Ooops - quick reply required please!

[snake]

I've dropped something down the side of the steering column, through the hole. It's a plastic bolt (was trying to attach something to handlebars in cold rain) and it slipped.

My question is - can I leave it there or will it fall out when I ride/cause a problem to any moving parts?

If I have to open it up, I don't really know how to go about doing this and besides from the other thread I understand cold weather can increase the chance of breaking things. Do I really need to take it to a shop for something so trivial? Argh. Thanks for any advice!

[snake]

Crisis averted, managed to reach in from the bottom and shake things until it fell out. You can delete this Maddie if you like, I would myself but I can't seem to.

Nice conversation I've had with myself here.

[gokidd]

Good save!

[Mgalutia88]

Great job keeping your head and working through it.

[Honda4me]

It's unlikely that you'd have an issue. Over the years i've lost a few fairing fasteners, screws and other random small bits into motorbike fairings and under seats. They eventually fall out, probably on the road somewhere. Biggest risk is likely getting a flat tire when you run over it.

Strip any motorcycle down and it's all fairly well sealed (bearings, pivot points, engine) and it's extremely unlikely a foreign object would cause any grief.

As it was near the steering column i'd have suggested turning lock to lock and checking for any resistance in the unlikely event whatever it was interfered with the steering motion.

Good on you for fixing your own problem Highly recommend getting one of those magnetic extendable aerial-type things for poking into places to retrienve metallic bits.