Finally got my Bonneville back

[Gone in 60]

Nearly two months ago, I dropped off my Bonneville at the dealer for repairs following my unpleasant traffic incident. Little did I know that the world was about to shut down.

It seemed that all it would need was a new front fender and a loosening and realigning of the forks. But, after fiddling with it, they weren't completely happy with the alignment and determined that it should get new forks, head bearings and a truing of the front wheel as well. That would involve more negotiation with the insurance company, shipping parts from England, and with everything in the world slowing down, would keep the bike in their shop indefinitely.

During that time, I watched all of the local motorcycle dealers shut down one by one. I kept nervously calling my dealer, Southern California Motorcycles in Brea, and the service manager kept telling me "Well, we're still open... for now... no word on the parts for your bike yet. Check back in a week or two."

Finally got the call yesterday that it was ready. She rides better than before with new forks and bearings. My wife saw how happy I was when I got home, but noticed that the bike was pretty dusty from sitting in their shop for two months. She said "Well, I know what you'll be doing for the next few days."

 

[the Ferret]

Good deal! Now try not to do that again!

pretty bike BTW

 

[peterbaron]

Handsome looking bike , have to admit it, even tho, I don't like black motorcycle.

 

[Gone in 60]

Quote:Good deal! Now try not to do that again!
That's a very good point, sir. The incident happened a block away from my office. Even though I'm furloughed, I still ride to the office regularly to stash my bike and borrow my work van for projects. Each time, I run through the accident in my mind at that spot, and think about how I could have done a better job avoiding it.

It was a cut-and-dried left turn in front of me, but I could have been in a left or right lane. I was in the right. I'm thinking that if I were in the left lane, there is a slight chance that I may have been more visible to the driver facing me and turning left based on slight curvature of the road.

One thing is for sure. In the ensuing two months, I've only had the CB to ride. Bringing the Bonneville home, I realized how much less effective its single rotor brakes are. I had done some emergency stops on the CB at the point of the accident, and at the same speed and point of braking, I was able to stop short of the driveway the lady was turning into. I've been wondering if I just wasn't modulating my threshold braking hard enough. Trying it on the Bonnie, nope, it just takes longer to stop.

I'm still thinking about getting a cheap camera for my helmet for future commutes once I get back to work. Under the Lockdown Spending Program, it will have to wait.

On the plus side, I was well overdue for fork and head bearing maintenance on the Bonnie, and that stuff was just replaced. Woo Hoo!

 

[redbirds_imp]

Happy you've got your bike back. Handsome ride.

 

[the Ferret]

Weak braking was one of my complaints on my 2003 Bonnie. The bike was marginally powerful enough for me, and it was really smooth, sounded good and handled well enough. Was kind of small though. My CB suits me a lot better. Stronger in all the places I found the Bonnie weak and equal to the Bonnie is all the p,aces the Bonnie was strong.

 

[max]

That is an interesting way to look at the outcome Gin, considering you had no injuries i guess that's a good swap after all.
Very thorough cleaning skills you have there

 

[VLJ_imp]

The CB1100 does have outstanding braking. Noisy, at least for the EX, but outstanding.

 

[Guth_imp]

Gone in 60, glad to hear that you took the time to compare the Bonnie and the CB. Your story serves as a good reminder for anyone out there who has not put their brakes to the test under controlled circumstances to do so sooner rather than later (at least at the point in time when starting to ride once again). It should be easy enough to find an empty parking lot during the weekend where you get find out exactly how your brakes respond under HARD braking. ABS or not, you'll want to know exactly how the bike feels/works so that should the time come to do so, you won't be taken by surprise by what your brakes are, or aren't, capable of.

 

[max]

You mean like this Guth?

 

[Cormanus]

Good your bike is home safe, Gone.

 

[Guth_imp]

You mean like this Guth?

Sort of. When I've put my motorcycles to the test I've done so at what would appear to be a much higher rate of speed than in the video. Unfortunately I've learned that encounters where emergency braking is required tend to come at higher speeds than I would prefer, but that's the way the ball bounces it would seem. Understanding what it feels like to haul a bike to a stop from 30, 40, 50 mph is different than 20 mph. How quickly can you brake while still remaining progressive with the application of pressure on the lever & pedal? There is only one way to find out that I'm aware off

 

[Rocky_imp]

I agree with what ferret said about both bikes.
I have both and each one suits my mood on a given day - but the 1100 is the queen of the fleet

 

[Gone in 60]

Getting on the 405 today, with traffic flowing at a much faster pace than normal, I was also reminded that the Bonnie has quite a bit less power as well...

And, based on a call with my boss today, our small business loan may come through soon, so I may back to my regular commute sooner than anticipated. I wouldn’t mind that!

 

[zirconxi_imp]

I agree with what Guth said about the different speed in braking. When i just got my little Ninja during my early license day, i did a lots of practice on emergency, at about 60km/h. But when i am on highway speed and did a real life emergency stop, the bikes just felt totally different than during practice.

 

[Obleo]

Practice braking in real world situations is in mop would be hard to replicate unless your ready to potentially lay a bike down . When practicing on the Road King 16 years ago my only fear was dropping it at slow speed maneuvers. Which I never did . At full speed emergency stops and swerve not sure how to practice that at 55 to 60 MPH.

 

[LongRanger_imp]

I can think of no reason to “lay a bike down.”

 

[Cormanus]

Certainly not for the sake of practice. I guess you may have to "lay it down" in order to avoid certain types of accident.

 

[Obleo]

When in real world situations,and you are facing the front of a vehicle at 40 to 50 mph the swerve may not be the best option. With my recent wreck , I keep playing the scenero in my head,trying to come to terms that maybe I could have avoided the oncoming car in my lane. How ever not able to come up with a better ending other than laying the bike down . I probably did grab to much front brake instinctively ,again 20/20 hindsight .

 

[Gone in 60]

"I keep playing the scenario in my head,trying to come to terms that maybe I could have avoided the oncoming car in my lane."

Since my accident happened around the corner from my office, I've been replaying it every day since we got back to work. I've wanted to see if my lane choice had something to do with the oncoming car's ability to see me clearly. The company that the lady was turning into still appears to be closed, so I haven't seen anyone in that turn lane again since.