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Front fork stanchions.

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Laverda Dave:

--- Quote from: Bryanj on March 27, 2026, 04:24:49 PM ---No mate the corect answer is if there was enough force to bend the legs the frame is out as well, which being honest at 50 yrs old i would think most are not perfect anymare, but we all have rose tinted glasses where our bikes are concerned!!!

--- End quote ---

This is the reason I always get a frame checked during initial strip down (although I haven't had the NC30 frame checked but I know it's UK history).
Every frame I have had checked has been slightly twisted. The only one that wasn't was the 400/4 (Ratty) . The reason why the frame wasn't twisted was because it had suffered a previous front end and was straightened just before it was taken off the road 25 years ago.
It costs £90 to have a frame checked where I go and is well worth it.
As an aside, the guy who checks the frame alignment told me even a brand new frame will have a slight twist because they are in a production line and manufacturers don't have time to inspect and true every frame off the line. The welding process causes the slight twist.
Apparently beam frames are more robust in a drop being more rigid and with heavily cast steering heads.

Orcade-Ian:
The reason for my comment about them all being bent was from personal experience.  I bought a brand new CX500A in January 1981 and in June 1983 I had a leaking fork seal at just under 35,000 miles.  I stripped the forks in readiness for replacing the seals and checked the stanchions with a DTI between V blocks at the ends, one had a TIR of 0.007" and the other reading was  0.010".  I had certainly never crashed this bike or ill-treat it in any way other than normal use.  It's not possible to grind a bent stanchion (apart from using centreless grinding), hence the straightening process before grinding.
Ian

Bryanj:
Ian, i did an insurance job on a cx500 where both forks and a lot of other things were bent, had to do a supplementary claim for a slider as it wouldnt slide then at end found i had to slide both tubes about 10mm upwards through the yokes to get the bike to sit on centre stand, wheels were in line and vertical so i suspect the headstock was pushed back shoryening the wheelbase a bit, explained all to ownerand said it handled fine and straight and if he wanted it back he would have to accept it as is or the insurance would write it off

Johnny4428:
So finally received stanchions back today. Packing was minimal and scruffy top nuts returned with no question of having them done, one has to try! On the plus side for £350 odd quid I got a Biscoff!!
End caps on packing tubes weren’t secure.

Laverda Dave:
That's really bad, is this from Brooks Johnny? Not a good advert for whoever did them. Philpotts use very heavy duty cardboard tubes with plastic end caps that are duct taped to the cardboard tubes to send them back and certainly no biscuits!

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