A mate of mine has a ’98 XR600. 3 years ago he had a crash and ended up in a coma in intensive care for three weeks, with a long road to recovery. Recently, he decided that he was up to the stage that he would like to get back on the bike, so we wheeled the old girl out of the shed and got it going again.
The handlebars are not straight in relation to the forks. (The crash was caused by wire catching the front forks and stopping the bike suddenly.) We have tried to straighten the bars the usual way, loosening the triple clamps and axle, holding the wheel solid and trying to turn the bars straight, but it is not moving at all. The triple clamps on this bike are unbelievably tight, I have never seen triples this tight. We have tried wedging the triples open slightly and straightening the wheel, with no success, even with two large blokes putting their strength into it.
We suspect that we may be dealing with one or two bent forks. I think our next step will be to remove the forks from the bike to check. If the forks are bent, can they be straightened (successfully) or are they worth replacing? The forks themselves seem to work ok, sliding freely etc. What would be an approximate cost for fixing bent forks if it is possible?
Any and all advice appreciated!
