Bent Forks

[Chickadee]

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

[NighthawkNZ:Me]

Bummer and glad you are okay..

I personally wouldnt try and straighten them, as there is no guarentee the are perfectly straight and then there is a strength issue..

[Posh Tourer :P]

getting things like fork legs through a dealer will be an arm an a leg, or possibly two of each... Go get the front end then re-sell the other bits....

[Ixion]

Fork stanchions can be straightened provided they are not too bad. It's by no means uncommon. Should not cost very much. There are experts, (eg F1 Engineering in (I think) Hamihole), but for small bike forks any good jobbing engineering place could probably do them. I'm sure that someone here will have a contact.

Glad that you were not hurt, don't let it rattle your confidence.

[jonbuoy]

Make sure your frame isn't distorted before you buy the forks.

[McJim]

getting things like fork legs through a dealer will be an arm an a leg, or possibly two of each... Go get the front end then re-sell the other bits....

Funny - that's what I said when she got home. Who wants to buy an RG150 front wheel for $150?

Ixion - thanks for your words of support - I gave her a big hug when she got home - poor wee thing was crying from the fright but she still managed to ride home.

I'm awfie proud o' the wee lass.

[T.W.R]

If the wheel is hitting the belly pan under breaking then that's a pretty decent bend If there's any crease marks then they're fucked particularly is the crease or bend is within the stroke zone of the suspension travel.

If there's crease marks then the structural integrity of the inner tube is fractured & if straightened they'll just snap like carrots

[McJim]

Make sure your frame isn't distorted before you buy the forks.

First thing I checked after I heard the nature of the impact - no flaking paint around steerer therefore little or no distortion - it's a steel frame anyway so should maintain a high percentage of tensile strength even if bent a little.

[blacksheep]

got my forks straightened for $30 on my gsx250 by local eng firm,just get them to have a look they will soon say wether they are f**cked or not

[Sketchy_Racer]

It dont take much to get the RG front wheel to hit the fairing.... I've seen race RG150s do it under really bumpy braking areas....

Pull them out, and any bugger with a press and a needle micrometer will be able to straighen them more than enough

[Turtle]

Sounds like they should be repairable........Ive done heaps of them....a good hydraulic press some blocks of wood and a straight edge.Half an hour at any engineering shop should sort it.

[McJim]

It dont take much to get the RG front wheel to hit the fairing.... I've seen race RG150s do it under really bumpy braking areas....

Pull them out, and any bugger with a press and a needle micrometer will be able to straighen them more than enough

Yeah, the clearance BEFORE the incident wasn't huge - I think at most the axle is 3mm further back...will grab the camera and post a photo.

The REALLY bad news is that she has bruised her ribs...and the insides of her thighs!

Guess that leaves me with one option over the festive season

[Sketchy_Racer]

haha only 3mm... damn you'll get way more than that just normally braking..!!

But still, get them fixxed

[Ixion]

Just occured to me. If the accident was the other person's fault, have they admitted liability? And will they (or their insurance) pay for the damage? In which case, don't mess about, just whip it round to the dealer, get a quote to fix it better than new, and slap it on the guilty party.

[Chickadee]

McJim has taken photos and I've attached them.

He says there's no visible creases but the bend occurs at the lower trile clamp anyway so difficult to see without removing the forks.

I await comments from the experts.

If they can be straightened what kind of engineer are we looking for (i.e. what will they call themselves in the yellow pages)?

Thanks.