Bonneville America Forums Forums Technical Forums General Tech Front-End Alignment?

I've got a 2005 America.

I've noticed when I take my hands off the bars that my bike wants to slightly veer to the right. I can correct this by leaning to the left to maintain a straight course.
I've checked and double checked the rear tire tensioners both by number of turns and by measurement from the swing arm pivot bolt. The marks in the tensioners don't look precise enough to use them for measurement.

I read somewhere that you can align the front end by loosening some bolts (not sure which ones) on the triple tree and holding the front brake while diving the front end down a few times, then retightening the bolts. Does this sound right? How is it done?

Has anyone else experienced this and how did you correct it?

Thanks for your help/comments.

I took my entire front end off once.... When I put it back on, I tightened the TOP clamp and left the bottom one loose. Roll up to a wall or something so the front end is blocked (I think its better if the front axel isn't locked by the brakes, but probably not much difference), and just pogo-stick it a few times. Tighten up the lower clamp and you're good.

All that being said, you probably just aren't perefectly ballanced on the bike. Plus, the engine is offset

Hey Benny, I was actually wondering about the engine being offset to the right if that affected it. That being said, the only way to make it run true with no hands is to sit with my left cheek halfway off the seat. I'm sure that others would have mentioned that if it was "normal".
So, I can loosen the lower triple tree clamps and do as you said against a block wall then retighten the lower clamps?

Mike - I have new tires - less than 1k miles on them. I did notice this before replacing the tires though, so I don't think it was introduced by replacing the tires.

As long as the upper clamps are tight (maybe check that too...), loosening the lowers, then re-tightening should be fine. You may want to loosen the fender bolts too so the metal brace under it doesn't play a role. Ideally, if you got someone to hold the bike upright, so it never had to lean to one side on the kickstand while you tightened it back up, I imagine that would be best too, but I doubt it will make a difference.

Thanks again Benny - I'll give it a shot later today.

Matt - Yes it was balanced and it rides smoothly - no other problems that you would normally attribute to a balancing issue, and in fact with the bike on a lift the front tire spins smoothly and without any issues.

I'll try the triple tree thing today. Since I don't have a helper, I'll do it with the motorcycle lift nearby so that I can get off, hold it upright, then slide the lift underneath and keep it upright while I retighten everything.

I'll let you all know. Big thanks again.

Have you checked the rear wheel to insure it's aligned? That right hand veer could easily be from a slight left pitch in the rear adjustment; you can not trust the slack adjusters marks. Try laying a good straight edge on the face of the sprocket above the lower run of chain and see if the chain is running true.

it's all in the road

i have the same issue with my bike if i let the bars go it will slowly move to the right, not dive over or anything but that is surely where it wants to go, if i lean just a bit to let left i can true it up without incident. New tire and checked chain alignment the other day and bang on, so i am marking it up to motor alignment or something, i don't ride around much with my hands off the bars :-) well unless i am texting or something, but only then.

Hey guys. Sorry been extremely busy with work.

I had already tried riding on the left hand side of a divided highway due to the slight crowning of the roads around here. It still pulled to the right.

I loosened the lower triple tree bolts as well as the fender support bracket bolts. When I got the second triple tree bolt loose I would swear I heard/felt a "give" to the fork. I then pogoed the front suspension against a wall, as Benny said.

Then, without allowing the bike to tilt, I raised my stand just enough to hold the bike in an upright position and retighted all bolts and went for a ride.

It helped - quite a bit. It's not perfect, but I can steer by leaning rather than having to sit with a cheek in the breeze. Still a very slight right hand drift, but not nearly as bad as before.

Perhaps if I loosened both the top and bottom bolts and did it again? Or maybe the rear wheel is very slightly cocked, as careful as I was with the adjusters? Either way, it is much better than before and I thank you all for your advise and help.