Triple Tree Tweak

[jfmerk]

I've got my bike moved into the basement so I can keep working on it through the winter months and to move it around to the back of the house and in through the patio door, I just slipped both wheels on as well as the handle bar and rolled her in. As I set it up on the center stand, I noticed that the handle bar seemed square to the frame but the front wheel was slighty turned left. I can loosen the pinch bolts that secure the fork tubes and slightly turn the handle bars while holding the front wheel and get it all squared up, but the relaxed or natural position seems to be a little out of alignment. Is this normal? Or should everthing be square just be sliding the fork tubes into the triple tree alone? The fork tubes are straight, that I checked.

[GARTHXS]

maybe?

you can loosen every thing up and try to straiten it out , but maybe your bars are bent

[CatatonicBug]

There are several points that need to be loosened up, and a particular order to tighten them back up again (not sure what that is right now). If the bike went down at any point, it's not hard to have knocked it out of allignment a bit.

[DGXSER]

To straighten the front end, start at the bottom with loosening the pinch bolt and the axle bolt (on the specials anyway, or both caps on the std IIRC), alos loosen the fender bolts. Then loosen the trees up. Obviously you need the bike supported by a jack of some sort before you loosen the upper tree bolts, less you find your self with your frame slamming to the ground as the trees slide down the tubes.

Set everything up straight, and tighten form the top down. This procedure is in the manuals.

[Steptoe]

slightly off

if none of that helps the P.O may have put it down & either bent a fork leg OR twisted the bottom plate/clamp. Happened to me after hitting a roo, gave it to a machine shop & they pressed it back straight for me. Give them the hole assy if you do though, they line it up from there

[jfmerk]

Alignment good!

Looks like I'll be able to get it all lined up after getting everything loosened up. To check it all out, I used a string and pulled it tight around the back of the rear tire and brought it to the front along side the brake rotor of the front tire to verify the alignment to the back. Seemed to work good then verified the handle bars were square to the frame.

Question, a minor detail I suppose but from the pictures in the manuals, the fork tubes extend out of the top of the triple tree by about 1/4" ? Not including the thread in caps or the rubber cap. I couldn't find any details on how far they protrude form the top. I would also imagine I should check the distance between the fork housing and the edge of the tire on each side of the tire and make it equal by moving a fork up or down slightly.

[Steptoe]

fork legs

I always used to have my forks set with only the fork cap out the top,till some one said dropping the bike down them 10 or 12 mm shortens the wheelbase in turn giving better cornering, which works by the way, so that is where mine are set, 10 mm higher than the top plate