Wheel\fork alignment

girlyglide

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I bought an accident damaged R1100RT. The front suspension wishbone was bent and the right steering stop was knocked off the frame.

I've replaced the wishbone but when the bike was taken for an MOT they failed it on wheel alignment. The front wheel is parallel with the rear but off to the left and side.

I didn't follow the method described on other threads on this site so I'll do it again; but is it possible that's all that is wrong?

I haven't checked the front wheel is vertical in the forks.

Any ideas what I might be looking for? Bent stanchions, bent headstock (unlikely?), bent top yoke?
 
girlyglide said:
I bought an accident damaged R1100RT. The front suspension wishbone was bent and the right steering stop was knocked off the frame.

I've replaced the wishbone but when the bike was taken for an MOT they failed it on wheel alignment. The front wheel is parallel with the rear but off to the left and side.

I didn't follow the method described on other threads on this site so I'll do it again; but is it possible that's all that is wrong?

I haven't checked the front wheel is vertical in the forks.

Any ideas what I might be looking for? Bent stanchions, bent headstock (unlikely?), bent top yoke?
Click to expand...

If it was me I'd strip the forks down and check everything from scratch
 
girlyglide said:
If it was me I'd strip the forks down and check everything from scratch
Click to expand...

Thanks for that Phil. I've stripped teh forks down and the only thing I can find wrong is that the stanchion won't travel as far in the left leg as the one in the right leg. I've swapped the parts over and it still sticks in the left leg.

Is it possible that one of the fork bushes is damaged and preventing the stanchion bottoming?
 
girlyglide said:
Thanks for that Phil. I've stripped teh forks down and the only thing I can find wrong is that the stanchion won't travel as far in the left leg as the one in the right leg. I've swapped the parts over and it still sticks in the left leg.

Is it possible that one of the fork bushes is damaged and preventing the stanchion bottoming?
Click to expand...
I could well be but I'm no expert on BMWs; someone more knowledgeable than me will be along soon to help I'm sure.
 
girlyglide said:
Thanks for all your help Phil, you've made me feel really welcome.
Click to expand...
Aw, sorry it turned out like that, don't take it to heart. Pull up a chair, what you drinking?
:beerjug:

On the other hand, asking what oil to use is guaranteed to evoke a response. Yes, I'd try that if I were you ....:augie







:hide
 
there's quite a lot of force involved to bend the front wishbone.

you should be looking at fork stanchions at a minimum - the yokes and the upper front frame

...then have a look to see if the rear swingarm is bent..and finally the rear frame section. :eek:

Have fun.

(ps - you may want to put it on a moto-liner to pinpoint and repair the problem )
 
If anyone is interested it was a deformed bush in the fork bottom limiting the movement of the stanchion. Nothing visible from the outside; it was only when the forks were dismantled on the bench that it became apparent.

Rather than replace the bush the whole fork bottom was replaced with a used one from Motorworks and the jobs a good one.

Thanks for all the replies, I just hope that if someone else suffers a similar problem they find this thread - there seems to be little else in the way of help available.
 
Cheers for the feedback, some day somebody could be very grateful for that. That the cure was a bit tricky might explain the lack of replies to the query. So thank you, and welcome back. :thumb2
 
If the impact has bent the wishbone are the pivot points on the engine casings damaged in any way also I would suspect that the steering head may well be twisted out of line
 
First things first you need to get both fork legs moving equally. Look for any signs of stress on either leg that may suggest why its not moving. If there is no external damage then it is unlikely that the bushes are damaged, but something clearly isn't right.

Once thats sorted out then don't discount the misalignment being due to the swingarm & rear wheel. Some BMWs come with a spacer between the hub and wheel, does yours? Should yours? I'm not sure but check before heaping all the blame on the front end - if you bought an accident damaged bike then I guess you probably didn't know the previous owner - he/she may have lost a rear wheel spacer so that however you set up the front it will always be out of line.

Mark
 
Nippy Normans supply Touratech, Wunderlich, Desert Fox and many other makes of accessories.
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