Post accident Bike Inspection

[5.4L to Freedom]

So I'm sure yall have taken a gander at my royal f*** up with the Ford and the bike, so now I'm trying to figure out what it's gonna take to get me back on the road before this riding season.

If my bike was hit in the rear tire hard enough to bounce it forward and knock it over, what should I look for as mechanical problems? Is it possible I screwed up the swing arm, sprocket alignment, etc.?

The obvious problems are my mirrors, hand grip, clutch lever and fender. I had the bike on the center stand and ran it in gear and it seemed to be alright, chain made a little noise but was in a straight line as far as the eye can tell. Rim appears straight, but the tire surface is a tidbit off kilter, but i don't know what the tolerances are for a tire are to identify if that's out of the norm?

Have any of you ever been rear ended on your bikes (I hope not, but if you live to tell about it, it couldn't have been too terrible) and what were the implications of that?

Thanks for the help, and Chris, it appears just the lever itself is damaged. It got bent back to the handle bar and the tip busted off.

[Volker_P]

There are no "tolerances" for the tire. Have a look on the gap where the tire meets the rim, possibly it was pressed a bit off from the rim. If you can see a gap somewhere, release the air and correct it (or let a shop do it). If sits still correctly on the rim everywhere, this is a sign that part of the inner steel or nylon belts of the tire are kinked or broken. In this case the tire probably will blow up after some time when you continue riding like that, preferentially at high speed. If you are lucky, air loss or the bump will make it unrideable before, so you get a chance to change it before it kills you.
Have a look on your fork. It is probably not bended but twisted in its guides (the triple-tee). If it fell on the right side, start looking for a spare throttle grip (the inner plastic part).
Following the story of your bike, I suppose you are not one of the extremely lucky guys?

[5.4L to Freedom]

Just wanted to clarify it fell on its left side The right side was when the prostitute kicked it over and jumped on it :'(

[Chris]

I have a clutch lever off of my 1980 CB650C if it'll work for your bike with the straighter bars and you're having trouble finding one in your area.

By the way, I replaced this lever (and perch) last year because it was sloppy loose and I couldn't get the screw out to change only the lever/bushing. Well, today I decided to try and get the screw out in case 5.4L to Freedom needed the lever. The reason I was unable to get the screw out was because it was seized to the bushing. Actually, it was REALLY SEIZED, as in the two had pretty much become one. First, I tried a screwdriver and stripped the slotted head of the screw. Then I sprayed it all down with WD40. I put the threaded end of the screw into a vise and tried to turn the clutch lever. This only broke off the threaded portion of the screw. I tried to drive the screw out with a punch and it didn't budge. I MIG-welded a nut to the head of the screw in order to shrink it up and give me something to grip with a socket or wrench. Once it cooled, I put a ratchet on it and it finally moved, but it wouldn't come out. It was still bonded to the bushing. I soaked it down again with WD40 and mowed the grass. A couple of hours later, I tried again to no avail. So I worked on the brake lines on my old Chevy truck. That didn't go well either, so I grabbed the hammer and punch and decided to go for broke. After beating the hell out of it (I'm amazed it didn't break), the screw finally came out. The moral of the story is: Make sure you grease your handlebar controls and cables regularly according to the shop manual.

[arcangel]

Ya, or my moto is never force anything just get a big enough hammer to start with .

[Volker_P]

Another (not really recommended) option is to fall on the left side from time to time so the bolt won't get to rest for too long.
I also would recommend to untighten the engine bolts a bit from time to time, turn the complete bolt one turn and then re-tighten it. Especially those two long ones at the rear of the engine.