Bent Forks

[Ixion]

I'd be very surprised if they were not straightenable . Just a general engineering firm. Someone here will hopefully suggest a name, other wise just look for general engineers, or engine reconditioners. Just ring round find one who doesn't respond "wotcha talkin aboot,Willis" when you ask about straightening motorcycle forks. Bike shop might do them also. Try Spectrum, or Corsa, maybe.

Just needs a place with a decent hydraulic press. I've straightened 'em myself in the past using a truck hydraulic jack , under the house. Course, you do have to be carefull the house doesn't fall down. Though it might cost $50 or so, so if you can get a second hand pair of forks cheaper, might be easier. Of course, if the errant cager is going to pay ????

[xwhatsit]

I did mine myself at a place down in the industrial area of Onehunga, but I'm fucked if I can remember the name! I know vaguely where it is, though. If I had my bike I'd go take a look. I did it for free; I noticed this particular general engineering shop had a Harley inside, engine out, working on the frame and massively raked front forks. I wandered in inside and chatted to the guy about his bike then asked if I could be a pain in the arse and borrow his hydraulic press for half an hour -- I told him I'd give him $20 for some beer if he liked. He told me, nah, go ahead, fellow biker! Did it using a straight rule, some timber offcuts I found lying around, and the press. The bend was minor, but it's perfect now, when I rolled it afterwards it was spot on, couldn't pick up any irregularities.

It's very easy to do, get that McJim of yours to do it for you -- being Scots, I'm sure he'd love to save money by doing it himself . I googled thoroughly before attempting mine to work out how to do it, can't remember name of site, but it is very easy, and your bend doesn't look too bad (but worse than mine by far). Just be careful not to overshoot and bend the other way, because that becomes a real pain in the arse, and it's not good for the steel either.

[oldguy]

Glad to hear your OK, try Mt Eden Motorcycles.

[McJim]

A solution has been found. We chained the back of the frame to a tree and then set up a ratchet pulley to the forks. We then tightened the pulley until the front forks straightened up.

Not quite straight at the moment but no longer destroys the fairing when you slam on the anchors. Will suffice while we save up for new forks.

Many thanks to our neighbour across the road who came up with this imaginative solution.

[blacksheep]

yah rough buggers!

[Ixion]

Me great grandfather Ikey Mctavish (he who was tragically mothed to death) would be proud of you. If it works, it's all good I always say.

[andrea]

Hiya,

Had an impact with a car who entered a roundabout while I was already on it - the guy then slammed on he brakes with the result that I hit him...quite hard.

Got home and let McJim survey the damage - there was nothing visible at first but McJim has spotted that the stanchions are slightly bent - being steel he reckoned the bend may be slight enough that the fork integrity is still good and took the bike for a squirt to see that it still handled.

The front wheel now makes contact with the belly fairing under heavy braking but overall the handling is still good.

Is it possible to have the stanchions straightened? If so how much will that cost?

There is an RG150 front end currently on trade me with a buy now of $350 - a lot of the stuff on it I don't need (Wheel, Brake, triple clamps etc.)http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/List...px?id=81941799 how much would the fork legs cost through someone like Colemans?

I will call them (Colemans) tomorrow anyway but we need to budget for Christmas etc and it would be nice to know sooner rather than later what sort of financial damage we are looking at here.

Thanks in advance.

Chickadee/Mrs McJim

the offers still up girl, we can go to this guys house and ill do acouple of burnouts on his testicles with the 600, and we'll get the money off him to pay for the damage to ya bike

[McJim]

the offers still up girl, we can go to this guys house and ill do acouple of burnouts on his testicles with the 600, and we'll get the money off him to pay for the damage to ya bike

Many thanks for your gentle offer. However, in the interests of the wellbeing of future motorcyclists I had a very civilised conversation with the gentleman over a cup of tea at his home where I asked his preference for dealing with the situation - Insurance or settlement - he agreed to a cash settlement - it now falls to us to find a way to repair the damage within the budget given.

Also he now goes on his way watching out for motorcyclists AND considers us to be a darned polite and patient subset of the population.

Hopefully a happy conclusion for all.

[FROSTY:Me]

was it the rgv150 fork staunchen you jammed up his #$#$ first that quietened him down??

[xwhatsit]

Many thanks for your gentle offer. However, in the interests of the wellbeing of future motorcyclists I had a very civilised conversation with the gentleman over a cup of tea at his home where I asked his preference for dealing with the situation - Insurance or settlement - he agreed to a cash settlement - it now falls to us to find a way to repair the damage within the budget given.

Also he now goes on his way watching out for motorcyclists AND considers us to be a darned polite and patient subset of the population.

Hopefully a happy conclusion for all.

Yeah, well sounds a good way for everything to be sorted out. Testicle burnouts are a lot of fun, I must admit, but those kind of games tend to encourage a slight amount of resentment and anger -- not necessarily improving relations for (as you noted) future motorcyclists who may come into contact with these guys.

BTW, huge ups for that innovative method of repair! If I ever want a larger-wheelbase bike, I'll consider that technique .

[Kwaka14]

Try RG Harris in Glen Eden, they build race cars and have all the gear required to straighten pretty much anything..... Not sure what it's cost you...

[classic zed]

Many thanks for your gentle offer. However, in the interests of the wellbeing of future motorcyclists I had a very civilised conversation with the gentleman over a cup of tea at his home where I asked his preference for dealing with the situation - Insurance or settlement - he agreed to a cash settlement - it now falls to us to find a way to repair the damage within the budget given.

Also he now goes on his way watching out for motorcyclists AND considers us to be a darned polite and patient subset of the population.

Hopefully a happy conclusion for all.

Its not really up to you to repair things within his budget, its up to him to pay for the damage he caused. A cheap repair might compromise the bike long term.

[McJim]

Okay,

New forks have been obtained - I understand how to dismantle the front end except for one interesting bit - How do I get the front of the bike off the ground?

Will keep you posted as to how I progress.

New front end came with a spare front brake set up which is damned handy since we were going to have to grind the front rotor and relace the pads at some point soon - new rotor is pretty much mint.

thanks for everyone's help.

Jamie and Christine.

[TLDV8]

You could try the tie downs off the garage rafter to lift the front of the RG.
It might be worth putting fresh oil in the replacement forks while you have the change...fwiw

[El Dopa]

How do I get the front of the bike off the ground?

Rope over a handy rafter in your gargre, or (I think) a car jack under the engine sump, avoiding the exhaust headers/collector. Or both.

Hopefuly someone will tell us if I'm wrong.