so last night i got into a small accident with my beloved 1983 suzuki gs450l to sum it all up i got cut off by a miniature van and my bike only sufferd from a couple of things 1. the front fender got a small dent in it, i figure that i can just hit it out with a rubber mallet or something 2. this is my real problem, i now have to have the bars angled to the left a little to go straight, they should be pointed straight ahead but i have to have them pointed left. the bars arn't bent though, i can tell because the guages and all that stuff is exactly with how the bars should be (sorry im having a hard time describing it) but the front wheel and fender are pointed a diffrent direction (small turn causing me to have to hold the bars a little left to go straight) its as if the forks are bent halfway down? you cant really see it if your just looking at it unless you look very closely that somethings off. so anyway enough with my rambling, my real question is what do you think is wrong??? Thanks for any help, this bike is my main mode of transportation right now so i really want to have it fixed asap.
Sorry to hear about your accident. This is typical when bikes go down - happens all the time. If your lucky, just your handlebars, tripple clamps, and or forks have twisted/slipped due to the fall. We used to hold the front wheel against a wall or post, and then twist the bars to try to straignen them out - usually worked if they werent to twisted. If that didnt work, we would loosen the handlebars and or tripple clamps around the fork legs - then twist back and retighten. BUT - I would check all the structural areas first to be sure nothing is really bent and/or cracked. If so, then....
alright thanks ill go try the pole trick and see if that works, i just took a look at it and didnt see any cracks or bends or anything like that in the frame.
i tryed to bend it back right now, no luck any ideas? i hope i dont need to bring it into a shop or spend alot of money.
You probably have a bent fork. Even when there's been no known "crash", forks on old bikes will be bent. Standard procedure on restoration of any old bike with 35-37mm forks is to take them apart and check for straightness. They're almost always out a little bit just from year in-year out minor impacts. If it's been hit in the front end, it's for certain they're bent. Take them apart and check for straightness. If not too badly bent (I dunno, maybe 1/2" or less out of straight), it's probably ok to straighten them with some wood blocks and a hydraulic press.
alright thanks ill give that a try, is it dangerous to ride it as it sits? i need to get to work on it... and nobody else is home to drive me. just out of curiosity is it expensive to get a new oem fork? or should i look into something new?
so iv been bending it more and more and it seems to be (almost) back in aligntment so its all good except i think i might need to bend the handle bars... whats the best way to aproch this? im thinking heat a la propane torch and a vice to hold her steady? but im not 100% shure if there bent yet... so thatll be my last resort.
Slowly bend the bars back into position. Remove the grip and control, then slip a close fitting pipe over the bar, or a rod inside. The bars aren't tempered for the very reason they'd be brittle and break on impact. Straightening a slight bend won't hurt them. If the forks bounce up and down freely, then you've probably dodged the bullet and alignment was all that suffered. And henceforth, ride more defensively - and not at night, especially on the weekend.
The forks are probably twisted in the triple trees ( best case) or bent ( worst case). To straighten them in the triple trees DON'T just use force to twist them back. There's a simple procedure: Loosen the pinch bolts on the top triple clamp, and the centre nut that holds it down. Loosen the axle nut and the pinch bolts at the bottom of the forks ( if it has any). Don't loosen the pinch bolts on the lower triple clamp or the whole thing will fall on the floor. Now pump the forks up and down several times as hard as you can. This should pull them back into line. Now tighten everything down again. That should do the trick. If it doesn't they are probably bent and need replacing.
