Alright, was farting around today out in the yard and dumped the bike downhill at about 10 mph. I, of course went flying and skidded a few feet before stopping, still with a stupid grin plastered on my face. I picked up the bike, gently kicked the shifter back into place (it was bent outward), and checked out my favorite lever to mess up. So, the clutch lever is mostly done, might try to bend it back, but right now it goes under the handlebar when pulling it in, hehe. The bars might be bent, not sure how to tell. Right after that little bump in the road, I rode it back up to the shed to put it away but it felt....funny. I don't know how to describe it. I got to the shed, parked it and took a look at the front wheel and my first words were "What the ****?". My front wheel doesn't line up with my fender AT ALL. The point of the fender is about 3/8" from the edge of the tire. It's moved to the (if we were talking about cars) passenger side. What the heck is up with this guys? Is it just bent bars, or.... A real thanks goes out to all contributors. I also thought bent rim (didn't look like it) or a bent shock tube (briefly, then dismissed that.)

 

When I dumped mine a couple months ago the steering column was slightly off. If that's the case you might be able to kick the front wheel to straighten it back up. As for the clutch lever, I bought mine from a local dealer for about $5.

 

From in fron of the bike - facing the headlight - Hold the wheel between your knees - grab the bars from the front side and twist. Should straighten out.

 

sure the fender just isnt' tweaked ?

 

You need to loosen the triple tree clamps a bit with your bike on a stand, and give the wheel a it of a twist. You have just tweeked your forks a bit. no biggy.

 

1+ On Redpillar's advice once that happends it is a good idea to loosen and then retighten the fork so it is not in a bind.

 

done it a bunch of time on the trail, loosen the bottom t clamps bolts (cause there is only two) and do the front tire between the knees thing. if its the stock steel bars they may be bent, good luck with that. aftermarket clutch levers are cheap, buy 2

 

+1 very likely tweaked forks
If you "tweaked the forks" nothing is damaged. The fork tubes have spun a little bit in the triple clamps that hold them. Loosening the clamps and re-aligning the front wheel is the correct way to fix this,(Use the correct torque values when tightening the triples) but out in the woods you can use the handlebars to bang the side of the front wheel against a tree which can rotate the tubes back into place.
Dan

 

Very informative posts. Thanks guys. Have the same problem . Had a bad fall and my fender is not aligned with the front tire also. Thanks again and ride safe.

 

And I thought I was imagining things...front tire seemed louder, fender crooked, bars seem tweaked but are straight.
Going to do this at work, where I can buy a couple of torque wrenches (big and small) and see if this changes things.
Glad to know I don't need to crash it to the right to fix it.