steering alignment

[sweet78xs]

I rode my Eleven last night for about 30 miles. I let go of the bars a few times and the bike drifted off to the left. Isn't it supposed to stay straight down the road?? What could cause this?? Bad bearings?

[wa407mpp]

check your fork alignment, it sounds like the fork tubes are twisted in the triple clamps.

[fredintoon]

I rode my Eleven last night for about 30 miles. I let go of the bars a few times and the bike drifted off to the left. Isn't it supposed to stay straight down the road?? What could cause this?? Bad bearings?

Hi Sweet,
has the bike always steered funny or is this a new thing?
Hopefully it's the forks gotten twisted in the triple trees because that's an easy fix.
Many years ago my BSA started doing that. Seems the frame twists if you crash 'em hard enough. You lend your bike out recently?
Or of course the steering head bearings could need adjustment.

[dbeardslee]

Sweet - When you align your forks, you basically start at the top and work down. Put something under the frame in the front (a small bottle jack works well) so the machine doesn't dive for the ground, and loosen all the bolts on the tripple tree and the axle pinch bolts. Shouldn't need to loosen the axle itself, but some may disagree. Make sure the tops of the tubes are at the same height (measured from the top of the tripple tree) and tighten the top bolts and then work your way down going from side to side. If the forks aren't bent, that should align them properly. I think it's doubtful that wheel bearings would cause the problem. If they were that bad, I think you probably would have heard it. As Fred said, the steering head bearings could be the culpret, but don't get the locking nuts too tight - only supposed to be about 7ft lbs of torque on 'em. Too tight and you can get a potentially dangerous shimmy at high speeds. Mikes XS sells a ring wrench that will work on the nuts. Mikes XS Part #35-3005.

[DGXSER]

Are they supposed to do that??

Similar question, I had my front end torn down the other day, and the bottom tubes if my forks will spin pretty easily any direction I want them to go. This is of course with no wheel or fender or brake rotors on. When I think about needing to loosen the triple trees to align the forks, it seems like perhaps this is a problem. Are the lowers supposed to turn independant of the upper tubes?

[blue giant]

Similar question, I had my front end torn down the other day, and the bottom tubes if my forks will spin pretty easily any direction I want them to go. This is of course with no wheel or fender or brake rotors on. When I think about needing to loosen the triple trees to align the forks, it seems like perhaps this is a problem. Are the lowers supposed to turn independant of the upper tubes?

Yes, I believe that's normal.

[DGXSER]

Yeah I am thinkin that, and maybe it is just my middle of the morning lack of sleep thinkin, but if they move independant, then why do you need to loosen the triple tree clamps to align the front end? You gain nothing by letting the upper tubes rotate in the trees.

[blue giant]

Yeah I am thinkin that, and maybe it is just my middle of the morning lack of sleep thinkin, but if they move independant, then why do you need to loosen the triple tree clamps to align the front end? You gain nothing by letting the upper tubes rotate in the trees.

What you are essentially doing when you align the forks is aligning the upper fork clamp to the lower one and ensuring the upper fork is seated equally with the other.

At least that is what my mechanical mind understands!

[Ivan]

Would out of alignment forks cause the tire to wear slightly more on one side than the other?

My XS drifts slightly to the right. I can shift to the left and keep it straight, so I was assuming it to be the "crown" of the road.

[renegade_xs11g]

Sweet: A bad Bearing could cause that, but it's more likely you have one of the shocks higher in the triple tree than the other,
_____1 other thing is maybe one shock has a little more air pressure, or more fluid

DGXSER: yeah, the fork bottom will rotate on thier own the axle holds them in place,


Ivan: YUP!

using a car as an example, if the struts ball joints or tie rods aren't adjusted correctly you get odd wear, pulling, pushing, even drifting
Now, if the front wheel isn't aligned proberly on a bike, why wouldn't you get the same

[sweet78xs]

Thanks guys. I have only had the bike about a year. I noticed this last year when letting go of the bars and she drifted to the left. I too thought it was the crown in the road. I haven't let anyone pilot her since I have owned her. The former owner never let her down. I will check the fork height alignment. I want to replace the fork oil and there is no air valves as it is a 78 std. I will report back later...

Carey

[DELL82]

dbeardslee. I put ALL BALLS taper bearings in my XJ1100J head. I tightened them up to about 7-10 ft lbs. All was okay. Then I received a call from ALL BALLS and they told me to tighten to 25 ftlbs. I did so and could hardly move the handle bars, so I loosened back to 7-10 lbs, got no wrench, only years of feel as a mechanic. We used taper bearings in pumps and always tightened up then backed off a bit.
Dell82

[dbeardslee]

Dell - I too replaced my steering head bearings (although I don't think I needed to) and with the new bearings did the same thing. Got it real tight to pull everything together, then loosened it and torqued by feel with channel locks. The ring wrench just makes it easier to get at it, as it's about the same thickness as the locking nuts. Don't know what brand the bearings are - got 'em at partsnmore. That lower race is real mother to get out. If I had it to do over again I would just have repacked the bearings, put it back together and colored it done.

Sweet - If you do take the steering head apart, that's an opportune time to change the oil in your forks. With the tubes out, you can simply take the drain plug loose at the bottom, hold it down in a bucket and pump the tubes till you get all the fluid out. I used a horse syringe and a 16 gauge needle to put the correct amount of fork oil in through the drain hole (212 cc's if memory serves). Doing it that way, you don't have to take the caps off, which can be difficult to get back on and they strip easily.

[fredintoon]

Thanks guys. I have only had the bike about a year. I noticed this last year when letting go of the bars and she drifted to the left. I too thought it was the crown in the road. I haven't let anyone pilot her since I have owned her. The former owner never let her down. I will check the fork height alignment. I want to replace the fork oil and there is no air valves as it is a 78 std. I will report back later...
Carey

Hi Carey,
not to look on the dark side or to say the former owner is a liar but your bike is 30 years old, how many POs has it had in all that time? Any one of them could have dropped it.
If the bike has been down at any time or even just over the years the upper and lower 'trees may have been forced out of line with each other.
Slacking everything off is the only way they can be tweaked straight again.
Internal cleaning and an oil refill are good things to do anyway.

[DELL82]

"That lower race is real mother to get out." Since I had the bearing set I used a cutoff wheel in my Dremel to cut the lower race in half. However while cutting the first side the heat loosened the race and I just inverted the lower tree and it fell off. The other half in the upper tree was another story. Using the cutoff wheel I routed two small cavities behind the race, 180 Degrees apart. Then using a drift punch ( square flat bottom) I could drive the race out from the top, worked very well.
Now in thirty years someone else can get the race out without a problem I will be 100 years old then., but may still ride!
Dell82