steering alignment

[DenyP]

Just a thought, what was the bank of the road?

Deny

[Ivan]

An easy way to get bearing raced out of the holes on most bearings is to lay a bead of weld around the inside, and let cool. It will shrink the race enough they will drop out.

Now on to my problem.

I loosened the triple tree clamps today and set the tubes to be even with the top of the triple tree clamps, keeping them as even from side to side as possible. I then tightened them up again, and the bike drifts more to the right than before. Should I squeak the right fork tube just a tad higher to make the wheel tip ever so slightly to the left? Or is that the wrong way to go about it?

[DiverRay]

Did you check the rear tire? I would also stop with just the REAR brakes after about two miles, and check the front rotors. They should both be COOL. If one is hot, you have a brake dragging.
Second, when you adjusted the front forks, did you loosen ALL the bolts?
You MUST loosen the fender bolts, axle castle bolt, and axle pinch bolt. The order to re-tighten is top tree, lower tree, axle and fender.

[bikerphil]

The fork tubes should be the same height on top. I'd check the alignment again by laying a piece of plate glass about 6"x10" across the front of the tubes below the headlight. This will tell you if they are exactly parallel. If the plate rocks back and forth, they're still out of whack. Also, if the rear tire isn't tracking in line with the front, this could also be a problem. Check your swingarm position, should be equal on both sides.

[petejw]

Bikerphil had it spot on for checking for fork twist.
I also just loosen the bolts lightly so when you twist the forks to straighten they stay in situ.

Ivan,
You might have to pull your forks down, you'll want to look at the springs, making sure they havent sagged unevenly or broken, also check that the fluid is even in both forks, also check the air pressure is even if air valves are fitted.