Laid it down...handlebars knocked crooked?

[HoboHighlander]

Just a low speed, "oh-dang" moment in my muddy backyard as I get used to the balance of this thing. Picked it up and headed out to the hardware store and I swear the front end is knocked out of alignment.

 

I'll go give the "loosen wheel/lower clamp bolts and tighten back up" procedure a try. I'm a bit anxious about the notion that dropping the bike at like 2 mph in soft mud could knock something loose....what will happen in the woods?! I dropped my old bike on pavement more than a few times and never noticed anything get knocked loose...

 

Any thoughts? Am I just being paranoid with my new baby?

[REDHORSECA]

On my last ride out with my ADV pals I and another T7 had a couple falls each. We both came out of the ride with crooked bars and front wheel alignment. The bars were not bent. Just the alignment were tweaked.

 

At camp we put both the bikes on top of my aluminum panniers to put the front wheel up in the air and loosened all the triple clamp fork tube pinch bolts. Don't put weight on the forks with the bolts loosened up.

 

We spun the front wheel up and locked up the front brakes. We repeated a few times and the tightened up all the triple clamp fork pinch bolts. The handle bars and front wheel were back on straight.

[luke2152]

I've done it too. Put it out of alignment with a minor crash. Once I loosened the clamps and let it straighten out all was well except now I'm paranoid and see the bars ever so slighty off centre (it doesn't matter).

[ride2little]

Same happened to me. Straighten it out, tighten it up and ride-on. 

[HoboHighlander]

Thanks for the input folks!

 

I went out to the workshop and was preparing to do this maneuver but upon looking at the lower clamps realized there was no way my torque wrench would fit in there behind the fairing/side panel. This gave me pause and so I just did the old trick of putting the front wheel between my legs and wrenching the bars back the direction I wanted.

 

To my eyes the bars seem aligned now. I'll be better able to tell when I get out for a ride tomorrow. But this means either:

a) it is far too easy to get this small amount of play

or

b) I'm going insane and they were never really out of alignment? (I don't think that was the case; there was a noticeable auditory click as I tugged the bars back into position)

 

I checked all those fasteners (axle pinch bolts, lower clamp bolts) and they all seem nice and snug...

[tenerecanada]

I lowsided through a turn on a sand covered asphalt road, and had the same thing happen along with shearing off the bolt that holds on the fork guard. I went your route and did the old front wheel between the legs trick and it seems fine at this point. It took a large amount of force to set back though, but at this point I am wishing I followed the initial advice. I will loosen everything off this winter and reset while I have the time. 

 

I have dropped this bike a few dozen times, and that was the only one that shifted my alignment.

[EzBikes]

On 12/5/2020 at 7:45 PM, REDHORSECA said:

On my last ride out with my ADV pals I and another T7 had a couple falls each. We both came out of the ride with crooked bars and front wheel alignment. The bars were not bent. Just the alignment were tweaked.

 

At camp we put both the bikes on top of my aluminum panniers to put the front wheel up in the air and loosened all the triple clamp fork tube pinch bolts. Don't put weight on the forks with the bolts loosened up.

 

We spun the front wheel up and locked up the front brakes. We repeated a few times and the tightened up all the triple clamp fork pinch bolts. The handle bars and front wheel were back on straight.

I think I need to do this. Is there a reason for not putting weight on the fork? 

[Matth]

Im sure they are supposed to give way a bit as the handlebar clamps are rubber mounted on the top yoke.

[REDHORSECA]

10 hours ago, EzBikes said:

I think I need to do this. Is there a reason for not putting weight on the fork? 

My budy sat on his bike and the forks slid up on the triple clamps with all the bolts loosen up. Just more work to get them moved back where they were.

 

[Hammerhead]

Been there also. Don't be too quick assuming it's the tripleclamps that get twisted though.

   In both my cases it was the rubber mounted stock bar risers that got tweaked off parallel to one another.  There's a washer/spacer between them & the tripleclamps to help them do their vibration dampening, but it also allows them to tip.  Disassembled it the first time thinking the bolt must be bent, not so.  Second time, cranked the steering over to the stop & gave a few yanks to the handlebar in the desired direction. Fixed. Didn't touch the tripleclamps on either occasion. 

[ladder106]

Found the same thing as Hammerhead.

Chasing off-straight bars for a few weeks.  Loosened triple clamps and center steering head nut and aligned it all with string lines.....bars still off line to the left.

Removed all controls and put bars on a flat surface in many different configurations....checked the switch locating holes for elongation or ovaling...perfectly round.  Bars not bent.

Then I removed the bars and checked the bar risers that are bolted to the top triple clamp.  Remove the two acorn nuts with a long extension and 17 mm socket.  Keep track of where the washers go (small diameter on the top, large diameter on the bottom).

 

Put the bar risers on a flat glass plate and found them bent.  When sighting down the two mounting studs I found them out of "plane".  I should have see then aligned like an "I" with one seeming to disappear behind the other.  Instead I got a slight "V".

 

I carefully bent them back into shape and reassembled everything....bars now straight and aligned with front wheel.

 

Edited May 18, 2021 by ladder106

[NickQc]

I had the crooked handlebar issue yesterday after a 5km/h drop in soft dirt. I tried the method mentioned in this thread where you loosen the pinch bolts and push down on the front end and no luck. I then tried removing the handle bars and inspecting the bar rises and they were perfectly fine as well.

 

Finally got frustrated and put it against a wall and twisted the handlebars, which worked. Probably not the proper method but oh well, got the job done.

[NvNick]

Been doing it like NickQc for years, just bang the wheel against something to get it back.

[Flyingdunkey]

Have mine for a year and probably have had to straighten the wheel 10 times. Its too easy to get them crooked, even sand does it. 

[roygilbo]

On 6/2/2021 at 5:10 PM, NvNick said:

Been doing it like NickQc for years, just bang the wheel against something to get it back.

Worked like a charm yesterday.  Brings me back to the days of my youth.  

[Ktmmitch]

We will have a Billet Bar Riser to replace the OEM cast version, which has fixed, cast-in M10 bolts, which cannot be replaced when bent.

Our version will be similar to KTM, where the M10 bolts are captive, and in the event of a crash, they can be replaced.

Also it will be available with lower height version & bar packers, to raise the bar height, if required.

[Oxxa]

On 12/6/2020 at 1:50 AM, luke2152 said:

I've done it too. Put it out of alignment with a minor crash. Once I loosened the clamps and let it straighten out all was well except now I'm paranoid and see the bars ever so slighty off centre (it doesn't matter).

How did it straighten out after loosening the clamps? By itself or you bent it back into place

[Oxxa]

On 5/18/2021 at 7:10 PM, ladder106 said:

Found the same thing as Hammerhead.

Chasing off-straight bars for a few weeks.  Loosened triple clamps and center steering head nut and aligned it all with string lines.....bars still off line to the left.

Removed all controls and put bars on a flat surface in many different configurations....checked the switch locating holes for elongation or ovaling...perfectly round.  Bars not bent.

Then I removed the bars and checked the bar risers that are bolted to the top triple clamp.  Remove the two acorn nuts with a long extension and 17 mm socket.  Keep track of where the washers go (small diameter on the top, large diameter on the bottom).

 

Put the bar risers on a flat glass plate and found them bent.  When sighting down the two mounting studs I found them out of "plane".  I should have see then aligned like an "I" with one seeming to disappear behind the other.  Instead I got a slight "V".

 

I carefully bent them back into shape and reassembled everything....bars now straight and aligned with front wheel.

 

How did you bend them back into shape?

[Oxxa]

What is the tightening torque for the two bolts that are under the triple clamp that hold the handlebar risers?

[Hollybrook]

24 lb-ft.

 

There is s link to the service manual somewhere on this forum. 

[AZJW]

5 minutes ago, Hollybrook said:

24 lb-ft.

 

There is s link to the service manual somewhere on this forum. 

It's pinned under Tech Tips, well hidden, 7th post down from the top.

 

https://www.tenere700.net/topic/664-service-manual/