cbluez Posted August 12, 2021 Share Posted August 12, 2021 FRONT WHEEL ALIGNMENT PROBLEM...As you may or may not know, I recently (april) bought a 99 800...I've had a lot of bikes in 53 years, and Love it!..A week ago changed the fork seals, bushings and oil of course..It's been nasty fires and smoke since then and only had it out twice..Working great... Yesterday took it out for a couple of hours and was riding along and noticed the Upper Triple Tree was skewed to the right when going straight.. Theres not much going straight where I live so I was surprised at this...In some 4000km I had not noticed this. Pretty sure I would have. So yes something is definitely out of order...although strangely, the bike rides great. I've done a lot of searching and watched Delboy videos, Dave Moss and a couple of others to remedy the problem. Unfortunately today after several hours dicking around, none of these things worked. ANY IDEAS OUT THERE? Two of these pics are when i first got it some 4000km ago,, and one is the skewed yoke. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Mohawk Posted August 12, 2021 Member Contributer Share Posted August 12, 2021 The only way the yokes can be out of line with the wheel spindle is if the fork leg is bent. Support the bike so forks are fully extended with tyre just touching the ground. Loosen all yoke bolts & wheel spindle. Give everything a wiggle & rotate the chrome stanchions, feel for any offsetting which would indicate a bent tube. Tighten wheel spindle & check alignment, if still off then something is bent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Grum Posted August 12, 2021 Member Contributer Share Posted August 12, 2021 It may be just the photo angle but it appears the leg heights are different, Right lower than Left or the Right is more forward than the Left! Are you sure you have set the leg heights correctly? 41mm above the bridge. Are the axle pinchbolts and all other bolts properly tightened? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cbluez Posted August 12, 2021 Author Share Posted August 12, 2021 9 hours ago, Mohawk said: The only way the yokes can be out of line with the wheel spindle is if the fork leg is bent. Support the bike so forks are fully extended with tyre just touching the ground. Loosen all yoke bolts & wheel spindle. Give everything a wiggle & rotate the chrome stanchions, feel for any offsetting which would indicate a bent tube. Tighten wheel spindle & check alignment, if still off then something is bent. Thanks..am relooking at it all today Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cbluez Posted August 12, 2021 Author Share Posted August 12, 2021 9 hours ago, Grum said: It may be just the photo angle but it appears the leg heights are different, Right lower than Left or the Right is more forward than the Left! Are you sure you have set the leg heights correctly? 41mm above the bridge. Are the axle pinchbolts and all other bolts properly tightened? Yes--one leg is def different than the other for some reason..all bolts were properly torqued...have to tear it down today..Very odd because everything was perfect before i took it apart. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Grum Posted August 13, 2021 Member Contributer Share Posted August 13, 2021 12 hours ago, cbluez said: Yes--one leg is def different than the other for some reason..all bolts were properly torqued...have to tear it down today..Very odd because everything was perfect before i took it apart. Very strange indeed. Its hard to believe you could actually even fit the axle in this situation! Axle isn't bent somehow by any chance is it? Have you checked the 41mm height above the bridge for both forks yet? You certainly need to have this sorted ASAP. Back track with everything you've done! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer DannoXYZ Posted August 13, 2021 Member Contributer Share Posted August 13, 2021 Use plate of glass to align fork-blades so they're perfectly parallel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cbluez Posted August 15, 2021 Author Share Posted August 15, 2021 On 8/12/2021 at 12:48 AM, Mohawk said: The only way the yokes can be out of line with the wheel spindle is if the fork leg is bent. Support the bike so forks are fully extended with tyre just touching the ground. Loosen all yoke bolts & wheel spindle. Give everything a wiggle & rotate the chrome stanchions, feel for any offsetting which would indicate a bent tube. Tighten wheel spindle & check alignment, if still off then something is bent. Thank you sir! Forks are fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cbluez Posted August 15, 2021 Author Share Posted August 15, 2021 On 8/12/2021 at 9:21 PM, Grum said: Very strange indeed. Its hard to believe you could actually even fit the axle in this situation! Axle isn't bent somehow by any chance is it? Have you checked the 41mm height above the bridge for both forks yet? You certainly need to have this sorted ASAP. Back track with everything you've done! Nope--nothing is bent..I have it all together,,,It's better than it was..Finishing up the re-install, and torque wrench F****d up....thought it was odd..snapped a bolt on right caliper..lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cbluez Posted August 15, 2021 Author Share Posted August 15, 2021 Just now, cbluez said: Nope--nothing is bent..I have it all together,,,It's better than it was..Finishing up the re-install, and torque wrench F****d up....thought it was odd..snapped a bolt on right caliper..lol Oh yes...41mm I had set it at before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Dash Posted August 15, 2021 Member Contributer Share Posted August 15, 2021 IIRC, there’s a step in the service manual to bounce the front suspension to set the axle prior to torquing pinch bolts on fork lowers. Prevents the forks from being misaligned if the axle is torqued without being set. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer raYzerman Posted August 16, 2021 Member Contributer Share Posted August 16, 2021 I still think it's a matter of the upper tree and lower tree slightly misaligned to each if you bumped the handlebars enough.... loosen the upper pinch bolts, align and retighten the pinch bolts. Very simple to fix. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cbluez Posted August 16, 2021 Author Share Posted August 16, 2021 4 hours ago, raYzerman said: I still think it's a matter of the upper tree and lower tree slightly misaligned to each if you bumped the handlebars enough.... loosen the upper pinch bolts, align and retighten the pinch bolts. Very simple to fix. I took it out tonight after reinstalling everything, and installing new brake pads....Was bedding in the new pads on a mountain pass...it rode great...handlebar a bit skewed still but handles great.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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