How To Straighten A Twisted Motorcycle Fork | The Shop Manual 

You mean I'm not supposed to just hold the front wheel between my knees and turn the handlebars as hard as I physically can while trying not to throw out my back? 😮

there isnt enough of this guy on youtube on a regular basis. Ari is one of a kind.

Always a pleasure to attend Mr.Henning's class

Dropped my bike about 10,000x on the WABDR and IDBDR in August and my handlebars were all jacked. This has to be one of the first times that I've tried to fix something on my bike and it was drama-free and correct the first time. Thank you!

I watched all your clips, you are a really lovely person, no one gives a summary of the explanation like you, keep going

More Arie and Zack episodes please!! Both of these guys are like the Top Gear of Motorcycle reviews!! And don't get me wrong.. I absolutely love these shop episodes.. they need to stay too.. :)

Words to live by. If you want your motorcycle to go do the road straight, make sure everything IS straight!! Thank you Sir and have a merry Christmas 🎅

This guy is awesome! He explains things so well, I don’t own a bike or work on one but if I bought one the other day and had this happen to me, without knowing much I am pretty confident I’d be able to fix the problem with his play by play breakdown! Finally a person that made a “how to” video that actually makes sense. Most are made for people in mind then already know what they’re doing, they do not explain much and skip over important things not everyone knows

Ari, I have shared this video twice in the last couple of weeks with 2 riders on FB forums who were asking how to straighten out their tweaked forks. Both of them declared success in getting their stuff straightened back out by following your tutorial. I could tell them how to do the job but you do a superlative job of showing them how to do it. Hopefully these guys will subscribe and continue their moto repair education. Myself, I'm looking forward to the next ASMR rebuild video.

This was extremely well done. I couldn't find any good videos explaining how to align a mtb downhill fork, and I thought okay it's fundamentally the same as a motorcycle fork so why not. And now I'm golden. My bike feels better than it ever has.

I almost cried when I saw this video, I thought I destroyed the front forks of my motorcycle. I thought I would need to shell out hundreds of dollars for replacement parts.

These videos are always helpful and done well too. Really wish they aired weekly though, that would be quite nice. Anyway thank you and keep up the good work👏

You saved me a grand by doing this myself. I got into a low speed crash and my rotor got bent and the alignment was totally jacked. After replacing the rotor, something wasn't right. I didn't feel like I was going straight. I was able to loosen the bolts and jump on it a few times and now it feels much better.

I learned not to trust the markings at the rear wheel axle. Looking at you, KTM! I straighten the wheel with a chainlaser (pew! Pew!) and adjust the markings on one side accordingly.

Love to see more of these, Prof Henning. Merry Christmas 🎅🏼! Thanks !

Been waiting for this. Thank you ari for everything you do

Right video at the right time, literally yesterday I had my first High-side on the track, and twisted my front forks

Thanks Ari! Have a great holiday.

Thanks a million, I love simple straightforward instructions like this without any corny time wasting distractions. Great job

Thanks for the reminder on the process. I will say that on some bikes, the forks may actually be fine, it may just be the handle bars are twisted slightly where they mount into the triple clamps. I've dropped my dual sport before and because the handle bar mounts have a rubber "bumper" where they mount into the triple clamp, it could be that they are just twisted at this point. Just loosen the handle bar mounts under the triple clamp and give the bars a tug.

These videos are GOLD! Thank you, have the same problem on a brand new from the dealer... Yeah they missed that and I felt something was odd but didn´t find out before until som days after.

Great video as always!

perfect timing on this one. Thanks Ari

Great video, as always Ari. I have learned lot from watching these.

Thanks for the tips, Ari. I had searched on here to align motorcycle forks, and your video was the first one suggested. I purchased my 2017 Indian Chieftain used last December, and it seems that it's not tracking properly. It seems just a bit off. I thought that it was my forks, but your tip at 4:35 to check the rear wheel alignment was something that I hadn't considered but made sense. If I remember correctly, I believe that you had posted a video on belt drive tension and alignment. Yes, after a quick search, you did. It was done on that subject five years ago. Thanks, Arizona, for another great video. Now to go outside and check out that rear wheel alignment.

Recently acquired an F800 GSA that the previous owner had dropped -- his assessment of the front end resulted in buying it for an 'I Stole It' price. Twenty minutes with tools and your process put everything back as it should be -- the bike went from a tad unpredictable on loose surfaces -- following trail camber, etc -- to railing. Can't thank you enough, Ari!

Nicely done…Merry Christmas 👍🏼

Awesome video! Thanks for the clear and concise information.

Badly needed this video. Thanks a lot!

Great tutorial, concise and to the point 👏👏👏

Great explanations. You know how things got wrong, how to fix it, and why you do things in X manner.

Great video! Sure beats make a tweak, go for a ride, repeat until it feels right. Use this technique, torque everything, and go for a ride!

I've tweaked my frontend out on the trail. If you just kick the front wheel hard enough it usually straightens it out. Or at least straight enough to get back to the trailer with all your tools.

Ari your the best! Thank you for all the videos you’ve made.

Nice. My bike was on the front stand only as I couldn't get the tire bead to set. Eventually it tipped onto the stand, so it was only on one fork. So it might be misaligned or bent in the front. But good to know it could be the back. Was going to double check the chain tension as there was no marking to measure from on my R6 so I may as well double check the lines, especially if I end up adjusting it.

So glad you made this channel, dude!

As you probably know, at least on the Versys, the hash marks on the rear swing arm aren't exact. For the rear, I really recommend getting an alignment tool to check that the rear wheel is straight. Just one of them that clamps to the sprocket and has a metal rod that points down the chain works well. The hash marks on my Versys are almost one full mark off.

Ari and Zack the best on YT👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍

for aligning the rear end of the bike, note that most bikes dont have exact demarcations. You might want to use a measure tool or alignment tool specific for this purpose.

Nice. Merry Christmas.

Very helpful! I had to recently bump mine up against a tree to straighten it while out on the trail but need to properly align it.

This is just what I needed after coming of my bike of road. Thanks guys

This is a nice Christmas present

Wow. Nice vedio. Clear explanation. My bike was recently crashed and the frok was twisted. I dont know how to solve this my own and dont know what is the procedure. This vedio reallly helped me. Thanks a lot. I thought it was hard to fix. Now my fear was reduced. I will try to fix my bike by myself.

I really needed this video a year ago, and two years ago, and three years ago, and four years ago.

what a coincidence. I just had a low side literally yesterday on track. Gonna try this & hope I didn't bent my forks

Thanks! Helped with motorized MTB!!!

These videos are SO GOOD I often feel I could become a mechanic just by watching them. Thanks, Ari!

Darn it! I really need to start looking for the giant hex axle driver and torque wrench for my bike. Its really the only thing holding me back DIY activities on the front of my bike. Wish it was easy to get proper tools in my country because as they say, “use the right tools for the right job”.

All good stuff and perfect advice. However, when you buy front forks and top and bottom yokes (“triple-trees” to you USA folks) off eBay, and the front spindle will NOT come into line, well, you might, like me, be dealing with a bent bottom yoke (triple-tree [funny name]). It took a powerful gas blow-torch to fix that one! Les in UK

Thanks, good video. Helped me!

Thank you!

Could also be fork oil to low or to old. I reported axles, bearings, steering head bearing, wheels, new tires, spokes. Then i rebuilt my forks with seals and bushings and was still riding like crap. Took the fork tubes completely off and measured how much oil was in each tube and they were not even close to recommended level. Put in more form oil in each tube and back together. Now it rides like a dream

The last tip helped me with the issue i was having🖤

Thanks a lot for this

Dude, awesome video. Thanks

Holy cow this was helpful! Maybe now my Dyna won't feel like it's going down the road sideways!

Some bikes (KTM dirt/enduro bikes for example) have the top steering stem nut preload the bearing instead of having a collar under the top triple clamp. So you don’t want to loosen that on those.

AWESOME VIDEO AMAZING FANTASTIC ! ! ! ! !

Thanks so much! My wife feels like new!

for a while I thought I had twisted forks, cause my right handle bar appeared more forward than the left. after trying this method I remembered that the previous owner to my bike had dropped it in a low speed fall. in fact probably at a stand still. that fall was strong enough to put a bend on the right handle bar. im happy to know it wasn't my forks. for now I can ride with the handle bar I have but I will want to get that replaced eventually. bend is just visually noticeable but it doesn't affect my ability to push\pull to turn.

great video, from SPAIN

Thx for this

If I am trailside, I use my boot and kick the wheel straight. The tip at the end of the video was solid gold.

Thank you for this videos. Hopefully this will help most people with motorcycles and can ams

This helped me out a lot, noticed my wheel off center from my forks last ride and was thinking I bent them!

Great video as always from Ari

Wack it up against a tree 😂HELL YEAH BROTHER

I don’t have a great space to work on my bike at the moment, and recently had to take it to a shop to replace the chain and sprockets (Woulda done it myself, but all I’ve got is a parking space on a hill, and no center stand). When I got the bike back from the shop, I could see that there was something funky going on with the alignment, as when I was going straight, the speedometer was at an angle, and one of my arms was extended just slightly more than the other. I’ve never crashed, and don’t recall hitting anything. At first I thought it was the rear end, since the hash marks on the swingarm weren’t aligned. I readjusted (I found that the shop had over-torqued my axle but as well) but the issue remained. The tires are nearing the end of their usability, but aren’t quite there yet. I’m thinking maybe the shop wasn’t very gentle with the bike, and hit it on something, throwing off the forks?

Nice topic! Next go over rear wheel steering and alignment.

that’s great! Thx !❤❤

I noticed the fork stem nut was not torqued, is that typical? Will over or under tightening that affect fall away?

you're the man, Ari. oh, hey, since i've got your attention... WE NEED MORE CTXP. is there anywhere i can join a subscription or patreon to make that happen? i'm already subbed to RPM... what i mean is something specific to CTXP; not some general RevZilla thing. make it happen, and i'll be on board. you guys are awesome. and maybe find a way to bring Spurge and even Lemmy along on one of them. that would be epic.

More, please.

Been thinking my front forks are tweaked lately. Sorta look out or alignment. I might give this a try now that I have a front wheel chock and can easily build a center stand for under the frame

Why loosen the fork guards? @1:23

This is perfect. My bike has been sitting on the rear stand out of alignment since my accident

I just kicked the wheel from side holding the bars, it worked fine. 😂

Very useful information as I may or may not have yeeted my mt09 while doing rolling burn outs in a yard. Any chance you guys can bring someone on to demonstrate some paint less dent removal on a gas tank too. 😅

I thought for a second it was the motorcycle (Alaska) form itchy boots. Great video.

Nice info bro I have this problem on my fz25 not even my local mechanic is able to recognise the problem

This video saved me from a nervous breakdown!

I respect they have the harbor freight $60 torque wrench

Thanks Arie! My brand new Honda CB500X have its heendlebar of center when riding straight and i can't fix that , the dealer cant fix it cuz he thinks its ok :) Rear is ok , front was loosen and tighten few times , but i didint loosen the main head bolt , maybe i will try like you showed , all except the top clamp. Or the handlebar is bend "OEM way" :P

If you've tweaked those forks enough so it won't go back straight just by moderately twisting the handlebars with one side of the front axle clamp loose and the front wheel held straight something is most likely bent.

On my Ducati the "top nut" is also used as a bearing preload adjuster,which is held by a small clamp at the top with an allen key Should i just unscrew the allen bolt in this case or the preload adjuster? The nut I am talking about is full with 8 holes,typical on most ducatis

So when do you fully tighten the top triple nut? Before or after everything (forks etc) are tightened.

I have found with age, arthritis, and carpal tunnel, my “calibrated hands” are nowhere close anymore 😆. The torque wrench is my friend 😉👍.

so can I remove top 2 screw at the same time? (not loosening other bolts up) Cause the windshield bracket will be mounted right there (Triumph Trident 660) Thanks in advance

What about a handlebar that is bent inwards from one side by 3mm?

Will the bike handle the same after the fix or the precision of an untouched fork, steering will be gone ?

With the upper triple clamp pinch bolts still tight, how will the forks rotate inside the clamps to straighten everything out?

Motorcycle Dealers/Stealers are all filling bankruptcy because of all your great Shop Manual Videos. 🤣

Ari is working on CRF 300, before we saw an old 80s dual sport with Zack, any chance the new CTXP will be old vs new dual sport?

need to try this and friggin align my bike, really bothering me that it isn't dead center :x, need to buy some tools first.

I hmm i wonder if my issue is related to this. When i bought my bike the seal was leaking on the fork so we changed them but after reinstallation when i sit on the bike its fine but if i lean forward and put weight on the bike the front drops an extra 2 inches lower than it should its either i didnt cycle the air out enough or maybe i pinched the forks during installation? Just thinking out loud here they have ddc's aswell the bike is a dr650 i rode the bike all summer its just that its annoying and cant figure out what it could be if anyone knows lmk.

Does the Kershaw knife come in an Australian size?

I had to do this last year with my bike after dropping it multiple times in the garage. I'm a little dude with a big bike, sometimes I drop it, whoops!

I had to drive 3 km to the nearest gas station to fill my tyre which was almost flat and the extra hard stress on the suspension with the uncontrolled side to side motion of the tyre made the bike fell like it got twisted, it heavily lean to the right side now. I didn't know that an almost flat front tire would cause that problem.

I peeped the bmx bike in the back