Front Wheel Alignment Issues

[ChUcK]

I installed some new handlebars. Now, when riding down the road, my bars and the triple tree are cocked to the right in order to drive in a straight line. I hadn't noticed before, it turns out the stock ones were bent "straight" by the previous owner to visually correct the misalignment.

I spent an afternoon loosening, twisting, and tightening the fork clamping points along with the front axle, but was unable to fix the problem. Any ideas for me to try?

The front suspension works fine, leading me to believe the forks aren't bent, but I am no expert. My gas mileage seems comparable to other values I have seen posted, 40-50 mpg wrist dependent. The bike doesn't seem to want to track either way when riding no-hands. My rear wheel is aligned *perfectly using the swingarm pivot/axle bolt measuring method. I have loosened the fork clamp bolts previously in order to undo a sheisty lowering mod. The bike has been down on the right side, including a scrape to the front wheel fender. No wobbles, shimmies, or shakes at any speeds or while cornering.

That's all the extra stuff I can think of right now, let me know if there is more info I can supply. Thanks for giving this problem some thought! :thumbup:

 

[JSP]

If you can support the bike and take the weight off of the forks, try loosening it all up again and also loosen up the front wheel at the same time. If you do all of that and you still cannot get it aligned then I dont know...

 

[dart1963]

:needpics:


pic might help explain it better... also, make sure previous owner didn't put one clamp facing front and one facing back (our handlebar "adjustment" mounts)

 

[JSP]

:needpics:


pic might help explain it better... also, make sure previous owner didn't put one clamp facing front and one facing back (our handlebar "adjustment" mounts)

Yeah that too!

Also, the actual clamps may be twisted one way or another. If you loosen the big nut under the triple to loosen up the bar clamps, you can rotate the bar a little one way or another. That could explain why you think the forks are twisted, but it may just be the bar mounts misaligned.

 

[skooter65]

This may seem counter-intuitive, but check your rear wheel/chain alignment. If everything in the front seems in order (i.e. the forks do not appear bent, handlebars are perpendicular, 90°, to the front wheel at a stand still) then the culprit is likely a mis-adjusted chain tensioner. If your handlebars are "cocked" to the right, I would suspect that the left tensioner is further forward than the right tensioner, left and right are looking at the bike from the rear.

 

[ChUcK]

If you can support the bike and take the weight off of the forks, try loosening it all up again and also loosen up the front wheel at the same time. If you do all of that and you still cannot get it aligned then I dont know...

I spent an entire afternoon trying this, with test rides each time. No effect.

make sure previous owner didn't put one clamp facing front and one facing back (our handlebar "adjustment" mounts)

Yeah, they are ok. They were slightly bent before, but are straight now.

This may seem counter-intuitive, but check your rear wheel/chain alignment. If everything in the front seems in order (i.e. the forks do not appear bent, handlebars are perpendicular, 90°, to the front wheel at a stand still) then the culprit is likely a mis-adjusted chain tensioner. If your handlebars are "cocked" to the right, I would suspect that the left tensioner is further forward than the right tensioner, left and right are looking at the bike from the rear.

Part of my troubleshooting was checking the rear's alignment, and it is spot on. When you say chain tensioner, you're talking about the adjustment nuts back there on the end of the swingarm?

Thanks for the brainstorm, guys. I am befuddled, and can't see why it is such a hassle to fix. Sorry for the lack of pics, it really is hard to notice even in person. I had to convince the guy who was helping me work on it...

Any more ideas, anyone? I am taking all suggestions free of charge.

 

[Deanohh]

In the old days, we'd loosen up the top fork clamps a little, then move the bike front tire over to a fencepost or wall and twist the front of the wheel against the immovable object by pushing hard on the handlebars. When the bars come straight compared to the wheel, tighten the clamps up. You might even go a little farther than straight in case they "spring back" a little.

 

[Uno979]

Recently I noticed my handle bar was about 10mm to the right while going straight. I pulled up to a concrete filled post and popped my tire to the left against the post. A trick that has been done for decades. It's more straight now and could use a small pop again. Out of all honesty that is what a service shop will do unless the forks physically look twisted.

 

[ChUcK]

At one point we had the clamps loose while I hammered away at the front tire with a rubber mallet.

Would the suspension still work fine if the forks were bent enough to be noticeable?

 

[Deanohh]

At one point we had the clamps loose while I hammered away at the front tire with a rubber mallet.

Would the suspension still work fine if the forks were bent enough to be noticeable?

THe hammer impact method is just a sharp blow that makes everything vibrate and is not going to have enough force or control to straighten anything. You need a steady force. You'll get way more pressure and results by using the handlebar to lever the front tire against a solid object and use the handlebar as leverage to force the alignment back to straight, when the top pinch bolts are loosened. If you loosen both the upper and lower fork bolts, the tree will slide down the forks and you'll have to lift the bike up to put them back.. Sometimes a guy can face the front of the bike and straddle the front tire, then grab the handlebar and tweak it hard the way you want it to go..... seen that work many times too. If you don't believe it, then take it to the shop and if they will let you watch, that is the way they will do it.

If you want to see if the outer fork tubes are bent, you can loosen one at a time and rotate them in the triple clamp. If it is bent you will see it wobble as you rotate it around, or maybe the handlebars would go straight at some point while doing this. If the lower "inner" tube were bent, the fork would probably not operate smoothly because it would hang up where the bent part would try to slide up into the outer.

 

[ChUcK]

If you want to see if the outer fork tubes are bent, you can loosen one at a time and rotate them in the triple clamp. If it is bent you will see it wobble as you rotate it around, or maybe the handlebars would go straight at some point while doing this. If the lower "inner" tube were bent, the fork would probably not operate smoothly because it would hang up where the bent part would try to slide up into the outer.

I didn't know this was possible. I will try this Saturday and report back if I find anything. I think this time I will remove the entire front end of plastic in order to get some straight edges in there, and take some qualitative runout measurements. Thanks again for all the brainstorming, guys. This is helping me go back over everything we did, and I think I have a few new tricks I want to try out.

Just for clarification, the hammering was only one method we tried. The main thing we were doing was loosening the triple's clamp bolts and/or the front axle, applying pressure in the right direction, and then torquing everything down.

I had 2 guys waiting in my garage while I would test drive it down the street and back. They would then converge and we would try it again, me not even taking my gear off or dismounting, and then I would speed off for another test ride. It was actually pretty awesome, it felt like I had my own personal Repsol pit crew.

 

[Deanohh]

I like your pit crew concept.

I don't think the front axle would have anything to do with it. If the bike has fallen over in the past it seems likely that the handlebars would be bent before the forks. If nothing is bent, then it is that the forks are not parallel to each other. Then what you see is that the front wheel is not square with the handlebars and top triple clamp. In addition to the upper or lower fork clamps, I think you wouild have to loosen the stem nut that is on the top of the trees(but not the 2 bearing preload jam nuts that are under the top) to let the top and bottom trees rotate a little with respect to each other... that should do it. Sometimes they move easy, sometimes you have to push really really hard against that immovable object to get the assembly to go back to straight. Even if something is slightly bent, you can compensate this way and get it so that the wheel is square with the bars..

 

[ChUcK]

NAILED IT.

Deanohh, we were thinking alike. I left the axle bolt alone this time, because there's no way it could be bent at all without seriously affecting the ride stability. I took the headlamp assy off and rotated each fork like you said, and they had no cheap-pool-cue wobble to them.

What ended up working (and the first thing I tried) was leaving the top clamp bolts torqued, loosening the lower clamp bolts, and turning the wheel to the right stop and cranking beyond while the pit crew kept the 6r on the jack stands. At the maximum muscle I applied, I could hear/feel a torquing occurring, not much but enough to make all the difference, apparently. We quickly tightened the lower clamp bolts and away I went, the bike fully naked for a quick neighborhood jaunt (no cops, thankfully). Right as I started the bike it started dumping rain, I couldn't believe it. The test ride had to happen though. Oh look, I'm writing this post and it's sunny now. ffffffuuuuuuu......

I am so relieved that this issue is now put to rest. Thanks for the time helping me with the online troubleshooting, everyone. :thumbup:

 

[Deanohh]

There you go.... good for you for not giving up.