[mballmur]

A while back, I had posted some pics of my bent front forks from my fender bender. I had multiple people give me advice to take them to my local machine shop and get them straightened out. I finally got them back and I thought I'd post some pics of the before and after. Thanks to everybody for the advice.

[Leonard]

They look good, we will have to go riding after Christmas 

[mballmur]

They look good, we will have to go riding after Christmas 

We will have to be careful. When I ride, strange metal boxes appear out of thin air, perfectly good horns stop working, etc, etc....I think I'm going to need one of those little brass bells I see guys talking about...

[cyrusb]

That must have been quite a shot. Anything else bend?

[Ice]

HOLY CRAP those turned out nice !!

 Who did the straightening ?
Not that I plan on needing the service anytime soon but just in case.

[GreenMachine]

really...most places would tell ya to order new ones///  I'm assuming the plan is to get them back on and see how they feel....That  was some hit...

[ScooterBob]

We will have to be careful. When I ride, strange metal boxes appear out of thin air, perfectly good horns stop working, etc, etc....I think I'm going to need one of those little brass bells I see guys talking about...

I think the BRASS that you need is the kind that has gunpowder in it with a .45 caliber slug pressed into the end of it ....... sheesh! My compliments to the machine shop - I've straightened several sets of fork tubes for my own use - and if they aren't kinked, I can get 'em to .002" runout, usually ..... Tweek - UN-tweek ..... Hahaha!

[cyrusb]

Even with that degree of straitening, I'd be surprised if the forks dont bind somewhere in the travel. Hows did the rest of the parts fare? Wheel, frame,etc?

[GreenMachine]

so this would not be standard operating procedure if a customer came in with a bike with bent forks like in the pics..I figured that but I guess it would be worth a shot and if the price was right for the machine shop...

[mballmur]

so this would not be standard operating procedure if a customer came in with a bike with bent forks like in the pics..I figured that but I guess it would be worth a shot and if the price was right for the machine shop...

I got the advice from a few people and thought I'd give it a shot. New upper main tubes if I remember correctly are around $290 a set. The local machine shop charged be $38!

Even with that degree of straitening, I'd be surprised if the forks dont bind somewhere in the travel. Hows did the rest of the parts fare? Wheel, frame,etc?

They seem to travel about as well as they did when I took them off. Of course they were bent and I'm certainly no expert. The bike actually came out better than I thought it would. Of course, I haven't got it completely back together yet. The frame and wheels seem fine. The worst part was a small dent in my tank. I also need to replace my tail-light cable and I got a small dent in the silencer, but it's stock so it will eventually come off anyways. HUGE THANKS to Geichal who sent me a new rear brake pedal (I'll post a picture of my bent one, it was pretty bad) And another HUGE THANKS to Leonard who suppled me with his old headlight housing, and has provided invaluable help. If it wasn't for this forum and the generousity of all you RE riders I would be nowehere.

HOLY CRAP those turned out nice !!

 Who did the straightening ?
Not that I plan on needing the service anytime soon but just in case.

Dauer Welding in Lindsborg, KS. And for $38!

That must have been quite a shot. Anything else bend?

The most notable bend was my head traveling up my a$$...

[GreenMachine]

i think any of us would give it try for 38 bucks...Hey if it works out for ya  great..I wouldn't compromise your safety for it and you sound like you have it well under control (I'm not counting the crash)...Cheers and good luck with the repair.

[mballmur]

Here's a picture of my new rear brake pedal along with my one from the crash. Before I took it off, the old one was tucked underneath my silencer.

[mballmur]

..I wouldn't compromise your safety for it

How will I know if they're not functioning properly, or will it be obvious?? Newbie here...

[motomataya]

Old School fork tubes straighten easily, your triple trees are also bent, you will need to resolve that. New fork tubes have thin wall pipe and tend to crush. Your tubes will also bend  much easier next time so don't hit anything.

[ScooterBob]

Old School fork tubes straighten easily, your triple trees are also bent, you will need to resolve that. New fork tubes have thin wall pipe and tend to crush. Your tubes will also bend  much easier next time so don't hit anything.

Once again - the man is RIGHT on top of the deal ......

[Leonard]

Old School fork tubes straighten easily, your triple trees are also bent, you will need to resolve that. New fork tubes have thin wall pipe and tend to crush. Your tubes will also bend  much easier next time so don't hit anything.

You mean if the triple trees are bent, right?

[ScooterBob]

You mean if the triple trees are bent, right?

I didn't READ an "if" in there - and he is probably right. The fellow is an old flat-track racer and has probably wadded up - AND fixed - more bikes than we'll ever see. Flat track racin' is the sport for Manly Men, I think - I'M not brave enough to do it with anyone else on the track ...... it looks like a broken femur to ME, anyway.

MY take on it is to CAREFULLY inspect the steering stem to see that it doesn't have a "tweek" in it. With that kind of fork bending, I'd expect a little bow in the stem towards the back. No biggie, however - the machine shop that did the forks should be able to gently press that straight as well. It IS old school - and mild steel - so you are good for the first "tweek" ..... it's sort of like accident forgiveness from AllState .....

[motomataya]

What do ya mean OLD flat track racer.
 You really can't bend fork tubes without bending at least the bottom clamp. When you slide the tubes in you will probably find they wont line up with the top. You have to bend things back until it easily slides back together. Hope you get lucky, and I'm wrong.

[enfield freddy]

i,ve repaired several sets of fork stantions ,

about 2 yrs ago i was involved in an accident with a car , i was about 200 miles from home , the accident happened near an industrial park , some chaps came out with a fork truck and a pallet and moved the bike , whilst a young lady was tending to my cuts , the mechanics stripped the for legs and strieghtened them in a (about 100 ton) press , and rebuilt the ft end using hydrolic oil , i was on my way in less than 3 hrs , those stantions are still in use today

[ScooterBob]

What do ya mean OLD flat track racer.
 You really can't bend fork tubes without bending at least the bottom clamp. When you slide the tubes in you will probably find they wont line up with the top. You have to bend things back until it easily slides back together. Hope you get lucky, and I'm wrong.

Hahahaha! - I didn't old like I am - all worn out, tore up, creaky and gimpy .... I meant "old" like you been doin' it awhile .... and obviously pretty well, too - seein' as how YOU don't have any of the aforementioned maladies .... 

I have seen the stem (up in the steering neck) get tweeked in a hard hit - it usually will bend around the bearing - and right in the middle. A tap with a big brass mallet whilst in some vee-blocks will often times remedy this malady. On the Enfield one MUST be careful - a bent stem will lead to a potential stripped out headlight casquette.