Fork Question

[Comm/Nav]

How hard is it to tell if your forks are still straight while still on the bike??

I "bumped" my 02 750 into a car just hard enough to crack the front fender, and am now worried that I've bent the forks. I haven't noticed any issues while riding, but the thought worries me.

[katanawarrior]

In order to have any amount of accuracy, the forks have to come off and be disassembled. Find a nice level FLAT (and smooth) surface to roll them on. If it rolls akward, like a half moon shape, there bent, if not, they should be fine, Im sure someone else can drop some more info here.

[Black_peter]

Take your hands off the bars. If the bike tracks ok, or there is zero shack or vibration across the speed range (0-80mph) I'm betting you're fine. The likely hood that you bend both forks the same amount and it didn't upset the stability is slim.

FYI back in the day after tech inspection mechanics would "bump" into a pole or wall to bend the forks on a race bike. This would decrease the rake to below the allowed limit..

[katanawarrior]

If they did that, then technically you could Raise the rear of the kat, and drop the forks 1/2'' or so, and have the same effect ?

I was actually referencing the "cheating" in the race bikes. Doing this would sharpen the steering up and make for a quicker turn in, but not sure it would help on the kat.

[GregS]

If you wanted to do a little disassembly you could take the fork caps off and raise and lower the front wheel to see if it moves smoothly thru the entire stroke. Do this with the axle and wheel attached so that if either tube is bent it will cause a binding.

[squiggy]

How hard is it to tell if your forks are still straight while still on the bike??

I "bumped" my 02 750 into a car just hard enough to crack the front fender, and am now worried that I've bent the forks. I haven't noticed any issues while riding, but the thought worries me.

It takes a lot of force to actually bend the fork tubes.

Where on the fender is it cracked? At the mounts or up at the front tip?

Another option, but still requiring to remove the forks, is to run a staight edge along the stanchion where it would be mounted to the lower triple tree. Rotate the fork tube to check any gaps in that spot.

It's usually at the lower triple tree mounting point that the forks will get bent, but not always.

[Comm/Nav]

Where on the fender is it cracked? At the mounts or up at the front tip?

It cracked at the front of the fender, from where it was "smushed" between the car and the front tire.

If you wanted to do a little disassembly you could take the fork caps off and raise and lower the front wheel to see if it moves smoothly thru the entire stroke. Do this with the axle and wheel attached so that if either tube is bent it will cause a binding.

I'll definately try this, and report back how it went.

You guys are awesome, thanks alot.

[Black_peter]

If they did that, then technically you could Raise the rear of the kat, and drop the forks 1/2'' or so, and have the same effect ?

Umm yes, that is what people do to "sharpen"the handling of the Kat..