Mr. Efficiency

Progressive was very good after my last crash and paid every penny to have my BMW done by the best tech in the US.

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"faster, faster.... Until the thrill of speed overwhelms the fear of death.
Man of Mystery... Get it, real funny...
Mr. E., Genius
No No No... Mr. E, Super Genius

isobig

I concur.... when my bike was totalled in June from my accident, progressive paid a very fair price for the bike, my gear, and all the accessories. I have no complaints... well other than being in the accident in the first place of course.

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'01 VL800 Red/Blk - totalled 6/17/2012

dfinitlydisturbd

'cept by the hundreds of us that cut em apart and weld them back the way WE think they shoulda been done in the first place.

AxorrAEB

Hah! I'm just not that brave... yet.

dfinitlydisturbd

I started with raking bicycles, (which by the way are made of the same types of steel used in our frames, and easily obtained cheaply if not free) where the steering stem meets the frame is the most crucial weld on the whole bike. Does't matter what kind of bike that's where the highest stresses live. Everything else is much more forgiving. One of the best things I've learned in over 20 years of welding is that with metal anything can be fixed. How well depends on the skill of the welder, the filler metal and process used,

Even someone that has never welded before can get good results IF they use decent equipment and materials, and follow instructions well...especially using flux-core which is very forgiving and is simpler by not requiring the welder to continually adjust the distance of the filler metal as the rod gets shorter or as in Tig not only adjust the position of the filler but continually manipulate the torch with the other hand.

A good weld is as much preparation (if not more than) as the actual welding. Good clean mating surfaces, a few practice runs on similar material with the wire you are going to use to dial everything in and it's pretty hard to screw up. Even for a newb.

If the rest of the frame is straight, I see no reason that it could not be properly and safely repaired...Though I do understand the reluctance of the dealership to repair it....liability issues. If it were my bike I'd use a DPI kit to check the stem for cracks then weld it and fix any welds that it revealed to have stress cracks. I would also magnaflux the frame but then I have the tools to do so, (this one can get expensive, and really is overkill, but then I tend to be paranoid)