Bent Forks 250r. Question.

[atcmatt]

Hey guys. Pulled my front end apart today and found the worst. Both for tubes are bent at the bottom tripple tree clamp. Looks like the hit was even because they are bent exactly the same amount. Tripples and axel is fine. Bars are also bent. My questions are..

Will it be alright if I make sure the bends rake forward, and make the bend face the exact same way on both legs so it tracks straight?

Also, the inner bushes in the forks (copper coated bits) area bit worn. In the manual it says to replace them if they have a bit of copper showing through. They do. Should I replace them, the front did not have any slop beforehand..

While also on the topic, nobody has a set of good for fork tubes for a 250r do they? I would rather replace but I have a feeling its going to cost me.

Thanks Guys.

Matt

[clutchcargo]

IMO, You should replace the forks if they're bent. Forks are available, either on ebay or from somebody on the forums. And whatever you do, don't jump it!

It will probably cost you some money, but what is your safety worth.

[deathman53]

why don't jump it?? I did mx for 6 years on trikes and the only time I bent forks was during a crash. I jump my forks alot.

[oscarmayer]

bent forks can crack at the bend spot and break.

[atctim]

a machine shop may be able to straighten those for legs. You would need to disassemble them most likely - but it is a cheaper option.

[daniel_250r]

i wouldnt run bent forks they are over 20 years old, they will be weaker after you straighten them, they could snap any moment while riding them and that won't be fun. Check you frame for bends and your steering bearings for damage

[Dirtcrasher]

You guys are talking about forks that are almost never bent further than .125 - and thats the extreme. Most, I find to be bent under .030 and I have fixed dozens in my hydraulic press. Forks are not thin, they have a thick wall or they would crush as I bent them back the other way.

I would not hesitate to run and jump with forks that have been bent and fixed. Unless of course they were bent immensely and at that point, thy usually cannot be fixed.

And much to many peoples surprise there are a ton of mildly bent forks out there that the owner is unaware of.

[daniel_250r]

yes you are right really depends on how bad they are.

[deathman53]

I had the option of re-bending the forks I bent straight, the guy said that most likely they'd be fine. I didn't want to take a chance. The last thing I wanted is to come down from a jump and hear a "snap" and the fork tube breaks on me.

[brapp]

any good machine shop can press them back true i have done many of them. a slng as they arent kinked they should be fine. i have bent my old 200x forks back any times and it took gettign backed over by a backhoe to finaly break them.

[brapp]

another thing is the only time there woudl be prssure to bent or break them is when hard braking or hitting comething when jumping them the rake compensates for the forward motion and provides smothe travel. and have you guys ever cut a set of forks how thick they are? i am gonna do an experiment now that i am on the subject see how much pressure it actualy takes to bend or severly break a fork lol check back shortly and i will let you know my resaults!!

[oscarmayer]

remember uysing a press to bedn then is not the same as a sudden impact force. it may take 2 tons to break in a smow moving press but only 500lb of shearing force. shearing force is different than bend and snap force. it;s the sheering force that would concern me. how stabel is it now that it's been modified would i wonder. if i was jsut trail riding, then no biggie fix and go, but he's MX and to me that means safety first over a $100 set of forks.

[Dirtcrasher]

Aside from the backhoe story.

Have ANY of you ever seen a set of snapped forks? EVER?

I've seen a frame neck break off, I've seen a tripple clamp step snap but never a fork tube. I'd be more concerned with the aluminum rather than the chrome moly tubes.....

[brapp]

here is the results of my experiment. i locked a old previously bent 200x fork into the pin hole on my excavator thumb and curled the boom liek i woudl if i were digging against a large tree, the kubota makes 3000+lbs of break out force so figure the excavator also weights 7800 lbs. i pulled the excavator with the fork tube againast a rather large tree. so yeah they will kink and bend but they wont break and after the pic was taken i tried to break it and i couldnt so you tellme if i am wrong for trustign a straightened fork. and if your talkign abotu shear force the pin how it was mounted was the same way a tripple clamp woudl hold the fork so u tellme?????? i woudl immagine the tripples of frame woudl brake befor the forks wood.some people just dont use comon sence.

[racerxxx]

Let me throw some gas onto the fork fire---what about inverted forks???? the smaller part of the tube is the bottom leg and the aluminum is mounted to the tripples. Wouldn't you think as the lower tube is compressing up into the fork and force back on the front tire-- imagine the force at the seal area. those xgames dudes are probably running killer forks, but nothing like NASA would build.

My vote take em' to a mach shop have them tweak them in a hydraulic press, rebuild them.

DC didn't you do a post of straightening a fork before (someone did)??

My old man straightend my old tecate axel in his machine shop before---straight a pin!

hold on let me get some matches:twisted:

What ever you do, do what YOU think is safest.

Racerxxx

[atctim]

I'm with DC - someone please show me a picture of a broken fork - It never ever happens.

[Dirtcrasher]

Let me throw some gas onto the fork fire---what about inverted forks???? the smaller part of the tube is the bottom leg and the aluminum is mounted to the tripples. Wouldn't you think as the lower tube is compressing up into the fork and force back on the front tire-- imagine the force at the seal area. those xgames dudes are probably running killer forks, but nothing like NASA would build.

My vote take em' to a mach shop have them tweak them in a hydraulic press, rebuild them.

DC didn't you do a post of straightening a fork before (someone did)??

My old man straightend my old tecate axel in his machine shop before---straight a pin!

hold on let me get some matches:twisted:

What ever you do, do what YOU think is safest.

Racerxxx

Yep, you'd have to search for it - maybe "straitening forks" or "how to" IDK?????

Actually, it's in my 20 day 200X build post and probably on the first few pages because thats where I started...

You have to bend then very far past the bend point to get them to "spring" back into the correct trueness....... It's definitely not the easiest thing to do, you almost get lucky when you get it right!!

I jump all the time and never had an issue besides destroying 250SX swinger/axle components.............

[hondahaulic]

I had a set of 225dx forks that got bent to a 135* angle, no joke. just for the hell of it I thew them in my press and tried to straighten them, I got one definately straight enough to use again if I trusted it, but the 2nd one snapped just before I had it perfectly straight, so it did break. The first one took maybe 15 min. to straighten. you dont need to dissasemble them either.

but my point is that these can be bent huge angles before they are affected. 225dx forks are some of the smallest diameter forks on trikes, if not the smallest so they were weak to begin with. I would never be afraid of a straightened fork, especially if its a small amount.

[brapp]

what you ahve to take into coincideration is when you bend metal to an extreme angle it streaches metal and when you bend it back it just streaches other side . i wouldnt straighten anythign more than a few thousanths.

[brapp]

and also the 225dx forks are relitivly thin to begin with also

[honda250sx]

agreed. shear force, queer force. I never seen a snapped fork tube. I have done over a 100 damage estimates when I worked full time at a dealer. 90% were motorcycles. Never seen one. The casted aluminum clamps like DC said would be the first to disinigrate.

[atcmatt]

Thanks for the replies. Im just going to get them straightened. What sort of machine shop would do this type of work?

Matt

[brapp]

any maxhine shop that has a set of v blocks and a 20 ton hydrolic press or bigger press. hope it helps you out but there was a company bck in the mid 90s thta allthe did was straighten forks and axles. but any machine shop that has a good size hudrilic press so start makign phone calls and get her straightened out.