Ok so I MAY have had a little get off this weekend so I'm in rebuild mode. After inspecting the bike, one of the forks is slightly bent. It should be able to be straightened and I'm looking into that. So, since the fork is bent, I figured it'd be a good idea to check the upper and lower triples. With them still on the bike, is there a way that I can measure them to make sure they're straight? I figure that, if they're not, then reinstalling straight forks would be a hassle, but that doesn't seem like a sure thing. I know someone here had checked triples before, what'd you do?
Too start. Pull the front wheel. Loosen the triple clamp bolts. If you can, pull the forks and put them on a wheel balancer to see if they are bent. I typically take off the trees. Put them on a counter top or granite slab to see if they are tweaked.
If the trees bind when moving side to side, the stem is bent, taking the trees off and placing the top on a level surface, and use a straight edge on the lower tree and look for gaps, I would do the same on the stem.
Yep, got the forks off and am down to the triple trees. One fork is bent, other looks straight. I was hoping to be able to measure the triples on the bike and not mess with the head bearings, etc..
Mack, everything seems to turn side to side perfectly smooth, so think the stem itself is fine. I have never pulled the triples from a bike so was hoping to not have to in order to just check the trees...
Typically the steering head bearings are pressed in and permanent. Or they're just laying on the races and come right out. It's either no effort or very easy. Pull the trees and check them out. Be sure to look up how to torque the head nuts. 95% of people put them on and over tighten them. Take fork tubes and roll the on the counter or laminate table or something. Lay them opposite of each other, so one upper tube is near the others lower tube. If there is any bend, it's easily obvious.
How far are you from GMD in Atlanta? Kent can not only professionally measure everything (entire bike), but he can also fix/straighten everything. Forks, Triples, even the frame can be straightened.
Actually just dropped the forks and triples off with Kent yesterday .. It was a good call to take the triples too because they were tweaked. Fixable, but tweaked.
He will take care of you. Kent is a really good dude. He has setup several of my bikes in the past using his Computrak Geometry Analysis.