bending forks, ok or disastrous?
 

there i was lazering a beautiful italian girl on the roadside with my eyes whilst she was climbing into her fiat 500, when wham, i hit the back of a car.

stupid mistake. the result being that my front forks are bent. slightly. it was'nt a heavy crash. took it to me mechanic and he said that they can be bent back into shape easily and that they would be fine. just like brand new. apparently

well, i have my doubts. my tech document mentioned that one shouldnt bend them back.

what would you guys suggest? i am leaving in october for a massive trek down to cape town south africa, from italy. so i need to the bike to be perfect.

should i bend them or buy new ones? bending them will set me back 200 euros and i dont even want to know what buying new ones would cost me. safety comes first however.

hope you can help.
robin

heres the warning...
 

well its written here. but i suppose i have to see if the inner tube is bent. i presume it is.

Depends how bent is bent.

I had some straightened on a Guzzi T3. They were maybe 2-3 degrees from straight. The guy centered them in a lathe and use some kind of of press to get them trued up. It worked, they were fine. If it's a serious bend so the tubes are no longer round in section but gone oval at the bend it sounds improbable that they could be fixed. If it were me I'd say little bend OK, big bend no-way Jose.

Are the forks actually bent or just got twisted up in the yokes? Sometimes this makes them look bent when all that is happened is the forks are no longer parallel because the upper and lower yokes (triple clamps if you are from America) are no longer in line. If it's not obvious the only real test is to take the forks to bits and place the stanchions side by side and see if you can see daylight between them as you roll them together. If you can, they are bent.

At the end of the day it's your call as peace of mind is important, as in fact are your forks come to think of it..

Was she worth the hassle?

This happened to me when I hit the back of a van in Romania. I thought it was new forks time but on closer inspection it turned out it was just the legs twisted in the yokes. I just loosened the bolts, straightened them by eye and have been riding on them ever since with no prblems as yet. I'm glad this question came up as I'd forgotten all about it! Should reall y inspect thyem properly at some point to make sure they are OK!

Matt :)

check ebay
 

Hi Robin,

if it is a XT 600 fork should be very easy and cheap to get some 2nd hand ones by ebay.

I have at least 3 pairs to much !!!!!!! But unfortuneatly I have them at my home in South Africa :-(

regards

Thomas

www.600.xt.ms - WEB.DE MyPage

Forks
 

Hi,
Im new on the site,I ride a Kawasaki ZX6R,before hand I had a Honda xr125 for 2years...It was the bike from hell.I got reversed into 3time parked at different houses I worked in.My forks at first were straightened as I could'nt get the lady to pay up.So we did a job on it(my dad and me).After that my garage did bend them back..then I had new ones,Thanks to a landrover!I had the same feeling you do..but I must say mine were fine.I would'nt bend them more than twice!I do think after that they are more likely to be goners.Do check your oil in them as they can leak!

Michelle

thanks a million
 

hey all

thanks a million for everyones replies! yeah will take them a part first to see if they are just twisted in the yokes. it wasnt a heavy crash. the bend is minimal and definitly not a creased bend. will hold em up side by side and then send them in to be bent striaght if needs be.

my father sugessted taking them into the university to see if they have got metal fatigue. might do that as well.

thanks again everyone!

robin

Robin, an answer!!!
 

Was she worth it..

Seriously I've bent a 2 pairs of forks on different bikes (never run up the back of anyone) always some stupid accident on the dirt.
I had both sets straightened by the pros. Although I'm a trades person and therefore trained to perform such procedures, I would suggest taking to someone (not a general garage) to have them checked and straightened.
Often they bend up near the bottom triple clamp. Although this is good as it won't effect the function of the inner moving in the outer but they are therefore prone to creasing at this point. Also a very small bend this high up can have a significant effect.
Although this is no sure test. if you let go of the handle bars (at a low speed) does the bike stay in a straight line, do you have to lean to one side to keep it in a straight line??
If both forks are bent equally the bike may stay straight..

stripped
 

hi all, stripped them down, reoiled them and in the end couldnt see then bend at all. they might just have been twisted in the yokes.

anyway.... might take the bike in to someone and ask em if they see anything wrong with the forks.

thanks for all your help!

r