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Winds knocked moto & me onto left, bent clutch, wont shift and now wont turn over

C

cozy

Member
Joined
Feb 24, 2020
Location
Marin, Ca.
Moto(s)
2001 Suzuki Bandit 600
After riding hundreds of miles on a motorcycle trip this week, on the return journey Friday afternoon less than 50 miles to my place in Marin, I encountered crazy strong gusting winds from Sacramento area to Fairfield area.
It was blowing me in sudden spurts across lanes of freeway traffic so i pulled off near intersection of i80, 680 and highway 12 where red top road intersects 80.

I waited for a while figuring out what to do. I considered going over to highway 12, but while near the entrance to it at that intersection with on red top road the wind gusts hit me so hard it blew me and my motorcycle over onto left side as i was trying to uturn around to park and wait it out overnight! I turned the enine off right away, within 15 seconds or so.

It bent my clutch lever, causing it not to shift reliably, especially not into first gear.

Ended up calling a tow truck and they towed Bandit and me back to a parking space in San Rafael near where I work.

It started fine right after it was blown over and when we put it onto the tow truck. But when we arrived in san rafael and got it off tow truck, i tried to start it to see if i could at least ride it 20 feet to parking space but it acted like it had a dead battery too!

Very weak attempt at starting which rapidly faded to nothing and faded lights too!

GGrrrr!

So clutch lever got bent, effecting shifting? Makes sense. I dont like it but makes sense.

I dont understand why it would suddenly have no electrical power either though suddenly after it fell over and was towed. When it turned on right after it fell over. I checked battery cable connections and they are still connected and tight.

I didnt see any gas leak outside of motorcycle. And it had a full tank as i had just recently filled it up again. And just had starter motor replaced a bit over a year ago after it was hit by a cager.


Any ideas?
 
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Bent clutch lever means when you squeeze in the clutch it's not fully disengaging the clutch like it should. If you're trying to start the bike in gear I squeeze in the clutch then it's not going to want to start because the clutch is dragging on the starter too much it's going to not start and it's going to act sort of like a weak battery because the battery doesn't have enough power to push the starter.
 
motomania2007 said:
Bent clutch lever means when you squeeze in the clutch it's not fully disengaging the clutch like it should. If you're trying to start the bike in gear I squeeze in the clutch then it's not going to want to start because the clutch is dragging on the starter too much it's going to not start and it's going to act sort of like a weak battery because the battery doesn't have enough power to push the starter.
Click to expand...

Thanks. Immediately after blowing over, when i picked it back up a few minutes later with some bypassers help, it did start and i was able to put it in neutral. Though it did seem to easily slip past neutral into 2nd or down to first much more than usual.

And it didint intially have the no power issue. After unloading it, when first turning it on it was very weak and within a couple seconds it basically does nothing when truing to start it. No power.
 
cozy said:
Thanks. Immediately after blowing over, when i picked it back up a few minutes later with some bypassers help, it did start and i was able to put it in neutral. Though it did seem to easily slip past neutral into 2nd or down to first much more than usual.

And it didint intially have the no power issue. After unloading it, when first turning it on it was very weak and within a couple seconds it basically does nothing when truing to start it. No power.
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Then you probably left the key on while it was getting towed.

Either way it doesn't really matter.

If the battery is dead it needs to be charged. Why it's dead probably has nothing to do with the tip over.
 
motomania2007 said:
Then you probably left the key on while it was getting towed.

Either way it doesn't really matter.

If the battery is dead it needs to be charged. Why it's dead probably has nothing to do with the tip over.
Click to expand...

I turned it off and took key out of motorcycle when i turned it off.
 
https://youtu.be/Ih63FeDBsbA

Video ( sped up for time savings ) shows clutch lever play which feels off, not normal but doesn't appear obviously ( to me ) broken or bent. So I'm not sure what exactly I need to do to repair it.

Clutch rod play is shown. I'm not remembering how much movement it usually correctly has, so not sure if that is too much.?

Battery is not leaking externally and no visible damage. But I removed it and it's currently recharging .

Thoughts and suggestions on what exactly I need to do to repair everything back to correct running condition ?
 
Before you reinstall the battery check the voltage. And then check the voltage when it's under load like when the headlights on.

The theory is that the bike falling over might have knocked something loose inside the battery and now you have a shorted cell which can happen on a lead acid battery.
 
motomania2007 said:
Before you reinstall the battery check the voltage. And then check the voltage when it's under load like when the headlights on.

The theory is that the bike falling over might have knocked something loose inside the battery and now you have a shorted cell which can happen on a lead acid battery.
Click to expand...

Thank you! Ive not done that before - yet. Ill look up a youtube video showing how. Unless someone has advice or link to how to do that for this moto?
 
Load testing a battery is really simple. You get the headlight to be on and that should be enough of a load so you can test the voltage with the headlight on. So probably the simplest thing to do is to plug the battery back into the bike bolt it up tight all that stuff. Then turn on the key and if your bike turns the headlight on when the key comes on then that's all you need to do and test the voltage at that time. Some bikes the headlight doesn't come on until you press the start button first so press the start button if it starts apply to kill switch turn off the engine. Then measure the voltage of the battery.

If you have a way to connect some sort of a light or other load to the battery while it's not installed on the bike that will work. I have a load tester that I bought it harbor freight for like 20 bucks or something that I use for that.
 
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Why did you remove the battery? It looks like you have a pigtail for the charger. Your previous video sounded like a discharged battery for sure. You clutch rod play is fine for now, don't worry about it. There's a chance the battery got jacked up but it's a very very very slim chance.

For wind riding training I suggest riding through southern Wyoming in a thunderstorm. I-80 (in CA) pales in comparison.
 
Your tip over could have come at a time when your charging system is beginning to fail. To test for this, fully charge the battery and then disconnect the battery from the charger, WAIT two hours for the excess charge to dissipate, and then measure battery voltage again. It should be anywhere between 12.8 (a brand new battery) and 12.6 (a used but still seviceable bsattery). Then install the battery and start the bike. With the engine running at 3000 to 4000 rpm, you should get 14.4 volts, give or take a little.
 
scootergmc said:
Why did you remove the battery? It looks like you have a pigtail for the charger. Your previous video sounded like a discharged battery for sure. You clutch rod play is fine for now, don't worry about it. There's a chance the battery got jacked up but it's a very very very slim chance.

For wind riding training I suggest riding through southern Wyoming in a thunderstorm. I-80 (in CA) pales in comparison.
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Thanks.

I dont have a private parking space. So no place to plug in a battery charger while battery is still in motorcycle. Thus taking it out of motorcycle to recharge in my space.

It has fully charged now according to the battery charger indicator light turning green. Its disconnected from charger now, and i will reinstall it into motorcycle tomorrow and see what happens when i start motorcycle.

Just seems confusing why battery would suddenly go bad. I bought it new only a yearish ago and put it in after previous hit and run accident.

Any idea what i need to do to clutch to correct its not going into first and slipping easily past neutral after it blew over?
 
https://youtu.be/LfRsPoBHyLA

Tested battery disconnected from motorcycle ( showed around 12.8 ) .
And connected while on and running around 3000rpm. ( around 14.45 ).

Seems good. I did actually leave ignition on for at least 5 minutes or more while tow truck drivers and I wrestled with motorcycle getting it onto tow truck with the strong gusty winds trying to blow bandit over . I forgot I had it on then to, while not running. So makes sense it drained battery.

Clutch lever does still feel off somehow. Maybe depresses too easily or misaligned? But it is shifting gears it seems. As shown in video. I will take it for a test ride soon to verify it really shifts reliabl while riding.

Thank you again everyone for helping with advice, commenting! I was being overly worried it seems.
 
I think you're a-ok.

Depending on how it landed, your clutch lever perch or mount could be a little bent, but usually the lever itself takes the brunt.
 
scootergmc said:
I think you're a-ok.

Depending on how it landed, your clutch lever perch or mount could be a little bent, but usually the lever itself takes the brunt.
Click to expand...

Just a thought.
In one of his videos the OP referred to his shift linkage as a "clutch rod".
The shifter may have been bent (even slightly) during the drop which could account for the shifting of gears to feel a little wonky.
Like I said, just a thought.
 
Good battery and charging numbers.

You likely just need a new clutch lever.
 
scootergmc said:
I think you're a-ok.

Depending on how it landed, your clutch lever perch or mount could be a little bent, but usually the lever itself takes the brunt.
Click to expand...

Yeah, i thinks so. Thank you.

Here is are a few moments from the motorcycle camping trip, if anyone is curious about the area. Its beautiful. I may also post in another area if there is a section for motorcycle camping / travling posts.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDOI6IpILms
 
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