Bike Damage after an Accident
Also read all of the following if you have bought a 2nd hand bike
since they are often used by many learners and learners often drop bikes.
Check all the lights work including all 4 indicators and the brake light
(tap each light with your finger to make sure there are no loose connections).
Check the gear shift lever, make sure it's not bent, if it is bend it back to shape,
it can be easily replaced (see Gear change lever in General
page).
Make sure nut bolt is tight; it can come slightly loose in an accident.
Look for oil leaks from the engine (also look for oil on the ground) and the front forks, several times over the next few days.
Check the engine oil level; see How to check the Oil level in the Engine Oil page.
You can check the following, but a MOT (if you live in the UK) should check them.
If you fell off to the right, also check the rear brake pedal and silencer (bend back to position if necessary).
The next thing to check is if you have bent the front forks.
If you have, the handlebars will not point straight ahead when you are travelling straight.
So the front wheel points one way and the handlebars another.
If you have this problem you probably have not bent the front forks
(unless the impact was very hard) but have knocked them out of alignment.
The forks are what attach the handle bars to the front wheel
(one fork connects to the left hand side of the wheel, the other to the right),
at the top of each fork are some nuts that can be loosened and then you can re align the handlebars to the wheel
(put weight on passenger seat to lift front wheel off ground, will not work with CBR125 since it has no centre stand).
To check the handlebars are not bent,
simple walk a decent distance away from the front of the bike and look at the bars pointing straight ahead,
also look at the brake and clutch lever
(if you have no centre stand sit upright on the bike and get someone else to look).
The final thing to check is if you have bent the chassis. This requires you to check the wheel alignment.
There are several different ways.
But the idea is for one person to sit on the bike and keep the bike level and the handlebars dead straight.
Another person puts a straight edge like a metal ladder either side of the bike.
They then push it parallel against the back wheel.
They then look at the small gap between the straight edge and the front wheel;
the gap should be the same amount on both sides of the wheel.
If you have not got a straight edge long enough, there is another harder way, search the internet for the other technique.
Remember the wheel alignment will change if the rear wheel chain adjuster nuts are adjusted incorrectly
(if you adjust one side more than the other).