are my forks bent?

[Yamaha_Rules69]

I just got home from a friends house. I let him ride my 200x, and the idiot hit a deep culvert head on. (front tire diped in, and threw hit off the bike) I didnt think anything was wrong until I rode it after the incodent. I looked at my forks, and they dont appear to be bent, but something is deffinatly not right in the front end. When you are going straight, the handle bars are turning in to the right. It almost looks like you are turning right when you are not. What does this sound like? How do you really tell if the forks are bent visually? Anyone ever have this happen to them before? Give me some advice as to what I should do. Thanx...

[slippy4]

sounds like your forks got twisted or whatever you want to call it, if you look at the bottom left fork there is 4 bolts that you loosen and then you can make the tire go back to normal, then just tighten them back up and your good to go, hope you follow me on it

[Yamaha_Rules69]

I follow ya. I always wondered what those bolts were for. I'll have to give it a try. I hope thats the only problem. ? Thanx. )

[Wickedfinger]

... I dont know man ... sounds like a classic case of bent forks to me. I'd be willing to bet if you unbolt them from the trees and take a look down the tubes you'll see a good bow and a crease right below the bottom triple clamp on at least one of them. By the way, unless they're really bad, its next to impossible to tell if they're bent while they're mounted. If it is actually bent and its not real bad, theres a way to "live with it". Just turn the upper tube 45* out so the bend is forcing the fork out sideways instead of rearward. Bolt the tube in place and then put the wheel and axle back on. When you go to bolt on the axle clamp housing cover, push the fork in and then clamp down with the four bolts. Voila, you're back in business. *note - depending on how often you ride, you will eventually need to either replace the fork tube or give it a seal rebuild fairly often because of the uneven wear.

[Dirtcrasher]

I just got home from a friends house. I let him ride my 200x, and the idiot hit a deep culvert head on. (front tire diped in, and threw hit off the bike) I didnt think anything was wrong until I rode it after the incodent. I looked at my forks, and they dont appear to be bent, but something is deffinatly not right in the front end. When you are going straight, the handle bars are turning in to the right. It almost looks like you are turning right when you are not. What does this sound like? How do you really tell if the forks are bent visually? Anyone ever have this happen to them before? Give me some advice as to what I should do. Thanx...

Go read my post "JUST DUMPED 250SX HARD!!!" I did the exact same thing. Hopped back on the bike daized and confused - but the bars were pointed one way and the wheel another - twisted like you say. I removed both tubes and drained them and disassembled - The left upper tube was clearly out of round by .250" and the right tube was perfect?? Go figure?? Anyhow the lower sliders themselves are free to pivot - so when either leg is bent the lowers just pivot towards that bent fork and it doesn't steer. I also bent my triple clamps because if the triples and set and tightened - I couldn't slide the forks in without smacking them in there and when I tightened the fork tubes on the triple clamps - the headset got too tight. Unbent the triples main shaft in a 20ton press and the forks too on wooden v-blocks I made.

[Yamaha_Rules69]

It turns out my forks really were bent. ( I didnt notice it last night when it happened, but the left side of my front rim actually had a pretty bad bend in it. I tried to pound it out with a hammer, and got it a little better, but chewed up the rim pretty bad. I noticed that the forks were bent when I took them out of the tripple trees. The left one is really bad. Its in the shape of a banana. x The right fork isnt so bad, but im sure its bent slightly. Tomorrow im going to try to take them to a local welding shop. The guy has a press, and I hope it does the job. How good do those presses work? Will it be as good as new? Thanx.

[MR ATC]

it's not a matter of how good the press is, it takes very little the straighten them its how good the person doing it is and if he knows what he is looking for. what needs to be done is measure them for runout. to do this you/he needs a set of V-blocks and a dial indicator. the service limit for runout is .06. if the " bannana tube is bent so bad it has a crease in it DO NOT try to straighten it. although you may get it straight it now has a weak spot in the tube and could crack or brake in that spot.

[Dirtcrasher]

No B-S, I can get them with .030 usually the second press, merely using my eye. Then I toss them in the v blocks and use an indicator. You have to bend past the bend - just a bit - to get it straight again.

[Yamaha_Rules69]

I got them straightened yesterday at the metal shop. They are practicly straight as new! The guy only charged $3. -D Cant complain about that price.

[Dirtcrasher]

I got them straightened yesterday at the metal shop. They are practicly straight as new! The guy only charged $3. :-D Cant complain about that price.


Hey - good for you. These days it's hard to come by anyone who doesn't have a minimum charge. I hope that metal shop sticks around for you - the more modern everything gets around here - the worse it is!!