Learned a few things, but class ain't over yet...

Today, I picked up the last part that I'd need (exterior retaining ring for the bottom of the steering head). Got home and put the entire bike back together - making sure not to make the mistake that I'd made the first time (more on that later).

Rolled the bike out into the driveway...brought her to life and let her warm up...nudged the shifter down into first...mentally crossed my fingers and rolled out. Damn. Same problem as before; the front end feels very unstable. It wants to roll to the left. I took it out onto the street for a bit - and while I did notice that it's a little better than it was the last time, it's still no where near rideable. If I try to counter-steer to the right, the bars fight me and the bike doesn't want to go in that direction.

I did notice that the handlebars are a bit bent from when my body must have slammed into them when I hit the tree. The left side is a bit bend outwards and downwards. Would this account for the problem? I wouldn't think so - the bend is very slight (I didn't even notice it before tonight).

But the bottom line is I'm just spinning my wheels at this point (pun intended). So I touched base with a buddy of mine who had recommended a good shop back when the accident first happened. I got the contact info and will give the shop a call tomorrow and see when I can bring the bike in. I'm hoping that the problem will be something simple...but I'm not going to hold my breath.

In closing, I'll fill you in on what the boneheaded thing was that I'd done when I reassembled the front end a week and a half ago. I forgot to put the fork tube pinch bolts back into the lower tree. Never even noticed/realized they were missing until I took the front end apart again. Not having them in there allowed the forks to spin independently of each other, inside the trees. And when I pulled the top bolts out of the tubes, the rubber washers showed signs of spiral slicing, further proof that the forks had been spinning. I thought for sure that would explain the flopping sensation that I was getting, but apparently it wasn't the only problem. As I said; the front end was better (tonight) than it was the last time, but there's still something I'm missing.

I learned a lot about the front end assembly, stuff that I didn't know before, so I guess I can chalk this up to a learning experience. Now I just need the shop to teach me the lesson(s) that I'm missing and I should be all set. No snow currently in the forecast, so who knows...maybe I'll still get a chance to roll up some more miles this year. Time will tell.

Ride Hard, Take Chances