Are steamers worthless and fragile?

[jawad]

In a recent post I asked if I may have thrown the shifter out of adjustment by dropping the bike in sand.  Mustang was kind enough to suggest that it might be something worse, like bent forks in the transmission.  I suspect that he may be right.  

Here is my question.  Is this bike worth keeping?  Particularly if I am going to ride it in sand and gravel where it may go down.

There is a lot I love about this bike.  I like the way it handles etc.  I have put some 8,000 happy miles on it in a year (95%+ road).  The first owner put 3K in 9 years.

Here is some background.  A few months ago I took it in for the 6K service to the dealer.  They told me that it was making an ugly sound inside and needed new bearings.  They discovered this after they had finished the valve adjustments.  8 hours to take it apart (again!) and 10 to put it back together.  I was leaving the country for a while in a few days, so I could not investigate much and had to bight the bulled and pay up.  They said something about it being a common problem with dropping it.  Oil rushing to one side or something.  I had only dropped it gently, and never heard the ugly sounds myself.  

Now I have dropped it gently again, and it seems like the transmission is shot.  Is it just my bad luck?  Is this bike too fragile to be dropped?  This time I dropped it in sand and cut the engine right away.  Is that enough to kill the transmission?  It could not have been the impact of the body against sand/dirt.  Could it be the oil rushing to one side again.  I cut the engine withing 2-3 seconds.

The previous owner has put engine guards on the bike that look like a tank.  Why bother?  If this thing is going to fall apart completely with slightest contact with the ground.

Any wisdom?  I know this is also a Steamer fan club, so I dont want to offend anyone.

[nightrunner]

BLASPHEMMER!!!     GATHER THE VILLAGERS.  BURN THE HERETIC!!!!   :lol:   :lol:

Seriously I have not heard of the motor being so fragile.  I recall a lot of posts, especially on the yahoo groups, about how the Thunderbike bars took a beating in a drop or sliding along the pavement.  But the bike was presumably fine afterwards.   I would imagine Mustang, Sasquatch, and some others who have logged lots more miles will have better insight.   I feel for ya man.  That's a huge hit after paying for the valve job.

As for learning from this, what do y'all think about a break away shifter or something?  Can we guess what might have bent the forks?  Was it pulling or pushing on the shift shaft?  Too much up or down force on the shifter?

[pinner]

Ive had mine for 2 years this week, logged 25,000 mile and dropped it 3 times.  While I hav had some problems, that have never seemd to be related to or follow a spill.  To me there are just a few issues with  access to many parts, jacked up design,(airbox, drive sprocket/dipstick, coils etc).  No DAR , YET! Otherwise they seem to be a good value on a unique and all in all dependable bike, But hey, I'm still a noob :D

[Mustang]

I think you just have bad luck
In looking at the prints to the transmission , I can see that the third gear shift fork is the one closest to the outside case and all three of the forks run on the shift shaft , I bet you bent the shifter shaft a little which is pulling the fork out of alignment with the shift drum . If that is the case you only need a new shifter shaft for 20 bucks . unfortunately you will need to disassemble

I threw one of mine down the road at 70 mph once and picked it up still running and rode home another 350 miles no problems other than me being sore and having to deal with mashed foot pedal and bent handlebars , like really bent .

You really need to quit dropping it on the left hand side start tossing it on the right side  :shock:

I also think your dealer probably screwed you after your last valve adjust , cuz unless they had some bad bearings to show you afterward the ugly noise was probably a rattling alternator bolt . or something they caused when they did your valves like mix the cam caps up when they probably pulled the cams to shim some valves .

[DesertDog]

I would have to agree with Mustang, it must be a case of bad luck.  
I hate to say it but my 97 has spent much time sleeping in the dirt, mud, rocks and sand.  Couple times with a fair amount of speed involved.  My Thunderbike bars are minus most of their powder coating on both sides to show for it.  

I have had the bike but a year and a great deal of that has been spent riding dirt, gravel, mud and rocks.  It has been shaken and stirred and still wants to always please.  

Fix the beast and ride it like its hot.  :roll:

It's a Tiger not a pussy cat.

[jawad]

The bearings experience was almost certainly a rip-off.  They broke the news to be in a very defensive way also.  It cost me a couple of grand.  I was not on this board yet, so I had no second opinions, and I was on my way out of the country for an extended time.  No damaged bearings were produced, and no discussion of why they may have broken.  ("Have you ever dropped the bike? Yup that would do it.  Happens all the time").  The dealer, BTW, is Munroe Motors in San Francisco.

The Tiger may be innocent!