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Can bad true make front slithly crooked?

2K views 8 replies 4 participants last post by  Kuutio 
#1 ·
Just out of curiosity, can bad trueing make the front feel crooked or make it crooked ? or is it possible to hit your wheel so the rim turns to left or right but doesnt do anything weird :nerd:
 
#2 ·
If the bike has tipped over or been run into an object or been backed into by a vehicle or actually crashed while in-motion, the handlebars, fork legs & front wheel may be twisted out of alignment.
Minor issue, one might simply straddle the front wheel with ones legs & twist the handlebars the opposite direction, flexing the front tire passed the center-line of the front fender. Or drive the front wheel between 2 immovable objects (corner of fence line) and twist the handlebars from the seated position.

If major mis-alignment, one may have to loosen the front axle just a bit, all top triple clamp bolts, one pair of the bottom triple clamp bolts and then twist the bars & front wheel into alignment. Then re-tighten all previously loosened bolts.

On 87-07 Gen 1 bikes, the front fairing Bracket can sometimes be tightened off of center line, making things appear crooked. And the round tachometer & square speedometer can also make things appear more mis-aligned than they actually are.
 
#3 ·
I think i have alrrady talked about this on the forum but i will just say the bike has been somewhat crashed into ditch by the last owner who pretty much has been beating it into crap so yeh a lot of things can be wrong but yes for example foot pegs are bent etc, have been just lazy so havent fixed it since im talking about very mildly crooked, like the handlebar isnt 100% straight when looked with eyes while driving(i have changed the handlebars and loosened everything in front tho not engine which i should do now that i think of it) but its very close to straight but its just eyeballed so yeh. But thanks for the answer, i was just curious could the rim be bent etc just so slightly that it makes the bike ride almost straight but without it making any noticeable stuff like huge wobble.
 
#4 ·
A bent front rim or an incompletely seated tire bead would be noticeable if spinning the front tire with bike elevated. Or remove the front fender, ride the bike standing up, lean forward and look at tire while in motion. Both methods would show any zig, zig, zig, zig motion of tire tread.

A mis-aligned rear wheel/chain adjustment could cause the bike to feel like its wheels are riding to opposite sides of center-line.
 
#6 ·
When I first rode my new 2017 KLR650 I noticed that the handle bars not perfectly straight when riding down a straight stretch of road.
I thought that this was probably normal and nothing to worry about. The front tire is straight with the handle bars held straight.
The bike has never been crashed or dumped on its side. When I adjusted the chain I would use a pair of calipers to measure
between the bottom of the adjuster bolt heads and the locknut on both sides making them the same and the cast in marks for adjustment were very close as well.
A couple nights ago I measured between the centre of the axle and the centre of the swing arm pivot bolt and there was over 1/8" difference.
I adjusted the right chain adjuster forward 1/8" so the rear axle was parallel to the swingarm pivot bolt.
Now the handlebars are straight. I have only ridden the bike a couple times since but right away I noticed that it felt a lot more stable in tight turns
especially turning to the right. The neighbourhood I live in has 2 roads to access it both have steep hills with tight turns at the top.
One of them has a tight right turn part way up. I rode up the one with the tight right turn several times today and there is a noticeable
improvement having the rear wheel adjusted straight.

Terry
 
#7 · (Edited)
I think i will check this too since it doesnt hurt to look :) i do have the adjustments on same marking but i guess it could be also bad bushings? etc etc, just havent had a good look on the bike yet, did notice some time ago that for some reason my adjustment on rear tire was off and that already made big difference. Also it might just be that the tank is little bit offset or something else but it kinda looks like rear tire isnt sitting straight in the back even with adjustments on same spot soooo i guess ill have a look at this :) been just lazy to fix and been just ridin :D


Edit: if bushings were done i would propably have noticed that now that i think of it :)
 
#8 ·
I was able to get out on the KLR a couple time today between rain storms. I waited until the pavement was dry both times and put a few kilometres on it.
I have a pair of Metzeler Karoo 3 tires on the KLR not the best pavement tires but they handle pretty good all around. Getting the rear tire properly aligned
made a big improvement in handling! I know its not a sport bike by any means but there is a big difference going into corners.
 
#9 ·
It is really fun when you have the bike dialed up when you know how exactly it handles, but rip my bike, clutch started to slip yesterday x_x, i guess the weekend was its last strike, been always thinking in what condition the clutch is since i have had the cable pretty much in pulled all the way on my lever, but at the same time i thought it was the cheap lever kit since i use 2 finger lever currently.
 
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