Fork Alignment
Sometimes, if the front of your bike feels harsh or you have a re-occurring fork seal problem, it may not be with your forks but might be because they are mis-aligned on your bike. This is more common than you might expect. Several people have called me after having work done on their forks saying that the forks don’t move properly after they get them home and on their bikes. Once I talk them through this easy alignment procedure the problem is gone and the forks work smooth as glass.
#1. Put your bike on a stand so your front tire is off the ground.
#2. Put forks in triple clamps, make sure they are the same height.
#3. Torque the top bolts in an alternating pattern to factory specs.
#4 Torque the bottom clamp bolts the same way. Do not over tighten these as this could pinch
your forks a little making them feel harsh.
#5. Install the front wheel. Don’t tighten the axle pinch bolts yet.
#6 Tighten the axle bolt all the way before you tighten the pinch bolts.
#7 While the axle pinch bolts are still loose, spin the front tire and slam on the brake (best to be
front brake). Do this a couple of times.
#8. Now, torque the left pinch bolts to your mfg’s specs.
#9. Repeat #7.
#10. Tighten the right side axle pinch bolts to factory specs.
That should do it.
Greg Chapel
To get the BEST in suspension performance call Greg at NMS. 775-358-4388 or you can reach him on his cell at 775-690-4109.