Turny Thingy is Broken

[ihavereverb]

So, someone hit my bike in a parking lot and knocked it over. Hard. *sigh* Ironically, this has done more damage than the many times I laid it down when I first started riding (suggestion: do not teach yourself on a 600 in the middle of the Appalachian Mountains). The clutch lever is bent and the left footpeg snapped off. These things I can easily fix, however.

What I'm not so sure about, is that when I turn the handlebar to the left the bar end hits the tank. Obviously, this isn't supposed to happen (doesn't do it on the right). I can't see any obvious reason for why it's doing it, the forks aren't bent or anything, and I also can't figure out what it is that actually keeps the bar from turning normally. What exactly is broken?

Appreciate the help, this is pretty frustrating. I can't stand people and their inability to drive.

 

[degake]

So, someone hit my bike in a parking lot and knocked it over. Hard. *sigh* Ironically, this has done more damage than the many times I laid it down when I first started riding (suggestion: do not teach yourself on a 600 in the middle of the Appalachian Mountains). The clutch lever is bent and the left footpeg snapped off. These things I can easily fix, however.

What I'm not so sure about, is that when I turn the handlebar to the left the bar end hits the tank. Obviously, this isn't supposed to happen (doesn't do it on the right). I can't see any obvious reason for why it's doing it, the forks aren't bent or anything, and I also can't figure out what it is that actually keeps the bar from turning normally. What exactly is broken?

Appreciate the help, this is pretty frustrating. I can't stand people and their inability to drive.

Any pictures??

Your steering bar will probably be bent, causing this issue.
Other thing it could be (though I wonder if it would happen at all), is you broke the steering stop on your lower triple...

Grtz,


Degake

 

[Skote]

Are your bars tweaked from falling on them .....also not sure about the fz6 but on a different bike there were tabs on the triples and one was tweaked amazing how much a small tweak threw there one bar way out like you said on my bike my bar end hit my tank on the left side

 

[Skote]

Are your bars tweaked from falling on them .....also not sure about the fz6 but on a different bike there were tabs on the triples and one was tweaked amazing how much a small tweak threw there one bar way out like you said on my bike my bar end hit my tank on the left side

 

[ihavereverb]

I just took another look at it, just in case, and it really doesn't look like the handlebar is bent. It looks to me like there's something in the general front fork area that is supposed to stop it, but now isn't. It's kind of annoying that I can't figure out what is stopping it on the right side, because whatever that is - that's what is broken on the left. This isn't really an issue itself, I can just be careful not to let it hit the tank when parked, but I want to make sure it's not a more serious problem.

I also checked the lower triple. When you say the stop, you're talking about the pegs poking out of the top on either side? Because they're still there, but neither of them get any use (they're well away from hitting anything).

The triples seem like a more likely candidate than the bar, but I just can't figure out what they could be doing.

 

[degake]

Take some pictures of all of it
We'll help you find the culprit :thumbup:

Grtz,


Degake

 

[Dave.TX]

You have a NASCAR bike that likes to turn left. Take it to Darlington and see if you can rub some paint with Tony Stewart.

I was gonna say if it isn't the handlebar that's bent then there must be a stopper that bent or broke. Seems the be the general consensus.

 

[Motogiro]

I just took another look at it, just in case, and it really doesn't look like the handlebar is bent. It looks to me like there's something in the general front fork area that is supposed to stop it, but now isn't. It's kind of annoying that I can't figure out what is stopping it on the right side, because whatever that is - that's what is broken on the left. This isn't really an issue itself, I can just be careful not to let it hit the tank when parked, but I want to make sure it's not a more serious problem.

I also checked the lower triple. When you say the stop, you're talking about the pegs poking out of the top on either side? Because they're still there, but neither of them get any use (they're well away from hitting anything).

The triples seem like a more likely candidate than the bar, but I just can't figure out what they could be doing.

If the bottom triple has the stops on it, the top triple may be twisted and not aligned with the bottom triple on the fork tubes.
Put the bike on the center stand and loosen the top and bottom triple clamps at the fork tubes a little so they can line up to each other. Be careful not to drop the the bike through the fork tubes! Maybe put some weight on the rear to take the weight off the front end when you do this.

Sounds like your forks twisted through the triples..

 

[ebster1085]

If the bottom triple has the stops on it, the top triple may be twisted and not aligned with the bottom triple on the fork tubes.
Put the bike on the center stand and loosen the top and bottom triple clamps at the fork tubes a little so they can line up to each other. Be careful not to drop the the bike through the fork tubes! Maybe put some weight on the rear to take the weight off the front end when you do this.

Sounds like your forks twisted through the triples..

Agreed. If the bars arent bent, which I still think is the most likely culprit even after reading all this, then the triples are no longer aligned.

 

[Randomchaos]

Is the right side stopping further away from the tank than usual?

 

[ihavereverb]

Well, I just went outside and got *serious* about figuring it out. I took two straight edges with me and, as much as I hate to admit this (both for its simplicity and me saying it wasn't it), pretty sure the handlebars are bent. I couldn't see it by eyeballing it, but when I ran a straight edge against the edges of both, they intersected well left of the center line. So, damn. That's an easier fix than taking apart the whole front end, I suppose.

Anyone know an easy way of bending handlebars back to shape? Or, alternatively, a good thread? I have a feeling it might be easier just to buy a new bar, eh?

Thanks everyone

 

[ebster1085]

Well, I just went outside and got *serious* about figuring it out. I took two straight edges with me and, as much as I hate to admit this (both for its simplicity and me saying it wasn't it), pretty sure the handlebars are bent. I couldn't see it by eyeballing it, but when I ran a straight edge against the edges of both, they intersected well left of the center line. So, damn. That's an easier fix than taking apart the whole front end, I suppose.

Anyone know an easy way of bending handlebars back to shape? Or, alternatively, a good thread? I have a feeling it might be easier just to buy a new bar, eh?

Thanks everyone

I would just buy a new bar since they are cheap, but they are fairly easy to bend back. When I dropped my old Ninja the bars were miserably bent and with the help of another guy to support the bike, I was able to bend them back to damn near perfect without even using heat.