Repair of a Harley

Purchased on 1/28/2007, My 2007 XL1200C Sportster is my first bike. I had taken and passed the MSF riders course in August 2006 with 90 on the written / 95 on the ridding.

As many of you know, I went down on 10/30/2007 after my first 9183 miles of ridding. I was wearing full gear and rode away from the accident with a minor headache and minor gear rash and a couple of bruises. So, there was not any need for me to have repairs. The bike, however, need some major work.

The bike went down on the exhaust side (right side / starboard side) of the bike. The engine guard (aka crash bar) protected the engine as designed. The engine guard attaches to cross members welded to the frame -- one lower one and upper one. When the bike went down, the right side of the frame acted as a fulcrum and the leverage applied pulled out the left side of the lower cross member. The welds had cracks and the embedded bolt had been dislodged on the left side of the frame.

Two recommendations to replace the frame resulted in GEICO agreeing the frame replacement. It took Harley about 3 weeks to produce a new frame with an identical VIN to the original. Producing a second frame with the same VIN is a standard practice and obviously means I retain a clean title The frame itself was about 29% of the total repair costs.

In addition, the exhaust pipes, handle bars, break handle, break peddle, wheel drive sprocket (didn't hear why, just know it was replaced), rear blinker assembly were replaced. The rear fender had a scratch repaired.

Some minor warranty repairs -- rocker box leak, leak around the clutch cable -- were done as well.

It took approximately 3 months for the bike to get repaired and I have put about 800 miles since getting it back the 1st week of February. Thanks Downtown Harley!