Triple trees and twist.

It always feels like my left handlebar is farther away than the right . and it looks as though the top triple is twisted , ie: the left side is cockeyed forward while the right side is cocked back to the rear . Is that possible ?

When i lowered my tubes deeper into the triples while all the bolts were loose i tried to twist the triple back into place and shake out any evenness , but it still seems it's cockeyed.

I'm suspecting if i want to really straighten things out i'll need to loosen that Stem bolt and the stem crown bolt to actually be able to shift the top triple back into place..... TRUE ????

when riding the bike i'll ignore all of it and get my body all centered and aligned with the bike and let go of the bars and she tracks straight but that top triple sure looks crooked and i'd like to fix it.

also planing on getting rid of my bar risers

thnx in advance.

john

Rode the hell out of her yesterday - though not warm enough that i really felt all that confident with the tyres warming up all the way ------ Oh and went to pass a car over the double yellow lines in woodside , roads kinda dirty still in the center so when i crossed the bouble line i gassed it to get around the car and was in the real fine dust still there and spun the rear wheel up pretty good going sideways a bit at about 60 or so ... LOL -- told some guy about it when i got to alices restaurant ( at the top ) and he said some guy had that happen to him some months back and it threw him off the bike ------- grrrr.

ciao

You have bar risers on an upright bike? What are you an orang utan?

more likley for the bars to be bent.... or bolts are done uneven

I have had a lot of bikes in my life. They all had a central big nut that held down to top yolk or triple clamp as you call it in the USA. But underneath the yolk there was another big nut that was used to torque down onto the steering head bearings at the right force to make no play - but free turning. The top bolt - often a big shiny chrome thing - was tightened hard down as a kind of lock nut.

On the SD there isn't a nut under the top triple clamp. The big nut you see is also the one that is used to create the right force down onto the head bearings. So it is never done up really, really tight, just the right amount to ensure no play. I've never understood how much this torque should be - I can't find record of what it is meant to be and even if I did I not do I have a torque wrench socket big enough for this nut. I do it by feel with the forks and front wheel off the ground, my eyes shut and fingertip senses rocking the forks back and forth. Free movement on turn, no rocking back and forth. Job done. Then do up all the other clamp nuts. If anyone has a better way to do this then let me know because I want to know!!

So anyway, with this knowledge I would say that the big nut in the middle of your triple clamp will not be in any way responsible for stopping your forks realigning to center if the other clamp bolts on both upper and lower clamps are loosened off. It shouldn't be done up tight enough to do this. If your yolk do not center when everything is loosened off, including the front axle, then maybe you have some crash damage to the yolks and need to replace them. This is not so expensive if you keep an eye out on ebay or the forum.

photo photo photo

PS.

I just thought of something. I crash my bike a lot at tracks. Every time the bike is OK, front end is immensely strong. But what ALWAYS needs replacing is the bolts that hold the handle bar clamps to the triple clamp. These are the weak point for the whole handlebar, fork, front wheel crash thing. The standard tapered bars are really strong and so these bolts get bent when the bike is low-sided. It's a good thing - they are cheap and easy to replace. Check them out first, if they are even the slightest bit bent then the bike will track true as you say, the forks will look straight and be visually parallel but the bars will feel like they are not 90 degrees true. This can make you think the top clamp is not true but it's an optical illusion.

Putting to much pressure on your right wrist while riding might cause what you’re experiencing. When you’re on the throttle for extended periods of time your hand, wrist and arm are not properly aligned to the bars. Your arms are at two different angles, the throttle side fatiguing first causing the bars to feel bent.

Or...bars may be bent slightly.

Rode the hell out of her yesterday - though not warm enough that i really felt all that confident with the tyres warming up all the way ------ Oh and went to pass a car over the double yellow lines in woodside , roads kinda dirty still in the center so when i crossed the bouble line i gassed it to get around the car and was in the real fine dust still there and spun the rear wheel up pretty good going sideways a bit at about 60 or so ... LOL -- told some guy about it when i got to alices restaurant ( at the top ) and he said some guy had that happen to him some months back and it threw him off the bike ------- grrrr.

ciao[/quote]

Painted road markings are dangerous even summer time especially early morning or in shade, I always try to avoid crossing them WOT, back of to neutral then nail it when the rear tyre clears them, I always aim for the gaps in the lines when passing and never cross painted lines cranked over either You can of course have some fun with this once the traction problem is understood, 2nd/3rd gear crossed up wheelies do tend to intimidate cage operators
Should you be crossing double solid lines anyway [/quote]

Hey ! Ultimate Hooligan bike right ? I think you're on to something here , that must be why the cop ( my only motorcycle ticket in the last 3 years ) gave me a ticket a couple months ago for passing on the right side of the road over the white line told me in a challenging tone of voice " Oh so the rules don't apply to you huh ? How can anyone ride one of these bikes like an ole gramma !! Not me that's for sure.

john

Tried the old trick of loosening front axle, front axle clamps and lower triples (leave the top tight)... Then bounce the bike up down on the front for a bit.

Then tighten up the axle and axle clamps, then the lower triples all to correct torque settings.. That has always worked after my crashes... If it still feels bent then it probably is.