Are your bars straight?

[Happygser]

I’m interested to see if anyone has noticed that their handlebars are not quite straight when going in a straight line.
Mine are slightly to the right, I thought I was imagining it but got it looked at at the running in service, the dealership said they were straight so I went home feeling a bit daft.
700 miles later I took the bike back because I was convinced that they were off to the right, the dealership were great and put it on a bench and ran lines around it and checked. The result - dead straight.
So it seems that (unless I am still mistaken) that the bodywork is not straight relative to the frame, wheels and handlebars.
This would give the impression that the bars aren’t straight even though they are relative to the frame.
Or is there another explaination?
Thanks

 

[Stevie4scoops]

I’m interested to see if anyone has noticed that their handlebars are not quite straight when going in a straight line.
Mine are slightly to the right, I thought I was imagining it but got it looked at at the running in service, the dealership said they were straight so I went home feeling a bit daft.
700 miles later I took the bike back because I was convinced that they were off to the right, the dealership were great and put it on a bench and ran lines around it and checked. The result - dead straight.
So it seems that (unless I am still mistaken) that the bodywork is not straight relative to the frame, wheels and handlebars.
This would give the impression that the bars aren’t straight even though they are relative to the frame.
Or is there another explaination?
Thanks

I've had this a few times previously and first noticed it with one of my 690 Dukes.

I thought that I hadn't lined the rear wheel up quite right when adjusting the chain but no matter what I did it always felt not quite straight.

 

[theoneandonly]

have you ever broken a shoulder or collar bone ?

I've done both sides and i really notice if bars are out.

 

[Happygser]

have you ever broken a shoulder or collar bone ?

I've done both sides and i really notice if bars are out.

Luckily I've not broken any bones (so far!), in this case the bar through the top clamp is not quite parallel to the TFT and the tank...

 

[pbbanks]

Are you saying the bars themselves may be bent; or just that when you are riding in a straight line the bars seem to not be straight across at 90 deg to the line of travel?. If its the latter the fork clamps need slackening at the bottom and centre yolks. Then bounce the forks & tighten the clamps from the bottom upwards.

 

[Stevie4scoops]

Are you saying the bars themselves may be bent; or just that when you are riding in a straight line the bars seem to not be straight across at 90 deg to the line of travel?. If its the latter the fork clamps need slackening at the bottom and centre yolks. Then bounce the forks & tighten the clamps from the bottom upwards.

Yes, on my 690 Duke the bars were not bent and I tried loosening/realigning the forks as described. They weren't out much but it was always something that bugged me.

 

[Happygser]

Are you saying the bars themselves may be bent; or just that when you are riding in a straight line the bars seem to not be straight across at 90 deg to the line of travel?. If its the latter the fork clamps need slackening at the bottom and centre yolks. Then bounce the forks & tighten the clamps from the bottom upwards.

It's the later but the dealer is saying that no adjustment is needed because the bars are straight relative to the frame and wheels

 

[leadfarmer]

You’re probably just not sitting straight on the bike

If you follow someone on a bike you’ll notice that they generally sit a bit lopsided, one foot covering the brake maybe, and none of us are perfectly symmetrical, depending if you’re left or right handed you’ll favour one side of your body

So you’re generally sitting to one side and your bike is not perfectly upright but constantly compensating very slightly one way or the other

 

[Happygser]

You’re probably just not sitting straight on the bike

If you follow someone on a bike you’ll notice that they generally sit a bit lopsided, one foot covering the brake maybe, and none of us are perfectly symmetrical, depending if you’re left or right handed you’ll favour one side of your body

So you’re generally sitting to one side and your bike is not perfectly upright but constantly compensating very slightly one way or the other

Interesting thought - thanks, I’ll try moving around a bit and see what happens

 

[CPJS]

Get a friend to try your bike or take out a demo, if it is you all GSs will seem skew.

 

[twizzle]

I was convinced my bars were wonky…….

Years of riding …. Thousands of miles…. Different bikes….. never felt it before.

I’ve had three people sit on this bike.. all say …. Nope fine……

So I’ve put it done to me….

 

[pbbanks]

Its very difficult to measure the fork alignment. You have nothing to loose by trying the realignment by loosing the clamps and bouncing the forks and then retightening them. There are two torx at the bottom and two on the centre . Dont need to touch the top ones on the gs.

 

[ChazzyB]

Its very difficult to measure the fork alignment. You have nothing to loose by trying the realignment by loosing the clamps and bouncing the forks and then retightening them. There are two torx at the bottom and two on the centre . Dont need to touch the top ones on the gs.

I'm not sure how that works on a Telelever front end. The top yoke isn't designed to take any load - it's got rose joints at the top, not clamps.

 

[Happygser]

Its very difficult to measure the fork alignment. You have nothing to loose by trying the realignment by loosing the clamps and bouncing the forks and then retightening them. There are two torx at the bottom and two on the centre . Dont need to touch the top ones on the gs.

I’m staying well away from that with my level of skills!

 

[pbbanks]

Think its the bottom yoke and the wheel axle clamps that you are aligning. Did it a few years ago on my previous 1200gs when bars seemed to be at an angle when riding. It was a bit trial and error to get them right. A case of slacken bottom clamps and centre yoke clamps just enough to allow movement of handle bars while holding front wheel between your legs. Then tighten up nuts and test ride. Repeat until I was happy it.

 

[Carlosfandango]

When I first had mine, I thought the same for months, nope optical illusion, goes away with time

 

[MartinK]

On a Boxer, it's always a bit strange when you look down because one cylinder is a few (2-3) centimetres further fore/aft than the other (I guess the physics of the crankshaft). May upset your personal geometry on a Boxer???

 

[Happygser]

When I first had mine, I thought the same for months, nope optical illusion, goes away with time

That’s interesting, not just me then

 

[stickywicket]

Have thought this since having the bike. BMW checked and all ok. I still feel that to get the bike pointing straight the bars are very slightly pointing to the right. Weird