Bits falling off my VB !!!!

[bevanclark]

Hi folks.
I thought I'd give everyone a chance to have a laugh at my expense - here is what happened to me a couple of hours ago:
It was a lovely winter afternoon here in Canterbury N.Z. so i decided to ride my VB 25 miles or so to a rural cafe for a bit of an outing.
The journey was enjoyable of course and uneventful; that is until I got off the bike back at home to find that it wasn't quite as complete as when I departed - the entire battery box, battery, top clamp and bolts had fallen off !

So, I got into the car to retrace my route - managed to find the battery box in the grass , but not the lid. The battery was completely crushed in the middle of the road, some 1/4 mile further on. Then, a further 1/4 mile or so, i spotted the top clamp shining in the grass. Couldn't find the bolts
of course.
So, the coffee at the cafe cost me NZD 5, but the parts I will need to import from the U.K. are going to exceed NZD 100.
A rather expensive outing today !
Sigh.

By the way: my wife never asks me if I enjoyed the ride on any of my bikes - she always asks "what fell off"

[tony.barnett]

Haha. Thats the joys of old bikes.

The dynamo on my 38 VH fell off in Ireland. I didn't notice until the breakdown truck following us all asked if anyone was missing a Lucas dynamo. They'd seen it on the side of the road and recognised it as an old bike dynamo. When I looked there was a hole where mine should have been....

[Julian Murphy]

Ooops.

Bad luck with that.

Similar happened to me a few years ago on my NH. Felt something touching my left leg.......it was the battery making a bid for freedom.....no sign of the lid or clamp though.

Mid-ride repair using the length of gaffer tape always kept in the tool roll.

Made a new clamp, found another lid on a spare battery, re-assembled with a new bolt through the carrier frame and with a nyloc nut on the inside.

[Roger Gwynn]

I've lost my dynamo twice, once in Germany where it landed in a ditch, rescued by Florian who was following, the second time was near Fort William when Alexa rescued it from a bush. It is useful having someone following to pick up the odd bits and pieces that fall off.
The dynamo was regularly found to be loose, I Helicoiled the threads for the clamps and modified an A10 clamp to fit.

[nevhunter]

Horn brackets crack and break of on the front mounted ones. Hanging on the wires they CAN JAMB the front wheel in the turned position,THEN YOU are lucky to not fall off. Nev

[ralfpenkert]

Once on a country road I had to pee and killed the engine. Returned to the bike and realized it lost its kick start lever.
Ok it wasn't my VH 500 but a Horex Regina 350, no exhaust valve lift, flat area around. Had to call my son to bring a spare lever.
Ralf

[nevhunter]

Over the Years I've seen one generator come off and it ended up being extensively damaged as it tumbled down the road at considerable speed.. Nev

[fpassmore]

For me it was my ‘56 VH dropping the battery/box/ platform and a few other bits in one spectacular drop while sweeping around a great curve at about 60 mph. Thank someone for magneto ignition. Made it home and ordered a very substantial amount of parts.
Frank

[Eero.Korhonen]

Once I dropped the gear pedal. I had the third one on and had to stop. Then a car driver came and asked if you were missing something...
Br, Eero

[bevanclark]

Hi folks,
Glad I'm not alone in having some unexpected dissembly of the motorcycle! A brief update and a shout out for Feked - a replacement rubber battery box took 4 days from order to delivery in remote New Zealand - 18,000 km away - that is impressive. So my beautiful VB is once again complete