Fork alignment question
 

Hi there. Ever since a spill back in January, my handlebars have been a bit off center (to the right) when the bike is turned straight. Nothing is bent - just the impact knocked the forks/triple trees out of alignment. I had it in for safety inspection recently and asked about it and he confirmed - nothing bent. He said I could put it up on stands to get the weight off the front, lossen the axle bolt and all three sets of pinch bolts, then wiggle it back into alignment. Well, he was right - I have it aligned. However, I now have a new problem...

During this process, the fork tubes slid up so now the bars are way up high, almost to the windscreen. Not good. It makes sense to me how this happened - the weight of the bike was still on the fork so the bike slid down the fork tubes. But now...how to fix it? Should I rig up a way to suspend the front end of my bike from my garage ceiling? I think I have read before of a tree stand -- I assume that would help here b/c the weight would no longer to on the fork.

Any insight is much appreciated!

A triple tree stand would be ideal but when ever I have to do stuff to the forks I just hang it from the garage ceiling.

Not saying that your forks are bent but you really can't tell by just looking at them. It's up to you if you want to have them measured or not. A triple tree stand is your best bet to take the weight off the front end while you adjust it. I've never tried to hang a bike from the garage but that should work too. Be safe and if the bike doesn't handle like it did before the spill get the bike measured to make sure all is good.

I pushed the front wheel up a ramp then put jackstands (padded with rags) under the bosses where the engine bolts to the frame - then removed the ramp. This allowed me to disassemble the entire front end.