PAST:

About 2 months ago I had an accident becuase of some crazy lady swerving into my lane like she was trying to avoid hell or something and her back bumper grazed my front tire...you can imagine the rest. The following day I was able to ride it around the block a couple times to make sure nothing was mechanically wrong with the bike, since the only thing wrong with it was the right side fairing and it was a beautiful Saturday I decided to take it out for a spin...

I ride for a couple hours and nothing seems wrong until I decide to take the bike back to the garage...as I'm riding back out of nowhere I feel like the front wheel is wobbly and unstable...I leave the bike alone till the following week when I took it to get re-painted, after that I rode the bike around for a while being very careful as it sometimes was my only means of transportation. I finally come to the conclusion that the problem with the front rim is getting worse very quickly so I decide to take it to a mechanic shop.

I leave it there and they tell me I need a new front rim, I buy the new front rim and ride out...for about 1 week the bike ran just fine until I decided to take it to work one day...to go to work I have to travel about 65 miles back and forth. As I'm riding the bike feels like it's really pushing me to the right side, but since that day we had winds of like 25 mph I thought it was just the winds...lol By the time I get back home I could already feel somethings wrong once again with the front end...

PRESENT:

Now its been about 2 weeks since then and every time I ride I feel the bike pushing me towards the right side and sometimes even while riding at normal speeds I have to lean on the left a little just so I can go straight... I haven't had time to go to the mechanic and sit there while they figure out whats wrong with the bike, although I plan on doing that this week I would like to have an Idea of what I may be up against...could it be a bent fork, bent rim again, a need to align the tire??

 

check to see if your forks are leaking or if theyhave any dents in them.

Better yet, take all of 30 mins to remove your forks entirely

(put the rear of the bike on the stand, then put a jack under the pipes with a peice of wood to lift the front.

then take the wheel off, and maybe the front fairing too if you cant get to the tripple tree bolts. (this wont take more than 15 mins or so), then take off your forks entirely after removing the clip ons (probably another 15 mins). Line them up side by side and visually inspect them. Check to see if the fork tubes wobble side the side. Stand them up, then push on them forcefully to see if they're moving properly, Use a good ruler to double check that they're straight.

If you think they're fine, just put them back up, first mount one and tighten it. then mount the other.


No need to take it to the shop for all of that. All of this you could wrap up in under 2 hours with a minimal number of tools.

Dont forget to check your rear tire alignment. Most bikes have a sort of gauge on the swingarm that you can use to align it.

 

Thanks I'm going to see if I try this...yeah I mean if I can do it then there's no point in taking it to a shop...but I don't think that it could be a bent fork becuase when I replaced the severely bent rim the problem completely went away for a while...but then it came back...I appreciate it though.

 

 

if you're not mechanically inclined, please use a torque wrench when you're putting it all back together. Stripped bolts/nuts = Pure Trouble.

 

thanks for the concern, I'm pretty "mechanically inclined" I guess you could call it...lol I know how to tear a car apart and rebuild it even better than before, and be able to diagnose & solve issues...but bikes I guess its taken some getting used too, I'm still taking my time to learn about my bike so I would like to ask bike tech to excuse my ignorance when it comes to bikes for now...

 

If you are a DIY'r def invest in a shop manual for your bike. As you know, you'll save hundreds by doing the maint. most people get the shops to do for them. Last time I checked, shop service labor prices weren't cheap.

 

Yeah def...i'm going to buy a couple very needed tools soon so that I can do just about everything on my own. I have the manual, google, and bike tech...thats all I need for now...lol I want to learn the right things the right way...that way I won't be learning the right things after doing the wrong things and drilling a whole into my pocket......lol

 

bike shops are EVIL! Steer clear of them for everything except parts and major engine work.

$80/hour is pure bullshit for simple tasks. Hell , we even bought a tire changer and balancer, so we can mount and balance our own tires.

Thank the FSM that motorcycles are so easy to work on.

 

u serious?

if so ill hand u a few buks to balance my tires just to make sure they are
balanced

before i put on my newly painted rims