STEARING HEAD ALIGNMENT

i can't find any mention of aligning the stearing head yokes in the haynes manual. it would appear that you rely on tightening the fork clamps to line up the yokes. if you use this method and then place a straight edge across the top of the forks and another across the forks at the seals and sight down the two, they will often not be parallel. i think you should use the s-edges across the yokes when tightening the stearing head nut.
any input appreciated.

 

I'm interested in the answer to this as well, since my own 650's steering head is slightly out of alignment... ju-u-u-ust enough to be really, really annoying.

 

found a helpful link.
http://w6rec.com/duane/bmw/fork/title.html

 

considering the potential saftey implications of this post, i thought it might have attracted more interest.

 

I've done a little research, and as it turns out, it's a lot simpler than this.

What you want to do when you assemble the front end, make everything snug, but DO NOT TIGHTEN things until you have it all put together. If things are assembled correctly - and you don't have bent parts - it will naturally be aligned. The nuts on the steering head are the obvious exception, since there is nothing to align yet with only the lower lamp in place.

If things aren't aligned (as mine aren't), the plan should be to loosen - but not remove! - all of the pinch bolts, the axle nut, and the crown bolt, then make sure that the forks are the same length - !!! - and fitted at the same height in the triple tree. The presence of the axle will keep them from twisting, and by tightening the pinch bolts in the correct order, you should be able to prevent other misalignment.

I need to double-check this (I intend to check my Haynes and factory manuals), but intuitively, they should be tightened in this order:

1) Lower clamp
2) Upper clamp
3) Crown
4) Axle (don't forget the pinch bolt!)

Again, I plan to check the manual for precise height specs and tightening order, but basically, that should be it. If things aren't aligned at that point, you have bent parts.

 

Rhys, please keep up updated. As you stated, mine is like yours, just an anoyingly small bit out of alignment. I would love to get this fixed and not distract me from the road when I am riding. I am sure others have had or do have this anoyance.

 

I've never had a problem with that.

 

have someone balance the bike, while you straddle the front wheel, gripping it with your knees, grab the bars and give a mighty tug in the desired direction
dirt bike guys do this all the time