check your bolts

[pbghost]

once again the Busagods have smiled upon me. over the years I've had plenty close calls and the best outcomes of bad luck. yesterday came home from an awesome trip to Eureka Springs, Ar. it was my wife's first roadtrip, so I did my best not to freak her out. weather was beautiful as well was the scenery. the fellow members that we met up with are second to none. was even able to thin the chicken strips a little. now to the good part. I take off my own back wheel and take it in for the tire change, doing so, I never had to mess with the forward bolt on the torque arm because Ive always been able to push the arm down enough out of the way. never put much thought about it to check if it loosened over the last 7 years, 50k miles, or 8 tires/ 2 pads later. well, the bolt liberated itself on the way home at some point, which I found out as I was pulling into the gas station in Mcallister, Ok. tapped the rear brake and THUMP. felt as if I hit something. here's where the good luck kicks in... thanks to the Roadlok, my calliper didn't spin around enough to rip out my brakelines ( galfer s/s braided which had enough slack and were strong enough) right across the street was super walmart ( imagine that) to get a 1/4-20 bolt to get me home. no damage that I can see. ordering the right bolt today and I'll put a nylock on it this time. looks like I'll be caging it till it gets in. guys/ gals: check that nut / bolt for tightness occasionally. its out of sight out of mind and could've been a lot worse.

 

[DREW]

Glad your OK. Enjoyed meeting you both. See ya in the near future I hope !

 

[SANDFLEA85]

im pretty sure your brake hanger would have prevented any real damage,I know i couldnt move mine to get it in line with the rear brake bar the other week when i changed my tires,i was pissed i had to loosen up the axel bolt AGAIN to get it to move...74lbs of torque i believe it is....glad it worked out for ya though

 

[twotonevert]

Glad to hear your OK Scott, that could have been bad. We had a great time this weekend as well. Be safe brother.

 

[rubber2burn]

Glad to hear every thing is good and that the RoadLok help in saving the Brake line.

 

[pbghost]

I just wanted to give others a heads up for a potentially dangerous situation. we gotta look after eachother, that's what I love about this board.

 

[GSXcite]

Good heads up. I try to make a point of going around the bike once a month and do nothing but check every nut and bolt I can get to.

 

[Wag]

All major bolts and nuts should be re-torqued periodically. The maintenance chart in your owner's manual will tell you how often. That particular bolt is one I take off and re-torque every time I re-tension my chain.

--Wag--