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My bike fell over on its side while I was washing it, breaking the front brake lever. I rode it afterwards and it felt like it was pulling slightly to the right. The handlebars look perfectly straight. Can the front end get out of alignment that easily? If so, what's the best procedure to get it aligned properly?

If everything is torqued to spec and aligned, just tipping over should not be enough to knock it out of alignment. You could just go through the same procedure for installing the forks...loosen axle, axle locks, triples, stem nut then tighten them in the proper order as shown in the service manual.

bufftester wrote:If everything is torqued to spec and aligned, just tipping over should not be enough to knock it out of alignment. You could just go through the same procedure for installing the forks...loosen axle, axle locks, triples, stem nut then tighten them in the proper order as shown in the service manual.

I didn't use a torque wrench and I may not have had them tight enough due to worry of binding the forks. I'll go through the front end procedure again tomorrow:)

use a torque wrench cant be said enough!!! very easy to egg shape fork tubes by overtightening

ive wiped the bike (with the stock front end) out several times and tweaked the wheel slightly left or right
I just ride up next to a tree and "slam" the front wheel in against it on the side it is tweaked too...little bit of roadside engineering

Actionman,

When I took my KDX220 out for a test ride before I purchased it, I noticed the same thing, which helped me negotiate a lower price.

What I did was remove the cotter pins and loosen up the nuts affixed to the bottom of the upper triple tree. What I gathered was the rubber bushings underneath got tweaked and locked into position this way. Once I re-tightened everything up, it was straight as arrow. The first aftermarket product I got was the FRP handlebar brace, knowing this could happen again. The brace is supposed to eliminate this in a get off, or your case dropping it, I am speculating on cement, or asphalt.

Michael

MCKDX220 wrote:Actionman,

When I took my KDX220 out for a test ride before I purchased it, I noticed the same thing, which helped me negotiate a lower price.

What I did was remove the cotter pins and loosen up the nuts affixed to the bottom of the upper triple tree. What I gathered was the rubber bushings underneath got tweaked and locked into position this way. Once I re-tightened everything up, it was straight as arrow. The first aftermarket product I got was the FRP handlebar brace, knowing this could happen again. The brace is supposed to eliminate this in a get off, or your case dropping it, I am speculating on cement, or asphalt.

Michael

I've got the Klx usd forks with solid bar mounts. You're right that the original bars rubber mounts are easily knocked out of whack. As to my problem, I loosened the clamp bolts, and got them realigned. Rides straight now.

i use 2 strait edge rulers and put the edge of each across the trippel clamps (like wings) on on top clamp and one bottom. they should be in line. if not then you loosen the bolts holding the axel, the forks, and sometimes the stem lock nut and adjust until the rulers are in line with each other. I have 2 36" rulers that i use.

zepplin153 wrote:i use 2 strait edge rulers and put the edge of each across the trippel clamps (like wings) on on top clamp and one bottom. they should be in line. if not then you loosen the bolts holding the axel, the forks, and sometimes the stem lock nut and adjust until the rulers are in line with each other. I have 2 36" rulers that i use.

Thats a great tip! Thanks

oh one other thing!!! sometimes the forks can twist in the clamp and make your tire track funny even if the trippels are parallel. so I use an L-square to span the forks and eyeball from above and make sure the tire is in line with the L. I hope that doesn't sound too confusing. The goal is to make sure 1) the tire is perfectly perpendicular with the forks and 2) the top and bottom of clamps are parallel. It helps if you have a helper. Let me know if you have any questions.

zepplin153 wrote:oh one other thing!!! sometimes the forks can twist in the clamp and make your tire track funny even if the trippels are parallel. so I use an L-square to span the forks and eyeball from above and make sure the tire is in line with the L. I hope that doesn't sound too confusing. The goal is to make sure 1) the tire is perfectly perpendicular with the forks and 2) the top and bottom of clamps are parallel. It helps if you have a helper. Let me know if you have any questions.

Yeah, it's a whole nother thing trying to get upside down forks just right. It took me a couple of tries to keep them straight. On the torque wrench debate: I tried 3 different wrenches( all craftsman brand) and at 12 pounds it felt like I was going to snap the bolts! My uncle said "torque will fool you!" There's no way in hell I'd torque my forks as tight as those wrenches wanted to tighten them. I tried to torque my axle to 40 ft lbs like the manual calls for, and there's no way in hell I'm tightening it that tight! Am I being fooled by torque, or am I just not used to using a wrench?

If the wrenches aren't too old and haven't been abused, then likely you just aren't used to using one. Two important things about torque wrenches that will cause them to fail prematurely, or be inconsistent in use. First they need to always be stored on their lowest setting. This keeps the internal springs and mechanisms in a relaxed state and allows them to work accurately over time. The other is that you should always (on a twist set type wrench) cycle the adjuster through the entire range a few times BEFORE setting and using it. In use you turn the wrench slowly and at a continuous rate (don't jerk them like most folks do with socket wrenches) and stop when you hear/feel the click.
Not much of a debate, use a torque wrench. If you don't you are guaranteed to either under tighten your fasteners leading to parts failure, or overtighten them leading to stripped/snapped fasteners.