Often asked: How To Straighten Bent Motorcycle Forks?

Can bent forks be straightened?

If they are only out of alignment, they are easily straightened, and there are plenty of posts that explain it better than I can. If they are really bent, that’s a different story. I think it would take more than a slight gravel road mishap to really bend the forks but it could easily knock them out of alignment.

How do you know if your forks are bent?

To see if the tube is bent, you can remove the front wheel, then turn the tube in the clamps and watch for the bottom end of the fork to move around. Or, since you’ve gone that far, take the fork all the way off, put the axle end in a vise, and turn the stanchion.

How can you tell if a triple tree is bent?

If tubes appear bent, roll them to be sure. Or clamp in vice and put a dial indicator on and rotate the tube. Bent triples can be found by removing the front axel. If it’s hard to line up (the front axel) and the forks aren’t bent, you triples need to be straightened or replaced.

Can you fix a bent aluminum bike frame?

You can ‘t just bend an aluminum frame back into shape and weld it; Once repaired the entire frame has to be annealed and then retempered- something that costs a lot more than just replacing the frame with a new one; 4. Unlike steel, aluminum frames crack when bent.

How do you align front forks?

Support the weight of the bike on the jack or center stand, and loosen the front axle. Remove the lock nut, and then try to slide the axle out of the fork. If it comes away with little effort, the forks are in alignment. If the axle has to be pounded out, it’s a safe bet the forks are slightly tweaked.

How are motorcycle forks measured?

Fork length is measured from the base of the frame neck to the center point of the axle mounting hole. For any off-the-shelf motorcycle this standard measurement for the front forks is considered stock length.