Topic: 1976 CB550F - making it good, one step at a time

[flatlander]

i did have some ideas for work i wanted to do over the winter months... but fate gave me a different agenda:



it was a pile-up accident on the motorway. 4 cars in front of me ran into each other. i realised i could not brake to standstill before hitting them and escaped to the shoulder on the left (i always try to be in a lane with an accessible shoulder, exactly for this reason). precious little time and even less space, but that worked. the car that had been behind me, crashed into the car that had been in front of me - glad i wasn't in there!

so i thought i was safe and slowed down. then my rear-end went... all i could think was "WTF" as i went down. there had been no indication of sliding or anything, i was totally puzzled.
looking back while on the ground i saw that other car behind me: 2 cars down from where i had been, it had taken the same route onto the shoulder but didn't brake hard enough and touched my rear which knocked the bike over. crap.
still a lucky situation as we were both almost at standstill when this happened. i'm not hurt and the bike's not too badly damaged.











this is what i saw at the towing service's place. today they delivered the bike back to me, will still need to inspect it more carefully. what i see so far - nothing a little duct tape can't fix 

[flatlander]

pix should be fixed now.
yes i'm totally fine, thanks! dealing with insurance report now...

[Stev-o]

Sorry to hear FL.  Good to here you are ok.

Cannot see pic.

[Scott S]

 No pics for me, either.

[flatlander]

pictures disappeared again, that sucks.
will need to fiddle with them to make a sable link. sorry about that.

[strynboen]

good that you are all right..look for crack in the paint..araund the stering head..its the soft point...but as long you nod hit for a hard stop..i think its only minor damage..but paint can be expensive...so thek carefull all stuff for damage...

[Bootsey]

Damn, that sounds like a hectic situation to be in & you handled it well. Glad you're ok.
Are those glorious pipes ok too?

[flatlander]

strynboen:
thanks, and yes i'll inspect everything carefully on the weekend. so far it looks like no serious damage - fingers crossed...

bootsey:
thank you, too. hectic is something else... those split seconds between "yay i escaped the squeeze" and "why the F am i going sideways and down" were priceless, in a way 
pipes seem to be ok at first glance, but will need to check everything more thoroughly.

[flatlander]

i carefully went over the bike on the weekend. here's what i found, front to back.

front fender a bit dented, but not too bad.



some roadrash on that stay. chrome is gone here, will develop some rust.



also a bit of roadrash on the front/left indicator light but nothing to worry about.



clutch lever is a gonner. rest of the left hand control is working fine.



a massive dent in the speedo holder. that must have absorbed most of the impact?



that thing is outta shape...





no suprise, lights in the speedo don't work either.



left mirror also got some scratches. looks like this will also be come a rust spot.



left grip has a bite taken out as well.



gear shift pedal is bent.



honda cover is ripped off.



left footrest has some scratches.



also rear indicator... just a little.



rear mudguard and light are chewed up.







i checked the fame and fork for alignment, they're fine. gears shift, engine runs, all the existing lights work...
then i took the speedo and tested it with a drill because if was concerned about the impact it received - needle doesn't move and it makes a funny noise. i think that might be the biggest damage in terms of repair or replacement.
anyway, it could be worse.

[Erny]

FL, sorry for the accident, good you are OK!
Pity for all these damages, it won't be cheap to fic them, but looks doable. Hope it won't take you long and insurance will cover your cost!

[jgger]

Make sure it is rotating in the correct direction,  if not that may be the clicking.

[flatlander]

FL, sorry for the accident, good you are OK!
Pity for all these damages, it won't be cheap to fic them, but looks doable. Hope it won't take you long and insurance will cover your cost!

thanks erny! i'm trying to assess all the damage and cost, then send it to the insurance hoping that it will all be paid by the liability insurance of the car that ran into me.

[flatlander]

Make sure it is rotating in the correct direction,  if not that may be the clicking.

when testing with a drill, i rotated it to the right - simply because i assumed that's what the speedo needs. does it need to be to the left?

[Erny]

It should be the same way how handle rotates, so to the left when looking on speedo from back side.

[Erny]

FL, sorry for the accident, good you are OK!
Pity for all these damages, it won't be cheap to fic them, but looks doable. Hope it won't take you long and insurance will cover your cost!

thanks erny! i'm trying to assess all the damage and cost, then send it to the insurance hoping that it will all be paid by the liability insurance of the car that ran into me.

Well, don't know how in NL, but here in Slovakia it will be probably impossible to get full compensation from liability insurance of guilty person car for bike damages due to motobike age. Unless you have certification for historical vehicle, bike is considered as old, so very low value. They will ignore market price of bike, spare parts prices, especially if they are not availabe from Honda any longer. But maybe in NL it is different.

[flatlander]

i have no idea how this will pan out as i haven't been in an accident before. but it's worth giving it a try.

[SF]

Glad your ok and undamaged......just the wallet. Goes to say these bikes can stand up to more than the bikes these days......


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[Stev-o]

i have no idea how this will pan out as i haven't been in an accident before. but it's worth giving it a try.

Once again, good to hear you are ok, could have been much much worse.

Looks like you have done a nice job of documenting the damage, I would makw a list of all those parts with the NOS [if possible] cost of each to present to the insurance company.   Use DSS website for reference.

Good luck

[flatlander]

It should be the same way how handle rotates, so to the left when looking on speedo from back side.

thanks, makes sense. and when i rotate the drill to the left, the handle moves so that's good news

[flatlander]

Once again, good to hear you are ok, could have been much much worse.

Looks like you have done a nice job of documenting the damage, I would makw a list of all those parts with the NOS [if possible] cost of each to present to the insurance company.   Use DSS website for reference.

Good luck

thanks again! i'm making a list then sending it to a shop to quote for parts and work.
then let's see what the insurance says. best case they accept. worst case they say i totalled an ancient 40 year old bike and give me a couple hundred. we'll see.

[ralt12]

I might be able to help out; I'm building a CB550, and a lot of the stock bits will go into storage ( and if my wife gets ahold of that, she is the purge queen). Send me a list of what you need and I'll let you know what I've got.

[flatlander]

thanks, that's a very kind offer. let me see how things go with the insurance etc.
what 550 model do you have?
also i'm in the netherlands. don't know where you are but then there might be some long-distance shipping involved.

[flatlander]

here's a long overdue update:
earlier this year i got most of the parts together and fixed the bike. been riding it all summer 





there are a few cosmetic bits missing here and there but i'll get to those... now that winter's coming.

what reminded me to post: now, almost exactly 1 year after the accident, i finally go the insurance money from the other party.
this took ages because that person simply claimed that it wasn't her that hit me. together with the lawyer from my insurance (luckily i had legal insurance!) we dug up the other drivers that were involved in the pile-up and got their statements which all confirmed my view of the situation.
so then finally the insurance of the other side had to accept liability and paid out. the money is good - all materials plus labour at regular shop rates, plus interest for the waiting time. so i can buy some x-mas gifts now for the 550 

[RAFster122s]

Flatlander, glad you are ok and unscathed, bikes can be fixed and replaced, us...not so easily all the time.
David

[flatlander]

very true david!
i suppose the "mistake" i made was to break after i made the escape - because my instinct was to stick around and see if any help was needed. guess the lesson is to just go for the free space and create distance no matter what, and worry about the rest later.