Straight Bike?

[KatMan94]

How can you tell if a bike is good and striaght? I just bought a 94 Kat and I want to make sure it hasnt been smashed into something and I was wondering if there was a way to see if it was straight other than just eyeballing it. This is my first bike to own and I want to start out right.

[md86]

Take it for a ride . If it handles funky , I imagine you'd notice . Or look for obvious marks on the frame .

[Waltari]

Re: Straight Bike?

How can you tell if a bike is good and striaght? I just bought a 94 Kat and I want to make sure it hasnt been smashed into something and I was wondering if there was a way to see if it was straight other than just eyeballing it. This is my first bike to own and I want to start out right.

where do you live? I jus dropped off some rims to be straightened at this place

http://www.motorcycleframeman.com/menu.html

Supposed to be the best frame straightening guy in the region...alot of racers in the area use this guy.

[KatMan94]

Im in the houston area. Im new to riding so I really dont know what to feel for. There doesnt seem to be any signs of it hitting anything. I bought a fairing off of ebay and the holes that the windscreen bolts onto on the fairing dont line up with the holes in the fairing stay. The fairing wont go in far enough, so looking at the bike from the front the holes in the fairing are to far to the left of the holes in the stay.

[KatMan94]

by the way the fairing is off a 93 600 and mine is a 94 600.

[texas_mad_man]

what part of houston are you in...i might be able to check it out for you

[KatMan94]

Im in baytown.

[The CyberPoet]

There is a firm out there with laser jigs that checks for frame accuracy for motorcycles and has offices in about two dozen cities if I recall, but I don't remember their name off the top of my head.

The other way to tell is to take a chalk line and snap it down the center of the bike (tank off), then measure distances to the frame parts from that line on each side -- you'll see if it varies significantly.

Finally, there is a product called MagnaFlux that can be applied directly to the frame which will show you any hidden cracks or other subsurface abnormalities under the powdercoat (without stripping the coating). This is the first thing I use on any bike thats been down hard, because a cracked frame may not be visible if the powdercoating didn't give -- and may finish breaking all the way through some day just as I go over a bump, snapping the bike in half about me (crappy way to go).

Cheers,
=-= The CyberPoet

[thecynic]

I would still recommend taking the time to look the frame over closely, but your problem MAY just be the headlight/gauge cluster bracket (Or wherever the fairing attaches to) is a little tweaked.