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Handlebars not centre when riding straight, they are off to the right

fosters

Registered User
My bars are turned very slightly to the right when riding in straight line. You can see the top yoke is not level, it is turned slightly right.

I did a search and others have mentioned same years ago.

They didn't used to be like this, bike never dropped or crashed. It's not camber of the road and others have said might be the left axle bolts not tightened after front wheel removal and forks being pumped up and down with weight of bike on them and then axle pinch bolts on left tightened. I can't see this being the cause, surely the axle bolt going through both fork legs determine the line of the front wheel and the fork pinch bolt tightening sequence is merely to set where the left fork sits along that axle bolt!

It suggests the forks may have twisted! Seems unlikely! Why has everyone said they have turned to the right on their bikes?

Front wheel facing the right direction of rotation and spacers correctly fitted on each side

Is it possible for the top yoke to get out of line with the bottom or can they only fit in one position? No play in headstock bearings and never been done. Bike only done 15,000 miles.

Could the constant putting the steering lock on and hitting the stops cause the lower yoke to move Out of line with the top yoke?

Anyone else had same problem and what's likely cause.
 
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CBRDEAN0

Registered User
Have you adjusted the chain recently and are you sure the rear wheel is perfectly straight with the frame / swingarm ?

If the rear wheel is not straight with the frame - you will turn the front wheel to make the bike ride straight.
 

fosters

Registered User
Sorry I meant to put that in the original thread. Yes I've checked the chain and measured countless times. I'm satisfied the rear wheel is in line.

Do you know if it's possible to get the top and bottom yoke out of line with each other, i.e. If I loosened the headstock nut would there be a bit of play that I could move top yoke out of line with bottom yoke, or is that impossible?

Looking on the web it seems not uncommon for forks to twist slightly ( maybe even hitting a speed bump or pot hole hard) and undoing lower yoke / triple trees and loosening front wheel pinch bolts and pressing front of the bike down a few times might align the forks?

Anyone had experience or similar issues.
 
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andyBeaker

Moderator
Staff member
Moderator
Club Sponsor
I might be missing something here but if the legs are not bent it should be straightforward enough to unnip the bolts and straighten them up?

I had a small off on a Fazer years ago that resulted in the bars being skewed way to one side; I assumed the forks were bent but they just needed resetting.
 

noobie

Clueless in most things
Can I ask, do you mean the yoke or that the bars are skewith making it look like something is all wrong.

Do you happen to have bar risers fitted?
 

fosters

Registered User
Can I ask, do you mean the yoke or that the bars are skewith making it look like something is all wrong.

Do you happen to have bar risers fitted?

I can see the top yoke and the bars are off to the right. I have risers fitted but nothing to do with them. Forks should be 100% straight. Hoping when I get time I can undo the lower yoke bolts and front wheel pinch bolts and realign the forks. Handling wise you can't notice it.
 

fosters

Registered User
It was starting to p.ss me off so thought I'd look at it this morning.

If I put the bars and top yoke level as it should be ( in straight ahead position) and then looked at front wheel and mudguard I could see the wheel was clearly not pointing straight ahead and was off at an angle

All sorted now, bars and top yoke level.

I undid the left and right lower yoke fork pinch bolts and left fork leg front wheel axle bolts with bike in the air, then lowered it and forced front of bike and forks up and down several times then slowly tightened each side a bit at a time and realigned the front forks and wheel and problem sorted @tu*

Weird because they weren't loose so I have no idea why they have twisted in their mounts but it was enough to Annoy me. Wasn't as noticeable when I had my tank bag on but when I didn't :bang:

Just though odd that when I did a search quite a few had same problem years ago, even jaws said he'd seen a few, bars always to the right! Weird.

Found handy link on YouTube https://youtu.be/vSunBRB6-r8

@tu* gents
 
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slim63

Never surrender
Club Sponsor
I have seen a few different bikes & one bird with this exact same problem, it usually happens when the front end or even just the wheel has been out for some reason

As you have correctly found out if you slacken everything off & then pinch everything back up in the correct order the problem is solved, where it wont always work is if its been that way for a long time as metal memory will sometimes cause it to creep back to where it was

The other thing I noticed on my (carb) bird is the front wheel clamping arrangement isn't the best thought out design you could in theory (if you were daft enough) not push the spindle all the way home, clamp it then tighten the big bolt hence forcing the LH leg in a little, again that is doing things in the wrong order, daft but possible :whi5tl:
 

andyBeaker

Moderator
Staff member
Moderator
Club Sponsor
I have seen a few different bikes & one bird with this exact same problem, it usually happens when the front end or even just the wheel has been out for some reason

As you have correctly found out if you slacken everything off & then pinch everything back up in the correct order the problem is solved, where it wont always work is if its been that way for a long time as metal memory will sometimes cause it to creep back to where it was

The other thing I noticed on my (carb) bird is the front wheel clamping arrangement isn't the best thought out design you could in theory (if you were daft enough) not push the spindle all the way home, clamp it then tighten the big bolt hence forcing the LH leg in a little, again that is doing things in the wrong order, daft but possible :whi5tl:

You mean Brunel got the front axle wrong as well as the charging system?!!!

Yikes.
 
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