renovationism

Last summer, I laid my motorcycle, a 2006 Ducati Monster S2R 800, down on its right side. Typically, when someone says they “laid their bike down,” they mean they crashed it. My incident wasn’t quite as exciting. As I pulled into my driveway, I turned the wheel to the right in preparation for backing it into its usual parking spot. The low speed and awkwardness of the tight turn made me lose my balance. I couldn’t hold it up, so I literally laid it down gently on its side. The brake pedal was damaged, as was the brake light actuator it’s attached to, which caused the brake light to stay lit. I drove it to the shop and a few hundred dollars later, it was good as new.

Today, I decided to wash my bike, mostly because the white wheels had a lot of dirt on them and needed prettying up. As I washed, I had to move the bike back and forth to get at different parts of the wheels. You can probably see where this is going – soapy wet palms (and carelessness) caused it to slip and I laid it down again, this time on the left side.

Now, those of you who ride might be saying to yourself: the sidestand is on the left, so why wasn’t it down? An excellent question. I was moving the bike forward and as it slipped, the sidestand caught on the pavement and folded up as the bike went down.

After struggling to get the 400 pounds upright, I assessed the damage, and found that the shift lever had been bent inwards and had impacted and bent the tie rod that connects it to the gear box.

The shift pedal and tie rod, just above the sidestand

Close-up: neither of them are supposed to be bent.

My first reaction was to finish washing the bike. I guess they call that denial. Afterward, the only thing left to do was bemoan my situation. What a way to start the summer riding season. And I cringed as the expected repair cost. One unfortunate thing about pre-1997 Ducatis is that the service book has incredibly high hours and rates, so pretty much any service, even an oil change, involves a credit check and a second mortgage. With a damaged shift lever, the bike wasn’t rideable which meant the shop would have to pick it up, upping the cost. I remember trying to schedule a pick-up when I had a screw in the rear tire and it was like pulling teeth. I finally pumped up the tire and rode it to the shop before the air ran out, my friend Chris following me in case of… well, you know.

Upon closer inspection, it seemed that the only damage was to the shift pedal and tie rod, and not to the gearbox itself. So I grabbed a few tools and took it apart.

Disassembly with an Allen wrench and an open-ended wrench.

The offending components.

Both pieces are aluminum. The tie rod is fairly thin, and it didn’t take much to knock it straight again. I sandwiched it between two pieces of wood to protect its surface, and hit the wood with a hammer.

Whacking it between some two-by-fours

The shift pedal was a different matter. It’s forged and fairly thick. And it was bent in the middle and also bent slightly at the root, where its shaft is supposed to be 90-degrees to its hub. And, it’s a complex shape, so arranging blocks of wood to support it, protect it, and allow for the necessary banging/bending would be a bit more complicated.

The shift lever is a bit sturdier...

...and takes a bit more precision.

After bending the shaft mostly straight, I decided not to attempt to bend the shaft at it’s root, because it didn’t seem to be necessary, and I had no idea how I’d do it anyway.

Not perfect, but serviceable.

After re-assembly, it seems to be operational. The part of the shift lever that contacts my foot is still a bit more inboard that I’d like, so I’ll probably see if I can get a new shift lever from the parts counter at the shop or online.

I haven’t done a test ride yet. I thought I’d post this first, in case of… well, you know.

Time for a test ride.

This entry was posted Saturday, May 9th, 2009 at 2:57 pm and is filed under motorcycle. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.