250sx front suspension/steering questions. HELP NEEDED.

[redsox]

Let me start by saying I don't have any experience rebuilding forks. I have changed the steering bearings on a 200m. That being said, here's my issue. The front wheel of my SX is twisted somehow, and I can't determine what is exactly wrong. I rode hard saturday and ended up spilling the thing on its side. the handlebars got a little tweaked, but not too bad. I straightened the bars, but yesterday I noticed that the front wheel/tire is out of alignment. it points left when the triples are straight. its not the bars playing with my eyes, it's definitely out of whack. I cant notice any bend in the upper or lower clamp, and the forks look straight. The right side fork looks like its a little in front of the left. I pulled up the boots and both fork seals look mint. can the clamps get "torqued" or "twisted" for lack of a better term? if so, how do i realign? is it a matter of disassembly and realignment or am I in deep????? could it be the front axel? i'll pull that later and check for a bend, but it doesn't seem like it would cause this. I know its tough to diagnose without pics, but thought someone might have had a similar issue. I'll post some pics this afternoon.

Also, i am not familiar with how handlebars are measured. I want to order new bars as close to stock as possible. Any suggestions or links. i like rocky mountain atv, but need sizing help. thanks for your time.

[fabiodriven]

You probably bent the forks. If that is the case, we can probably straighten them.

[redsox]

Fabs. How can I determine whats bent. nothing is noticeably bent.

[fabiodriven]

If the fork(s) is/are bent, it may be subtle enough to have overlooked it initially. Either that or they are twisted in the tubes like you said.

[redsox]

i spent about an hour last night trying to determine if there was a bend and couldn't find it. i'm happy to hear that the twist is a possibility, because that seems like the issue. i'm all freaked out about it because i try not to mess with the front forks. i don't know much about them so i don't feel confident. its tough to gauge or measure anything because i don't know what to use as a reference point or a constant. i was thinking, (just trying to use basic logic), that if something is twisted, than something must be bent as a result, right? like if the bottom clamp is offset slightly from the top part of the triple than there must be a bend, right? even if its slight up there, it would present itself by like a half inch or more offset two feet away at the bottom of the fork. like a carpenter being off square in a corner slightly, it gets worse and worse the further you go down the line. anyway. thanks. i'm really bummed out about this.

[Flyingw]

They are probably just a little skewed in the triples. Pull the bars and loosen the nut for the triples. Put something under the motor so the front end is supported. Loosen your fork pinch bolts and straddle the front tire kind of like you used to do with your bicycle front end when your were a kid and straighten the front end out then tighten everything back up. Not unusual for things to get twisted after dumping it over.

[shovelryder]

I second Flyingw......Loosen yer pinch bolts and pull it back.....Id doubt theyre bent.

[redsox]

you guys should work for some sort of support hotline. i feel better already. i will post later with results. always slow to dig into unfamiliar jobs.

[Dirtcrasher]

I cant find my post on "easy way to check for bent forks".

I loosen all the clamp bolts with the tire 1" off the ground. If the upper fork tube won't turn, GENTLY tap a screwdriver in the pinch area that isn't free until the tube will spin but not fall out. Be careful, you are not trying to pry them apart and snap an ear off, just enough to spread it a hair. Once you can spin them, watch the front axle/tire and you will see it wobbling a bit. Easy fix on a press.

I have also crashed and had to loosen things up and reset the tire straight but the SX forks bend easy, as well as the 200X forks.

[redsox]

just got home and getting to work. any help with the handlebar part of the question? i see a ton of different sizes on RMATV. any idea how i figure whats close to stock?

[UPNATM]

just got home and getting to work. any help with the handlebar part of the question? i see a ton of different sizes on RMATV. any idea how i figure whats close to stock?

I actually am looking at replacing the bars on my sx also. I posted the same question on another forum
but have only recieved one real response. I would be interested to know what other sx owners are running
for aftermarket bars as well.

[Flyingw]

I have TRX300 bars on mine. Pretty close to stock SX. The TRX bars have a tab on the bottom of the bar I had to cut off. Both of my military SXs have them.

[redsox]

I have TRX300 bars on mine. Pretty close to stock SX. The TRX bars have a tab on the bottom of the bar I had to cut off. Both of my military SXs have them.

Thanks w. nice rigs. I loosened the front end up last night. without much force i heard a quick little "errr" and things seemed to straighten out pretty good. almost like there was tension that got relieved. i'm happy that things seem straight, but a little apprehensive that the first whoop i hit will muckel everything back to screwed. only one way to find out. the hunt remains active for the handle bars. i have a donor set i can use in the meantime, but they have the crossbar, which is a no go.

[Flyingw]

There is a guy on Ebay selling repro ATC bars but they are about 80 bucks. The TRX bars are real close to ATC bars.

[redsox]

just ordered a set of oem bars for an 88 trx300 off rocky mountain for 50 bucks. i will keep you posted. thanks again for all the help.