Front guard cracked - AGAIN! Forks out of alignment?? Seeking advice...

[BNE-Tim]

I replaced a cracked front guard cause it was a respray and all cracked up. Happy days I thought to myself.
This morning I noticed the replacement had cracked - not so happy now! (photo attached).

Here's the things - the bike is a repairable write off. About 2 years ago I had the fork seals replaced. I was told the forks were not straight and they needed to be straightened. They did that, serviced the folks / seals and I was on my way. A few months later the guard cracked and at that point - i wasn't phased. The guard had previous repairs and respray as part of the rebuild.

So - this is where I'm now a little stuck and would like your help please...
I assume the forks are not aligned or something like that (or there is a rubber mount missing). How can I check this and what is a path to fix it up?

Amazing forum and knowledge. Perhaps this topic is here somewhere else and I've just had a 'boy look'.

cheers
Tim

[BNE-Tim]

better photo

[KiwiCol]

Agreed, something aint right.  Are all the yolk bolts tightened up correctly & the front wheel mounted properly?  Can't think of anything else that would allow the forks to move that much as to crack the guard. Weird alright.

As a fix, maybe a fork brace, usually just for bling, but in this case it could actually serve a purpose.

[steve porter]

If you haven`t already done so , take out the front wheel, remove guard  and see if the axle lines up,if not and the forks are in fact straight, you could have bent yokes.

[gsxbarmy]

Very odd. This could be a number of things, bit harder maybe to determine given it was a repairable write-off.

For sure it sounds like some sort of misalignment. Whilst I don't entirely disagree with KiwiCol about a fork brace, to me that is hiding rather than solving an issue.

- check the forks are straight. Get a piece of steel sheet that touches both fork legs just above the mudguard and just below the bottom yoke. Do all four corners touch?
- repeat the above having removed the front wheel and mudguard (and without the axle in)
- is the front axle straight? Harder to check, but roll the main axle stem across sheet steel and check it rolls ok
- check bottom yoke with the fork legs removed. Piece of sheet steel under the yoke to check the bottom of both yokes sit flat
- to do the top yoke you would have to remove it to do the same above test as the bottom yoke.

If all these check out, I'd be scratching my head as there are no spacers or bushes that you seem to be missing. Only other thing I can think of is how the mudguard is attached (there should be "plates" inside the guard with captive nuts, held in place by small plastic clips inside the guard - are they both there.

[Tony Nitrous]

As above.

Put the wheel out.

Check the spindle is straight rolling it's face against a couple of different straight edges.

Put the spindle in and out a few times without the wheel and check that it's easy to fit and lines up directly with no force needed to line up.

I have a fork brace on mine but I really don't believe a 14 needs one. 

[steve porter]

If the axle doesn't line up you can check if it's the forks or yokes by loosening the yoke bolts just enough to rotate the forks, if the relationship between the two forks doesn't change when you rotate them then the forks are straight and the yokes are bent

[gsxbarmy]

Thinking further after looking at the pictures on my PC rather than on my iPhone.

I'm wondering whether (if everything aligns) that the forks themselves are working differently, by that I mean at different rates of compression. First I'd check that that all the fork adjustments on both forks are the same, but if none of the above (threads) work and check out, then I suggest both forks need to be stripped down to their component parts and checked, as perhaps something internally on one fork is working differently to the other.  If the forks work at different rates, then that will put strain on the guard.

I'm really not sure from you first post what you meant by "they straightened the forks" - did you mean re-aligned or did you actually mean straighten, as if the latter then it could well be that you need to get both stanchions out and checked for straightness, as if everything is as it should be (in terms of components etc) then it's pretty damn hard to get your forks mis-aligned. I think whoever re-did your forks has overlooked something, not fixed something completely, or not replaced something that should have been replaced.

[Tony Nitrous]

Thinking further after looking at the pictures on my PC rather than on my iPhone.

I'm wondering whether (if everything aligns) that the forks themselves are working differently, by that I mean at different rates of compression. First I'd check that that all the fork adjustments on both forks are the same, but if none of the above (threads) work and check out, then I suggest both forks need to be stripped down to their component parts and checked, as perhaps something internally on one fork is working differently to the other.  If the forks work at different rates, then that will put strain on the guard.

I'm really not sure from you first post what you meant by "they straightened the forks" - did you mean re-aligned or did you actually mean straighten, as if the latter then it could well be that you need to get both stanchions out and checked for straightness, as if everything is as it should be (in terms of components etc) then it's pretty damn hard to get your forks mis-aligned. I think whoever re-did your forks has overlooked something, not fixed something completely, or not replaced something that should have been replaced.

I thought that, one leg doing a lot more work that the other, forks badly matched?

I know some bikes do this on purpose. Damping or rebound in one side only. I've seen it on KX250 and Z1000's etc. The difference is they were designed this way and it's not a problem.

Not sure is mismatched forks on a bike that should have matched would do it.

[KiwiCol]

I'm going with Barmy on this now, I think the adjustment out, 1 hard & 1 soft. Reckon that could do it alright.   Check all the settings are the same for each side.   Wouldn't be the first time a workshop has mucked up a repair.

[Kiwifruit]

With my dirt bikes (many years ago) after the odd big endo l would have to sraighten the forks up. I did this by taping steel rulers on their edge across the fork legs and stanchions. You need at least 3 rulers. I would put one just under the top yoke, another under the bottom yoke, another across the stanchions down by the axle.
You can then look down from above and check things are parallel. Will be more difficult with headlight etc. But should tell you if the forks are in the yokes straight.

[Tony Nitrous]

I would like to think that if the forks were THAT different left to right, bad enough to break the guard, that the rider would be able to to tell something wasn't quite right? Maybe not if it was something minor enough to break the guard over a long time?

Check the bottom yoke too.

[BNE-Tim]

thanks all - I did check and adjust the front suspension a couple of days ago. It all looked OK and has been riding great, but I will check again!! I have recently changed the bars (replaced with Renthal lows and 30mm risers) so maybe that felt change was masking something else.

So now that I'm second guessing everything, I'm thinking I need to get it looked at somebody skilled at this - and not looking at this for the first time (that's me).

Now the hunt for a trusted and skilled professional is on.
Any recommendations for Brisbane is super welcome!

[grog]

Tim, before experts found. Jack up front, undo all bolts. Make sure everything slides easily into place, forks into yokes, axle into both lowers.Torque itall up. Guard is last thing to tighten, all bolts should line up.  If something doesnt line up, you have a problem. That needs further investigation. A process worth doing.

[steve porter]

Just for shits and giggles, check the axle pinch bolts are tight, if not tight the forks can spread apart on compression.