Truing a tree ???

My father in law baught a bike as a starter for his kids it is an 87 ltd 305. The bike has been threw he!! and back.
I thought the forks were bent but once removed did a roll test on a table and they checked out.

So on to my Question I lossend the tree "it looked tweaked"
was going to put it back together and thought I would ask the experts, when placing the forks in the tree is it ok to
run the forks up and tighten them down then tightn the tree ??

I have never had to reset the tree on my 700 and didnt know if there is a method to makin shure it is strait, or if you just clamp the tubes in and call it square.
I know the bike has been droped and I am shure it wont be the last time just want the bike to track strait.
As always thanks for the advice.

I don't have an answer to your question but what made you think that the tubes were twisted in the first place. Just curious as to what the symptoms were.

Try this.

Install forks back into trees. Put front wheel on.

Loosen top tree center bolt.

Adjust steering bearings.

Tighten only the lower tree bolts. Leave axle pinch bolts loose and axle nut.

Pump front suspension vigorously several times. Then tighten axle pinch bolts and axle nut.

Pump suspension again. Tighten top clamp pinch bolts.

Pump suspension again. Tighten top clamp center bolt.

If there was just misalignment it will be gone. If it still looks tweaked then something is tweaked.

Sorry didnt explain a little better .

The 305 has rubber dampners on the trees these nuts were loose so the handle bars were loose and wigley and the front tire didnt seem to line up. took off for the first ride and the bike was trackin funny looked around and it looked like the forks were tweeked so stoped and went back home. after looking at the forks I decided to look at the rear alinement marks they are out by 2.

So tightend up the handle bar mounts tightend the handle bar clamp.

loosend the tree. top bolt and rear.

My idea was to mount them back up and tighten the fork bolts as I stated but this sounds simple enough.

Install forks back into trees. Put front wheel on.

Loosen top tree center bolt.

Adjust steering bearings.

Tighten only the lower tree bolts. Leave axle pinch bolts loose and axle nut.

Pump front suspension vigorously several times. Then tighten axle pinch bolts and axle nut.

Pump suspension again. Tighten top clamp pinch bolts.

Pump suspension again. Tighten top clamp center bolt.

Also want to realine the rear tire and make shure it is even

You could check the upper triple by placing it on a glass table then pressing down on a corner to see if it rocks. That's how I did the one on my 81 650 - the front end was crooked - the triple had quite a bit of rock. A replacement only rocked a tad.

Something else you can do is to put a small piece of glass on the upper tubes to see how square they are.

Every thing checked out on the forks put them in and with the wheel on and straitend every thing out tightnig as stated above.
Thanks for the tips put everything back on and now crusin ebay to pick up parts for handle bars and brake pads. I adjusted the rear brake and it feels better but I know it needs new pads front and rear. :huh:


Headlight
Handle bars, Wheel ballancing,
Oil Change, Clutch,
Gasket for the Clutch,
and the other side is leakin oil so that gaskit is gona be replaced also.
:woohoo: :side: love me some new parts.

ready2ryde1985 wrote:

... I adjusted the rear brake and it feels better but I know it needs new pads front and rear. ...

Definitely replace the rear brake shoes. The glue that binds the lining to the shoe can fail over time. When it happens, the lining can get jammed between the shoe & drum, locking the rear wheel. It happened to me when rolling the bike off the center stand.

I've never heard of the phenomenon in regards to brake pads, so I'm still running the originals at the front since they have plenty of wear left.