Four weeks ago I went down doing 60 mph. The bike developed a severe wobble that quickly got worse and I went down.
I haven't determined what caused the wobble yet. That's something I'll do more looking into once I fix some damage from the crash.
Most of the damage from the crash is cosmetic, stuff I'm not worried about fixing. However, the front wheel is misaligned with the handle bars and front fender.
I tried the easy stuff first. I loosened all the bolts on the front and compressed the front forks to see if things would line up. That didn't work. I got more aggressive by securing the front wheel and twisting the handle bars to try to get things to line up. That didn't work.
Over the weekend, I pulled the front forks. One of the forks was easy to remove. The other fork would not turn and was difficult to remove. I was able to finally remove the fork by using a rod and tapping on the top of the fork until it was out of the top tree and then it was easy to remove from the lower tree.
Since I had so much trouble removing the fork, I expected it to be bent. I checked both forks by rotating them on a piece of plywood and then using a straight aluminum bar. Neither fork is bent.
I cleaned up the forks and triple trees. I was able to install the forks relatively easily. No sticking when putting the forks back on.
After reinstalling the forks, the wheel is still out of alignment. Now I figure one of the triple trees is bent.
How do I check a triple tree to see if it is bent? I'd prefer not to buy replacement parts unless I need to. At this point, I'm thinking I'll buy a replacement bottom triple tree and see what happens.
Any advice?
Thanks in advance.
BTW, I came away from the crash with some rash on my knees, some bruises, and a severely strained wrist. I was wearing all the gear. The rash occurred because the knee pads in my pants twisted out of the way and the pants wore through. The jacket is also toast, but did it's job in protecting my upper body. I don't think any amount of armor could have prevented the twisting injury to my wrist. After 4 weeks, the road rash is almost healed and the wrist is coming along nicely. I'm in the process of purchasing replacement gear. I was lucky.
I haven't determined what caused the wobble yet. That's something I'll do more looking into once I fix some damage from the crash.
Most of the damage from the crash is cosmetic, stuff I'm not worried about fixing. However, the front wheel is misaligned with the handle bars and front fender.
I tried the easy stuff first. I loosened all the bolts on the front and compressed the front forks to see if things would line up. That didn't work. I got more aggressive by securing the front wheel and twisting the handle bars to try to get things to line up. That didn't work.
Over the weekend, I pulled the front forks. One of the forks was easy to remove. The other fork would not turn and was difficult to remove. I was able to finally remove the fork by using a rod and tapping on the top of the fork until it was out of the top tree and then it was easy to remove from the lower tree.
Since I had so much trouble removing the fork, I expected it to be bent. I checked both forks by rotating them on a piece of plywood and then using a straight aluminum bar. Neither fork is bent.
I cleaned up the forks and triple trees. I was able to install the forks relatively easily. No sticking when putting the forks back on.
After reinstalling the forks, the wheel is still out of alignment. Now I figure one of the triple trees is bent.
How do I check a triple tree to see if it is bent? I'd prefer not to buy replacement parts unless I need to. At this point, I'm thinking I'll buy a replacement bottom triple tree and see what happens.
Any advice?
Thanks in advance.
BTW, I came away from the crash with some rash on my knees, some bruises, and a severely strained wrist. I was wearing all the gear. The rash occurred because the knee pads in my pants twisted out of the way and the pants wore through. The jacket is also toast, but did it's job in protecting my upper body. I don't think any amount of armor could have prevented the twisting injury to my wrist. After 4 weeks, the road rash is almost healed and the wrist is coming along nicely. I'm in the process of purchasing replacement gear. I was lucky.