had 1st wreck since getting my bike and have a question

81 xj650 all stock and my question is this. basically the person that hit me from behind knocked me into the car in front of me , bent up the front fender a little , but also when the bars are straight , the tire is pointing left by about half an inch. I have NO clue how to straighten this up. was thinking there is an allen bolt right under the key switch that looks like i could loosen and straighten everything , but wanted to ask 1st , other wise you cant tell i was in an accident

 

Sounds like the fork tubes are bent. You might want to look into a set of good used forks. I don't know of anyone that straightens them anymore.

 

lol, ok im going to get yelled at for this one.

my front tire was more than 1/2 inch off. but i rode it anyways.

best thing to fix it for me was loosen the triple tree clamps, and just like my old bicycle, straddle the front sire and turn the steering wheel. it's still a little off, but eh, my whole bike is.

 

I'm with schooter, most likely just tweaked in the trees.....
try his approach..

 

+1 on Schooter's advise to initially straighten things out,
But then - - after tightening things down, double check to see if everything is square. You could use a small plate of glass from a picture frame against the front fork tubes, and see if it rocks.

Glass is dead azz flat. You will quickly know if you have a further problem.
Then re-assemble that family photo.

 

THANKS ALL had a friend straddle the tire and i kept pushing the bars , almost straight , about a 1/4 off now , least i got it home

 

Almost still don't cut it. It'll handle funny (especially in the rain) and eat tires.

You can check for a bent fork by completely loosening ONE FORK at a time from the triple trees and rotating the upper tube. If it's bent it will try to move the fork leg in/out slightly; a straight tube will simply rotate.

Loosen all the front end clamps, the upper and lower triple clamps, axle nut and axle clamps on the bottoms of the forks, then "snug" everything back up, just snug not tight. (one side first then the other so the bike doesn't "slide down" the tubes.)

BOUNCE the front fork through a few strokes, and torque the upper clamps to spec. Bounce again, torque lower triple clamp bolts to spec. Bounce some more, tighten axle nut but do not torque it yet. Bounce a couple more strokes, torque axle clamps to spec. Torque axle nut to spec and install new cotter pin.

Then take TIME's advice to check squareness/alignment.

If nothing is actually bent that will square your front end back up. Be sure to check the steering head bearings for damage:

Prop the front of the bike up so the front wheel is off the ground. (A single jackstand centered under the front cross-tube works well.)

Kneel in front of the bike and grab both front forks at the bottom and try to "rock" them fore and aft. There should be no play; you will feel any play in the steering head bearing if it's there.

Then, with the front end still suspended, gently push the steering to first one side and then the other; it should be smooth and free, with no "detent" or "click-stop" in the straight-ahead position. If you can "feel" the straight-ahead position, your steering head bearings/races got damaged (or are worn.)

Easy fix, but a PITA.

 

E-Bay has a set of NOS forks for a 1982 XJ650 Maxim. $150.00 or offer.
I'd look into that. You don't want to mess with a crooked front end. Check the wheel, axle, triple tree and neck. If all check out square and true, I'd suspect the forks OR fork are bent.

my .02 cents

D

 

took it to a local mc shop , they checked the thing front to back , forks are straight and everything checks out , they had everything lined up in about 20 min , feels better than before , 20 bucks for everything so i guess i got lucky on this 1 , thanks 4 all the input

 

Your bike was in and out of a shop (with real mechanics) for only $20 ??

That's almost unheard of. Would you like to try the plate glass trick, just to make sure?? Tell us it checks out square.

 

He didn't say THAT... just "local m/c shop." I'm as surprised as you.

tm4n69 I recommend you take TIMEs' advice to double check.