Wednesday Aug 16- Tues Sept 21, 2017
(~.4 miles round the block)

After arriving home from the big cross country trip, I started the process immediately to get an appraisal of the bike’s damage. This is what the bike looked like following the U-haul ride back from Montana and with bungee cords removed.

I feel very attached to the bike, and was nervous about it being declared a total loss by the insurance co. I wanted to be able to ride it again as soon as my hand was healed. I talked with friends and with my insurance agents to understand the entire process, especially to ensure that I’d be able to do my own work to restore the bike, as I believed the damage did not extend to anything beyond my basic capabilities.

This was confirmed, as I pored through online microfiche of the ST1300 parts and developed a better understanding of how the nose cone was pieced together. I also felt that the rebuild, including all my custom wiring and farkles, would receive more careful attention from me, than from some shop mechanic who may never even have worked on an ST.

The bike wouldn’t start and hadn’t been running since the crash, but I discovered this was most likely due to the tip-over sensor in the nose which cuts off the engine if it detects the bike has fallen. This sensor’s bracket had broken off, so I hoped the bike would run fine once it was replaced.

When I met the appraiser sent by the insurance company, I was glad to learn that he was a rider too, and had some sympathy for me wanting to keep the bike. I showed him what damage I had discovered and provided him with the list of parts I thought I’d need from the online distributor. He was there a total of 10 minutes or less, including some chit-chat. He told me that I absolutely had the right to work on my own bike, and that if I discovered any additional damage, I should just contact him to get an additional estimate.

I began stripping the bike down immediately after the appraisal, to get a more exact listing of parts. Because parts of the tupperware were missing from the crash, in many cases I added all listed fasteners (bolts, nuts, etc) to my parts order, just to ensure that I had everything.

The control panel assembly had some damage, but I was hopeful I’d be able to transfer the “brain” of the bike successfully to new plastic casing parts. This would maintain the bike’s ODO history without the need for extra paperwork or special tools at the dealer. The instrument panel and lights seemed to work just fine when the key was turned, so I was pretty sure this would work.

With all the front plastic and wiring finally removed, you can clearly see the damage done to the cowl stay, which is a sub-frame in the nose of the bike and bolted on to the main frame.

I had hit the bison’s flanks on my front right quarter at 45 mph and this frame piece absorbed a good deal of the impact.

The right-side bolt attaching the cowl stay had broken off inside the main frame. This was one of the more worrisome and tricky problems of the rebuild, as I wanted to ensure there was no permanent damage to the main aluminum frame of the bike.

I tried an EZ-out to get the bolt stub out, but couldn’t get it to grab. A second drill hole in the stub allowed me to use a flat head screwdriver and eventually twist it out with minimal damage to the threads in the frame. Very relieved to get this done.

Here she is, all stripped down and ready for reassembly. I was happy to see that all the main wiring harnesses were intact and no sign of any impact on the primary frame nor on the forks or steering stem.

I sent an updated parts list to the appraiser via email. About a week or so later, I finally received a letter in the mail stating how much I’d be receiving for the damage after my deductible was subtracted from the total and including estimated labor. I was satisfied with the amount, since it came in well above the total amount I’d calculated for the parts and the labor would be free.

My parts began arriving several days after placing the order. I unpacked everything and took stock of the dozens of part numbers, laying things out on a folding table for easy access.

Since part of the right fork slider had been broken off, the entire fork needed to be disassembled to replace the slider. I decided this was a good time to teach myself how to do a full front suspension job. I ordered new heavier duty springs from Race Tech and the necessary Honda OEM fork seal kits. Watched a very informative video by Delboy on YouTube to get comfortable with the procedure and it went smoothly. I was happy to see that none of the fork components seemed bent or misshapen from the crash either.

               

I performed the bike’s brain surgery with care and precision, successfully moving the circuit board (no damage) to the new casing. Another big concern was now behind me.

Another discovery during the bike strip-down was that my front axle appeared to be slightly bent, as I had a very tough time banging it out of the forks and front wheel. I’m still not sure if this was due to the crash or to me apparently not having properly tightened down the axle nut during the last front wheel change (!), but I ordered a new axle and wheel bearings to eliminate all issues.

I found another good video on this from a fellow ST rider and ordered bearing remover tools, which ended up being only semi-helpful as the bearings were really stuck in there good. Eventually, I got the bearings replaced (another first for me) with brute force and a hammer.

After the forks and wheel bearings, everything else was a breeze, just nuts, bolts, screws, and electrical wire management. I took less photos as I progressed, but once all the parts arrived, things went together quickly. The bike started right up once I had the new tip-over sensor installed and the control panel brain surgery proved successful as well.

My new Clearview windshield was one of the last items to arrive and my hand was healing pretty well, so I risked a quick ride round the block to feel everything out. Man, did it feel good to be back in the saddle after six weeks or so of downtime!

Finally, in the spirit of those gremlin bells that many riders add to their steeds to ward off bad road spirits, I affixed the final pièce de résistance: