Help with forks not lining up

Kz1000 '78 Ltd bought some forks. They just don't seem to line up parallel. Have not bolted the lower tree just the top to hold them in and im freaking out. Am I missing something here

If you are suspecting a bent tube, loosen one side at a time and rotate the upper tube in the clamps. A dial indicator set up would show even a slight bend, but anything large you should see right away.

On mine, the tubes were slightly tweaked. I loosened the tube clamps and rotated the tubes by hand. I found a point where the alignment was straight (to my eye). Maybe I had both bent tubes pointing the same way? Anyway, good luck.

Your middle pic looks like the right tube is bent back. Switch legs in the trees and see if it looks the same or opposie.

what happens when axle is put on?

If a tube is bent, rotate it by hand in the clamp and you will see the bottom end moving fore and aft as it turns.

You have the fork tubes just hanging from the triple clamp, but you don't say if you just installed the triple clamps.

Has anyone ever installed a front end and "not" had to align the forks before tightening the pinch bolts?

Kidkawie wrote: Your middle pic looks like the right tube is bent back. Switch legs in the trees and see if it looks the same or opposie.

That's how it looks to me too. I would first loosen the right clamp and spin the tube 180 degrees to see if it still looks like it is bent back. If it does, you need to check the triple tree to make sure the bottom and top are true. If instead it looks like it is bent forward after spinning it 180, I would pull it out and check it on a flat surface to see if it is true. Ed

I have a piece of glass app. 2" by 14" (prolly 1/4" thick) that I lay flat against the forktubes to check for alignment. If there is the slightest amount of rocking available when holding the piece of glass against the tubes, I'll grab the handlebars and tweak them up against the steering stop (or hold the wheel between your knees) then recheck and repeat if necessary. It helps to have the bolts loose in only the top triple.