aligning forks?

[jazzrat2000]

Please excuse my extreme rookieness! I had a little mishap on my XS750...as a result, I think the front forks are a bit out of line... as was suggested by several friends, I loosened the bolts holding the forks and jiggled it...and the forks are better than they were, but still not straight... my question: I loosened the three bolts (on each side) that seemed to me to be the only ones holding the forks, and they still resisted quite a bit when we (my wife and I) tried to straighten the forks... so, do I need to loosen other bolts as well, such as the triple tree? I was figuring when I loosened the three that the forks would be fairly easy to straighten, and that the only problem would be holding them straight long enough to tighten the bolts again... TIA!

[TopCatGr58]

Hey Doc,

Welcome to the FORUM! Aside from the 2 lower bolts on the lower tree, and the 1 on the upper tree, the center bolt that goes into the steering stem should be loosened also, cause the trees may have gotten out of alignment with each other.

Also, might help to loosen the lower fork axle nut and pinch nuts as well. Also, once the TT clamp bolts are loose, you may want to SPIN the upper tubes to see IF they spin evenly, or if you can sense a wobble? If they wobble, then they are probably bent, and you'll need to replace them!
T.C.

[jazzrat2000]

excellent advice, thanks, I will give it a shot... PS I read the interesting post you put up about the bent frame actually improving your steering... that's what I call engineering!

[DiverRay]

Yeah, TC did "engineer" his steering... but I wouln't want to do MINE that way!
Ray