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SuzukiSavage.com
/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl General Category >> Rubber Side Down! >> Realign the steering /cgi-bin/YaBB.pl?num=1347041829 Message started by Paraquat on 09/07/12 at 11:17:08 |
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Title: Realign the steering Post by Paraquat on 09/07/12 at 11:17:08 After my wreck many moons ago my Savage wasn't straight anymore. I had a friend put a 2x4 in between the forks and I leaned one way, he another, until it "looked" straight. On my new bike if I align the triple tree my wheel is pointing left (while on the bike). When I'm moving the right side of the triple tree is closer to the tank than the left side. No one can tell me how to properly align this. It's not as easy as loosening the bolt on the neck. It's an issue between the wheel and the triple tree. I can break the forks free on the top of the tree and then what? Eyeball it from there? --Steve |
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Title: Re: Realign the steering Post by rfw2003 on 09/07/12 at 11:28:03 The forks aren't parallel with each other on the Savage. When sitting on the bike the Left fork is forward of the right fork by design. Take a look at your top clamp and do some measurements and you will see that it was done that way on purpose. I didn't realize this either until I mounted my new windshield. The brackets for the fork part of the mount are different from side to side. The left fork bracket has a bigger set back then the right one does, so that the windshield is square when mounted. R.F. |
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Title: Re: Realign the steering Post by Serowbot on 09/07/12 at 11:36:14 You're not being overly picky are you?... Even where you skooch yer' butt will make the tree tilt a tiny bit right or left... ... but, in the old days, I used to tweak the forks on my dirt bike all the time... I just pinch the wheel between my legs and pull the bars to get it back... You might try, raising the front end,.. loosening all the pinch bolts and letting the forks settle... make sure the top of the tubes are at even height... then tighten everything down... If that don't come out straight,.. you might have a slightly bent tube... If it ain't binding,.. just eyeball and twist with yer' buddy like you were doing to get it as close as possible... ... or buy new tubes... but I wouldn't.. Close is good enough for me... ;D... PS... gonna' have to check out what r.f. just said... I never noticed that... :-?... PSS... if you have a fork brace,.. they can tweak the tubes if not installed carefully... |
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Title: Re: Realign the steering Post by Arnold on 09/07/12 at 11:54:35 I noticed mine always look a little crooked with the handle bar straight, oh well, I gave up trying to make it perfect, it rides. |
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Title: Re: Realign the steering Post by arteacher on 09/07/12 at 13:55:30 37233277757576450 wrote:
To what purpose was this designed into the front end? |
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Title: Re: Realign the steering Post by rfw2003 on 09/07/12 at 14:26:44 222929202C232238394D0 wrote:
To what purpose was this designed into the front end? [/quote] I have no clue to be honest. It's just something I noticed when working on the bike |
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Title: Re: Realign the steering Post by Oldfeller on 09/07/12 at 15:47:11 Follow along on this key fact -- the front and rear wheel are forced by the road to run exactly parallel to each other. Not in the same line, mind you, but perfectly parallel to each other. Now, I own a bent Savage -- got smacked by a big pickup in the rear end as he tried to enter a parking place with my bike in it already. This is a fact, you can tweek the bike back again -- just don't ever get locked into thinking the back wheel has ever been aligned to run in the path made by the front wheel. The factory offsets the two (rear offset to the right) to make room for the belt drive. ========= How to do it Think of the front wheel as being magically linked to the rear wheel (it is, by road forces). To adjust the front wheel and the handlebars, offset (twist) the rear wheel in the same direction you want the front wheel to move. Use the adjuster bolts and nuts and the little marks to judge the offset amount you put in as you dial out all the "twist" in the front end. You keep fiddling with the rear tire until the front tire and handlebars run "true enough" and you can balance the bike hands off without using a lot of body English. and Vola !! you did the impossible |
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Title: Re: Realign the steering Post by Paraquat on 09/07/12 at 17:53:41 I try not to be too picky but if I go hands free the whole bike leans to the right and I have to lean to the left to stay upright. It doesn't feel right - I like symmetry. There is some shimmy in the handlebars too and I'd really like to eliminate that. In my head (scary place to be) the forks can't just rotate on their own because they are, or should be, held somewhat parallel by the axle, no? I have no fork brace but lots of chrome covers and shininess on the C50 which makes he hesitant to shove a 2x4 in there and start prying. I have factory bars in the mail to replace these aftermarket bars (which I know aren't straight either). When I swap those on maybe I'll dangle the front end and give that a go. I didn't know that about the rear adjuster. That'll be plan B. Thanks, guys. --Steve |
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Title: Re: Realign the steering Post by Arnold on 09/07/12 at 18:05:26 Oh man, mine is crooked some too but you should still be handle to go hands free. Something else is going on, how are the tires? Wheels balanced? |
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Title: Re: Realign the steering Post by Paraquat on 09/07/12 at 18:17:01 Came with new(er) IRC's. A lot of extra spoke weights in the rear. It suffered an oopsie but I don't think it was a moving oopsie. --Steve |
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Title: Re: Realign the steering Post by Arnold on 09/07/12 at 18:45:11 Assuming tires are properly inflated, could be wheel bearings, bent rim, maybe even warped rotor? Can you lift the front end, spin the front wheel as fast as possible and make sure it runs straight visually at least? |
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Title: Re: Realign the steering Post by Oldfeller on 09/07/12 at 18:59:10 You might be making it harder than it is. Warped rotor would be obvious when lightly braking and when just not braking (your spin test would show a warped rotor). (yours isn't warped, now is it?) Un-true wheels, get your spoke wrench and dial indicator out and true them up. Have we ever had a verified bad set of wheel bearings, ever? Spin away though, it only takes a few minutes to do it. Then you know. |
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Title: Re: Realign the steering Post by Charon on 09/07/12 at 20:36:42 The LS650 has three different alignments to be done with the rear wheel adjusters. The first is belt tension, or perhaps more correctly slack. Second is aligning the wheel to run true, so the bike will track straight with no hand pressure on the bars. Third is aligning the rear wheel so the belt runs centered in the pulley. It might not be possible to get all three alignments correct at the same time, particularly if anything is bent. |
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Title: Re: Realign the steering Post by justin_o_guy2 on 09/07/12 at 22:43:07 Tie a piece of No Stretch string to the front edge of the front tire. I usaed tape to hold it dead center. Go to the end of the grip one side, then, the other, Not the same? Loosen triple tree clamps where they pinch fork tubes, adjust as necessary. |
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