last weekend I went riding with my fellow 06 klx250s owner---we have pretty much the same bike except his has gearing mods front and rear----I have a 13 tooth front sprocket is all=====anyways===we were riding a single track trail with tons of blown down trees blocking the trail===someone had gone thru and cut all the trees so the trail is rideable=====during a slight hill climb I noticed him laying on the ground=====he was going about 15-20mph and a tree branch or piece of tree reached out and grabbed his handle bars full left====which caused him to fly off the bike and bloody up his elbow===tonight he calls me and says something is bent======if he sits on the bike and points the front tire straight======the left handle bar is closer to him and the right handle bar is further away---not centered----also he says his fender points off to the left when the tire is pointed straight=====they are pro taper bars so I dont think they are bent===I am wondering if the fork tube is bent or possible damaged fork clamp? I am too new to this off roading on road biking to have any clue what might be bent======tomorrow I am going over and we are going to take a tape measure and measure distances from the frame to the fork tubes=====anyways you guys have helped a ton all ready with my bike=====I just wonder what you all think could be bent?

 

Loosen the pinch bolts in the triple clamps and realign the the front wheel.

Ride on
Brewster

 

Sounds like he's "twisted" the forks in the clamps. No biggie! Just loosen all the fork bolts off with the front wheel out. Torque the forks back up, then refit the front wheel, use the correct torque on all the bolts as a few people on here have snapped the axle clamp studs.

After that it should all line up straight again.
You should be able to check the bars for bends by eye.

Too easy.

Damn you Brewster. Hahah

 

thanks guys=====funny thing that the service manual says nothing about wheel alignment=====I'll help him do this tomorrow night===thanks again guys

 

im in the same bucket, i took everything part today and it fixed it a little. anyone with more info plz chime in.

 

Yeh as Brewster and WestOz say, loosen the triple clamp bolts first.
You may need to loosen the top triple clamp nut on the steering stem as well.
Got to get the triples lined up with each other, and unless a fork is actually bent, job done.

I leave the front wheel in and give it a twist or 2 until it re-aligns.
Twist the wheel against the stop and then twist it some more.
Don't be afraid to give it a good wack
Once your happy, torque it all back up.

 

It takes quite a bit of force to bend the forks. I had been riding around for 3 months with handlebars pointing right...then I found out it was an easy fix. Trailside fix even. If you're alone, wack it against a tree!

 

Some guys leave the clamps loose enough to be able to twist the front end back into square. I don't know if that's a good idea. When you were a kid and the front tire on your bike got crooked, all you had to do was to put the front tire between your knees and twist the bars. Same principle.

 

why====do you=====type===like this?

it's====kinda======nutty.

 

I think those are pauses, or changes of thoughts. Paragraphs work better. As I quickly learned from Sro a couple of years ago. I typed this huge post in one paragraph, and he ripped me a new one. Well maybe not that harsh but after I learned to separate some thoughts it made it a lot easier to read. I got the point.