Do I have bent forks, or just lack of mechanical skills?

[crc1214]

Hey all.

I just took my forks in for seal replacement (off the bike), and when I re-installed the forks, they seemed a little off (like the left one was about 1/4" in front of the right one. Well, I installed the wheel back on the forks, and everything seemed allright. That is, until I stood back and looked at the alignment. Needless to say, I tightened everything up, took it for a ride and now I have to turn the handlebars slightly to the right (but just slightly) to go straight.

Is it possible that the shop bent my forks? This problem did not occur at all before I took it to the shop.. everything was straight as an arrow.

Before I call the shop back though and accuse them of bending them, is it more likely that I just installed them wrong? I know the manual says to leave everything loose and then compress the forks down a few times before finally tightening everything down, but it seems to me that even if the bolts are tightened down, the lower half of the forks can move freely anyway.

If it is the shop's fault, how do you think I should approach it? Take the bike in as is, or take the forks off again and take them to the shop?

Thanks,

Chad
1978 GS550E

[nabrams]

There is a way to tell one way or another if the forks are bent.
Just remove them and sight along each with your eye as if it was a rifle. Any bend will be evident to your eye. It is possible that your lower and upper triple tree are not perfectly aligned - an inch difference could certainly result from that. On dirt bikes this is a common problem because they're being dumped all the time. In most cases, everything just needs to be re-aligned.

[mdole]

It's easy to tweak the forks out of align before or while you are tightening the forks. Another possibility is that one fork leg is higher in the clamps than the other leg.

Mike

[crc1214]

Thanks for the responses guys. If I do see a bend, how do I go about re-aligning? Should I just take them back to the shop, or is this something I can do by pounding with a rubber mallet or something similar?

By the way, I checked and double-checked the height of both forks, and they are the same in both holders.

Chad
1978 GS550E

[SqDancerLynn1]

Take every thing loose & give the forks a good shake. Start at the bottom
and work your way up, USE a torque wrench.

[crc1214]

SQDANCER,

When you say start at the bottom, and work my way up....... do you mean first disassemble everything, then attach the wheel back to the forks, then tighten the forks down............. OR do you mean first disassemble everything, then try to set the forks straight, tighten the forks down, and then attach the wheel?

This may seem like a dumb question, but if the first scenario is how I should do it, then I will definetely give it a try. I followed the other way two times already, and each time the wheel was cockeyed exactly the same way each time. That's why I really wonder if the forks are bent.

By the way, how can I unbend a fork? Can I tighten down the holder bolts, and hammer away (of course protecting the fork with a board or something), or should I just take it back to the shop? I'm just afraid they'll say, yep they're bent, it isn't our fault, and by the way..you owe us $60 for looking at it. Another 30 or so and we'll straighten em' out for ya. (Sorry, I've just had bad experiences with service shops/mechanics about 98% of the time and I get into arguments quite frequently with mechanics and service managers).

[SqDancerLynn1]

Put the bike on the center stand and support the front of the bike so the wheel just touches the ground. Loosen all of the fork / wheel bolts do not remove them. Move the forks back and forth. Point them straight ahead. Then start from the bottom and start tigntening them