Are my forks bent?

[Guest]

Hi all,

Noticed an odd thing when I last had my front wheel out. When the spindle clamp is loosened the fork lowers spring outwards about 10mm.

When I put the wheel back in there was that much gap between the forks and hub that I thought I had lost a spacer - Unlike some bikes, the wheel spindle does not pull the fork legs together - I had to thread a strap through the wheel hub and around both fork legs then twist it to pull the legs together so that I could clamp the spindle again.

Is this normal? The bike was bought new and has not been dropped

[dapleb]

<!--quoteo(post=22630:date=Wed 22nd Nov 2006, 10:21 PM:name=Wibble)-->QUOTE(Wibble @ Wed 22nd Nov 2006, 10:21 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->Is this normal?<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

Yes I think it is normal on the 900 to have that gap. Dandy was describing this gap to me but it is not something that was/is the case on either my mkI or mkII 850's.

You should not be ratcheting the fork leg inwards and then tightening the pinch bolt....thats not good.

Hopefully a 900 owner will chime in here.

Boop
dapleb

This post was last modified: 22-11-2006, 11:04 PM by dapleb.

[Minty Hippo]

<!--quoteo(post=22630:date=Wed 22nd Nov 2006, 10:21 PM:name=Wibble)-->QUOTE(Wibble @ Wed 22nd Nov 2006, 10:21 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->Hi all,

Noticed an odd thing when I last had my front wheel out. When the spindle clamp is loosened the fork lowers spring outwards about 10mm.

When I put the wheel back in there was that much gap between the forks and hub that I thought I had lost a spacer - Unlike some bikes, the wheel spindle does not pull the fork legs together - I had to thread a strap through the wheel hub and around both fork legs then twist it to pull the legs together so that I could clamp the spindle again.

Is this normal? The bike was bought new and has not been dropped<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
It'll be fine. Think they are a bit springy though I haven't had a prob screwing the spindle back in. You'd know if the fork legs were bent cos the tubes would stick a bit on the rebound. If they move freely that's good enuff for me. There was a bloke at my old school called Wibble, you're not his brother by any chance? Oh and welcome on behalf of all semi aquatic ungulates on this forum.

[TDMer]

<!--quoteo(post=22630:date=Wed 22nd Nov 2006, 10:21 PM:name=Wibble)-->QUOTE(Wibble @ Wed 22nd Nov 2006, 10:21 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->Hi all,

Noticed an odd thing when I last had my front wheel out. When the spindle clamp is loosened the fork lowers spring outwards about 10mm.

When I put the wheel back in there was that much gap between the forks and hub that I thought I had lost a spacer - Unlike some bikes, the wheel spindle does not pull the fork legs together - I had to thread a strap through the wheel hub and around both fork legs then twist it to pull the legs together so that I could clamp the spindle again.

Is this normal? The bike was bought new and has not been dropped<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

This probably won't put your mind at rest but...
I had my front wheel off to fit a new tyre a couple of months ago, but didn't have any problem with the forks springing out, and refitting was just a matter of feeding the spindle through and clamping it.
Not sure what could cause this or even if it is a serious problem ?
Any one else had similar experiences?

[amarko5]

<!--quoteo(post=22633:date=Wed 22nd Nov 2006, 10:45 PM:name=dapleb)-->QUOTE(dapleb @ Wed 22nd Nov 2006, 10:45 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->Yes I think it is normal on the 900 to have that gap. Dandy was describing this gap to me but it is not something that was/is the case on either my mkI or mkII 850's.

You should not be ratcheting the fork leg inwards and then tightening the pinch bolt....thats not good.

Hopefully a 900 owner will chime in here.

Boop
dapleb<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

i found a slight gap of 3 or 4 mm that i had to push over before clamping the pinch bolts otherwise the disc caliper catches the disc

deja vu here i seem to remember mentioning this some while ago ?

anyway its nowhere near 10mm on mine anyway

[Dave284]

The critical issue is to enshure that where you pinch up the clamp on the spindle that there is equal clearance between the inside edges of the right break caliper and the break disc. If not, the break caliper will rub against the disc!

[LIAW]

I don't have to do any flexing or bending of my fork legs, I just screw the spindle in and then tighten up the pinch bolts where the right hand fork leg sits, yes there is a gap that could be flexed inwards but the wheel is located by the spindle shoulder.
If you are concerned that your forks might be bent, remove the front wheel and loosen the yoke clamp bolts one fork at a time, and then twist the fork in the yokes and watch what happens to the lower leg, if it stays still it is straight, if it oscillates it is bent, you should be able to do this with the mudguard in place as the inner will turn in the outer part of the fork, then try it with the other fork leg.
Don't forget to tighten the yoke pinch bolts back up and also make sure your fork leg is sitting at the correct height in the yokes.
Can you post some pictures of the fork leg before and after the loosening and tightening of the pinch bolts so that we can see if it compares to ours.
What ever you do, don't go up that yellow brick road, my goodness there are some strange things there.

[Jez]

<!--quoteo(post=22666:date=Thu 23rd Nov 2006, 08:55 AM:name=laughin in a windstorm)-->QUOTE(laughin in a windstorm @ Thu 23rd Nov 2006, 08:55 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->remove the front wheel and loosen the yoke clamp bolts one fork at a time, and then twist the fork in the yokes and watch what happens to the lower leg, if it stays still it is straight, if it oscillates it is bent, you should be able to do this with the mudguard in place as the inner will turn in the outer part of the fork, then try it with the other fork leg.
Don't forget to tighten the yoke pinch bolts back up and also make sure your fork leg is sitting at the correct height in the yokes.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

That's the way to do it.

If it is really bad you may be able to see it just by looking down along the legs from above. You may not though.

[oiler]

Not sayin nuffink bout bent 900s......

[dandywarhol]

<!--quoteo(post=22630:date=Wed 22nd Nov 2006, 11:21 PM:name=Wibble)-->QUOTE(Wibble @ Wed 22nd Nov 2006, 11:21 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->Hi all,

Noticed an odd thing when I last had my front wheel out. When the spindle clamp is loosened the fork lowers spring outwards about 10mm.

When I put the wheel back in there was that much gap between the forks and hub that I thought I had lost a spacer - Unlike some bikes, the wheel spindle does not pull the fork legs together - I had to thread a strap through the wheel hub and around both fork legs then twist it to pull the legs together so that I could clamp the spindle again.

Is this normal? The bike was bought new and has not been dropped<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

DON'T strap the forks together before clamping the pinch bolt up -you'll cause the forks to bind and wear the slider bushes.
The axle spindle on the 900 is designed to be the exact length for the job, the larger diameter part of the axle alignes the spacers, bearings and centre spacer to be tightened against the left side leg - Then bounce the forks up and down a couple of times and tighten the pinch bolt. This way the forks will be perfectly aligned (assuming they're not bent!)

[Guest]

Thanks for the responses folks but I must be missing something here. My spindle does not align anything to anything else. The spindle threads into the left fork leg but the wheel and spacers are free to float along the spindle. I asked the dealer to check it when they did the throttle sensor recall work and they say its fine "they're all like that" (they even took the wheel out of a new TDM in the showroom to check)!

When I put the wheel in and tighten the spindle into the left leg the end of the spindle is about 10mm inside the end of the right leg. when the right leg leg is pulled in and the pinch bolt tightened the forks work fine - there is no binding - the discs are central in the calipers etc. If I don't pull the forks together to close the gap then I can't get both calipers back on!

Just hope I never have to remove and replace the wheel at the roadside.

[steveglover]

I wonder if you've got the correct spacers on your bike?

[dandywarhol]

Can you post a photo of it wibble?

[LIAW]

it sounds like your yokes may be faulty if your forks are not bent, can you measure accurately the distance between the fork tubes just below the top yoke, and then measure again between the fork tubes just where they go into the slider parts, obviously you need to do this with the fork pinch bolts loosened, this will tell you if your forks are running parallel or not.
I'd take a measurement like this in an awkward place by means of a home made divider, made from a length of stiff wire, this can be bent into a shape that fits around obstacles, just bend some little pointy out bits on the ends to go towards the tubes, then keep bending the rest of it slightly until it fits perfectly between the desired measuring points, then without putting any extra stress on the home made divider place it between the next desired measuring points to see if they are the same distance, if this makes no sense then I don't care as I know what I mean and if that icecream melts too fast then so be it.

[bof69]

just been reading all this...interesting..
When I first had my 900 I noticed the bars seemed to be bent (steering slightly left) so I changed the bars for some I had in the shed but made no difference.
So loosened the yoke pinch bolts and spindle slightly tapped the bars to the right very gently and all was fine when everything tightned back down.
I put it down to the forks taking a knock when the bike was crated up in japan maybe.
Might be worth doing the same on this bike, you never know.