Steering/alignment problems

Hey guys,
Finally got the better shape VFR back out on the road for a test ride after the wreck I was involved in December. The guy hit me from behind and threw me and the bike forward when I ran out of gas near an on-ramp on the highway.

The front steering got messed up and when the bike landed on the left side the steering broke the stop on the left side and it dented the tank- the forks and front end appeared to be relatively fine except the fact it would go past the left stop now and hit the tank- have to be careful about that. I fixed the rest of the damage to the swingarm and subframe and got the bike out for a test ride yesterday and immediately noticed the front top tree was cocked a little towards 11:57 when I was driving straight down the road, the bike seemed to track fine and no wobble issues, just the steering stem would not go to 12:00 when I was driving straight.

I got the bike out on the highway at highway speeds and still noticed this to be the case but no handling issues, tracked straight and no problems in the turns at highway speed.

Do you think I wound up bending the the steering stem and how do I go about checking and confirming this? Can I check anything on the bike or will this mean a teardown of the steering stem? I'll do a little more road testing today to see if it tracks straight when I do a little no-handsing on a ride to check my oil level.

 

well dookie...you could loosen up the triplpes and see if the top willl go back straight. as far as the bend in the stem...I had an old suzuki that had a bent stem and it rracked fine up until I tried putting it into the turns ...one way it woould overdive and the other way I had to dam near jump on the bars to get it to go into the turn.... frame shop would be the best bet to have it checked....

 

Might be a bent a fork tube or you could simply have a misalignment in your front end Dukie.

Get your bike up on some bike stands,front and rear. Gonna need the type of front stand that lifts the front end from under the lower triple tree. Remove the front wheel and fender,untorque all the upper and lower triple clamp pinch bolts completely and reset the fork tube depths in the triple trees. Torque the triple clamp pinch bolts back down and recheck to see if your top triple clamp is now properly aligned. If it's not you've got big problems.

I high-sided my old 1980 CB750F once and had that same problem you're having with your bike. The top triple tree was cocked to one side slightly but the bike tracked straight. I removed and completely disassembled the forks on that bike and checked the fork tubes for any bends,thankfully they were straight. Both triple clamps were straight too. I simply reassembled the front end,the top triple now sat straight like it should've and the bike tracked perfectly. Couldn't hurt to give it a try Dukie.

 

I'd suggest fixing that missing stop, maybe drill a hole and use a bolt or screw there or risk more damage to your tank or hand.

There are well-established proceedures to fix your problem (if nothing is actually bent).

Stosh's ideas are all good, but if you don't have the best results:

Loosen top nut, loosen steering stem lower pinch bolts, maybe loosen axle pinch bolts, hold bike vertical with the front wheel held firmly between your knees, then turn bars back and forth to align things. Start re-tightening from the bottom and work up.

Sometimes you can check fork tube straightness just by turning it around in the lower steering stem holes after the necessary stuff is loosened. If it's bent you'll probably see it wiggle around as you turn.

 

I did a quick loosen of the lower triple and top and that helped it stop before hitting the tank.
The stop is still there, it just looked like it kicked the lower triple in on the left side a little.