Be 100% sure when you modify things

[shinyribs]

I was riding today when my rear tire ate my tail light. When sitting on my the bike I have 4'' of clearance from the light to the tire. I knew the rear shocks had enough travel to allow the tire to hit the light,but figured 4'' would be plenty. Don't do that. Be 100% positive when you mount something like this. I have put nearly 6,000 miles on my bike since I got it on the road and have not had an issue with this.I was charging into a corner pretty hard that starts off level but turns into a long uphill switch back. I down shifted going into the switch back and got on the throttle pretty hard. That is when the rear end squatted and got the tail light. You wouldn't think,but it hit hard enough to lift me up off the seat(seat and rear fender are one piece). I found out later that my seat actually has a curl to it now.Not cool. Ever have a bike laid way over at 50+ mph and get tossed off the seat? Not a cool feeling when your hands on the grips are the only part of you in contact with your bike. It took a few minutes for what could of happened to sink in,and a few more to get that thought out of my head.Then it took nearly forever to get my tail light wires untangled out of my chain and get my inner fender where the bike would roll again. i was roadside for about an hour just trying to get stuff where I could get it home.I still dont know what kept me from going down altogether. I did find my light where it landed in the trees about 15' off the road sans lens'. At least no glass got in the tire. A blow out woulda sucked big time.

Like I said,good enough is not good enough.Make your modifications PERFECT or don't do them at all. Don't gamble on two wheels.

[TOOLS1]

Did, you have to change your pants?
TOOLS

[shinyribs]

I may have pee'd a little. It's unconfirmed at this point. Is it a bad thing to pray and cuss at the same time?

[Piute]

                        I think to be thankful to God you didn't get sereously hurt is in order.
 Ya-no most those custom mods you see build by the "so called ""pro's"" maybe 10% are even ridden maybe 1% on reg.basses.There trailer QUEEN's ,go to any bigg bike show and there's just as many trailers as bikes at the motels.

                                               Worth repeating  
                     
                       Tires and suspention is what is the only contact to the road
                           

                               Chrome wont get ya home, but might get ya laid

            Go over the whole bike/wash it and be sure there's nothing else that got damaged .

[cityslicker]

I actually do know what it's like to lay a bike down going that fast,, or at least almost that fast. and no it's not fun...
I'm glad your ok, fuck the light, so long as you ain't get bucked off the machine.

[cdaiscool]

Wow, good to know you're all right! So the bike wouldn't roll? Did she slam to a stop or something?

[sgtslag]

If you are not ATGATT, you may want to consider it.  It isn't bullet-proof, but it does help minimize the risks, and the damage.  Very glad to hear you are fine.  Cheers, Shiny!

[icerigger]

Any crash you can walk away from is one you can brag about.

My last crash was in '77 and I didn't ride again for 33 years.

Glad you're okay, spend a little extra time on your next prayer.

[MarkPBG]

That's one lesson I thankfully learned in books when doing hot rod suspensions. They always recommended considering your minimum clearance to be 1-2" past where your suspension bottoms out, to allow for body/chassis flexing under hard stress. I hope never to experience something like that on two wheels!

[shinyribs]

No. I didn't dump the bike. It just tossed me off the seat while I was probably at about a 30 degree angle. I think the only thing that put me back into the seat was the fact it was a sharp turn.  Like the bike went thru the curve and came back under me. I got it stopped OK

Sarge, what is ATGATT, please?  Not sure what that means.

[LukeM]

All The Gear, All The Time.

I can count on 2 hands the total number of times I've ridden without helmet/jacket/gloves/boots.

Luke M

[seestheday]

Wow, glad to hear you're ok shiney.

I've only been riding for a year, but I can count on two fingers the number of times I've ridden without helmet/jacket/gloves/boots.

It was on a rented Harley in Huntington Beach while I was at a conference.  Felt pretty weird, and I took it very easy.

ATGATT for sure, especially if you ride the way shiney does

[Hellbilly429]

Glad you're alright man, guess all those Sunday's spent at church payed off! I'm sure praying and swearing is fine, I mean the catholics do it all the time, and just look at Mel Gibson, lol

[shinyribs]

HAHA! Hellbilly,you're a nut.

ATGATT. Thanks for the explanation. I do ok about gear,but could do better.I always have helmet and armored jacket on,but I only have blue jeans and I rarely wear gloves unless it's cold enough to need them. I worry about my knees/legs if I do go down,just havent figured out what to do about it yet. I cant see me wearing chaps because alot of the times I running errands on the bike and it would just be awkward and weird.I know,safety is more important,just being honest with you guys and gals. I think the biggest thing I need to do is just slow down and enjoy the scenery.

CDA,I totally misunderstood you question.Sorry. NO,the bike did not slam to a stop.When the tire grabbed the light it pulled it forward and down. That caused it to yank the rear wiring harness down which pulled the inner fender with it. The inner fender was cocked sideways and dragging the tire and the ground,but it wasn't completely locked up. I found the light to the left of the bike.Apparently it rolled thru the chain and got spit out on that side.There is one mark that looks like the sprocket bit it and there was alot of little bits of wire in the chain.I picked all those out before I rode it home and checked to chain for a bent or twisted link. It seemed ok,but i still need to look it over real good.

[Piute]

                                                               

                                        I think you need A glass trophy case for that light. Lil reminder

[Half-Caf]

Thanks for the advice, Ribs -and glad you're ok.
Question for you: how do you determine the max travel of your shocks? I'm sure there's gotta be an easier way than just bouncing up and down
Care to enlighten me?

[Piute]

                                                         
                           

                                    http://www.btmfg.com/ShockMeaChart.php

                                                         AND
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           http://service.foxracingshox.com/consumers/Content/mtbspringratecalculator.htm


•Total Riding Weight (pounds): includes the rider and anything else additional; e.g., hydration backpack, spare tube/tools, etc.
•Rear Weight Bias (percent): the standard formula is based on a 60:40, rear-to-front total weight distribution. A more accurate way would be to use a bathroom scale under the rear wheel and a 2x4 under the front wheel, to determine the true sprung weight at the rear wheel. Position your body according to your riding style, and then enter this value for your total weight. Note that the default weight bias is sixty (60) %. Alternatively, you can use 55% for X-Country, 65% for Freeride, and 70% for Downhill.
•Rear Wheel Travel (inches)
•Shock Stroke (inches)
•Shock Sag (percentage of shock stroke): the standard formula uses the Fox Racing Shox-recommended 25% of shock stroke. A zero-preload spring rate is determined, then preload is applied to calculate the corresponding sag. Choose a sag appropriate to your riding style. If you are an extreme rider (jumps, drops, big hits, etc.) you should run less sag and a correspondingly higher spring rate.
•Preload Adjuster (number of turns): a minimum of 1.0 is required.
•End-Coil Effect (percent): closed/ground compression springs have a typically lower spring rate in their initial deflection range. The canned value is a best guess of the effect ECE will have on preload adjustment. It is a percentage of the overall spring rate used in calculating the spring tension for the specified turns of preload.

[rrgunslinger]

Here are the specs but they don't say.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honda_CB750

On Sat, May 19, 2012 at 10:46 AM, Half-Caf [via Honda CB750'S] <[hidden email]> wrote:

Thanks for the advice, Ribs -and glad you're ok.
Question for you: how do you determine the max travel of your shocks? I'm sure there's gotta be an easier way than just bouncing up and down
Care to enlighten me?

The best things in life are custom

1980 cb750f SS
Chicago, IL

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