[metasac]

sounds innocent enough, right? must be something simple. but i've heard that after a collision, they just never ride right again and i'm finding that to be true now:

had a low speed collision bout six months ago in which the font of my bike was hit. i'm told by the shop that my forks were not bent. had an alignment done then they checked the stem bearing and bushings and say they were fine and yet...

when i ride, i feel like mostly my right hand is involved in steering - the left hand just kind of hangs there and doesn't participate much. if i ride with no hands, it goes off to the right. i kind of just want to swap out front ends and be done with it rather than do the whole thing bit by bit replacing stuff until it's fixed, which would probably end up costing as much or more.

any ideas? i really don't want to sell this bike, but if i can't get her to fly straight, then...

~m

 

[Decker]

sorry to hear that

Sorry to hear about the bike troubles Meta.

Did you have any parts replaced, or the rims/tires? Does it wobble when you get go of the bars?

I hope it's something easily fixed!

 

[sbpark]

my bike has been down like three times and tracks straight as an arrow. have buddies that race thruxtons and work at a triumph dealership and they have never had an issue with alignment and they have wrecked these bikes several times, and pretty hard.

is your real wheel installed properly? was the chain adjusted umproperly? are the chain tensioners equal on both sides?

 

[Aussie_T100]

are the chain tensioners equal on both sides?

Chain tensioners are not to be relied upon when it comes to accurate alignment in my experience. My Bonnie did not track true from the day I rode it out of the shop with zero miles on the clock, complaints I made to the dealer regarding this were met with "it rides fine" despite the fact that if you let the bars go the bike tracked to the left quite strongly and you had to lean your body hard to the right to bring it back on line.

I eventually fixed the problem myself through trial and error the first time I adjusted the chain tension, now the notches on the chain tensioners do not match side to side, one side is forward of the other by 1mm but the bike tracks perfectly.

 

[PieMan]

Your best bet would be to have the frame and forks tested again, it would only take a degree or two off in one direction to cause that sort of problem. Painful I know, but if you want it right.

 

[metasac]

the front rim was warped and the shop trued it. i guess that could be the problem if they didn't do a very good job. looks ok when i look down at it while riding - no obvious wobble and i don't feel any wobbling at all while riding - just a pull to the right.

in addition to what i described when i started this thread, the other noticeable symptom is that when i apply my front brakes, the bike dips noticeably to the right. sucks.

the only non-cosmetic things i had replaced were the handlebars and the bolts, numbered 13, on the following schematic:
http://www.bikebandit.com/triumph-motorcycle-bonneville-t100-2001/o/m17584

it was a pretty low speed, low impact collision... how hard could this be to solve? i have to remember that most bike shops, including the one i took it to, just aren't that competent.

thanks for your help. any other thoughts/observations would be appreciated.

Sorry to hear about the bike troubles Meta.

Did you have any parts replaced, or the rims/tires? Does it wobble when you get go of the bars?

I hope it's something easily fixed!

 

[metasac]

this bike rode straight as an arrow before my incident and it was a front-end collision. as far as i know, the rear wheel was installed ok and i don't see how it could have been affected by my little crash. as to chain adjustment and tensioners, i've actually never done that in the two years of my owning this bike and i know the shop hasn't either. i'll look into that - perhaps that's my problem. thanks for the advice.

my bike has been down like three times and tracks straight as an arrow. have buddies that race thruxtons and work at a triumph dealership and they have never had an issue with alignment and they have wrecked these bikes several times, and pretty hard.

is your real wheel installed properly? was the chain adjusted umproperly? are the chain tensioners equal on both sides?

 

[reflectedstatic]

Check the fork tubes again. If the shop was lazy, they may not have removed the sliders when they checked them.

Pulling right under braking sounds like fork flex rather than misalignment. Make sure the brace is fully tightened.

Even low-speed, non-dramatic drops can screw things up if you're unlucky, but in the end, it's just metal and rubber. If it's not tracking straight, something either needs to be adjusted or replaced. Keep going through things 'til you find it. Good luck.

 

[metasac]

forgive my ignorance, but "fork flex" sounds an awful lot like bent forks... is that right?

anyone out there have suggestions - other than the triumph dealership - for a shop in the greater NYC area that can do a decent job of helping me solve my problem?

thanks everyone, for your input.

Check the fork tubes again. If the shop was lazy, they may not have removed the sliders when they checked them.

Pulling right under braking sounds like fork flex rather than misalignment. Make sure the brace is fully tightened.

Even low-speed, non-dramatic drops can screw things up if you're unlucky, but in the end, it's just metal and rubber. If it's not tracking straight, something either needs to be adjusted or replaced. Keep going through things 'til you find it. Good luck.

 

[reflectedstatic]

forgive my ignorance, but "fork flex" sounds an awful lot like bent forks... is that right?

Not in the way you're probably thinking. Even perfectly straight fork legs will flex when a lot of force is applied to one end of them, and so long as the force isn't too great, they'll snap back to straight when the force is removed. When that force is only applied to one leg, that leg will want to flex more than the other, effectively changing the steering angle and turning the bike. This happens with a single-sided front brake. I'm not sure about Bonnies, but Scramblers and Thruxtons have a heavy steel front fender mount that also serves as a fork brace by preventing the fork lowers from twisting, which they also have to do to flex that way. I had mine off for a while, and the bike would dive (can't remember if it was to the right or the left) when I got on the front brake very hard.

Can't help with the shop, unfortunately.

 

[metasac]

wow. one benefit of me working my way through this problem rather than just selling and replacing is that i'm learning a lot. in the end, however, i'll probably have spent more money than if i just cut my losses, sell it, and buy a newer bike.

still - it's stuff like this that makes me want to figure out exactly what the problem is and fix it. thank you. it's giving me inspiration to try to solve this issue.

Not in the way you're probably thinking. Even perfectly straight fork legs will flex when a lot of force is applied to one end of them, and so long as the force isn't too great, they'll snap back to straight when the force is removed. When that force is only applied to one leg, that leg will want to flex more than the other, effectively changing the steering angle and turning the bike. This happens with a single-sided front brake. I'm not sure about Bonnies, but Scramblers and Thruxtons have a heavy steel front fender mount that also serves as a fork brace by preventing the fork lowers from twisting, which they also have to do to flex that way. I had mine off for a while, and the bike would dive (can't remember if it was to the right or the left) when I got on the front brake very hard.

Can't help with the shop, unfortunately.

 

[Sic Semper Tyrannis]

Get a second opinion.

I think you should definitely get a second opinion. Your bike shouldn't ride like it has got a side hack on it. Like sbpark, I've laid my bb down before and haven't had any problems. But you said you had a 'collision' and that's a bit different. (I had a little collision with my '05 bb, but that snapped both fork tubes and jammed the headers and frame into the engine. Cars suck.) If you can, bring someone who is a bit more knowledgable. If the shop tells you nothing is wrong, then ask why the bike does something it is designed NOT to do.

 

[mikeinva]

You need to check and see if the front wheel and rear wheel are running true with eack other .You need to maybe take a lazer level .set the bike up stright on blocks or something and and see if the top of both wheels align with each other and the bottom of both wheel align with each other . could be the rear wheel is not adj stright with the front or the neak is out side to side at a angle. hope that makes since to ya.

 

[DaemonWulf]

Ill second the chain tensioner suggestion. Ive had two incidents with my bike, both due to me applying the front brakes too hard at low speed (gettin used to dual discs up front is a b***h) with the first one (owned the bike 22 hours) resulting in a drop at about 30-40mph and a severely dislocated shoulder. I thought everything was off up front, but the majority of it was my imagination. The small bit that wasn't was actually a little bend in my right side chain tensioner. Ive learned (tho hard) not to trust them, just to use them as a ballpark guide. A turn or so more on one isnt the end of the world. and with what Triumph charges, a little experimentation beats replacing parts by a mile.

 

[Sic Semper Tyrannis]

I hear what you're saying, Mike, but the fact that his bike actually dips to the right when he applies the front brake is kinda scary. Maybe the left fork has more resitance/strength than the right, causing the bike to naturally lean ever so much to the right causing it to track to the right. When the brakes are applied the increase in force causes the difference in compression to become pronounced enough to be noticed as a dip. It's a hypothesis.

 

[mikeinva]

I hear what you're saying, Mike, but the fact that his bike actually dips to the right when he applies the front brake is kinda scary. Maybe the left fork has more resitance/strength than the right, causing the bike to naturally lean ever so much to the right causing it to track to the right. When the brakes are applied the increase in force causes the difference in compression to become pronounced enough to be noticed as a dip. It's a hypothesis.

Yea it could be.If the neck is out of rack with the bike when you put on the brake and shift all the weight up front they can do crazy things to.You would about have to have a table and strip the bike down so you can use a square to check it and make sure.I bet the dealer didnt check it .but I hope thats not the case.ether way i would take it back and make them get it right.

 

['08 T100]

sounds innocent enough, right? must be something simple. but i've heard that after a collision, they just never ride right again and i'm finding that to be true now:

had a low speed collision bout six months ago in which the font of my bike was hit. i'm told by the shop that my forks were not bent. had an alignment done then they checked the stem bearing and bushings and say they were fine and yet...

when i ride, i feel like mostly my right hand is involved in steering - the left hand just kind of hangs there and doesn't participate much. if i ride with no hands, it goes off to the right. i kind of just want to swap out front ends and be done with it rather than do the whole thing bit by bit replacing stuff until it's fixed, which would probably end up costing as much or more.

any ideas? i really don't want to sell this bike, but if i can't get her to fly straight, then...

~m

Even a slow speed collision on the front end can tweak the steering head. The frame steel is really pretty soft. To correctly evaluate if the steering head is bent, most, if not all shops, have to send it out to a specialised shop for evaluation to determine if the head is bent.

It's very expensive and there are not many places that do that kind of precision work.

That's why many shops will recommend to total your bike when there is ANY front end collision. You cannot heat up and then straighten the head. After stressing the steel that way, you could end up riding down the road and have the front end crack off on you.

My bet is that the head is bent on your frame, and that's why it tracks to the right.

 

[metasac]

I hear what you're saying, Mike, but the fact that his bike actually dips to the right when he applies the front brake is kinda scary. Maybe the left fork has more resitance/strength than the right, causing the bike to naturally lean ever so much to the right causing it to track to the right. When the brakes are applied the increase in force causes the difference in compression to become pronounced enough to be noticed as a dip. It's a hypothesis.

seems like, if anything, the left fork would have have LESS resistance/strength - that's the one that received the brunt of the initial impact - it actually got a little dimple in the fork tube.

 

[convict]

I have dumped my bike twice. our bonnies seem to be bullet proof. i love to ride hands free - it freaks the cagers out and she tracks just fine . and considering the crashes i am surprised . .

 

[Sic Semper Tyrannis]

seems like, if anything, the left fork would have have LESS resistance/strength - that's the one that received the brunt of the initial impact - it actually got a little dimple in the fork tube.

I was kinda guessing it was the left fork that got hit. The dimple makes me think my hypothesis is strengthened. I was thinking the fork tube was somewhat dented and rubbing a bit on the fork leg as it compresses. That would create more resistance/strength. If the left side has more resistance, the right side will dip more and thus lean and track to the right. Again, I'm only guessing here, but the dimple makes me think I'm on the right track.

For anyone who knows how deep the leg seats in the tube (I don't know off hand), how high up is the dimple on the tube?