Small alignment issues or something worse?

[JWoody]

So I dumped the bike today. Slow speed (35mph) and no real injuries to myself but I did lose the right mirror. Again. And the right scoop is a bit scratched but nothing I can't buff out, On the 20 min ride rest of the way home I noticed the alignment seems off. I'm pretty sure the forks are not bent, no expert but nothing looked telling from my extensive examination of the front end.

A critical look while she was up on the stands showed her to be cocked to the right a few mm's or so. Is this something I can tinker with to get "realigned" or are the forks bent and need an "expert" to take a better look?

As for dumping her; I blew through some loose gravel from the recent rains that hammered VA, DC, MD area and was too fixated on controlling her through the gravel. A little too much speed for the gently sloping turn and went off the side. Easy left hander, but should have been more cautious on some of the back roads.

At least the 2014 crash is out of my system.

-J[cool]

 

[squidbuellie]

If your bike is tracking funny, you can loosen your triple trees and try to get them to go back to neutral.

 

[XLXB]

Had this on a honda I had. I just loosened everything and it snapped back where it needed to be. If it's not bent anywhere I would think the Buell would do the same. It's worth a try... Just make sure you support the bike so it doesn't fall.

 

[JWoody]

Alright. I've been taking a look through the Service Manual just to see if there is anything I should know before loosening the bolts. I have her mounted fine with the front end hanging free, stable as can be. I'm wondering if there are small indents or alignment marks on the forks somewhere to help gauge fitment.

-J[cool]

 

[theoctopus]

I used to ride dual sport pretty often with a few different bikes. Every now and then I would dump 'er good, and really crank the front end. A quick fix was to turn the wheel hard against a rock to adjust it in the opposite direction. Obviously it's better to do it right with tools, but it's not uncommon to have them go cock-eyed on you after a crash.

 

[poinographer]

Actually, going out of alignment might even be considered "a feature, not a bug." The alternative would be (if everything were so rigid that nothing could slip out of alignment) parts would BEND or BREAK.

 

[jetlee]

This really isn't uncommon. Just loosen up one of your triples (I did the lower) nice and loose and wiggle the forks back and forth then wiggle the wheel itself back and forth, re-tighten the triple and go about your day. Takes about 5 minutes.