350x bent forks...where to get them straightened?

[DeePa]

I went to a local machine shop, and he said no can do, as well as a body shop.

They arent bent too bad, and are still usable, but will they cause leaks in my new fork seals?

If anyone has gone through this before, please help me out.

Thanks,
Mike

[jeswinehart]

Get ahold of Howdy Mike ,,, he has the equipment and the experiance to fix you up.

john

[DeePa]

hey thanks, pm sent to howdy.

Thanks,
Mike

[NOS_350X]

I pressed mine out striaght, but they will hang up and not work properly. Your better off finding some new ones.

[Howdy]

I straighten the ones on my 350x and they work fine. Hagen has rode it at the past 3 Trikefest and I have rode inbetween times.
It all depends on where they are bent and how bent they are before you try to straighten them. ( mine was bent at the bottom of the triple tree. ;)
Howdy

[Dirtcrasher]

I pressed mine out striaght, but they will hang up and not work properly. Your better off finding some new ones.

I also screwed up one set unbending them but it was my fault. T

Then after that I had a set that were bent beyond what people would think was repairable and I got them near perfect.

The press is the way to go but the only mistake I made was in using 2 V blocks instead of 3. You have to put a V block on the hydraulic piston ram that contacts the fork tube or it will flatten the tube just enough to make it bind up. You also need V blocks where you support the tube your bending but you can even use wooden V blocks for that part.

New or straight forks are hard to find so I just use my press the correct way now and ALOT of patience. :D