Bike knocked over and killed...what should I check?

[dark30]

Hola amigos,

I've been gone a while (busy riding!) and it's good to be back in the forum. The '77 GS750 that I rebuilt last year was killed a few days ago. Someone in an SUV backed into it while it was parked. Knocked it completely over onto its left side, cracked the case, and of course the oil bled all over the pavement. Clutch lever, signal lights, other miscellaneous things were broken too.

They've agree to pay for the cost of parts to repair. So there are obvious things, like the cases and other items mentioned above. But my concern is that there are some non-obvious things, or problems that I won't find until I'm a few miles down the road again.

So what advice might you have? What else should I check for? What else might have gotten knocked out of order?

[Giblet]

Check the stops molded into the tripple tree that keep the bars from hitting the tank. When my GK got knocked over I didn't catch it till all was said & done and the left side hits the tank now if I'm not careful. I had just spent $200 getting most of my chrome replated and the guy managed to bend or scratch every last piece. It bites for sure but at least you didn't total a relative's Intruder that was left with you for safe keeping .

[bwringer]

You know, when I was quickly scanning the post title, I read this one as you killed someone for knocking over your bike. Yikes! I guess I'd understand, though.

Anyway, now that I've read it more carefully, I'd say that depending on the severity of the damage to the stator cover, you'll want to check the rotor carefully to make sure it didn't get bent -- rotate the crank and see if there's any wobble.

If it was just a parking lot tipover, you should be fine with replacing the obvious stuff. If the bonehead parked a Mack truck on top of it or dragged it around, you could have a problem.

Good idea to keep an insurance company out of this -- they'd want to total the bike, hand you $50 and then raise the schmuck's insurance rates by a couple thousand bucks for the next few years.

[matbrodog]

Follow bwringer's advice , it is a must to check the crank and also the stator as they dont come cheap either.

[dark30]

Thanks for the advice, gents. I'm giving her a good check-over. The guages are busted, too. Guess I'll include them on the list.

But the triple tree is in good shape, and there appears to be little damage beyond what I mentioned in the first post.

I will give it the crank test tomorrow. Hopefully that will turn out well.

[duaneage]

Check the stator and voltage output if it landed on the stator cover., The magnets could have been damaged, poles in the stator could be cracked.

[beby99]

It bites for sure but at least you didn't total a relative's Intruder that was left with you for safe keeping .

Guess I missed that one....care to share your story?