[Ducati Scotty]

       You are making WAAAAAY too much of this. Straddle the bike. Hold the handle bar straight and look at the front wheel. It will be angled off to one side. Roll up to a wall an twist the handle bar hard so the wheel is whacked back straight. This fixes 99% of these issues.

+1.  If the tubes ain't bent you'll be fine.  You may want to loosen the axle bolts and the lower triple if it doesn't work.

Still worth checking that the tubes aren't bent but if you just knocked it over and didn't run into something with the front end, they're probably fine.

Scott

[r80rt]

If the tubes aren't bent to bad, they can be pressed back straight by any machine shop.

[Glenn]

OK, I tried the wheel slamming technique suggested by Vince. It seemed to help but not enough.

I got the wheel off and checked the "play" on the right main tube. It's bent, all right -- the bottom end of the fork moves about 1/2" - 3/4" when I rotate the main tube.

Question: what if I were to rotate the tube about 1/4 turn, so that instead of being bent backwards, it's bent inwards (towards the wheel). If I could then get the wheel back in (might be a tight squeeze), it would push the forks apart, bringing me more-or-less back to normal, if a tiny bit "bowlegged".

If I do that, it'll mean the main tube won't be tightened all the way at the top (casquette) end. But, I've read they are not supposed to be super tight anyway, & of course I'll tighten up the lower clamps like crazy.

Does anyone think that would work, or should I just go ahead and pull the tube & get it straightened at a machine shop? I'd rather avoid the trouble of pulling the tube, if possible.

Thanks for all the suggestions!

[Vince]

     If is bent it needs to be straightened. No matter how you orient it something will bind. Plus, if you hit a bump just right the fork can get stuck in the down position and will no longer move. This is not conducive to good handling. Bad luck. Sorry. My son's girlfriend did the same thing to my wife's van. At least there is beer.

[Ducati Scotty]

+1.  It's bent, fix it before you ride.

The 'twist against the wall' method can only work when the tubes are straight but they are just misaligned between the top and bottom triple clamps.  Even then, sometimes you have to loosen things to get them re-aligned.

Scott

[Glenn]

     My son's girlfriend did the same thing to my wife's van. At least there is beer.

Yes, there's beer. And RE's have got to be easier to fix than a van. Plus, now I have an excuse to change the fork oil.

[Glenn]

Thanks to everyone who responded. I had the main tube straightened by this crazy old machinist, got it back on the bike yesterday & changed the fork oil while I was at it. The front end is actually better now than it was before. (The old fork oil was low, & extremely dirty.) Got a new brake lever coming from our hosts. Total cost: about $60, plus some embarrassment, and I was back on the road within 5 days. Not bad!

Glenn

[r80rt]

Glad to hear  you are rolling again,

[Ducati Scotty]

Make very good friends with this crazy old machinist.  They are good people to know.

Scott

[Ice]

Congrats brother.

[Glenn]

Make very good friends with this crazy old machinist.  They are good people to know.

You bet. This guy could probably build a dozen (weird) motorcycles out of the stuff he had lying around his shop, & he knew instantly what my bent tube came off of. He was telling me about a badly bent (in a fatal wreck) shotgun he acquired & how he straightened the barrel. Good times!