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Message started by Dr. D on 08/10/16 at 08:34:21

Title: Front wheel and fork misaligned
Post by Dr. D on 08/10/16 at 08:34:21

Hi guys. Used bike purchase runs and drives great but the front forks and wheel appear to need aligned. As a result the handlebars are not lined up evenly with the top of the forks when bars are in correct riding position. The front wheel is close to the side of the fender at the back on the driving position right side but about an inch away on the left. At the front/top of the fender the spacing is about equal. Appears to me something needs adjusted where the wheel and forks connect. Any help? Thanks.

Title: Re: Front wheel and fork misaligned
Post by Dr. D on 08/10/16 at 08:36:10

Here is a pic of wheel and fender... hard to capture well! Compare to other side.

Title: Re: Front wheel and fork misaligned
Post by Dr. D on 08/10/16 at 08:36:56

And the other side.

Title: Re: Front wheel and fork misaligned
Post by verslagen1 on 08/10/16 at 08:45:51

check the spacers, the flanged one goes on the disk side.

Title: Re: Front wheel and fork misaligned
Post by Dr. D on 08/10/16 at 08:51:56

OK - but the front of the fender is correctly spaced. It's a twist thing rather than an offset to one side.
------
Checked and the flange is on the brake side.

Title: Re: Front wheel and fork misaligned
Post by verslagen1 on 08/10/16 at 09:21:49

23302726393432303B64550 wrote:

lift the front end, loosen the fork clamps, axle and caps.
wiggle it around a bit and retighten.

Also, the risers can be bent a little, check it against the tree.

if it doesn't straighten out, you need to remove the forks and check that they are straight.

If the fender is bent, you might want to remove it.

Title: Re: Front wheel and fork misaligned
Post by Serowbot on 08/10/16 at 09:22:48

If it's not the spacer, it's somethin'...
I think you need to pull the wheel and axle to figure it out.

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt82/serowbot/LS650%20exploded%20views/Frontwheel_zpsd52022c2.jpg

Title: Re: Front wheel and fork misaligned
Post by stewmills on 08/10/16 at 09:49:29

Can you provide side views of the hub area? Something is definitely off.

...And I might question riding it until you figured this out... not to scare you, but if someone put it together wrong and it fails you can get hurt....badly.

Title: Re: Front wheel and fork misaligned
Post by Dr. D on 08/10/16 at 10:20:36

I have not had the hub apart yet, but it appears to me the forks may not be aligned at the bottom. Here is a pic - you can see the bottom appears uneven/one bent? or? If so, can this be fixed by me? A few other pics following.

Title: Re: Front wheel and fork misaligned
Post by Dr. D on 08/10/16 at 10:21:30

Hub, break side.

Title: Re: Front wheel and fork misaligned
Post by Dr. D on 08/10/16 at 10:23:35

Another

Title: Re: Front wheel and fork misaligned
Post by ohiomoto on 08/10/16 at 10:47:03

Almost looks like you have the wrong spacers or there is something going on with the bearings in the hub. First thing I would do is loosen the pinch bolt on the bottom of the fork and see if the legs return to their proper positions.

Title: Re: Front wheel and fork misaligned
Post by verslagen1 on 08/10/16 at 10:47:25

The only way the bottom sliders can be mis aligned is if the axle is bent.

Title: Re: Front wheel and fork misaligned
Post by ohiomoto on 08/10/16 at 10:57:34

FYI, the axle should be tightened while the pinch bolt is loose. When you tighten the axle, everything is pulled towards the right side (looking from the front as you have pictured). Then you tighten the pinch bolt on the left leg to lock it down.

You have an awful lot of axle hand out the left side. It almost appears as though the left leg may have gotten pushed too far onto the axle. Maybe by some "mechanic" that doesn't know what they are doing, maybe the bike was dropped or maybe someone did it to cover up a bent tube. (OR maybe I'm just full of crap!)

http://www.cyclepedia.com/manuals/online/cpp-240/files/LS650-S40_0772.jpg

Title: Re: Front wheel and fork misaligned
Post by ohiomoto on 08/10/16 at 11:15:01

Since you think there might be some twisting involved, I'll paste my reply from another thread talking about trying to straighten up a front end.

2720212725273C27480 wrote:

I've had to straighten up more than a few bikes over the years. (Thankfully all were motocross related crashes and I was never injured too badly.)

1) If the wheel is not centered on the top triple clamp (I'll get to the bars), make sure the fork tubes are not bent. If they are, you'll never get the front end straight and you'll have to replace the fork tube(s).

2) Sometimes the tubes will be twisted in the triple clamps, the triple clamps are twisted, or the axle might have some binding. To relieve the binding, loosen the pinch bolts on the lower triple clamp, the top bolt on the the triple clamp, and the front axle pinch bolt. Then put the wheel between your legs or against something solid, wiggle it back and forth a few times, and then center the wheel. Then tighten everything back up.

3) Our bars are rubber mounted. When these mounts look crooked, it's most likely that the mounts are simply twisted, the the bolts that hold the mounts to the triple clamp are bent (easily replaced) or the cap that the mount sits on is bent (easily fixed with a hammer).

4) If the bars are not badly bent, it's possible to straighten them out with a steal pipe (Especially easy with steal bars.) Most of the time you just pipe on the bar, lean the bike over and sort of bounce the weight of the bike (and rider in the case of a lightweight motocross bike).

Title: Re: Front wheel and fork misaligned
Post by stewmills on 08/10/16 at 11:25:38

FWIW, here are some clips from some pictures of my front hub. Something is definitely odd with yours (forks or hub) but I can't tell what.

Given that the HUB appears offset, it has to be more than just bent forks as if that were the case, the hub doesn't change it's position if the forks are bent though you will see the difference at the perimeter of the wheel where it is offset due to bent forks. Strange...

Title: Re: Front wheel and fork misaligned
Post by stewmills on 08/10/16 at 11:26:10

left side

Title: Re: Front wheel and fork misaligned
Post by stewmills on 08/10/16 at 11:30:12

...and are we sure this is the stock wheel? Could someone have tried to use a wheel from a different bike that has a different offset? It looks correct, but just an after thought...

Title: Re: Front wheel and fork misaligned
Post by ohiomoto on 08/10/16 at 11:33:24

The more I look at the picture in post #8 the more I think you may have a bent tube. (I have an extra set of forks for sale if you need them.) Let us know what you find out.

Title: Re: Front wheel and fork misaligned
Post by stewmills on 08/10/16 at 11:42:20

What gets me is the very first photo. Maybe it is the camera angle or an illusion, but the offset on the right side (left side of the picture) is just bizarre.

Title: Re: Front wheel and fork misaligned
Post by ohiomoto on 08/10/16 at 11:49:50

57504153494D484857240 wrote:

What gets me is the very first photo. Maybe it is the camera angle or an illusion, but the offset on the right side (left side of the picture) is just bizarre.

Probably because the left leg is pulled back quite a bit from the left leg...

Look at the post #8 again.

Title: Re: Front wheel and fork misaligned
Post by stewmills on 08/10/16 at 11:55:30

Ok...I think I'm seeing you now. Left tube seems to be swept back a bit as the image appears pretty square at the top against the TT.

Title: Re: Front wheel and fork misaligned
Post by Dr. D on 08/10/16 at 13:51:09

Thank you guys - I'll try to take the front wheel off tonight and see if I can pinpoint more. Appreciated.

Title: Re: Front wheel and fork misaligned
Post by batman on 08/10/16 at 15:38:32

I think it may be as simple as the axle spacers being reversed,they look the same but are different lengths. It could force the forks out of alignment due to the leverage placed on the left fork by the disc brake when the axle is tightened.In the pic"s byDoc the disc looks to close to the left leg and the other side looks like it's pushing the right leg out,the tire looks new I think the spacer might have been reversed if the wheel has been remounted. Doc ,how many miles on the bike ? newer tires?

Title: Re: Front wheel and fork misaligned
Post by Dr. D on 08/10/16 at 19:13:19

7500 miles on the motorcycle.

Title: Re: Front wheel and fork misaligned
Post by SavageMan99 on 08/11/16 at 07:48:25

Not nearly as bad as when I took my DT250 off a cliff in the local sand pit.
Forks were twisted almost 45 degrees. That was the day it became a dirt bike, not an enduring.

Title: Re: Front wheel and fork misaligned
Post by batman on 08/11/16 at 08:01:58

Well I took a ruler to my axle spacers and it turns out they are the same length (oops) the only difference being the shoulder on the out side end of the disc side.

Title: Re: Front wheel and fork misaligned
Post by BSTON on 08/11/16 at 09:27:44

I'm pretty sure they have different flange sizes though so if they are mixed up it could effect the offset. I'm kind of surprised the brake is lined up correctly.