Front End Alignment

[Tripleking]

I finally got the T250 running and running well. I was breaking it in today by riding through my development when I noticed something. To make the bike go straight I have to turn slightly to the right. It is not just the handlebars, but the forks. The bars are aligned perfectly with the forks. It is the wheels which seems off-center. I did have the forks professionally rebuilt and the tires professionally installed and balanced. How do I straighten this out?

[Suzukidave]

That usually means the front and rear wheel are not aligned . Measure from the swing arm pivot bolt on both sides to the rear axle bolt it should be the same measurement . Also you can take a straight board and lay it up to the rear wheel so it touches both sides of the wheel , have the board extend to the front wheel at the same time , the distance from the board to the front wheel on both sides of the wheel should be equal . http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Dw2RZlUoUY" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Coyote]

Loosen the upper and lower triple tree clamps on one side. Using the front brake, force the front end up and down several times. This will auto center it. Then just re tighten the triple tree clamps. Good to go!

[Tripleking]

That usually means the front and rear wheel are not aligned . Measure from the swing arm pivot bolt on both sides to the rear axle bolt it should be the same measurement . Also you can take a straight board and lay it up to the rear wheel so it touches both sides of the wheel , have the board extend to the front wheel at the same time , the distance from the board to the front wheel on both sides of the wheel should be equal . http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Dw2RZlUoUY" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Rear seems aligned. It looks like the wheel or the lower forks are not straight. This is obvious even when the bike is stationary.

[Tripleking]

Loosen the upper and lower triple tree clamps on one side. Using the front brake, force the front end up and down several times. This will auto center it. Then just re tighten the triple tree clamps. Good to go!

I with try that. Thx!

[yeadon_m]

If Coyotes fix doesn't resolve it, an alternative is to visually check for fork tubes being twisted in the yokes. Clamp two long bars across the fork tubes, as far apart as possible. Sight from above, they may not be parallel. If not, loosen stuff and align then tighten up. After that then realign front and rear wheels. Cheers, Mike

[Tripleking]

That didn't quite get it so I rolled the bike over to a post on my car lift and pushed the wheel against it (with the pinch bolts loose) until it was straight. It looks good now.

[JFISHSOLEVIBE]

Tripleking, can you specify how you did this? I am dealing with a similar issue

[Tripleking]

I loosened the lower fork clamp and loosened the fender bolts. I bounced it against the brake, but that only helped so much. I then rolled it over to a post of my garage lift. I put the wheel and against it and turned hard left a few time, banging the wheel against the post a few times until it was straight. I then tightened everything up. I have since ridden the bike several times and it tracks straight and has not budged, even after riding over speed bumps at about 30 mph.

[Suzukidave]

Reads like what we used to do when we tweeked the front end after crashing dirt bike riding . On the trail we would straddle the front wheel with our legs and grip the handle bars like bull horns and twist the forks straight

[Tripleking]

Reads like what we used to do when we tweeked the front end after crashing dirt bike riding . On the trail we would straddle the front wheel with our legs and grip the handle bars like bull horns and twist the forks straight

Yup, but my bike won't stay aligned. After riding for awhile, the alignment will go out with the handlebars canting to the right each time. I can force it back into alignment, even with the lower tree and all wheel and fender fasteners tight. Is there a way to tighten the stem?

[Suzukidave]

Hummm , the triple clamp pinch bolts really should hold the forks pretty solid . Is it possible the slots in the triple clamps are full of paint or maybe powder coat and its not allowing the pinch bolts to really clamp down on the fork tubes ?

[tz375]

Could be the lower triple clamp is tweaked. At this stage I'd suggest removing the forks and with just the legs bolted into the lower triple clamp, how far off are they?

The fix is to clamp the steering stem in a large heavy vice and bend the fork legs in/out, left/right as required to get them parallel with each other and with the stem. When doing that, they have to be pushed passed the straight point and allowed to spring back to a neutral position. They will take a lot more bending than you might expect and they have a remarkable "memory"

[Tripleking]

Could be the lower triple clamp is tweaked. At this stage I'd suggest removing the forks and with just the legs bolted into the lower triple clamp, how far off are they?

The fix is to clamp the steering stem in a large heavy vice and bend the fork legs in/out, left/right as required to get them parallel with each other and with the stem. When doing that, they have to be pushed passed the straight point and allowed to spring back to a neutral position. They will take a lot more bending than you might expect and they have a remarkable "memory"

I can straighten them out, they just revert to the old offset position. Same way every time.

[Suzukidave]

Maybe you could step back to my first post to align the front wheel and the rear wheel , when thats done you may be able to see just what is tweeked out .. forks , triple clamps or even the handle bars .