SuzukiSavage.com - front end alignment? HELP!

groupus

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front end alignment? HELP!
11/11/08 at 06:59:10

so i seem to be posting on here a lot, probably because i can't keep both wheels on the ground. last night, I managed to pull off a complete vertical wheelie (not on purpose)! Whoo Hoo! Although my buddy said it looked awesome with the front end straight up in the air and sparks flying from the rear fender, I didn't exactly stick the landing.. broke a turn signal and footpeg that were previously damaged, and of course made a mess of the fender.

However, the thing that i noticed wile limping it home was that the front end is out of alignment. everything looks straight when sitting still, but i have to pull the handlebars a little to the left when I'm moving. I thought the handle bars might be bent, but they're not. the forks and wheel all look good too. the whole front end points to the left when i'm going straight.

Please help. I have no idea whats wrong with it.

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Faster, faster, faster, until the thrill of speed overcomes the fear of death. ~Hunter Thompson

'03 Savage bobber. Rebuilt too many times.

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T Mack 1 - FSO

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Re: front end alignment? HELP!
Reply #1 - 11/11/08 at 07:14:08

Two things could be wrong,

1) you shifted the handlebars in the triple tree. It's mounted on rubber bushings and they do give a little and can shift around. Fix is to loosen and realign. Note: when you go to lossen bar clamps to get to the riser bolts, put some kind of padding on the tank. The bars have a tendency to bang down onto the tank and leave dents.

2) Minor possibliity that you bent the axle. The check woubl be to remove it and check for straightness.

NOTE: The LS650 is not a sport bike and when doing high wheelies, the balance may be, how can I say..... interesting to maintain....

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Engineers design things, Technicians make them work.
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justin_o_guy2

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What happened?

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Re: front end alignment? HELP!
Reply #2 - 11/11/08 at 23:55:34

To see whats tweaked. Locate center of front tire, out on the far edge of the front on the tire. Secure a non stretchy striing, make SURE you are dead center & lock it down tight.A good knot & duct tape, too, this cant move. Take the string to the each end of the handlebar. If one is longer than the other, its tweaked. Loosen the lower triple tree clamp & adjust accordingly..
I had the clamps upper & lower, loose on the Guzzi & still had to lay it on a fork stop & give the front wheel a little kick to get it to move.

I have typed this at least 4 times, I wish soneone would put it in tech.

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groupus Senior Member Offline Maintenance is as much art as it is science. Posts: 296 PA Gender:	Re: front end alignment? HELP! Reply #3 - 11/12/08 at 13:04:58 thanks for the help. the fork tubes had twisted in the triple tree, so thats a pretty easy fix. and thanks for the advice, I'll try to keep both wheels on the ground next time.
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justin_o_guy2 Serious Thumper Offline What happened? Posts: 55279 East Texas, 1/2 dallas/la.	Re: front end alignment? HELP! Reply #4 - 11/13/08 at 00:10:01 Im not typing that again. I hope someone else Gets it.
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Digger

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Re: front end alignment? HELP!
Reply #5 - 12/05/08 at 21:20:09

groupus wrote on 11/11/08 at 06:59:10:

so i seem to be posting on here a lot, probably because i can't keep both wheels on the ground. last night, I managed to pull off a complete vertical wheelie (not on purpose)! Whoo Hoo! Although my buddy said it looked awesome with the front end straight up in the air and sparks flying from the rear fender, I didn't exactly stick the landing.. broke a turn signal and footpeg that were previously damaged, and of course made a mess of the fender.

However, the thing that i noticed wile limping it home was that the front end is out of alignment. everything looks straight when sitting still, but i have to pull the handlebars a little to the left when I'm moving. I thought the handle bars might be bent, but they're not. the forks and wheel all look good too. the whole front end points to the left when i'm going straight.

Please help. I have no idea whats wrong with it.

Don't know if this would work for a Savage, but:

Back in the day when I was racing motocross, it was common for the front end to get tweaked out of line after a get-off. We'd just ride up to a tree or something and whack the side of the front tire against the tree (by jamming the handlebars to the side (while still sitting on the bike)). Repeat as required to get the front end straight. Worked every time.

YMMV!

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Digger
2001, Metallic Glacial Blue, Raptor Petcock, Verslavy (first hole) (otherwise, mechanically, the bike is stock), 13,xxx miles
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Rockin_John

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Re: front end alignment? HELP!
Reply #6 - 12/06/08 at 19:05:23

Digger wrote on 12/05/08 at 21:20:09:

groupus wrote on 11/11/08 at 06:59:10:

so i seem to be posting on here a lot, probably because i can't keep both wheels on the ground. last night, I managed to pull off a complete vertical wheelie (not on purpose)! Whoo Hoo! Although my buddy said it looked awesome with the front end straight up in the air and sparks flying from the rear fender, I didn't exactly stick the landing.. broke a turn signal and footpeg that were previously damaged, and of course made a mess of the fender.

However, the thing that i noticed wile limping it home was that the front end is out of alignment. everything looks straight when sitting still, but i have to pull the handlebars a little to the left when I'm moving. I thought the handle bars might be bent, but they're not. the forks and wheel all look good too. the whole front end points to the left when i'm going straight.

Please help. I have no idea whats wrong with it.

Don't know if this would work for a Savage, but:

Back in the day when I was racing motocross, it was common for the front end to get tweaked out of line after a get-off. We'd just ride up to a tree or something and whack the side of the front tire against the tree (by jamming the handlebars to the side (while still sitting on the bike)). Repeat as required to get the front end straight. Worked every time.

YMMV!

Kind of depends on how out of tweaked the front end gets, and how tight you have everything on the Savage. But I can tell you from personal experience that you can get some of it to straighten back up using the old dirt bike: whack-a-tree method. I did it after sliding off of a gravel driveway down into a 5'-6' deep ditch once. I was coasting backwards down the driveway, and grabbed the front brake. The front wheel slid towards the ditch, and suddenly there was no ground for me to put my left foot down on. I ended up at the bottom of the ditch with the Savage on top of me. Lucky I was only scraped up a bit. Getting the bike out of the ditch by myself was a lot of fun. At least nobody saw the whole stupid move! Cheesy

Anyways, forks and risers were tweaked as mentioned. I used a tree and a couple of good whacks to straighten it back up enough to get it home without having to ride it crooked. So... Yes, I know it will work with the Savage... Undecided

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Bobbert Serious Thumper Offline CHOP IT Posts: 836 Los Angeles, CA Gender:	Re: front end alignment? HELP! Reply #7 - 12/06/08 at 20:28:17 the CM450 I rode this summer had a twist that would just not fix. Hitting it to the side and playing with the lower trees had no effect. I could twist the wheel straight but I could roll it two feet and the twist would reappear.
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