I had not ordered the kit, I probably would have rode until the frame did fail.
(a cautionary tale)
A couple of weeks ago i ordered the basic shifter kit from Sick Bike Parts. Ordered it on a Sunday; it arrived on Wednesday! I had already ordered and received their expansion pipe and used the header portion to install a pipe I had gotten for scooterparts.com. It was basically the same chamber; the scooterparts pipe had a larger, longer (quieter?) muffler on it.
Now, a few weeks earlier I noticed the frame flexed under load and could develop a wobble. I had checked all the fasteners and mounting brackets on the engine, and the weld joints and drop outs on the frame. Everything was solid. Still the wobble would appear now and again. It really showed up when I had a 12 back of beer on the back rack. And this was before I had anything to drink; so it was not PIO (pilot induced oscillation).
Well, the shifter kit was well packed and everything was there. I broke out my tools, red and blue loctite, some rags and commenced to take the bike apart. It was when I removed the engine that I discovered the cause of the wobble. I had wrapped the and wired tied innertube to pad the frame @ the back and lower engine mounts. When I removed the innertube padding from the down tube, I discovered the down tube had fractured; split in two! It was held together only by the lower motor clamp! OH S**T! Then remembered the post about the south FL MB'er that suffed a "mechanical failure" and had to be medevaced. I cannot tell you what a sobering moment that was! I had hit 30 mph while testing the pipe, before I ran out of road. If the top tube or head tube had failed, or if I had hit a bump at those speeds and had a "mechanical failure"? Scary thoughts. And for the record, I wear a helmet and long pants and sleeves and no sandals or flipflops.
The morale of this story: if it does not "feel right" it is NOT right. Find what it is and do not stop looking until you do. Your life depends on it. If I had not ordered the kit, I probably would have rode until the frame did fail.