:( perhaps the end of a project bike (forks are bent!)

Hi All...

i'll post some pics later (just want to get this out now)...

been working here and there on a project bike (1978, KZ400)....

got it last year and have put a little time into it, but not so much that i cannot "cut my looses"....

i've been working on the front end the past few weeks...

bottom line, the forks are BENT! and i did not realize it...

just noticed it today while i was reassembling the front end...

the bike had taken a fall (obvious from some damage), so i suspect this is how the forks got bent....

it is the tubes that are bent....

one is bent (off center) by ~6-8mm and the other is off by ~10-11mm....

so...

the questions are thus...

- if i assemble the forks with the "bends" in line with one another, would that be BAD!?!?!

- if not, i might try and find some "tube" on ebay...

but....

- if not that, i'm not too interested in buying new forks....

any thoughts?

i'll link a few pics later today or tomorrow...

- prime

I took a set to a machine shop and they were able to straighten them ,, They were like yours not bent very much , A set off Ebay shouldnt be to bad to buy , More in shipping than the parts ,, Dont give up yet a couple of bent fork tubes are Minor ,, Take a break if you need to and come back to it in a different light ,,

Don't give up yet...fork tubes are actually fairly reasonable on eBay, and if you have the correct tools, fairly easy to swap out.

I had a mechanic take a bend out of my fork tubes too - haven't had any problems whatsoever!

It's definitely not the end of the road.

Try and find someone with an 'old school touch' though - cause most of the Wyotech grads don't have a clue about how to actually fix anything

Me three, I've had bent tubes straightened. If you didn't notice the bend before they can't be too bad. I'm sure you can fix or replace them for not too much $$$.
Mark

music to my ears!

(though prob not the mrs! - she saw this as a chance to get some of the garage back! - NOT!!!!)...

ok...

i'll keep the fires burning....

when you guys say "get them straigtened"...

you mean that i should take the tubes themselves out,
right?

then bring them someplace???

i'll keep my eyes on ebay...

thanks again...

i was P-O ed at it!

the forks came out GREAT (repainted) and so did the pits of the steering column that i painted...

whole thing was looking good...

anyway...

ebay here i come!

My mechanic told me that I could just bring the forks in assembled, and he'd take 'em apart and straighten the tubes there - but it's cheaper to just take 'em apart yourself and brings the tubes in.

You may have to deal with the damper tubes though - which either requires a special tool which you can buy online, or you can weld a 19mm (I think) bolt to a rod to use to hold the damper rod still while you unscrew it at the bottom.

They can be a bitch to get apart too - I couldn't do it this past fall, so my forks just got drained and refilled..nothing else.

I have a set of 79 KZ400 forks, make me an offer

Hey all...

see pics below

#1 is off by ~10-11mm; #2 by ~6-8mm