Front end alignment – XR 400

[Shayne O’NeilMember]

Took a bit of a tumble the other week and bent the bars on the old XR. Have replaced them and fitted bar risers to suit my height better however the front still seems to be off centre. Looks ok when you look at it but just feels slightly off. Is there anyway you can measure/check bar to fork alignment. Im thinking its just me or could be partially due to raising the bars that could also be making it “strange”.

Any help appreciated

[Mick DMember]

Do what I do. Put up with it, until you eventually crash on the opposite side to your last crash and things seem to straighten themselves out. LOL

Seriously, if anyone has an idea how to get it all squared up again ,I would like to know the theory as well.

[Anonymous]

i think we may have missed the obvious

reads like the triple clamps are twisted out of alignment. easy to do on the skinny forks on an XR. i have twisted them in races, just landing into rutted corners with breaking bumps, didn’t even have to crash.
it’s not that anything is bent, just missaligned. the forks have twisted in their clamps

i just sit on the bike and swing the front wheel so that it bangs into a tree/post. have a look now to see if the front guard is square with the hangers. if not do it again until it is. if it goes to far: bang it the other way. then ride the bike and see how it feels.

this can all be done without getting of the bike. then catch back up to your mates.

if you really want to make sure they are aligned in the shed. elevate the bike so the front end is off the floor, loosen the top triple clamp (even the headstock) wedge a srewdriver in the gaps of the fork clamps and give the handle bars a wiggle to let them settle straight

[Shayne O’NeilMember]

Tried the tree thing but will loosen the tiple clamps and see what happens

Cheers

[Bruce CurtisMember]

To go a bit further, have the front of the bike unweighted/elevated, loosen the bottom clamps right off and the top ones a bit, loosen the axe clamps a little, then retighten the axle clamps, bottom triples and then top triples, should have pulled itself into the alignment consistent with the now straightly set wheel.
Used to be quite an issue with the older inverted forks as Champo said, and KTMs, cause you’re always hitting stuff with them…or is that hitting them with stuff? Oh well doesn’t matter as long as the KTM is hit is all that matters.

BC
Blue is for Boys. Red is for Angry Girly types. So what is Orange for?

[Shayne O’NeilMember]

Cheers mr Blue – will do that and get back with the results

[Shayne O’NeilMember]

All fixed

thanks all

[dennis da menaceMember]

Mr Blue wrote:

Blue is for Boys. Red is for Angry Girly types. So what is Orange for?[/quote]

blokes like me who arent afraid of halloween……

ps- blue is actually the colour likened to “gay pride” im told….Hmmmmmm…..or should i say Himmmmm:kiss:

pps- mr babyblue, did i see you, on the telly the other week, dancin on that float at the mardi gras….you were ridin, but it wasnt a yamaha?????

[Author]

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