Finally got back on the bike yesterday, it's been 22 months since my accident and i got the bikes insured and did about a 10 mile round trip. Went into town and filled her up with fresh fuel and came home again. Went out today and did a 30 mile jaunt just to look where the wildfires burnt. About 13 miles from home i slowed down for a traffic light and stopped, as i slowed down a grinding noise came from the front brakes. Bikes got 17,000 miles and even though i had replaced the rear pads at 12,000 i would have thought the fronts would have lasted longer. I went round the corner where my accident was and i made it through this time safely. Anyway i decided to stop 3/4 of a mile from home and take a quick look at the front brakes. I'd noticed the right brake line shaking around and the left was ok. What i found almost made me feint, The bike was repaired at a Triumph dealer and when i got it home the headstock bearings were loose so i reset them, that was about 18 months ago.
What i found was the lower bolt missing that holds the right caliper to the fork leg. The noise was the caliper rubbing on the O.D. of the rotor. The top bolt was loose and so was the clamp to secure the brake line just above it. I looked at the left side caliper and its bolts were loose too. Talk about going weak at the knees. When i saw the right brake line vibrating I decided to stop before i got home. Just in case anything came loose and got into the wheel.
I do almost all my own work and have never left anything to chance when it comes to safety. I don't know whether to call the dealers or not seeing as its been almost two years. I'm not going out on it till i've checked every nut and bolt.
My confidence is low at the moment and at the beginning of the ride i came to a light to stop and my left riding boot got wedged under the gearshift lever and i couldn't get my foot out. The bike started to fall over and i just managed to get my foot on the floor and save it. Talk about $h!T happening in 3's i wonder what's next, Des.
