Front end alignment issue after crash repair

[jchesshyre]

After I took my bike out for the first time after binning it two and a half months ago, all seems very well except for one thing. When riding in a straight line, the headstock is not completely pointing straight forward. The left bar is very slightly further forward than the right, and I can see that the top yoke is ever so slightly turned to the right.

The bike handles absolutely fine and it's just had replacement second-hand but definitely OK forks put on. I can't quite get my head round how this is possible - can the yokes be misaligned with the forks and front wheel?

I've tried slackening the axle clamp bolts and pumping the forks but it made no difference. Are there some other bolts (e.g. the yoke bolts) that I should try slackening and repeating this? As I say it definitely isn't caused by bent forks and the handling is absolutely spot on.

I thought perhaps one clip-on was bent from the crash, but when I turn the bars lock-to-lock each bar-end weight is exactly the same distance from the tank. Also, as I say, I can see the top yoke is not totally lined up when riding straight, so the bars are not skew with respect to that, it's that the yokes (and therefore bars as well) are skewed with respect to the front wheel.

[AMCQ46]

Yes you should undo the lower yoke bolts and the axle clamp screws .... Then do the fork compression with the front brake on. Also try doing it stood in front of the bike with the front wheel held between your legs, then pull the bars left and right to remove any twist.

Then do up the bottom yoke and bound again, then do up the axle

[jchesshyre]

Cheers, I thought so. Hopefully this will sort it and the triple tree isn't bent. I'll do it later today.

I remember reading this http://www.dansmc.com/aline_wheel.htm ages ago when I discovered that excellent website and thinking 'maybe I'll need to know that one day', but I'd forgotten about it till reading your post which sort of jogged my memory of it, and I guess this is basically the same procedure.

[jchesshyre]

Well, I'm afraid to say I've tried all this and the issue's still there.

Before I get sad and conclude that the steering stem or top yoke is twisted, is it possible for this to be caused by the top yoke being installed slightly twisted relative to the lower yoke by the person who last changed the headset bearings (not me - one of the few jobs I've yet to attempt on my bikes)? This could be wishful thinking but I have a slight feeling that this issue was actually here before my crash. It's very slight but enough to bug me and be noticeable now I've noticed it, if that makes sense...

[Wicky]

I had a similar thing you're experiencing on my Transalp as visually the yokes were slightly out of kilter despite slacking off bolts n stuff and 'straightening' it as best I could. Annoying but ridable. Then when I did the head bearings it came out all straight.

[tony.mon]

Try taking off the mudguard so that you can get the wheel beneath your knees when standing in front of the bike.
Undo the spindle screws and loosen the axle clamp.
Now have a helper undo the top clamp left bolt and the lower clamp right bolt and twist the forks to slightly over- compensate for the offset.
Then do up top left and lower right, and loosen upper right and lower left, do the same thing.
Now pump the forks up and down before tightening the upper and lower yoke bolts, spindle and spindle clamp bolts.

Now order a new lower yoke, as they bend easily.....

[fabiostar]

i had just your problem on mine..slacken of the bolts holding the top yoke to the fork legs. slaken of the top steering stem nut. now sit on the bike and with a copper mallet or cloth covered hammer give your top yoke a few taps on the side thats sitting back to far..

if say its sitting back a little on the right, turn your bars full left lock then tap the back of your top yoke on the right. does that make sense? it worked for mine just fine.

[Watty]

i had just your problem on mine..slacken of the bolts holding the top yoke to the fork legs. slaken of the top steering stem nut. now sit on the bike and with a copper mallet or cloth covered hammer give your top yoke a few taps on the side thats sitting back to far..

if say its sitting back a little on the right, turn your bars full left lock then tap the back of your top yoke on the right. does that make sense? it worked for mine just fine.

When I nod my head, you hit it

[fabiostar]

lol go whack it lol.

[jchesshyre]

Haha, wow, well if this works that's brilliant. I'm about to give it a go after I've finished breakfast. The only thing is, if I turn the bars lock-to-lock it doesn't seem like one bar gets closer to the tank than the other, which is odd...

[jchesshyre]

...well sadly I think Tony's right and it's new steering stem time Tried your suggestion fabiostar and it's made no difference.

I'm attaching some photos below to show the issue: with the bars lined up the front view looks like the first photo, then with the wheel lined up the crown nut (yes I do have the plug for it!) is as the second photo. It's not much but it's definitely there.

I suppose this means the bearings will also need changing? Not a job I've ever done but I'm up for giving it a go.

Is it bad to ride the bike with it as it is - could it damage the forks at all when braking or going over bumps with them slightly offset like this?

[fabiostar]

lets see what it looks like from were you would be sitting.

[jchesshyre]

OK will do so when I'm on my lunch in a bit!

It'll be fairly hard to see in a photo, but if you look carefully at the front-on view above it's very clear that the front wheel is slightly turned to the left (or the right as you look at it in the photo).

[jchesshyre]

Here ya go. Again, fairly hard to see but it is just visible.

Anything else I should check before I order a new steering stem? Was pleasantly surprised to see they go for only about £30 on ebay.

[Steve97]

Front mudguard looks a bit twisted as well, but could be the camera angle