Bent Fork Leg
 

Need help, I am almost done fixing a 03 Hawk i boughtr w/257 miles that had been down . I fixed the fairing and paint and thought the forks might be twisted in the clamps but when i try to straighten them they spring back. The biike rides great except the bars are "off". I think one leg must be bent back a bit and want to just replace the whole mess with somthing nicer. Seems like a few people have done swaps but no info on exact years or bike donors...I am a mechanic and fabricator so i can do the work if i get the correct parts. Has anybody got the info i need? By the way, great site w/ loads o info and no bickering/bs/bashing....a nice change to forums...thanks in advance, Evan

There are a lot of options. Fork leg sliders, so long as there are no creases, can be easily straightened. If there are creases in it, they'll have to be tossed. Creases normally form right on the join of the bottom of the triple clamp, so to see it you'll need to pull them out of the bike. Make sure that when you're trying to straighten everything that you undo every bolt on the forks - including the front fender mount bolts. Sometimes the stuff down low on the forks is what holds the bends in there.

If you do need to replace them, you can normally buy just the slider from a wreckers for pretty cheap - no more than $40-$50. The sliders are also interchangable with the VFR750 and CBR600 F2 and F3 forks, so any of those will do.

Can't help you with the replacement clamps or other ideas for swapping. I'm looking into doing that myself right now as I consider heading down the streetfighter path.

Re: Bent Fork Leg
 

Mithrandir , pardon my ignorance but by streetfighter, do you mean no fairing, huge brakes and dirt bike bars? I saw a bike that looked like somone turned a street bike into a super motard...different but cool...

On my bike I have dropped the forks in the clamps but no signs of kinks or dents and i put a straight edge on the tube up to where the sliders attach and they were arrow straight? I think maybe either the head tube is bent or one fork tube is bent below the seal? I am waiting to change my jetting/remove the tank & fairing and hang it from a engine hoist by a strap so I can remove the lower clamp and also disassemble the forks...would like to just roll another whole front end under it instead as I work all the time making bike time rare. I am not one to spend $$$ to repair low end parts, I would rather just do it once....I took a brand new Jeep before I hardly drove it and removed engine/trans/suspension & axles then reinstalled a V8/auto trans/big axles and a long arm suspension so the bike seems like only 1/2 a project :roll: now I know why people think I am crazy!
Seriously though, if anyone knows anything about what will fit, let me know so I can fix my new baby and go ride!
ps upsidedown forks are my first choice!

Yup, that's exactly it. I'm thinking of heading down the complete custom path - sss rear, USD forks - all that will be resembling stock will be the motor and frame :)

If you have the forks out of the bike, then find a glass table top and just roll the sliders along it looking for light gaps to appear. You need to check all 4 sides of the tube to definitely make sure it isn't bent. It may be that the bottom triple clamp is bent, but I've not seen that before without it at least bending the fork slider itself. If the tube was bent below the seal you'd certainly know it - the suspension basically won't move and would be trapped either above or below the bend line.

As for cost and quality - the VTR forks are actually quite good - the crappy part is the springs and valving. Putting other forks in it will not make the bike any better - you'll still have to spend the same amount of money putting new springs and valves into the replacement forks. Since you'll have the stock forks out of the bike anyway, a reputable frame/suspension place should charge you no more than $100 to straighten and rebuild the basic fork. Send it to someone like Lindemanns and they'll build a good fork setup for you for about $300-400. That's far better money spent than going the USD forks, which you'd then have to spend the same amount getting setup correctly anyway. However, if you're just looking for an excuse to replace the entire front end, it doesn't matter what I say anyway - you've already got it :)

Re: Bent Fork Leg
 

You say the bars are "off". That could also mean the triples themselves are twisted or the bars are bent. Don't forget to check those.

Also, info gleaned from the VFR lists says that F3 forks are a tad longer than VFR forks.

Re: Bent Fork Leg
 

A voice of reason, hummmm I usually listen the the guy on my shoulder that has a tail and pitchfork, not the one with wings....and the guy with the pitchfork always says go big, go big...hummmm

Thanks for the glass trick, I use that one myself for pushrods myself.

Re: Bent Fork Leg
 

Superbling, I thought of that and loosened the head nut and you can get them straight but they "spring" back? The bars are straight, its lower than that because the fender doesnt line up with the tire? I guess its time for exploritory surgery, for the bike, not me...depending on who you ask of course! Dont you guys drop the forks a bit? That being the case, longer would = bad????

If the F3 forks are a little longer, I've not noticed it before. I've never just done the slider swap - mostly I've done the fork internals swaps to get preload + rebound adjustment into the VFR forks.

Heh, missed the next set of replies.

Having a longer fork slider is only bad if you just do one - then you'd have two different length sliders and it would not look pretty. If you did both, then no difference. Loosinging the head nut by itself won't get the forks to straightened - you need to loosen everything on the forks - both upper and lower clamp bolts, the axle bolt and pinch nuts as well as the fender bolts. However, it seems that you may have already done this if I'm reading what you said above correctly (you slid the fork down to have a look for creases and to straight-edge it).

As for dropping the forks through the clamps, yes. My old VTR I had dropped 10mm at the front and raised 20mm at the rear (over the axle). There's some pics of it over in the Members' Pics area that I posted earlier today. Right now I'm VTR-less. Just sold my Mille R and looking around for it's replacement to complement my other bike - a Blackbird.