Yep - I'm that guy!

[onetruevibe]

I backed into my bike last week and knocked it over. Good times.

• The good news: the side stand held the bike up so that it never actually touched ground.
• The bad news: cracked the front fender and bent the side stand forward 45 degrees.

I have those two issues taken care of, but on the way to work this morning I noticed something wasn't right with the bars. They seemed to be twisted clockwise about a 1/2 of an inch. I looked at it this morning from a bunch of angles, and I can't tell if it's bars or the front fairings, or something altogether.

Thoughts?

I guess I should also mention that the ride to work was fine - no shakes or wobbles. Seemed to ride good as new.

Here's a peek:

[csmith12]

You hopefully should be able to loosen the triples and shake it out straight. There is a link around here somewhere for doing that.

[rojoracing53]

If you hit the front fender then your may want to pop off the femder braket/fork brace and make sure its strait. It doesn't have a whole lot of influence on wether your bike goes strait but it can cause a lot of front suspension stiction.

This isn't whats causing what you describe but its something many people overlook when fix your more pressing issue which your tweaked forks.

[csmith12]

Lots of good stuff here but found your link.

http://www.ninjette.org/forums/showthread.php?t=49448

[onetruevibe]

Awesome guys! I've not done much work on bikes, so It's great to be able to rely on your experience/expertise. Thanks for taking the time!

[onetruevibe]

So...closer inspection seems to confirm that the forks are twisted a bit.

Although the DIY is thorough, I'm hesitant to do this myself - I don't have much experience with this stuff - but my shop can't get to it until next week.

Is it dangerous to ride - or should I park it until it's corrected?

[rojoracing53]

Dude just loosen the bottom triple clamp bolts and walk the front wheel over to something solid like a pole. Place the side of the tire against the pole and twist the bars against the pole to straiten out the forks. Ride it down the street hold the handlebars strait, if with the bars held strait you drop to the right then your wheel is still pointing left so push it against the pole until its strait. After its strait tighten the lower clamp bolts then loosen the upper clamp bolts and retighten them, this will remove any binding. This will get it very close if not right then you can ride it till you take it to the shop next week.

If you don't want to even do that then give the frontend a bounce, if the suspension moves freely then you'll be fine to ride but I'd avoid any canyons. If the suspension binds and does move freely then don't ride it until you do the DIY or what I told you.

[onetruevibe]

Originally Posted by rojoracing53

Dude just loosen the bottom triple clamp bolts and walk the front wheel over to something solid like a pole. Place the side of the tire against the pole and twist the bars against the pole to straiten out the forks. Ride it down the street hold the handlebars strait, if with the bars held strait you drop to the right then your wheel is still pointing left so push it against the pole until its strait. After its strait tighten the lower clamp bolts then loosen the upper clamp bolts and retighten them, this will remove any binding. This will get it very close if not right then you can ride it till you take it to the shop next week.

If you don't want to even do that then give the frontend a bounce, if the suspension moves freely then you'll be fine to ride but I'd avoid any canyons. If the suspension binds and does move freely then don't ride it until you do the DIY or what I told you.

Yea - thanks for the reality check. I need to stop being such a nancy about this. I'll give it a shot after work.

[onetruevibe]

Originally Posted by rojoracing53

If you hit the front fender then your may want to pop off the femder braket/fork brace and make sure its strait. It doesn't have a whole lot of influence on wether your bike goes strait but it can cause a lot of front suspension stiction.

Smart man. This is exactly what happened. I noticed it when I took the fender off to repair the crack. The part of the bracket that runs parallel to the right-side fork was bent in where it was hit. I corrected that as best I could, but I think I'll take it off tonight and get a closer look. Thanks again!

[onetruevibe]

Gave it a try, but I don't have the right tools. The suspension doesn't seem to have any binding, so I'll just take it easy and let the pros handle it next week.

Although...instead of paying the shop to do the work, I would probably be better off spending the money on a set of hex sockets and doing it myself...learning something new in the process.

[rojoracing53]

Originally Posted by onetruevibe

Gave it a try, but I don't have the right tools. The suspension doesn't seem to have any binding, so I'll just take it easy and let the pros handle it next week.

Although...instead of paying the shop to do the work, I would probably be better off spending the money on a set of hex sockets and doing it myself...learning something new in the process.

This man is getting smarter by the minute

I learned about the bracket at a CVMA race with the 250 crew. One rider was struggling with his suspension feel and after I bounced one the bike once I knew something was up. After a harder look I saw the bracket looked like a pretzel being forced into position, we pulled it out straitened it and bolted it back up. The next day he when a few seconds faster and said the bike felt much better

[onetruevibe]

Guess I need a torque wrench too. Recommendations? 1/2", 1/4"?

Also - do you guys know the torque value for the upper and lower?

[rojoracing53]

Originally Posted by onetruevibe

Guess I need a torque wrench too. Recommendations? 1/2", 1/4"?

Also - do you guys know the torque value for the upper and lower?

You need both a 3/8 drive inch/lbs and a 1/2 drive foot/lbs to cover all bases. For this the 3/8 should be good enough.

It's 15Ft/Lbs for the upper and 22Ft/LBS for the lower if you using a wrench that measure in Inches then just multiply those values by 12 to get the inch/lb equivalents.

[onetruevibe]

Originally Posted by rojoracing53

You need both a 3/8 drive inch/lbs and a 1/2 drive foot/lbs to cover all bases. For this the 3/8 should be good enough.

It's 15Ft/Lbs for the upper and 22Ft/LBS for the lower if you using a wrench that measure in Inches then just multiply those values by 12 to get the inch/lb equivalents.

That's what I needed to hear! I owe dinner and a beer if you ever make to PA.

[onetruevibe]

Alright - finally grabbed some tools and got to work on this. Seemed to go well. I loosened the lower, got on it, and it seemed to spring right back, mostly. I rolled it to up against something fixed and give it a couple tugs.

Re-tightened the lower, loosened and re-tightened the upper.

Pretty straight-forward.

Pretty close to perfect, as far as I can tell eye-balling it. Question is, should I still take it out to the shop and have them check it out to make sure it's perfect?

[BernawanFR]

i dont know its kinda awkward if you look on the speedo reflection, you was like "holy cow i crashed my bike! better take a picture first" lol

[Trailerboy531]

Originally Posted by onetruevibe

Alright - finally grabbed some tools and got to work on this. Seemed to go well. I loosened the lower, got on it, and it seemed to spring right back, mostly. I rolled it to up against something fixed and give it a couple tugs.

Re-tightened the lower, loosened and re-tightened the upper.

Pretty straight-forward.

Pretty close to perfect, as far as I can tell eye-balling it. Question is, should I still take it out to the shop and have them check it out to make sure it's perfect?

Does the bike track forward? Does it look straight? Does the suspension rebound as it should? Have you noticed ANY issues while cornering?

It sounds like it's probably fine and I'd shy away from paying someone $100 to tell you it is.

[onetruevibe]

I'm assuming this is not ideal. I'm also assuming it's related to my previous posts in this thread.

Before I call the shop, any ideas on what I should expect to pay to have it fixed? Any terminology I could use to help describe it, or will "right fork leaking fluid" cover it? I want to be as specific and as accurate as possible, because they've already looked at these forks and must have missed this.

Thanks guys!

[Lychee]

Here is a walk through on how to replace the oil seal. It is for a different bike but the forks are similar so the procedure is the same.
http://faq.ninja250.org/wiki/How_do_..._fork_seals%3F

The hardest part is getting the new one on and fully recessed. Many people simply stick the old one on top of the new one and use a flat head and mallet and pound it on. And then take off the old one and continue reassembly.

[onetruevibe]

Thanks for the quick reply, Lychee and for taking the time to dig up the link. I took a look and it's well above my skill level. I think I have enough info now though to talk to the shop and get an estimate on the repair.

Thanks,
Brian

[menikmati]

I just replaced my fork oil and dust seals recently, drop me a line if you have any questions.

[Felipe the Ant]

Originally Posted by rojoracing53

if you using a wrench that measure in Inches then just multiply those values by 12 to get the inch/lb equivalents.

Just want to clarify this:

1 inch pound =
0.0833333333 feet pounds

Common mix-up, the gap doubles with every ft lb

[Trailerboy531]

Originally Posted by menikmati

I just replaced my fork oil and dust seals recently, drop me a line if you have any questions.

come to the track dayyyyyyyyy

[menikmati]

Originally Posted by Trailerboy531

come to the track dayyyyyyyyy

I took the first ride on the 250 yesterday after the repairs and new chain/sprockets and it tracks/handles weird. Sometimes I'll feel that the bike is squirrley on random occassions, usually at slower (sub-20 MPH speeds). Once I pick up speed then it usually feels more stable. I noticed it a lot when taking off and stopping (feels like the handlebars randomly want to go left or right and I have to consciously countersteer to fix it), I couldn't take off from a stop without wiggling until I picked up speed and slowing down. I used to be able to take off and stop in a straight line and basically balance the bike for a split second when the bars were straight and stopped.

Not sure what's up with the bike now, but I don't feel safe riding on it on my commute, let alone on the track. I did notice that I had cut my chain to 105 links, rather than the 106 links that's required. I was able to put the chain on the new sprockets (15T/45T) and get the proper slack, but I had to move the chain adjusters towards the front, effectively shortening the wheelbase of the bike a little. Maybe that could be it? I can get a 106-link ERV3 but I don't want to throw a perfectly good 105-link chain away.

So the things that I want to take a look at:

Lower and Upper triples (the forks I bought had them supplied, but I just did a straight fork swap. When I tried to remove the lower triple, some bearings fell out)
Chain (105 links instead of 106, big handling differences?)
Tires...? My front tire took a big chunk of impact since it got wedged between the ground and guard rail. I didn't see any obvious signs of a bent rim, but I did notice some damage on the front tire. I realllllllly liked the S20's and I've had around 8k miles on them and could easily go another 2k, but I also want to try out the DRII's for their fanbase and I want to feel the difference between a 150 and 140 rear.

[Trailerboy531]

Don't get a new chain - use another master link. When you screw up you can attach another master (so you have 2) that effectively adds one more link. Boom.

Replace the triples - you lazy bastard. Drilling out the ignition bolts to switch over isn't really bad it's just scary to think about.

Get your bike on stands, rear and front, and spin the wheel and see if it has any weird wobbles. If a chunk of your tire is missing that means the rim took one hell of a hit. Do you know anybody near by with a 250 that you can swap tires/wheels with real quick to feel it out?

[Gurk]

Originally Posted by Trailerboy531

Don't get a new chain - use another master link. When you screw up you can attach another master (so you have 2) that effectively adds one more link. Boom.

Maxipad I cut my chain a bit shorter and I was told it's not the best idea to have 2 master links. Master link is the weakest link on your chain. And having two might be a risky..

This is what i read and believe.. Asked Moss if I should get a new chain. He said to adjust the bike for my current chain and see if I like it. If I do, no need for a longer chain.

ninjette might not be exactly as hard on the chain as super sports but just throwing it out there.