front fork alighnment

[david h]

How does a pro do a fork alighnment so the wheel is 90 degrees to the forks? The bike is a dr650

Here is what I did------ By the way all the tools used were very high tech, and almost made strictly for motorcycles . Loosened the top triple clamp and eye balled it to straight. Then a straight 1x3 was placed thru the spokes of the wheel so as to allow them to contact both forks. Using a Carpenters square butted against the board I checked both sides and they came out to both be 90 degrees at the top of the rotro level. That seemed to take care of the lower alighnment what about on up top? is there a need to do more? or is it a done deal. After putting it back together it didn't look quite right and turns out the handle bars are teaked slightly. New bars are in my future. I'm going to wait for a spill or two more for that to happen.

This all came about because of a get off on the loop of oz ride. Out in the north west corner of Ks I had stopped to take a couple of pictures. My bike was loaded a bit top heavy and left little room for rider dismount. I had a huge tank bag and 3 duffel bags for clothes. camping stuff, tools, and all the misc. stuff a guy needes to ride and camp, placed on the back. Well my boot caught a buckel on a bungee cord and over she came. 0 mph but with all the weight the front end twisted. It weighed so much I couldn't get her up. I did get a stiff sore back for my efforts. Larry showed up about a minute later and we got the big pig up. Did a road side repair and back to having fun.

Advice need, David H

[troy]

Dave,

You should immediately stop riding the bike. Safety FIRST of course. Take the DR650 to a qualified, licensed, Suzuki motorcycle mechanic. You'll want to find an extended-stay hotel because this may take some time. The mechanic will carefully remove the forks according to factory instructions that only they have access to. DO NOT TRY THIS yourself--it is way too complicated, dangerous, and requires secret mechanic tools that require years of training to use properly.

Instruct the mechanic to ship the forks to one of the few Suzuki fork rebuild specialists in the country. They will need your height, weight, and riding preferences in order to rebuild and tune the forks to your exact needs. Don't worry, there is a simple 4 page form to fill out that makes sure all the details are supplied. The fork rebuild should not cost more than $700 -- a real bargain/ Can you put a price on safety and comfort?

The local mechanic will be able to re-install the forks ensuring everything is aligned and properly torqued to factory tolerances. Ask them to test ride the DR650 to ensure everything is good. For the first 500 miles after the service, do not ride at speeds greater than 45 MPH or make any sudden steering changes. You'll need to return the bike to the mechanic after 500 miles for any necessary adjustments.



Enjoy the ride!

[safiri]

On my KTM, not sure what bolts other bikes have:
- I loosen the pinch bolts on the axle (but leave the axle nut tight).
- loosen one of the triple clamps. Not sure I have ever paid attention to which one. Probably lower one makes more sense.
- sit on bike, off the stand, vertical, shake bars right/left. Usually the tension will release and straighten all out.
- line up top triple with frame to indicate straight ahead (not bars, as they get bent), have bystander spot from front to see if the wheel is lined up with the frame and fender. One nice aspect of a high fender is it will be your tell-tale if the front end is tweaked. shake some more if needed. Have buddy kick front of front tire if needed.
- tighten triple and pinch bolts.

I have started to not tighten my triple pinch bolts as tight as I used to, with the hope that a fall will simply cause a misalignment and not a bent bar.

Sounds like what you did worked.

In my experience, waiting for bars to get bent on the other side just ends with the same side getting bent more.