Back in September I was on my 2007 Fatboy on the way home from work. I was in the right hand lane of the access road parallel with a major highway. A black car exiting the highway passed me on the left and then suddenly signaled to get into my lane. I got on the horn and brakes hard but he was braking hard too and just came on over. I was trapped between his car and the curb when he made a right hand turn down a side street. It was kind of a blur but I think he clipped my front wheel and my headlight clipped something on his car as I went down on my left side. He drove off and I couldn't tell you what make car or license. I got my left leg out from under the bike and took inventory - a couple of bruises and minor road rash, not too bad. Got the bike up and it started right up. A couple people stopped to see if I was alright; one person saw me go down but did not get the license or make of the black car that hit me. I rode the bike home and it seemed to run and handle ok.

The point of my long sob story is in repairing the bike, most of which I've done. The foot boards and my leg protected the tank and my leather saddlebag got scuffed but, thankfully, not the fender. Problem one: the headlight trim ring took a big hit and is badly damaged although the headlight bucket seems to be fine. I bought a replacement but I can't seem to figure out how to get the old trim ring off. There is a screw that fits into a tab at the 6 O'clock position and I can rotate the ring about 90 degrees clockwise, but it doesn't pull off. Anyone have a clue how this works?

Problem two: This may be psychological or ?? but I seem to feel like the bike has gotten a bit harder to turn left. Turns fine to the right but a left turn seems to take more effort. Turning left from a stop seems to result in a wider turn than I planned. The bike runs straight just fine, doesn't wander. On the motorcycle jack the front wheel seems to turn smoothly both ways. I haven't tried the "fall away" test yet, perhaps Sunday. I know I am more cautious today and feel somewhat uncomfortable in traffic but that is fading. Anyway, I wonder if the front forks were damaged although there isn't a mark on them and they are not leaking. Any ideas?

 

I have an 03 softail and when I changed my headlamp the ring came right off after removing the screw at 6 o’clock so not sure about that. As for the turning, are you sure the bars aren’t slightly tweaked? I dumped mine in my driveway way once and noticed the same thing. That was it.

 

Glad you’re ok. Sorry can’t help with the trim or steering questions.

 

had issues after a bad car accident. Easier to turn left than right. Turned out I needed a alignment, a few trips to the chiropractor got me sorted out and riding got easier again.

 

Did your insurance cover the bike going to the chiropractor?

 

I'm glad you only had minor injuries!

You think he hit your front wheel and you went down....

I would do a complete inspection of the front end... to include checking for tweaked/bent bars, tweaked/bent forks, and I'd even inspect the head bearing adjustments....

Good luck with your repairs, and glad you are getting back in the wind..!

 

You probably have to remove the screw on the trim ring. Pry the ring open further while pulling it outward from the headlight and then up. There is a groove in the bucket that the back of the trim fits in.

 

Crashing sucks.

In regards to repairs, some items overlooked are the front axle, lower triple clamp and stem, head/ neck bearings and races.
FWIW the bearings/ races could be the "stiffness" of turning you are feeling.
Maybe even a fork locking mechanism or brake rotor is dragging.

I'd vote that you are "feeling" it and not psychological imagining it.

PS as mentioned by a co-member.... alignment. Check everything

Good luck.

 

Awesome you are OK after that.
Wouldn't insurance cover?

 

Happy to hear your injuries were minor. You may want to consider having the bike checked by an Indy shop or the dealer.