18 March - Shadowfax’s goes wild for a nut (Part 2)

Shadowfax back from the squirrels


As mentioned before, Shadowfax was unruly after his service and we all suspected his warn tyres. On inspection post-service I noted a bolt missing from his fairing but forgot to press for its return during the skirmish over the tyre fitting bill. Everything else was fine. He obviously just needed the new tyres urgently.

Still, with the new tyres and confidence he really turned mad: he was so twitchy I was at times genuinely concerned for our safety. I’ve driven all manner of dodgy vehicles – some of them my own – and never had quite that amount of, “get off and walk, Pat”.

I took to the motorway as the twisties were freaking me out with Shadowfax prancing around them like no one was at the helm. The instability worsened. I pulled in to Winchester services and desperately looked for a cause – wheel alignment, spindles, suspension operation, etc. Then I looked again at the missing bolt hole on his side fairing. I gave the shoulder area above it a poke and was amazed at the movement imparted to the bike for such a light movement. I repeated the experiment around his shoulders and flanks amazed a t the rebound taken up by his bulk on the stand. For balance, I repeated the move on his correctly bolted side and the movement was drastically reduced. I wonder…



…back home the next morning I took a donor bolt from his side fairing and bolted it into the empty position. It wouldn’t fit ideally, but enough to hold the thing firmly. Then the commute up the A32 for a test run.

Superb. Cured. Read more at, http://www.st-owners.com/forums/showthread.php?t=81319.

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