slightest twist

Front end rebuilt and handlebars seem to track a tiny bit to the right, meaning the right side slightly lower than left when driving. What's the easiest way to correct this? Loosen which bolts/nuts procedure.

You can likely just hold the front wheel between your knees and twist the bars a little to get it just right. The are alarmingly easy to tweek without loosening anything.. Jim

wheels in alignment?

john robert bould said:

wheels in alignment?

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Greatest misconception on a Commando. I have heard so many ideas on string lines and jigs and measuring between forks etc' that ultimately don't do a damn thing. If you have a standard straight frame, forks and wheels, the front wheel sits where it is designed to be. The rear wheel is staked to the inside of the brake hub. The brake hub is fixed to the left swing arm for chain alignment. The rear is mounted by 3 stakes into 3 cush sockets. The axle goes through and as it is tightened, it SELF ALIGNS.
If you skew the rear wheel to suit a string line, then the drive chain is skewed. Solve one issue to make another?? Otherwise you can only separate the chain hub alignment from the wheel alignment by inserting thin wedges or shims between the inner face of the brake hub to the inner face of the wheel hub.
Otherwise, on re-built wheels, the centre off-set can be incorrect. But with standard fitting there is no wheel alignment to do.

The details are confusing to understand. Forks can't be assembled and ridable if much out of square, they will bind and bounce your butt all over the road doing the opposite of expected dramatically, so not likely forks out of square to matter. Its possible to mount yokes on stem cocked to one side of course and I have done that a bit to find only thing is slight skewed bars to ride normally otherwise. My down/dirty way for Forks is set up loose to axle nut then bounced on till sense of freedom then nip up axle then lower yoke then top nuts and check again. I've done the rear wheel out of linez, offset from Norton, shewed in forward direction d/t swing arm slots uneven and tire and also tipped veritcally on broke axle till tire smoking on fender edge and swing arm rubbed to metal yet never felt a thing - standing on pegs at 90 with just finger tips on bars to hold throttle enough. Don't sweat rear tire alignment, pay attention to chain sprockets as mentioned already at. My d&d shed or oad side rear aligning is done by getting finger clearance the same on each side of tire at swing arm V. Do enough floor chalk, straight edges, strings and lasers may get to same lazy hobot habits.

"If you have" whats that mean? is it more likly "if you havent! ?

ML said:

john robert bould said:

wheels in alignment?

Click to expand...

Greatest misconception on a Commando. I have heard so many ideas on string lines and jigs and measuring between forks etc' that ultimately don't do a damn thing. If you have a standard straight frame, forks and wheels, the front wheel sits where it is designed to be. The rear wheel is staked to the inside of the brake hub. The brake hub is fixed to the left swing arm for chain alignment. The rear is mounted by 3 stakes into 3 cush sockets. The axle goes through and as it is tightened, it SELF ALIGNS.
If you skew the rear wheel to suit a string line, then the drive chain is skewed. Solve one issue to make another?? Otherwise you can only separate the chain hub alignment from the wheel alignment by inserting thin wedges or shims between the inner face of the brake hub to the inner face of the wheel hub.
Otherwise, on re-built wheels, the centre off-set can be incorrect. But with standard fitting there is no wheel alignment to do.

Click to expand...

I AGREE WITH ALL PREVIOUS COMMENTS. But, if it is out, then you have to loosen of everything, especially the the front guard and mounts. That little but of plumbing sets the front up fairly rigid and if its out, you wont get it right with first tweaking the guard mounts to get inline with the forks [ which hopefully you will have corrected ]. AS A GUIDE, MEASURE FRON SAY from THE RH SIDE OF EACH BOLT AT THE BOTTOM OF THE FORKS. tHAT MEASUREMENT SHOLUD BE THE SAME AS THE MEASUREMENT FROM THe RH SIDES OF THE STAUNCHINS JUST WHERE THEY DISSAPPEAR INTO THE CROSS TREES. at that point you can start to tighten the bottom fork axle bolt so that it wont slide sideways. Then you have to get the handle bar mountings at right angles to the wheel. If you have a good eye-ometer gauge then use it, otherwise get someone else to eye it up for you.

Thanks guys. Will loosen lower bolts ,move to left lock to push a tad left with bars then re-tighten. It's such a small amount out but just a little irritating. Other than that she is blasting about town real nice.

Before you get frustrated trying to correct where the handlebar tracking comes from, first check the top fork yoke. The casting from the factory and associated machining often results in the handlebar mounting not being parallel to the centre line (through the fork legs).
If you find this to be the case, what I did was bend the handle bars a little in a strong bench vice to compensate, the amount is small and no one will ever notice.
Do not as one reader suggested slighly twist the forks, the forks are designed to operate parallel and will not function properly otherwise.

I think the twist is to align the forks...not to compensate for a bent assembly? I have a ebay top yolk in the garage awaiting the scrap bin, It frustrates the hell out of me with the fork issues...i get calls emails after fitting a local made product the assembler as stiff forks. After out lining the possible cause's ie bent yolks, forks pulled in with the wheel spindle etc...they dont call again.

Just to re-cap;
1 are the yolks true? this is a complete strip down..and many dont want to do this.
2 checking stanchion alignment...well again not easy and detecting bent yolks is a engineering issue. the ebay stanchions i bought last year had the top taper ground excentric..they wobbled when turned in the top yolk taper!
3 sliders are often worn out..well after 40 years..what do you expect?
The odds that your bike [unless owned from new] as not been dropped some time in the past by a PO is very rare .the lower yolk is extreamly weak where the stem is fixed

Dont think all is right...it often isnt!

vintner said:

Before you get frustrated trying to correct where the handlebar tracking comes from, first check the top fork yoke. The casting from the factory and associated machining often results in the handlebar mounting not being parallel to the centre line (through the fork legs).
If you find this to be the case, what I did was bend the handle bars a little in a strong bench vice to compensate, the amount is small and no one will ever notice.
Do not as one reader suggested slighly twist the forks, the forks are designed to operate parallel and will not function properly otherwise.

Click to expand...

Torontonian said:

... handlebars seem to track a tiny bit to the right, meaning the right side slightly lower than left when driving. What's the easiest way to correct this? Loosen which bolts/nuts procedure.

Click to expand...

Unfortunately, I have this very same problem and the more I ride, the more it annoys me. I've read through all the posts and short of going through what John B has outlined, I'm not totally clear about all the bolts I need to loosen in order to try twisting the forks back to straight. Up to now I only loosened the bottom of the triple tree. Twisting only seemed to make the spokes flex. So ... is it fork top bolts, lower triple tree bolts AND axle bolts, and then try twisting?

I don't suppose this misalignment is the cause of the wiggle I feel in the curves, is it? :shock:

As far as the front forks go, I remember ludwig tests the tubes with a piece of glass to make sure they're in the same plane. They also have to be parallel. Not sure there's much else to do unless the frame is out of whack.

DogT said:

Not sure there's much else to do unless the frame is out of whack.

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I know the Isolatics need replacing. I was thinking that's the source of the wiggle?

Tightening sequence is relevant . Start with the top nuts , go down from there .
Id given it a quite ride with the suckers just nipped almost firm , when some rissole
attempted to hari kari me . Left a black mark from the front tyre :shock: for a few feet
as / where it hit his rear as he deliberately turned across my bows , after lining me up
and gassing it from the kerb . ANYWAY , wheel wrenched right a foot or two brought
it over and the alloy instrument binacle hit his tailight , cracking it . Both actually . :x
Manadged to inflict a ding too , I think .

Moral is the ' Twisted ' forks were just taking up the slack :? or levered across the wotsit .
The old knee across the tyre & twist straight trick on the spot . Quite pissed off at the time
as Id held back as he'd pottered along eyeing me up in his mirror , and Id thought he looked
a bit off - Two people said he'd done it deliberately - who hadnt been following him 3/4 mile
as they were pedestrians .

Moral of this is ; taking up the nip - then pulling lightly on the spanners , ISNT TIGHT .
Id done it to let it ' settle in ' on the choppy chip seal . Figured I didnt want to pull iy up HARD
as it needed time to mate the tapers on top and bores on lower triple clamps . THEN ,
if it sat stright Id ' Pull Them Up ' .
( pulling them up - is what you do to the lateral bolts in a Pre Unit Triumph to stop the engine falling out .
HARD . otherwise they shake like shivvers . the V I B R A T I O N level is notably reduced. after settling in . )

thus and therefore , if theres any ' settling in ' of the stem & bearings , the Lower Triple Clamp needs to
be ' freed off ' the staunchions . :x easyer said than done . But good old N.Z. chipseal teeth rattling spine
jarring chip seal roads are eqivilant to 1000 hammer blows , and you dont even use a Hammer . :mrgreen:

Therefore , lower stem nut - Top fork caps ( good spanner & steve austin on the wrench ) then Lower clamp
through bolts , after its all been beaten in to equilibrium - - by natural forces . Fillings used to come loose
on the Triumph. tought it was poor dentists . Road Shock & one way girlings aft on 145b springs seems to be
the explanation .
Make Sure the AXLE NUT is TIGHT , even when the rest arnt puled down hard . If it all lines up after the
big rattling , the axle nuts backed of carefull not to put misaligning forces through - rest are clamped down
sliders kicked / forks plunged - and axle nut then clamp bolt ' secured ' The CLAMP BOLT is the only one
that ' Finger Tip ' Material . Unless you want to snap the lug .

Lots of mugs unevenly tightened alloy triumph / BSA 4 bolt lower axle clamps and SNAPPED the Clamp .
Beer & one bolt at a time explains this - and other things . Any face needs pulling down evenly and
progressively .

And if your PRE UNIT feels like the engines moving around , It May well Be .
Nip them ALL in , EVEN - then pull up FIRM in THREEE STAGES - just like
doing a Cylinder Head or Barrel Flange . The fine thread fixings fix it if fixed firmly .


Oooh ARRGH , wheres my queech . :x

They wernt thespians . First youre all girly & sensitive , then youve got to face it like a man .
Looks like design , manadgement , and shop floor , to me . And to think - They once ruled the World .
Despite all these malicious roumours about Lucas , like why do the poms have warm beer ;
Lucas made the fridges .

I have always heard (and practiced) that front end tightening needs to start from the BOTTOM, and work to the top...

My personal notes for reassembly say...top nuts first . Then work down. But the good news is handlebars tracking straight again due to slight loosening of all elements including fender stay nuts. Then I rested the front tire against the curb ,grabbed the bars with a sudden movement in the direction of correctness. Tightened up top nuts working down. Happiness.

Torontonian said:

Tightened up top nuts working down. Happiness.

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That's all I'm after. Thanks for the straight forward synopsis!

I will try something similar - maybe anchor the axle down to the wooden platform she's resting on for now.

Ah , A Summary ! can pay to whack the lower triple clamps at stauncion with a Rubber mallet - with the alen screws backed off , after the top nuts are up tight .

john robert bould--------

Eggs have yolks, bikes have yokes!
Sorry but it's just one of those things that irritates me to see it written wrongly.

... some people just can't take a yolk.

Sorry, couldn't resist. Now we can digress into the realm of bad chicken jokes.

Don