Fork Straightening (oops)

[donteatpeople]

Had a bit of an off last Night. Silly slip, locked front wheel on gravel at about 15mph after baking for a tight corner. Slid down the road on the side then bumped the curb with the front wheel.

Road the bike home and it seemed ok but am a little concerned after looking at the front end that there is a slight twist in the forks.

I have a few of questions:

- Can forks be straightened?
- Is it advisable?
- Is it expensive?
- Are CBR125 indicators standard Honda fitment or bike specific?

[Smart Roadster]

Forks can be straightened but only if you have not kinked the metal. I would be surprised if you had from the description of your off.
It is more likely that they have twisted in the yokes.
Slacken off the fork clamps on the bottom yoke. Bounce the bike up and down on its front suspension and see if that helps. Retighten the bottom yoke clamps.
You can check if the bike is still straight by laying a long piece of wood parellel to the bike using the back tyre as a guide. You should be able to see a big problem, or measure the gap between the wood and front tyre.
Move the wood to the other side of the bike and repeat. The gap should be the same.
Of course it could be twisted or bent handle bars making you think the forks are out.
No idea about honda indicators but they should be cheap enough.

[catso]

Agree that the forks are probably just twisted in the yokes, my kids have a small M/Cross bike and if (when) they crash it the forks often do this, it's easy to straighten and 'field repairs' are even possible by trapping the wheel & turning the bars or kicking the wheel but I wouldn't advise this on an 'Adult' bike as the forks/yokes should be stronger so you may damage the wheel but loosening the clamps should do it.

[donteatpeople]

I’ll give that a go.

I think the main Impact was on the right hand bar as it fell. Could that have moved the top yoke in relation to the bottom?

[Mad Dave]

Previous posts are probably right, but if not contact ABE (All Bike Engineering) as they can straighten out fork tubes or sell you a cheap replacement if the metal is kinked. I used these guys when I bent a fork tube on my Bandit.

[donteatpeople]

Did a check and it looks like the front wheel is out of line by about 2 degrees but this an estimate as I did not have anything more accurate than string and my eye (stretch string out and line up with rear tyre, line up the front wheel with the string then look to see if the yoke looks square with the frame). No kinks in the metal or any obvious damage and rides ok.

Is it worth getting them checked professionally or should I just ignore it?

[eliminator]

Get it checked. Don't take risks with a road bike. Tarmac seems to get harder the faster you bash into it. Or that could just be me getting old - I don't bounce as well as I used to.