As some of you may be aware of I am repairing a buddys bike after he had a minor encounter with the rear end of a pick-up who decided to stop for seeming no reason at all and create a 2 car accident and then fled the seen...

Anyway while looking over the bike we had noticed that the front rhinehart headed pipe had a crease in matching the down tube and the down tube has some paint removed with was still present on the shield...It appears that after the contact somehow or another the entire motor, trans, and rear end moved forward with such force that the header pipe became damaged...

Question:
How is this possible???
Is it possible for this to happen and not do any damage to the motor mounts?
I had checked the front somewhat and it seems to be alright...
Does the entire motor, trans, sit on a rubber motor mount that would let the motor come forward that much and not affect the cast in portions of the engine that support unit?
Further questions I'm sure will rise but for now this is all I have
Bike is
a 03 FLHT
Thanks
paul

 

As far as I can remember the engine does sit on all rubber mounts. I'm not sure there would be enough play to do the damage that you are speaking about. Check the frame to make sure it did not get tweaked.

 

sounds like it could be the frame as the guy above me said. check the rear drive belt. is it real tight. If the motor and tranny shifted towards the front it seem that the belt would be real tight or on the verge of snapping. they are on rubber mounts. maybe the force of the crash shifted the motor to the front but was put back in place after the force of inpact by the recoiling of the rubber mounts ?????

 

There are three rubber mounts and one solid mount on that bike. One in the front below the oil filter that the motor rides on and two that are behind the plates that the rear floorboards mount to. The solid mount is uhder the tank on the right side that is connected to the jugs on the left side behind the horn using a hemi link.
I would replace all the rubber mounts as they would have been streached be on their limets to allow the header pipe to make contact with the frame. Also check the mount under the tank to be sure that has not been bent.

 

The rear mount can't easily move far, as best I can judge. While there are rubber mountings on each end, the swingarm axle goes through the mounts and trans casing. For the engine to meet the frame at the front those rear mounts would have to come adrift in some way, so I would dismantle them and check thoroughly.

The front engine mount is very simple and could easily move, but only if the rear mounts did as I suggest above. The mount under the tank is not solid, nor is it rubber. It is simply a stabilizer link with a spherical joint at each end, the same as the stabilizer that provides lateral support to the front rubber mount. The top mount could probably move far enough without coming to any harm, just as the front stabilizer link could.

The front mount could be wrecked now, so certainly remove all the rubber mounts. You can do that without removing the engine/trans from the frame, by supporting them from underneath.

 

My buddy hit a deer at 70 and had this same thing happen on his 09 ST GLD. Motor mounts were fine as far as I know dealer fixed it and didnt replace the motor mounts and he has many miles on the bike after the wreak no issues. I would check them out for sure though

 

40 ( or whatever,) to "0" in a second will do that to ya'. If it drives fine and tracks straight, what is there to fix?