straight handle bars

[yogurtpooh]

Are the ninja handle bars supposed to be perfectly straight? I've gotten four different shops to check out my bike and they did laser measuring and bending and all sorts of things, but the bike drives very straight, but it feels like my throttle is closer to my body slightly than my clutch if I want to go straight. 9 different mechanics have tested the bike and they all say it's fine, but I'm still not sure

my roads are not flat and they slope to the right for the most part.
I don't have any ninja 250 around to test drive, but I drove two other bikes and they all feel like my throttle is closer to my body than the clutch. it's a very slight difference, but it's noticeable. So my question is are the bars supposed to be perfectly straight or does it lean slightly to the right? thanks

[csmith12]

They should be straight, but road conditions can cause the front to "hunt". ie Constantly adjust to realign with the rear wheel. Do you have a nice flat road to try it out on?

Could be tweaked forks too.

[yogurtpooh]

this has been a complete waste of time for me. every shop ive been to, agrees something is wrong, and then they take a few days to fix it and then when I get it back it rides exactly like how I dropped it off. the recent shop had a lot of machinery and stuff so I felt good about it. They were also fixing crashed Z1000s. But they did make the bike feel a little bit better in the rear, but the front still has a problem. I spoke to them about the forks and they said one was longer than the other and they fixed that. The bike will go very very straight, but only if I tilt it a little bit to the right therefore my throttle arm is closer to my body. They even removed all the fairings to adjust whatever it was that they adjusted.

I just don't get why 9 people all said the bike is fine and goes straight.
Yeah, im trying to figure out where I can find a flat road, but there aren't any around here. This is really frustrating because the bike was fine to me before I had my forks repaired because they were leaking.

I figure maybe its not the road because the steering position and handle bars dont change whether or not the road leans left or right. So I figure its gotta be me or my arms.

[DaBlue1]

Originally Posted by yogurtpooh

....it feels like my throttle is closer to my body slightly than my clutch if I want to go straight. 9 different mechanics have tested the bike and they all say it's fine, but I'm still not sure

Maybe it's not the the bike, but you you.
How do you sit on the bike? (most people lean their body slightly to the throttle side)
Are you pulling the handlebars as you twist the throttle?

When the bars are fully turned to the right and left are they the same distance from the tank on both sides?

[subxero]

I have always felt like my bike is not perfectly symmetrical right and left up front. When I put my clip-on on my bike I noticed that one side was a lot closer to the plastics and what not despite having the same angle and what not. I messed with it a few times at first but stopped caring, the bike feels and rides fine so whatevs

[csmith12]

If they were fine before, then the triples are twisted. This will allow the bike to track straight but the bars be out of alignment. There is a DYI around here somewhere to straighten it out.

[Motofool]

Originally Posted by yogurtpooh

Are the ninja handle bars supposed to be perfectly straight?

Yes, they should be symmetrical and any line connecting the same points of the hand grips should be perfectly perpendicular to the front wheel.

Originally Posted by yogurtpooh

........ the bike drives very straight, but it feels like my throttle is closer to my body slightly than my clutch if I want to go straight.

It could be that the right bar has been bent backwards during any previous to your time fall on the right side.

If not, then your forks may be twisted; here is how to check it and correct it (without laser):
http://faq.ninja250.org/wiki/I_need_...or_fine-tuning

Originally Posted by yogurtpooh

.........my roads are not flat and they slope to the right for the most part.

All roads have some pitch for water drainage, but it is not noticeable regarding the straight steering and alignment that we are discussing here.

[yogurtpooh]

this is a little strange. when my handle bars goes to the left side in the case of i want to lock the neck, then it doesn't touch the wind screen.
but if I move it to the right all the way, it touches the wind screen.
is this normal?


Doesn't touch.

this side touches
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b2...psz8eazvbl.jpg

The handle bars need to be turned right a bit in order to go straight. the throttle is closer to my body slightly. But it seems weird that the two other non ninjabikes that I've been on has the same problem to me... hmmm

[alex.s]

laser aligned front to back just means the rear tire is aligned correctly and the neck isn't bent. triples can still be twisted, which wont really affect steering outside of it being offset one direction. also the fork height only on one side wont make any difference. it will slightly affect compression damping stiffer since the inner is pushing extra hard on the inside of the lower because of the twist. if they didn't loosen the top triple nut under the top triple then its pretty likely the two triples are still misaligned.

but the photo you posted looks like a bent handlebar.

[yogurtpooh]

can you post a picture of what the triples are. sorry, im a newb.

[Motofool]

Originally Posted by yogurtpooh

can you post a picture of what the triples are. sorry, im a newb.

These are the suspension tubes linked by the lower triple only (named like that because it is a triangular plate with three holes in it: one for the central column and one for each tube).



The picture below shows the upper triple installed in the assembly.
Each triple has clamps that hold the tubes in position (vertical and rotational).



What happens if the top triple is clamped to the tubes in a twisted position (rotated around the central column) respect to the lower triple?

[yogurtpooh]

im pretty sure the shops have all tried to adjust that.
I even remember one place loosening the big center bolt and the two side clamps and playing around with it for a while.

The bike rides so straight now from to back, but it's just the annoying sides.
So maybe I do have bent handle bars. maybe my throttle is bent? How can I really tell?

Is one side of the bar supposed to touch the wind screen when you put it all the way to the left? My left side (clutch) hits the wind screen- this is also the side that feels further away from me when I go straight. Here are some more pictures.









Would unscrewing those two bolts where the handle bars are and playing around with them potentially help? It always feels like the left clutch side is slightly higher than the right side.

and also, if you look closely at my left fork, does it seem like its bigger or sticks out more than on my left fork? For whatever reasons, when I straighten the bike out, the left fork looks a lot better than the right fork.

[Motofool]

Originally Posted by yogurtpooh

im pretty sure the shops have all tried to adjust that.
I even remember one place loosening the big center bolt and the two side clamps and playing around with it for a while.

Then, if they did it correctly, the test shown in the link of past #7 above should verify that the tubes and triples are not twisted.
You can use anything that is flat, like a piece or marble, hard wood or glass.

Originally Posted by yogurtpooh

The bike rides so straight now from to back, but it's just the annoying sides.
So maybe I do have bent handle bars. maybe my throttle is bent? How can I really tell?

The throttle handle is just a tube that slides over the steel tube of the handle.
Only the steel tube of the handle could be bent at the point where it enters the pedestal that anchor it to the upper triple.
You can place a straight edge over the side of that pedestal and look at the line of the tube.
If that is the case, the repair is difficult and you may prefer living with the bent tube.

In order to repair, you need to remove the tube form the pedestal and apply heat from a torch and then re-paint.
A heat gun is needed to remove the screw that holds the end weight, because it has red locking agent.

Originally Posted by yogurtpooh

Is one side of the bar supposed to touch the wind screen when you put it all the way to the left? My left side (clutch) hits the wind screen- this is also the side that feels further away from me when I go straight. Here are some more pictures.

The wind screen is a bad reference, because it is a plastic assembly supported by a tube's stay that is not necessarily dead center with the longitudinal center line of the bike.
If the windscreen is centered, then that proves that your top triple is twisted to the right.

Originally Posted by yogurtpooh

Would unscrewing those two bolts where the handle bars are and playing around with them potentially help? It always feels like the left clutch side is slightly higher than the right side.

You need to loosen the four clamps and the the top big nut of the central column.
If not, nothing will rotate.
Also, you will need to verify that both forks protrude the same distance above the top triple.

Please, read these:
http://faq.ninja250.org/wiki/Steerin...ng_replacement

http://faq.ninja250.org/wiki/I_need_...nd_front_wheel

Originally Posted by yogurtpooh

and also, if you look closely at my left fork, does it seem like its bigger or sticks out more than on my left fork? For whatever reasons, when I straighten the bike out, the left fork looks a lot better than the right fork.

Measure the distances from the bottom triple to the bottom bolt of each fork.
You can also run a plumb by the sides of each fork to verify that they are not bent laterally or that your head of the frame is not twisted respect to the frame.

Please, read this:
https://www.ninjette.org/forums/showthread.php?t=185380

[bruce71198]

If you drive in the right side of the road over there and the road has excessive "crown" then it would make sense that your throttle hand would be closer to your body due to counter steer.