crooked handlebar

[wotevah]

My 400SM has a crooked handlebar, that is, when the front wheel is straight, the handlebars are about 5 degrees off the right angle. The handlebar is not bent, its orientation is a bit off. Probably from a fall. I loosened and retightened the handlebar in its clamp and cannot get it to stay straight.

Is it a good idea to ride like this or should I look to fix it immediately (although not sure what to do about it) ?

[GOF1]

You need to fix it. The forks are probably twisted in the trees.

[Rej]

I'm not sure I understand completely but if you're sure your handlebars and clamps are fine, then you can loosen your fork clamp bolts and "correct" the wheel alignment by standing over the wheel with your knees on either side and turning the handlebars until it's fixed ... pretty common thing to happen after a fall.

[oPAULo]

Yeah forks twisted in the tripple clamps. No big deal. There is a procedure.

Like unclamp one upper and the other lower, kick the wheel straight, hold the front brake and cycle the front suspension a few times and retighten. I think that's it. Used to happen a lot when I raced motocross but that's been 10 years ago. Somebody else chime in.

[biker boy]

what i do is just put the front wheel against the wall and push on the bars

[wotevah]

This is what I mean, the triple clamps may also be a little off too but I can't tell for sure. You can tell how the handlebar is off relative to the triple clamps though, on the left side I can see the center of the adjustment screw while the right side is almost covered.

[wotevah]

When you say "lower" do you mean the clamp near the hub or just the lower part of the triple clamp ? Does it matter which one's lower and which one's higher ?

Yeah forks twisted in the tripple clamps. No big deal. There is a procedure.

Like unclamp one upper and the other lower, kick the wheel straight, hold the front brake and cycle the front suspension a few times and retighten. I think that's it. Used to happen a lot when I raced motocross but that's been 10 years ago. Somebody else chime in.

[biker boy]

i dont think you should have to loosen it. put the right side of the wheel against a wall, push on the left side or the bars going clock wise. should make a creaking noise and then it will be fixed ?

[dakynz]

loosen the bolts directly under the triple clamps. You will have to look to the sky to see them. Loosen and get everything lined back up. Then tighten them down. This happens alot offroad. Many people above have given you trail fixes that will work also.

FIX IT before riding again. Its very easy. The more difficult way is remove the handle bars from the mounts. Then loosen the bolts under the triple clamps (looking to the sky you'll see them underneath). Then reinstall the bars.

After doing both methods the first one definitely works the best and you can even do this on the trail/road if you have the proper socket

[BrandonCA]

Remember when you had a bicycle? Maybe not the best way...but just stand in front of your bike with the tire between your legs, turn the bars to the stop on the clamps...and then give it a jerk. They will straighten, and then tighten everything down. Cheers!

[wotevah]

I did the bicycle fix and it is somewhat better although not completely.

I can't find any bolts directly under the triple clamp, unless you mean the ones holding the handlebar clamps. The fork body is held in place with two side bolts at each clamp.

[06wrx]

What do you do when the forks are straight, and you have a scotts upper triple clamp, that does not have bolts under the triple clamp(same with most stock upper triples) and you have this problem. bent bars?