How to adjust steering so the tire can align perfectly.

[tommyz24]

Hi guys so I need to unscrew my steering bolt because when my handlebars are straight the tire is slightly pointing to the right. Any tips on how to get the tire and handlebars perfectly "90" degrees? Or do I just go by eye?

[Agemax]

support the front end up off the ground. slacken off the fork leg clamping bolts on the trees.
straddle the front wheel with your legs and holding on to the bars,twist until it lines up straight. tighten all bolts and check. repeat until you get it spot on.
that is assuming all your bearings are good and your forks aren't actually bent!

[barnbiketom]

Hold the front tire against a pole. With your hands on the handlebars, swing the tire and bars AWAY from the pole then bang it towards the correct position. lighly at first, harder if necessary.

9 times out of 10 the forks will tweak themselves in the clamps. 20 second fix. trust me no need to loosen clamps or retorque them.

The forks can become tweaked out of line even if the clamps are tight by the bike falling over etc.

for the naysayers, I've done this for close to 50 years.

[Dogma]

The bars didn't get bent in a tip over did they?

Whatever fix you apply, make sure to to check for smooth operation in the forks afterwards. Bounce the front end a few times to make sure it doesn't try to stick anywhere.

[chuck hahn]

Yup...just like we did it on our pedal bikes as kids. And be sure the bars arent bent too.

[mrbill5491]

Had the same problem on my bike at one time. Nothing we did would align it. So we took the front end apart and started looking. turns out the
the lower clamp and steering stem were ever so slightly twisted. Just enough so it made the handle bars and wheel out of alignment enough to notice. So had to order a new one. Weird thing was it wasn't twisted enough to prevent the axle going through the forks and wheel. It did act tight but went through.

Here is what we think happened. Had a front end crash with the bike that bent the forks and rim. The shop that fixed the bike, didn't replace the triple tree. They did replace the forks, fender. rim and axle bolt. They forced the forks into the triple tree causing the misalignment and gave it back to me saying all was good. I noticed right off after a ride or two it wasn't alright. Took it back to them and they said they replaced everything the insurance gave them money for. And the insurance said they would not pay for anything else not on the list of parts, regardless of any over sight. So, I was out of pocket $150 for a new upper and lower triple tree. I still have the wrecked part today.