78 750E Front Fork Alignment

[Anonymous]

Had the forks off to install new bearings and I still can't get them aligned right. Have a major wobble and the bike rides weird. Any advice on aligning them?

[Billy Ricks]

First make sure the steering head is tightened right. Loosen all the pinch bolts on the triple and loosen the axle. Then start from the bottom at the axle and start tightening things up working your way up the fork.

[Anonymous]

Other than the triple clamps being out of shape, your fender & front axle should also be checked for straightness.

[shaftzuki]

Does your 78 have a true spoke wheel or the mag?? If you have a true spoke, you may need to make sure it's not the problem!! 8)

[Anonymous]

It has the mag wheel. Thanks for the info guys. If the amount of fluid is different in the shocks will that affect how much they compress. Or is it there for dampening purposes?

[Hoomgar]

It has the mag wheel. Thanks for the info guys. If the amount of fluid is different in the shocks will that affect how much they compress. Or is it there for dampening purposes?

Both, it is there for dampening but inconsistent amounts between the two can cause them to compress unevenly. I would redrain them and measure out exact even portions to put back in if you are unsure of this.

[Anonymous]

Another way to equalize fork fluid levels is to use some aquarium tubing attached to a syringe. You determine the distance the fluid should be below the tops of the fork tubes, then wrap tape around the tubing at that height. Fill the fork tubes with the correct weight oil, insert the tube up to the mark and suck out the excess to the level of the tape. (hope I explained correctly!)

[KEITH KRAUSE]

To make sure the forks are parallel, loosen until finger tight, the fork axle holder clamps and the front fender bolts. Pump the forks up and down several times. Now tighten the axle clamps first, uniformly, so the gap between the bottom of the fork body and the top of the clamp is the same, front and back of the axle. Tightening these uniformly avoids breaking a stud, which commonly happens. Now tighten the fender bolts.
The most common cause of speed wobble on these bikes is loose steering bearings. Unless you can feel definite drag, try tightening the steering bearing a little more. First loosen the steering stem bolt and the upper fork pinch bolts. Tighten the steering stem nut a little (1/8 turn?) and re-tighten the stem bolt first, then the pinch bolts. Go test ride and see if that helps. If it does but there is still a little wobble, do the same thing again.
It's common to tighten the steering until you don't feel any "play" but under riding conditions you find out you have wobble even though you thought the bearings were properly tightened.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for your help guys. I have been nursing the bike for 2 years and got alot of great riding time on it. I have decided this winter to under go major surgery on her. I am stripping the bike clear down to the frame. She is getting a fresh paint job, new wiring, already has new bearings & shocks, new electrical system parts and ALOT of motor work. I am boring out the cylinders and doing the head work. My father owns a machine shop so I am doing all the work myself. I got the bike for free and haven't dumped any money into it yet. I will post pics of the project.

Any opinions on boring out the cylinder and using oversized pistion or pressing in a sleeve?