Forks twisted in yokes?

Hi everybody, it's been a long time so my 2008 1250 Bandit must've been working OK!

However, I was undertaking a taxi and the passenger opened the rear door and shoved me off at very low speed: no real damage except a little crimp in the tank and some cracked plastic.

BUT: since then, the bars are a few degrees clockwise of horizontal when riding in a straight line and the bike seems more willing to turn right than left.  It's not a huge deal so I haven't done anything about it but now it's annoying me and I want to get it fixed.  My guess is forks twisted in yokes so:

(1) Am I probably right or is there a more likely explanation?

(2) If I'm probably right, should I slacken the clamp bolts on the yokes and try to twist it back or is there a more scientific method?

(3) It would be great if anyone can give me the torque settings for the bolts.

As always, much obliged for any help.

The torque setting for both the upper yoke clamp (one allen key drive head bolt per fork) and the lower yoke clamp (two standard 12mm head bolts per fork) is 23nm(16.5lb-ft) per the manual.

You'd hope that it is just twisted forks and not a bent slider or worse, but realigning the forks would be were I'd start. If that seems to cure the problem all well and good but you've got to be the final judge of wether or not there's further damage.

The method of getting them straight is a bit of a religious argument but my suggestion would be:

Slacken off the main 23mm axle bolt and the four axle clamp bolts and jack the front wheel just off the ground.
Undo the upper and lower clamps (triple trees) and drop the forks that little bit to the ground to allow them to free up.

The manual gives this sequence:

Recommended fork height is a 1.8mm gap (1.8mm -how's that for anal?) between the upper surface of the top triple clamp and upper surface of the fork slider (where the fork cap meets the slider)

Next tighten the lower triple clamp, then the upper triple clamp.

Personally, I tighten the lower clamp, drop the bike back onto its wheel and give it a bounce, then tighten the upper clamp and the axle.
But, like I said, the sequence gets debated a lot.

Perfect answer , you may hear a CRACK as the pressure is released . Well mine did .

Your bars may be slightly bent too

If the bar risers are rubber mounted like the 1200 you need to loosen them at the bar and the yoke to let every thing spring back to neutral position. I thought I had bent bars once but that is all it turned out to be

Mine actually bent after a slide down the road. Not immediately obvious either

Fantastic!  Thanks to everybody for the detailed advice!  Now I just need to actually get round to doing it instead of riding ...

You guys are good!  I followed !Tag's method and I knew I was on the right track when, sure enough, the "crack" mentioned by Gus was clearly audible when I loosened the bolts on the bottom yoke.  A test ride confirmed the good feeling: no more preference for turning right; bars obviously closer to horizontal when riding in a straight line (not perfect - but did I ever ride a bike that was?); and a just-perceptible head-shake at medium speed has vanished.

So if either of you is ever in HK or I happen to be near you in Australia, there's a cold beer or two that I owe you!

Well done lads and great news HKJohn. Good to hear it's nearly as good as new. Might be time for a set of Renthal bars

Good to see that Gus's crack has got the bike going where it's pointed.

Did you try Recycled and kewwigs suggestion also? (Loosen the 2 bar riser bolts under the top triple clamp) If not that might get the bars straight too.

reddog wrote:Well done lads and great news HKJohn. Good to hear it's nearly as good as new. Might be time for a set of Renthal bars

Yeah, I was thinking about a set of Renthals anyway because these are not pretty:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0ar5RVnUrNOQXExOEJUYVRrZEU/edit?usp=sharing

Do you have them on your bike?  If so, how do they feel?

HKJohn wrote: these are not pretty

- Not wrong there, at least the Renthals being alloy won't pit like that.  

Most have gone with the Ultra Low 7/8" Road Bars

There a number of different sizes depending on what you are after.  Someone once measured the standard bars at (mm) and below that is a copy of the Renthal sizes
A:  685  B: 90  C:70  D: 114  E:  120  F: ??



This You-tube how to  - although a 1200 Bandit (no offence to our oiler cousins    )  - is a pretty good flick with a couple of good tips.

Thanks for the Renthal info.  Apparently they have a HK distributor and are made in my home town of Manchester, UK - both of these facts amaze me but should make it easy to get a set.

Now, can anybody explain to me the logic behind the tightening sequence for the front axle?  I don't have a 1250 manual (I do have one for the old 600s and 1200s but that seems like a different design with no left-hand axle clamp) so I did this:

(1) Tightened the left-hand clamp bolts to stop the axle rotating while I ...

(2) ... tightened the main axle nut.

(3) Tightened the right-hand clamp bolts.  I left this until last as (2) would tend the bring the fork ends in a fraction and tightening the clamp bolts first would prevent this; and it's also the sequence for the 1200 according to my Haynes manual.

Right or wrong?  And if wrong, why?

I've always done it in the sequence you described HKJ because it seemed to make sense.

But on your question I checked the manual and it does give a different sequence:

First tighten the axle (you need a 24mm hex head socket to engage in the left side of the axle)
Second tighten right side axle clamps.
Third bounce the bike 4-5 times.
Fourth tighten left side axle clamps.

Haha, who has ever seen a 24 mm Allen key??  But I guess you could try the manual sequence by:

(1) Tighten LH clamp

(2) Tighten axle nut

(3) Loosen LH clamp

(4) Tighten RH clamp

(5) Bounce

(6) Tighten LH clamp.

I don't understand the logic though: maybe something to do with centering or avoiding sideload on the wheel bearings?  Is that a Suzuki manual or an aftermarket one?

This is the cheapest one on good ol ebay

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/KC-Tools-3-4-DRIVE-IN-HEX-SOCKET-METRIC-24mm-IMPACT-/281206621614?pt=AU_Car_Parts_Accessories&hash=item41793885ae

I'll keep doing it the other way myself.

These work well http://m.torpedo7.com.au/products/T7TO4N0HE/title/torpedo7-hex-axle-tool--17-19-22-24-?sitePreference=mobile

reddog wrote:These work well http://m.torpedo7.com.au/products/T7TO4N0HE/title/torpedo7-hex-axle-tool--17-19-22-24-?sitePreference=mobile

Is there's enough room for the 19mm part to fit into the axle ?  

What torque are they done up to ? Reason I'm asking is that there is an aluminum version of this tool going for about $13 delivered on eBay.  

There is also this in heavy duty CrMo steel eBay 2 at $22.50 delivered.

barry_mcki wrote:

reddog wrote:What torque are they done up to ?

 100 nm

!Tag wrote:

barry_mcki wrote:

reddog wrote:What torque are they done up to ?

 100 nm

73 ft/lbs in the old money - that's a bit too much for an aluminum tool isn't it ?

One way to find out, Barry.

Goddam it, now I'm going to buy another tool. That means when it arrives another tool will fall out of the back of the shed when I shove this one in the front. Jeebus, I'll be trolling the Metrick Metal Catalogue next.

But the thread made me think I'd be pretty hypocritical to be so anal about the rest of my bouncy bits (nobody has noticed I'm anal about suspension have they  ) without adopting this.

!Tag wrote:

Goddam it, now I'm going to buy another tool. That means when it arrives another tool will fall out of the back of the shed when I shove this one in the front. 

It sounds like your tools aren't the problem, your sheds too bloody small!

ALL sheds are too small, they're a black hole that sucks in stuff from miles around.

I dream of sheds!

But even if I had a HUGE shed, I wouldn't buy this big Allen key just for one job when you can use the LH clamp bolts to do the same job ...

barry_mcki wrote:

reddog wrote:These work well http://m.torpedo7.com.au/products/T7TO4N0HE/title/torpedo7-hex-axle-tool--17-19-22-24-?sitePreference=mobile

Is there's enough room for the 19mm part to fit into the axle ?  

I had a look at the website and I can see where Barry's question is coming from.  Does this tool come apart into 4 pieces?  Or maybe my axle is a lot more hollow than I thought.

The site also claims "Ensures proper fork alignment on the axle to prevent fork binding" - how does it do that?