Tuesday, Sep 19 2017 [36,152 miles]
It is time for the bike’s 36K service. First, however, I want to repair a pannier that was bent Friday during the SMBC campout in Kings Canyon. I stopped (quickly) so I could go back and read a sign that I thought indicated no motorcycles. My co-rider was reading the sign and didn’t stop quite as fast :)
![Bent pannier](./t-172621508-0221.jpg)
Bent pannier
![Contact here](./t-172621526-0223.jpg)
Contact here
![Dent there](./t-172621527-0224.jpg)
Dent there
His front fork/fender hit my pannier. No real damage to either bike, but the energy has to go someplace. It went into bushing forward and bending my left pannier.
![Parallelogram](./t-172621530-0226.jpg)
Parallelogram
![Bent retainer](./t-172621528-0225.jpg)
Bent retainer
The rectangular pannier turned into a slight parallelogram and one of the retainers that hold the pannier to the frame was bent. I’m not sure how I’m going to get things straight.
![More or less straight](./t-172621612-0227.jpg)
More or less straight
![Straightened Retainer](./t-172621648-0228.jpg)
Straightened Retainer
The retainer wasn’t difficult to get straight enough. Not shown is the brazing I did to reenforce the joint where the threaded rod attaches. I don’t want it falling out as I’m going down the road.
![Dents pounded out](./t-172621657-0230.jpg)
Dents pounded out
![A little pressure here](./t-172621657-0229.jpg)
A little pressure here
![Better, but still not great](./t-172621717-0231.jpg)
Better, but still not great
The dents were easy to pound out. My attempt at squaring up the box were only so-so. It is better than it was, but I think I can do better. I’ll try something else, tomorrow.
Wednesday, Sep 20 2017 [36,152 miles]
![Front view](./t-172631401-3499.jpg)
Front view
![Rear view](./t-172631401-3500.jpg)
Rear view
I managed to get the box a bit more square. It still didn’t fit well onto the rack – the rack was slightly tweaked, too. I straightened the rack the best I could without removing it (I was being lazy). The pannier fit well enough that I’m calling the job done.