What's wrong with this picture?

[sleemanj]

1997 bmw f650 st

246640

246641

[Taz]

No headlight or indicators.

[sleemanj]

Nah it's got indicators, they just shitty bar end things.




Hard to get a good shot, but the bike is level, on the center stand, the front wheel is pointed straight, and the photos are taken looking down the center line.

To me, there is a distinct lean in the front end.

I believe it HAS been de-reg in a past life and re-reg, I don't know the reason but I would guess insurance job, but if it was, then surely it would need to be straighter than that to pass re-certification.

I don't see any evidence of tool marks on the frame, nor any cracks, re-welds, or anything that looks like it's bent to my Mk 1 eyeball, I'd think that a lean like I'm seeing should be a fairly substantial bend that would stick out like a sore thumb.

Guess I'll have to bite the bullet and take the whole front end to bits to try and see what's what...

[F5 Dave]

It can be real hard to get a handle on whether things are straight. Decent frame straightening shops have a solid straight bit of kit they can clamp bits to to measure the bike & long straight bars that will indicate level. You could find you are chasing the wrong bits, if there is a problem at all. Centre stand could be munted. On the other side frame could be bent.

[Shaun]

It looks pissed to me. F1 Engineering In Hamilton is best for checking and fixing bent niss

[Grumph]

Mark one eyetrometer will come close enough.
Two long straightedges - timber will do provided they're dressed to parallel edges.
Place against wheels , vertically, using either clamps or assistants.

Stand back and sight...

[F5 Dave]

I use 25mm square section ally which is cheap from usual hardware places & about 3m long. Still have to wotk out how to clamp it & where. Should be a place in ChCh that will spend an hour or so & tell you where you are at.

[sleemanj]

Looks like it has a fork seal on the way out anyway so I'm going to pull them apart and do that so can check them for straightness at the same time, and the clamps for straightness, before I get too involved.

Think there is a laser level floating about in the shed somewhere, maybe I can put that to good use.

[gatch]

Looks a bit odd huh.

The radiator and the crash bars look to be on the same angle. With my calibrated eyometer of course.

Can you take yoke out of the steering head, put in some bar stock and check it against the rest of the frame ?

[sleemanj]

After taking the forks out, and the yokes, examining them, and doing my best to check the, whats the word, line-uppy-ness of the front end to the back end using a laser, bits of wood, rulers and tape measures, I am fairly sure that I have a bent frame on my hands.

Specifically my uneducated thinking is that the top half of the frame is both bent a fraction to the left and rotated a fraction clockwise (looking from seated position).

The rotation at the top is too small to tell from the naked eye, but once that tiny deflection is extended down the forks and wheel it is very obviously tweaked to the left a few cm at the road.

Forks and yokes SEEM to be straight, I'm betting they were replaced when whatever did this was done.

So... what to do, I guess 3 choices,
a) try and ignore it, ride as is, and hope that the WOF man didn't care
b) strip the bike to bare frame and get the it measured and straightened
c) find a straight frame with live registration and do an engine etc swap

Anybody recommend any Christchurch places that can do a proper measure and straighten?

Don't want to put too much money into it, they just aren't worth that much these days and this one owes me too much all ready.

[bogan]

If it is a few cm out, I reckon that counts out option a!

I'd try and go for option c if I were you. B could get pretty expensive.

[Ocean1]

If it is a few cm out, I reckon that counts out option a!

I'd try and go for option c if I were you. B could get pretty expensive.

Dunno, if you take the bare frame to a shop that's set up to do that sort of work I'd be surprised if it took more than half a day to straighten. Three or four hundred orta cover it I'da thunk...

[Katman]

Before stripping it to the bare frame to have it straightened check with whoever is doing the job as to their requirements.

Some places prefer the motor being left in place to provide some rigidity throughout the staightening process.