How to tell if a triple tree is tweaked

[brianjonesphoto]

I'm starting to rebuild a v-strom that was in a head on collision into a vehicle at 15-20mph.

The obvious damage was to the fork tubes and radiator. After removing the forks tonight I'm now wondering it the triple tree could be tweaked as well. the fork tubes didn't want to come out very easily. At first i chalked it up to the fact that they were bent and may be binding at the lower clamp.

Thanks

[larryboy]

They're probably just twisted and offset from each other. Basically you need the old forks out, loosen up the head nut and adjuster nut, line the triples up and see if the new forks go in and line up. Check for peeling paint around the steering neck to see if it got bent into the frame.

[brianjonesphoto]

I should have added this to the first post.

[sideshow]

Ouch!

Get your replacement straight forks and do what larryboy suggested. They should slide right in from bottom to top. If not, time to find a new triple clamp.

[brianjonesphoto]

Thanks guys!

[mcma111]

With the fork tubes removed, rotate the triple clamps side to side. Smooth? OK. Binding? Stem bent. Go buy a piece of glass. Long and wide enough to cover the fork tube holes in the triple clamp. Remove the upper triple clamp and lay it on the glass. See any gaps under it? Hold the glass up to the bottom of the lower clamp and check it.
When installing the new tubes you may need to loosen the top center nut to align the two clamps. Slide the tubes so that equal length is exposed from both sides and rotate the tubes. Set/tighten the center nut.