DAMN Riders - No rules, Just ride!

Where is the best local place to go to get fork tubes straightened? Typical scenario -- take the forks off to replace the seals and discover they're bent and probably have been since 2004. Maybe that's why the steering is so quick. :)

2001 Suzuki SV650 -- traditional forks, 41mm diameter tubes.


Thanks,

~Patrick

Would think you just buy new tubes???
You have a couple stoppies go wrong?

how about turning them around and do more stoppies?

I have a friend that used to do it, supported the tube in V blocks and used a press if I understood correctly, he's retired now though.

Are you certain they're bent? They can be checked by spinning them in V blocks while checked with a dial indicator. You could also have a problem with bronze bushings inside the fork tube that is a wear item. When they wear the tube is no longer held quite straight relative to the seal, the seal can't compensate and become elliptical so the seal leaks.

bending them once, then twice in the reverse direction may just overly weaken them. Would you care if your front end fell off when while you are riding?

I understand that it's actually not very tough using a press and v-blocks. I have not tried it myself, but a good friend who I used to race with did a set for me. They worked just fine and never fell off.

I've had forks straightened without issue. These aren't too bad, but the one was bent enough to be obvious even before rolling it on a flat surface.

The forks were previously on my race bike. They *may* have had more than just a stoppie go wrong. =)

I dropped them off at a shop today, hopefully I'll get them back by Saturday.


Thanks,

Patrick

Oh, and I was in the middle of a fork seal replacement, so the tube was all by itself and made inspection easy and foolproof. :-)


Thanks,

Patrick