Kawasaki Sportsbike Riders Club - Australia - Online Forum

After the accident I took a close look of the bike. It is rideable, even the plastics are ok.

However I am suspicious about the frame. Seems like the front tyre took the impact and somehow bent the frame backward, noticable because now the twin spar touches the tank gently. I can't explain how this is possible otherwise. Also the tank now does not fit the holes perfectly, I need to nudge it to install it.

Obviously in the insured world this would simply be written off I think, but I only have 3rd party insurance.

So what are the options here?

- Ride it as usual, but I'm not happy and wary of the safety issues

- Can frames be actually fixed at reasonable cost? Or perhaps new used frame?

- I can't sell it

- Use it as track bike

- Wreck it ? Auction at Grey's ... how much would I expect ?

Any ideas would be appreciated. The sad thing is if I let it go I can't afford to buy another one atm.

ring Bike Magic and ask their opinion on a frame repair




hth

Smitty

Id look into a second hand frame option Andi.
Sorry to hear of your predicament?
No more kamakazi cornering at Broadford for a while.

I thought they were cracking down on frame repairs in Victoria to try and stop rebirthing of stolen bikes

Sorry, no advice on what to do thought mate, it's a tricky situation

Thanks for the advices, seems like not too much option.

Mate the frame can be straightened!!! Take it to Bob Martin if he is still in Business. There is also another guy here in vic who does it too. If you jump onto the preston motorcycle club forum you can post a ? and someone will know who else does them. There is nothing dangerous about doing it as long as it's done properly

Strika wrote:Mate the frame can be straightened!!! Take it to Bob Martin if he is still in Business. There is also another guy here in vic who does it too. If you jump onto the preston motorcycle club forum you can post a ? and someone will know who else does them. There is nothing dangerous about doing it as long as it's done properly

+1
you shouldn't really ride it because the geometry of the bike has change and will make the bike handle differently. My friend had his striaghten by Laurie Alderton from Sydney. He does alot of the races here in sydney. It cost my friend around $550 but most of the bike had to be bare, so there no labour cost in taking of fairings and stuff.

I'm not to sure who you would go to down Vic, But maybe you asked them what they want left on to save you $

I took my old bike to pablos

http://www.pablos.com.au/

they were pretty straight in assessing it. ended up not fixing it and they didn't charge me for looking at it.

Hey, thanks that makes my feeling *much* better. I thought since the frame is alumunium alloy that bending it back would cause fatique .. will be happy to strip it down and pay $500 too !!

That Pablo place is close too !! Thanks

Just make it clear you want a quote for the repair work. Bill looked at mine.

javaman wrote:Hey, thanks that makes my feeling *much* better. I thought since the frame is alumunium alloy that bending it back would cause fatique .. will be happy to strip it down and pay $500 too !!

That Pablo place is close too !! Thanks

Shit, I forgot about Scott!! That's who gets most of my tyre business too. Scott is a good bloke too.

I suppose Scott = Pablo ? I shall go to him PRONTO! ... after I get a footstep bracket that is

This is what my lovely ZX looks like. The fairings do not fit anymore due to frame geometry changes ... but it actually doesn't look too bad half-naked.



I Just found out that the front tyre would scrape the radiator on heavy breaking. Not sure why as the forks are straight. Perhaps the frame is really bent. The bike does feel very twitchy but that may be just my head too.

my 7 has a similar problem, hit a wall and pushed the front in. i put it back together with nice straight forks and found my usually steady as a rock 7 to be twitchy as a 250. its ridable, and i do use it, but i wont hammer it at all which kinda defeats the purpose of having a bike IMO

i took mine to bike magic and they told me at least $550 if i strip it down (have to leave the motor in tho, otherwise it wont fit back up after the straightening) and transport it to them, possibly up to $700 if things turn out more complicated. ended up just biding my time and scouring ebay for a donor frame, found one last week for $300 and i should have it next week (just in time for it to sit in the garage till summer because i have to get the monaro finished before i can even think bikes again). i feel its the better option, even disreagarding the price difference, i dont think i'd ever 100% trust a straightened frame.

<devil's advocate>

99coconuts wrote:ended up just biding my time and scouring ebay for a donor frame, found one last week for $300

What says this frame is any better than your original, or any good at all for that matter? At $300 it's *very* cheap.
</devil's advocate>

99coconuts wrote:i feel its the better option, even disreagarding the price difference, i dont think i'd ever 100% trust a straightened frame.

I'd personally prefer to have a straightened frame I know is straight than a non-straightened frame that might be straight.