Today my son apparently shot a turn wide and went down on our white 919. Tough getting that phone call that starts out "I'm ok"... Best news is he is a little sore but otherwise unscathed. Wearing his brand spanking new AGV helmet he just bought yesterday! From what I can tell he managed to keep it vertical off the berm, down through the ditch and finally lost it in the field where it low sided until it grabbed then it flipped over onto right side.

No easily visible major damage--We hosed lots of dirt off the left side. Windshield got ripped off and left mirror glass is missing. Chin spoiler is cracked. Sliders might have saved the bike even in the dirt.

My question is he said when he picked the bike up the shift lever was around vertical from the normal 9 o'clock position and he bent it back down. the rod has an arc in it. any chance of internal damage to the shift mechanism? I didn't want to try and ride/shift it until I give the bike a thorough going over in the shop. Bike started back up ok and ran. I trailered it home.

Thanks,
Mike

Thankfully your son is OK, that is #1 by miles from #2.

As for the bike...................
Suggest you try to dial the shaft of the gear shift spindle right behind the outboard splines that are for the gearshift pedal link. (Unless it's so visibly bent you can easily tell)
Do it at a couple of points, through as much travel as you can get from the spindle.
If it's good to go in terms of indicated runout, you can relax.

If the runout indicates a deformed 'spindle, then it needs to removed and adequately straightened or replaced.
The bent rod between the links can be straightened or replaced. (if you try to make one, you'll need a left hand die for one end).
The shifter pedal (lever) being a mild steel fabrication, can easily be straightened.

I pretzeled mine pretty good when I went down. The only damage was to the shifter itself. I agree with a full inspection but I'm betting you'll be fine.
Glad your son is OK. My daughter rides and I dread getting a call like that one day.

Picking up on your comment, which made me ponder some more.
A good bet to make would be after a simplified approach.
If it passes a visual examination for straightness.
And if the 'spindle also actuates properly through all gears, up and down, plus finding neutral, then bet that's it's OK.
If it's not perfectly OK, then the seal might fail in the near future, thus indicating some crash related spindle runout.

I'm just glad that your Son is OK.

Yep, never like to hear of anyone getting that phone call from their kid... Always another bike out there to buy, but he's my son.

Agreed -- I've personally never split open a 919 engine case, so I wasn't sure what all was involved with the shift fork setup. I've torn down lots of other motors over the years, but this one is all original and never been split.

Thank you -- that was my biggest relief that he was ok.... I'm pretty sure he has a cracked rib. Also a little bit of a sore leg and neck, but other than that nothing else. I pumped him full of 1600 mg of Motrin last night as a preventative measure for swelling. The rib will take care of itself with time-I've cracked many over the years.

Looks like we got off lucky with my son and the bike !!! He is doing fine, just the rib at this point. Bike damage ended up being all cosmetic so far. cracked front fender, cracked chin spoiler, left mirror, windscreen, bent shift linkage.

Only thing I noticed is the #1 head pipe is pushed closer to the #2 when compared to the distance between 3 and 4. May have always been like that, but good bet it happened during his crash.

I only took it for about a 5 mile ride today -- kept the shifts at 5k and my top speed around 75. Seemed to track just fine and shifted as usual...

She's back in the shop now getting new chain and sprockets since the weather isn't going to cooperate this week.

Mike

Glad the kid is ok, everything else doesn't matter. How is he doing? Some injuries are not readily identifiable. Bikes can be fixed.

All good except for the rib -- that will take a little time. He has been wrenching on the bikes with me and told me any heavy lifting or pushing was up to me to do. He's been ripping around on our CB350 same as usual, wild and free and hair on fire, so all is good in his world.

What year is the 350?

1971 -- it was a complete basketcase we bought a few years back. my sons first real project bike. It was a good learning experience for him seeing as it has points and nothing modern about it. Nothing like getting that first spark after assembly!


It is a blast to ride -- just screams for a 350. We just run it around the property and the back roads locally.

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It's been so long................
The bike got a front disc for 72, that I know for sure.
Do you know if the 71 still had the higher powered engine that redlined higher, or did that end in '70?
I think it may have been the '70, along with the previous tank style.
Anyway, you've got one and it runs!
I'll bet it was a fun build from the basket.
Your son is lucky in more than one way.