Busted!

One of the things I keep forgetting to write about is the delivery of the bikes. Got the message that they would be in Girdwood last Tuesday afternoon. I was out on a walk at the time, so hustled back to the house, grabbed the gear, and jumped in the car with Megan and Nick. (Kevin had headed off to work earlier that morning...after preparing a delicious breakfast for us...gravy with biscuits made from corn meal!)

Rick was down there with his long trailer, ready to unload. Unfortunately, when we popped the back open, my V-Strom was taking a nap...leaning against Nick's Super Tenere. Rick assured us that when he had dropped off another delivery in Anchorage earlier that day, all was well with the bikes. Clearly, something has happened in the interim.

Well, no way but forward, so we untangled the mess and hit both bikes off the trailer. Gave them both an initial inspection, which showed cosmetic damage, but nothing that looked like it would affect the operation, so hit the starter button. Flooded, as expected, but she came to life after a couple tries.

Knowing that she was functional, we assessed the actual damage:

The crash bar on the right side had broken away from its mount on the frame. This piece was also severely bent, but by the time I took this photo, I had already straightened it back to this point. Finishing the job of straightening it would prove much harder than getting it back to this point. 

Upon subsequent investigation during our downtime in Fairbanks, I decided the cause of this whole fiasco was an insufficient repair by the previous owner. Not only is the some rust there, but apparently they tried to replace the bolt here, couldn't get it out, so drilled and tapped new threads inside of it. Problem being: the new bolt they used was much smaller than the original; thus, much weaker. 

When the crash bar gave way, it took a chunk of my plastic cowling along with it. This, if I choose to replace it, will easily be the most expensive part of the repair. Two separate pieces of plastic there, totaling just shy of $300.

Although the crash bars serve an important function, the plastic here is purely cosmetic. Not worried about repairing it until I get home, at which time I'll probably see about riding it before replacing it. 

Plus some stuff I failed to notice initially, but discovered later:

This is actually the broken cowling piece. Shipped it home before leaving Fairbanks.

This is the cowling on the other side. You can see where the fall damaged the logo.

Admittedly, I've done much worse damage to my panniers, but here you can see rubbing caused by the fall. There's also a fuzzy spot on the windshield due to scratching from the fall.

Finally affected repairs Tuesday afternoon. Had to bend the crash bar back into its original position. Since I don't have stuck-bolt-extraction gear with me, I replaced it the way it was before it broke. Not the best solution, but it should hold until I get home and deal with it properly.