Bummer!!
You are not destined to own 929 for very long, are you?
Try a YAMAHA next
The only thing I know about frame straightening is to confrim that most professionally raced bikes, when recieved from the manufacturer, are automatically stripped and the frame is straightened.
I guess in your case, it depends on how badly it is bent. If you put the bike on a rear stand and get on your knees about 10 feet behind the bike and sight down the line between the tires and you can actually SEE one wheel cocked to one side, then it probably needs straightening. Otherwise, you'll just have to take the insurance company's word for it.
Look for cracks in the frame.
Good luck, Wet Shrub.

 

See now it wasn't a bad crash for my physically but I did high side and bent my frameslider all to hell. The shop guys seem to think that this would cause it to bend the frame as well. I haven't heard yet but when I do I will keep you posted.
I think you are right about the 929. I am actually already thinking about an R6 maybe if the bike is totalled.
I rode my bike to the shop after the crash and it felt fine but I took it REAL easy because I didn't want anything to fall off on the way back. I think I maxed out at 55 on the freeway. I have had people say that I should push to total it just so that I get something new but I'm unsure.
Back to my question though. If the frame needs straightening, is it going to cost as much as the bike to fix it?

 

All I can tell you is that when I wrecked, they told me that if the frame is damaged in any way, the bike is totaled.

(I wonder why you see so many 'salvage' bikes for sale with the only apparent damage being a small dent in the frame that strangely resembles a ball peen hammer ???)


Personally, I would'nt want a bike back that needed such extensive repairs..

 

Usually, when you go to a frame straightener, they won't just check the frame. They check a rolling chassis, which consists of:

- frame
- subframe
- forks
- triples
- swingarm
- wheels
- rotors

I've noticed that a pretty beat frame costs around $800 (last time I tossed my race bike) to straighten. That is assuming that the frame (or all the chassis components) pass a stress test.

The last frame we sent to the frame straighter did not pass the stress test, so it's a junker.

I wouldn't necessarily call a frame, straight off the showroom floor, *slightly messed up*. Manufacturer tolerances are not as tight as we all would think. Everything is off several millimeters (per my frame guy). A lot of racers will have the frames blueprinted to be within 1/1000ths inches alignment.

When I crashed my ZX-9R, the shop did not even give me the option of having the frame straightened. My two options were:
- weld the broken pieces back together (about $200)
- get a new frame from the factory ($1500)

Of course, since the accident was not my fault, and it was an insurance claim anyway, I opted for a new frame, which drove the cost above the *total* mark, but my insurance didn't total it, since it was only 4 weeks new at the time.

 

I don't know how much I want it back either if the frame is damaged if the bike is fixable, then I don't have a lot of choice right?
It doesn't make sense that a shop would WANT to tell some one that their bike has frame damage because then they will just total the thing and be done with it. They get way more money if the bike can be repaired right?
Hmm....good thing I got gap insurance. They will pay the deductible and give me a grand towards a new bike.....assuming it's totaled.

 

Maybe it is just your frame slider that is bent. This is why I don't use frame sliders.
Keep us posted.
BTW You could probably get a real good deal on an R6, what with the 03's rumored to have FI.

 

Well, I got a quote from the shop. No frame or fork damage. 4515 dollars in cosmetic work to be done. I have heard from people that if the price is over 50% of the value of the bike then it's considered totaled also. I stand to do pretty well with the insurance if it's totaled so I am just curious. Gap insurance would be good for me. Has anyone else heard of the 50% rule? My first 929 came in a 8400 or so....that would make the price of the work over 50% of the value. Let me know.

 

I totally forgot to answer your question but looks like it isn't needed. I'm gonna answer anyway just in case.

GMD Computrac will charge $80 to look at the bike then an additional $400 if it has to be readjusted. These are the prices I heard last year. I not sure for now or the specifics.

Like mentioned the bike needs to be a frame, engine, wheels and brakes when they take a look at it. So you save alot of money by having it ready so they don't have to remove and install things.

 

Insurance is sending some one to take pictures and assess damage. The work will most likely start Friday. The claims adjuster said that because of the newness of the bike, the damage must be 70% of the cost of the bike.

Thanks for answering the question John. I will store that away in my memory banks for the future...hopefully I won't need to ever acess it but you never know. At this pace I will be averaging 4 bikes per year.

 

First of all let me wish you to improve your statistics, 4 bikes/year is TOO MUCH!!
Anyway, I just saw your question , so here is my input.

First of all as it was pointed out earlier the frames are not messed up from the factory, it's just a matter of tolerances and the work carried out by racing teams to bring the frames to the absolute correct spec is very delicate. We re talking millimetres here.
Secondly, I don't think that the frame would be bent at the sides because of the framesliders as at this point the frame supports the engine and this makes it a stressed element.

Finally, as far as I know an alloy frame should be repaired only if the damage is minor, otherwise the frame will be weakened. And they should be only be repaired once in their life!
The story is different for the old steel tube frames, they can be repaired even when the damage is substantial.
On the other hand, nobody wants to ride a bike with a straightened frame really, so I agree with what you said, that you wouldn't want the bike if the frame was damaged.

To make sure that the frame is not damaged in anyway, it should be measure using a proper jig, and this might involve taking the engine and cycle parts off!

You mentioned that the frame isn't damaged finally, but are you sure that they measured everything correctly? If your forks and triple clamp AND swingarm are straight I would be confident that it's OK.
Good luck with the repairs!


Aris

 

Thanks Aris...

When I originally said that the frame was "messed up" I guess I should have rephrased it. It was just quicker to type. I should have said that the manufacturing tolerances and safety factors allow the frames to come out of the factory slightly imperfect. Messed up is easier to say, although not really correct.
Either way, I am pretty sure that what happened was, the dealership took the fairings off and measured what they could with everything else intact. Forks, triple clamp, and swing arm. That's probably how they made their determination and the "frame guy" probably never saw the bike.

Incidentally, in talking with a guy at my work that rides...he knows the EXACT bump I am talking about in the road. He says he likes it because if he is out there on his BMW, it's the only way he can catch up to the sport bike guys. He does have an FZR400 but with the amount of travel on his BMW forks, he can just roll right over it and then watch all his sport bike buddies get thrown off their line. I got thrown a little more than normal.

 

I'm surprised to hear peoaple think sliders would cause frame damage. Where have you heard this??

Mine are mounted through the frame and into the head as I believe most are. I find it hard to believe that the frame would be permanently bent before the bolt fails. Also, unless the slider has something soft to sink into as it unfortunately did for shrub, the limited amount of friction they generate will be extremely unlikely to produce side forces that would damage the bike. I think that by keeping the bars from hitting the ground as hard as they would without sliders, it is far more likely to prevent head and frame damage that it is to cause it.

Opinions????????????

Good luck shrub

 

Is the bolt for frame sliders on a 929 ALSO an engine bolt? If so, then not only would the impact on the frame slider have to bend one side of the frame, but the forces would transmit through the engine and it would have to bend the other side of the frame as well.
From what I had heard...frame sliders are meant for low sides and not for high side impacts. Not sure about this, it is all word of mouth. From what Desmo said though, it sounded as if this is what he thought also.

The bolt on my frame slider failed, but not in a fracture kind of way. It bent the head such that it didn't stick out as far as it was designed to. I have no doubt that it saved quite a bit more work on my bike and especially a lot more frame and body damage but wouldn't you think that the bolt would be designed to keep the slider pointing straight out? That's the whole idea right? If it bends then you might as well have carrots sticking out of your bike and call them frame sliders. Like I said, maybe they are just for low sides.

 

my frame was bent from my crash, The damage was totally invisable to the naked eye. my frame slider was bent to hell (the bolt) on the left side, where the car hit it.

cost to straighten frame was 300.00 , the damage was the steering head, was bent back about 10mm.

He also straightened the subframe, the triple and forks were also bent, I just replaced them.

FastTrack Cycles in Mesa, AZ . Dave @480.649.1093

 

Just a note. When frames are straightened the engine needs to be in the bike. The frames are pretty weak without the engine installed. There really is a limit to what can be done to easily repair a bent aluminum spar frame. It takes a pretty hard crash to completely ruin one though.

 

Got my estimate list of repairs. It's crazy. I found out why they are charging so much. They are recommending a whole new swing arm, even though they determined that it wasn't bent at all. In fact, it only have some small scratches on it. I asked them if they were going to keep all the parts or if they just dump them. They said that sometimes the insurance keeps them, if not, then the customer keeps them, or they get dumped. I told them that I wanted them if the insurance doesn't. That swing arm could fetch at least some sort of price on e-bay. Maybe enough to make back my deductible. The fairings aren't even hurt that bad but they are saying they should be replaced. I will sell those too if I get the chance. I could stand to make money from this deal. The bike will be in pristine condition when I get it back...nice.
Has anyone else gone through this and had their insurance keep the parts? I hope they don't.

-Kemosabe

 

Has anyone else gone through this and had their insurance keep the parts? I hope they don't.

Better be prepared for a fight: there's a whole lot going on behind the scenes when it comes to insurance, totaled/not totaled/salvage, etc. Dunno exactly what you're going thru, but I once crashed an '85 600 Ninja, and damage was pretty damn light, but the rear subframe was bent (note to self: always buy a bike with a bolt-on subframe). I was hoping they wouldn't total the bike, as at the time I think my insurance would have been better with a repair than totalling a bike on my record.
Anywho...the damage came out to just a bit less than the cost of the bike. Decided to fix it instead of totalling it, but the insurance company balked. Got into an argument with 'em over it since it was cheaper to fix than total, but they said 'close enough' on the price.
I'm assuming they were hot to total it since they could sell it for salvage and come out way ahead over paying to have it fixed! Been so long since it happened, I've forgotten most of the particlars, but I stuck to my guns and had the bike repaired. Actually found a fellow who swapped everything over to a new frame for $150 labor! Went over the bike pretty closely when I got it back, and only saw one mis-routed cable (on the sidestand safety switch).
Never hurts to have a real enthusiast do your work for ya!