well, the time finally came. i rolled it. =]
luckily its not as bad as it COULD have been, just a few things to fix. the main question i have, is the main brace for the steering stem, which is welded to the frame, is bent really bad, and its tossing the whole stem into the top plastic almost, by the air filter. what would be the best way to straighten that? would pounding it back into place work? im assuming it'll weaken the original mount and/or welding spots, but im not too sure about this kind of stuff, haha. i know i'll eventually have to replace the stem also, is it going to severely impact anything else, if i rode with it bent for a while, except the obvious? the only other things that really happened were some major plastic damage, a bent mount in the back for the back plastic, really screwed front right rim, and some bent handlebars< and a load of scratches and dents from all the rocks>... thats all i can tell so far, anyways. here's how it happened incase anyone cares.. i was riding along a train track, in the rocks, the hill got super steep so i scooted up closer to the tracks<didnt want to ride on the tracks, didnt think it was TOO good of an idea>, so i passed up the first steep drop, than the second one i was like "no problem, the first one was simple", so im just going along when my tires started to slip like hell, it had just rained the past two or three days too, so it sort of moistened stuff up a bit, next thing ya know i was bailing off the back and the quad was rolling down the hill. i got to the bottom of it sort of stunned, looked around and noticed the thing laying upside down tangled in a little mess of barbed wire, haha. it took me about an hour to get it out of all that and back onto some make shift trail someone had built it looked like... took a while cause my leg was a little banged up, couldnt lift the quad for some reason without it giving out. finally got back home a few hours later... it sucked. i'm just glad i really didnt get too messed up and the quad aint TOO bad, just the minor things. im actually pretty amazed how well it held up, it rolled sideways about 4-5 times by the time it got to the bottom... and only a bent stem and rim? i've gotta be missing something =]
any ideas though would help.

thanks.

 

I have mine torn apart in the garage will look at it for ideas tomorrow. I would start by removing damaged parts(including stem) I think your best bet would be to get a straight stem, then straighten till it fits again. , try not to crack welds or framework.You can always repaint. Teardown will be the only way to fix it properly. At least you didn't get hurt bad, you can always fix a machine. " If a Man made it, a Man can fix it "

 

I rolled mine down a hill and it flipped about 10 times side of side. Busted the plastic, bent the right rim, tie rod is bent, handlebars and all controls are toast, knocked the bead off the left rear tire, tweaked a footpeg and all fender mounts are bent. Oh and my exhaust cans were pushed in some from the mounts. My steering stem is not tweaked at all by the looks of it. I'll know when the shop is finsihed fixing it under the insurance, did you have insurance?

 

I popped the cherry on my V-Force a few months back also~lol And It seemed that by having that top frame bend back it kinda saved my steering stem? My Plastic was a trashed but thanks to zip tie's and a good cleaning with a box of SOS pads! I just have that frankinstein look and all is well there!~lol And Believe me The SOS Pads can really clean up that Plastic! The Little fender brackets, handle bars can all be bent back easily and/or can be picked up cheap if you want new? I'll get the New Plastic and a few new odds and ends when I'm ready to sell mine. What I did was remove all my Plastic an Air Box, that way you have a really good look at everything, I thought my steering stem was bent at first but like I said that somewhat cheaply made upside down U shaped Support was the only thing bent. (Is it really cheaply made?? or are V's just not meant to be ridden upside down or rolled?~LOL) I cut a few small Blocks of wood and was able to set a small auto jack between the back of the frame and the U shape support and slowly bend it straight Checking the welds and making sure what I was doing was working. I don't think I would do any pounding!~LOL. I was able to get it just about perfect this is something you might wanna try because it worked real good for me. The only thing that needed to be welded and something most everybody that flips or rides super hard over looks is the rear eng. mounting brackets. My left side had a hair line crack in the weld and is something you wanna check because it is easy to miss and does crack. Hope this idea or any of this works for you? ~Chris

www.MarylandATV.com
Prairie 700
KFX 700 V-FORCE
TRX250R
And a bunch of other toyz

 

cool. thanks for everyones ideas so far. i've gotta run to the store than im gonna come back and work on getting that bracket straight. i don't have comprehensive on the bike cause i didnt think i'd ever need it, or file a claim, since im assuming insurance will blow up if i were to file a claim, i'd much rather fix it myself than have the insurance company pay for it.
thanks again.

-dave

 

Hey marylandatv. I just checked your pic. (you need to get more up). I see I was the first one to see it. That is one big steep hill....looks like fun!

 

Thanks!! Ive tried the Hill also on the V-FORCE but with no luck[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-frown.gif[/img] There are just some HILL's that My Old R still rules on! Gotta lot of good photos on my Web Site if your interested in some east coast action!? I know I California dream from time to time and enjoy the Photos from out your way! But I make the most of what we have here!



www.MarylandATV.com

Prairie 700
KFX 700 V-Force
TRX250R
And a Bunch of other Toyz!

 

nice idea on using a jack, that worked great. mines fairly straight now, or so i thought... once i started to stick the plastics back on i realized it was a bit off, oops. the mount on top of that u shaped bar also bent or something, handlebars are grinding the plastic on sharp turns... nothing to worry about for now, loads of zipties later all the plastic is together in one piece and it looks decent, except for the massive amounts of deep scratches from the rocks. just got to replace a rim, handlebars, stem<sooner or later>, brake light switch, and throttle cable, than it should be almost like new! haha... or running like new hopefully...

 

Glad it worked for you! Its took me awhile to get mine almost perfect just keep playing with it you'll get it straight. I would say I spent a few hours? Then just break out the SOS pads and with a good cleaning and then some armor all or something like that and you will be looking NEW again! You'll be suprized how well the pads get into the deep scratches and clean them out. Where I mostly Ride there is a lot of coal grit and dust that just seems to imbed its self in the Plastic! I tried all types of ways to clean and spent $$$$, When a buddy of mine said try the SOS pads at first I tought it would scratch up the Plastc? but its doesnt. Its does on the stickers those so say away from them and Im not sure about the two new colors? Because the plastic is differant, but on the Green and Orange it works great! Unless your inches away from my V-Force you cant tell she went for a ride upside down!~LOL My lights were smashed out and it wasnt pertty like yours Im sure but She Rides Great and looks Good Now! There are a few pictures of the V after I cleaned it all up on my Site if your intersted in seeing it under photos! ~Chris

www.MarylandATV.com

Prairie 700
KFX 700 V-FORCE
TRX 250R
And a Bunch of other Toyz!

 

some cool pics on there marylandatv. another thing added to my broken list, the front right hub is crap. i thought the rim was just bent enough to throw it off, but nah, took it apart today.. ordered $120 worth of hub parts, hehe. hopefully this will be one of the last things. i'm sure every time you ride though your going to find new stuff broken from the original roll =]