Went to Hungry Valley (CA) to ride my brand spanking new....shiny....virgin Predator 500. It was one of those days! Started out earlier with a friend of mine running in to me from behind....only dented the muffler and a slight tear on the exhuast tip....no biggie. Then I decided to take on a hill... for those of you who know Hungry Valley...the really steep hill. After all, I went up the same hill three weeks ago on a Honda 450...no problem. Well.... I made it almost to the top...about 80% of the way there on second gear... and then my 2nd gear ran out of juice. I had to downshift to first... then I started getting the front wheel off the ground. Every time the wheel went in the air, the bike started tracking to the right. Eventually turning me to the side and I killed it. The bike started to go and the brakes were not match for gravity...partially because at this part of the hill...it is pretty much rock! I had to bail off the bike and Newton's Laws took over. The predator bounced, rolled, tumbled, jumped, skipped, and slid about 50 yards down the hill.

I slid down the hill to look at the aftermath, and although damaged...the bike doesn't seem too too bad. Bent steering stem, bent steel cross brace behind steering stem just under the handle bars, broken front plastics, broken ignition/key, broken brake light wire of front brake lever, broken plastic dash, scuffs and scrapes on handle bars and levers... and that's about it.

I stared to disassemble some of the front end...and now I am looking for some advice. I was thinking about replacing the stock handlebars, clamp, and dash with one of the trailtech billet dashes with X-bars. I need to replace the stem, and have the cross brace hammered back out. Then I just need the igniton and other minor plastic parts.

I am in the LA area...specifically Pasadena, CA. Does anyone have a recommendation on repairs? Bert's Megamall? or any others? Obviously the ignition is a Polaris replacement part. The stem I can either go stock or aftermarket. Or should I tackle it myself? I am pretty handy mechanically...just don't know if it is worth the effort.

I added pictures of "The Hill" and my bike to my profile. They may not show up till tomorrow till they are "approved" for viewing.

 

ohh crap that sucks man. for the repairs you have listed i think you should be able to tackle them fairly easlily.

 

Been through similar situation. Roll end over end bending stem and that bracket. Pretty easy to straighten out bracket. Ordered replacement stem from http://store.azmusa.com/poproemrepa.html. I actually straightened out original stem at work with a electric conduit bender, now that stem is hanging in garage as a spare. I'd throw away the stock bars. Get a set of Universal or Tag or similar bars. I also went with a set of risers and aluminum dash panel and spider grips. It looks and handles much better than stock.

 

Yikes!!

as far as a stem there is a guy on predatorowners.com that makes his own 4130 chromoly stem shipped to you for $180. Sounds like a very good buy!

 

the hill does't look that bad too either!

 

I don't know what happened...I figured it had more than enough power to climb all the way. Heck, I made it that far in 2nd...then it just lost it. Could the incline have affected fuel in the carb or something.

On a side note... I noticed that the bike seemed to whine when I coast, and there was a lot of engine drage. For instance, if I depressed the clutch and coasted down a hill, the engine or tranny or something would whine and the bike would slow down, almost as if it were slightly in gear. When I accelerate, I hear the whine too. I rode my friends identical new Predator and his did not do this. The drag would actually slow the bike to a stop rather quickly while depressing the clutch. It didn't seem to affect accleration but something definetly needs to be adjusted. This was before the tumble.

 

suggest u put on aluminum handlebars next time - the will bend before the stem will and you will get better steering response (more laws of physics for ya - moment of inertia).

 

Weird thing in the design, is that when the steering stem bends... the U-bracket that centers it on the frame causes that cross brace on the fram to bend inward. That will have to be hammered out straight.

 

That sucks!!!!! Just like my dad says, "when u play, you pay"

 

checked out the pics, that hill looks like its 10 yards long