Hello, Forumites --
I finally was able to get the Renntec crash bars (ordered from New Bonneville) installed with the help of my experienced riding buddy and a 10" breaker bar to get the engine mount bolt removed. After we passed that hurdle, it was smooth sailing. It was much easier having two people to install these bars, but not impossible to do solo.
Lately I've been stressing a lot about dropping the bike when I'm out by myself. I know *what* I'm supposed to do, in theory, but have never actually done it with Barney. So today I decided to lay Barney down and make sure I could get him up again.
Although I've actually raised a dropped Honda VTX1300 by myself (part of my checkered past!), I just didn't have any self-confidence about the Bonnie.
Sooooo - today was the day. The hardest part was actually laying him over. I must have stood there for 5 minutes trying to gather my nerve and just DO IT.
I finally remembered that I had the crash bars on, and that was the literal and figurative tipping point.
Over he went, gently though, and on top of 4 UHaul moving blankets. Heyy, no need to be stupid about this, right?
I'm happy to say that the bars did their job in keeping the fairings and other pieces from getting cracked or bent. The crash bars also made it much easier to lift the bike back up.
I don't think these Renntecs are meant for a high speed crash (is anything?). But for a parking lot tip-over, they fit the bill just fine.
I'm a little concerned about the exhaust pipe in this photo:
--- I think it would have gotten scraped up a bit. I didn't think to see if there were clearance or not between the metal and the ground. And I'm not *that* motivated to go back out and torture poor Barney again.
Happy and safe riding, everyone! Thanks for all the support. You folks ROCK!
I finally was able to get the Renntec crash bars (ordered from New Bonneville) installed with the help of my experienced riding buddy and a 10" breaker bar to get the engine mount bolt removed. After we passed that hurdle, it was smooth sailing. It was much easier having two people to install these bars, but not impossible to do solo.
Lately I've been stressing a lot about dropping the bike when I'm out by myself. I know *what* I'm supposed to do, in theory, but have never actually done it with Barney. So today I decided to lay Barney down and make sure I could get him up again.
Although I've actually raised a dropped Honda VTX1300 by myself (part of my checkered past!), I just didn't have any self-confidence about the Bonnie.
Sooooo - today was the day. The hardest part was actually laying him over. I must have stood there for 5 minutes trying to gather my nerve and just DO IT.
I finally remembered that I had the crash bars on, and that was the literal and figurative tipping point.
Over he went, gently though, and on top of 4 UHaul moving blankets. Heyy, no need to be stupid about this, right?
I'm happy to say that the bars did their job in keeping the fairings and other pieces from getting cracked or bent. The crash bars also made it much easier to lift the bike back up.
I don't think these Renntecs are meant for a high speed crash (is anything?). But for a parking lot tip-over, they fit the bill just fine.
I'm a little concerned about the exhaust pipe in this photo:
--- I think it would have gotten scraped up a bit. I didn't think to see if there were clearance or not between the metal and the ground. And I'm not *that* motivated to go back out and torture poor Barney again.
Happy and safe riding, everyone! Thanks for all the support. You folks ROCK!