Front Wheel Wobble

Hey guys, so in still fairly new to the KZ world and i just picked up my 79 KZ 1000 ST a few weeks ago and i got her running decent, however, while riding around the block i noticed 2 things. First the handle bars seem off a bit, while riding straight the bars are turned to the right a little bit. How can i adjust that?

Second, the front wheel has a little wobble to it, while riding i stood up at it and i looked at it and noticed it wobbled. So i got it home and jacked the front wheel off the ground and spun it and it almost seems like the wheel is bent. It is a steel rim though and I imagine it would be hard to bend and the bike has never been down. It has a brand new tire as well. What else would cause this? Any ideas?

Thanks in advance.

Sounds like your bike had a front end hit somehow. if the bars are off, it could mean bent forks. Think you should strip the front end and check the fork tubes for straightness, and everything else. if it all looks ok then just reassemble it carefully, it might just be tweaked in alignment only.

The bike has cast alloy wheels & it could be bent. You could rig up a simple truing stand to check it.

The forks or triple tree could be bent. You could try loosening the triple clamp bolts & axle, then try re-aligning the front end. Or loosen the triple clamps & spin the upper tubes to see if they stick. Another check is to place a piece of glass on the upper fork tubes ---- it should lay flat (I've never done this test, but I assume it's valid). I checked the upper triple on my 81 650 by placing it on a glass table & pressing down on one corner --- it rocked quite a bit; the replacement only rocked a tad.

While your front wheel is in the air, grab the fork legs at the axle and push it back and forth to see if there is any play at the steering head or forks themselves. Also spin the wheel while holding a pencil close to the rim. You should see if the "runout" is good or not. Could be wheel bearings too.
Steve

Who mounted the new front tire, and was it balanced? The dealer should/would have noticed a bent rim during balancing. If you mounted it yourself, is the tire bead seated evenly? An uneven bead might appear to be a bent rim on casual inspection. You need some lubricant (soapy water) around the bead and may need to slightly over inflate the tire to seat it properly. Typically you'll hear a slight "pop" as the bead seats. Adjust to the correct pressure after it seats.

The alignment is easily corrected by loosening the triple clamp bolts and adjusting. You really should use a torque wrench for tightening.

The dealer should/would have noticed a bent rim during balancing.

The wheel run out spec is minimal , less than 1mm if I remember right, both radial and axial.

Check everything carefully, these are big heavy old dinosaurs and even low speed crashes can cause unseen damage...
A lot of 'odd' handling bikes have unseen damage here.

Forks can be straightened, cast wheels can be repaired but if a 7 spoke 19" mag wheel they are easy enough to find.

MDZ1rider wrote: Who mounted the new front tire, and was it balanced? The dealer should/would have noticed a bent rim during balancing. If you mounted it yourself, is the tire bead seated evenly? An uneven bead might appear to be a bent rim on casual inspection. ....

Good one. I had a CL guy install my tires the last time & he didn't seat the bead on the Rr properly --- the tire wobbled. After reseating the bead, all is good now. I'd forgotten about that. doh.

A reputable shop (cycle gear) mounted the tire on the rim and set the bead. Then i put the wheel back on the bike. I will have to check the forks and see if i can reset the bars. The bike has been in the family all its life so I'm confident it's never been in an accident. Thanks for all the input. I'll let you guys know what i find.

Joe