Topic: Any ideas on why my 400F's steering feels like its falling off?

[firstdotlast]

Hey guys,

I have a '75 400F and recently it was knocked down while it was parked by some douche who drove away and left it there on its right side. After that the steering felt like it was pulling side to side when moving even when going straight. Not really a regular interval wobble but just unstable.

I took the steering apart, handlebars still seem straight, and forks seems straight. I pulled apart the steering bearings and didn't notice any grooves and re-greased them. Took the wheel off to check if it was straight, didn't seem to really be out of whack. I tightened the axle, forks, trees, bearings, handlebar all correctly (I believe). Now, the steering feels wobbly like its coming apart at speeds under 40 and the bike feels like its pulling to the right at higher speeds in a straight line.

Any ideas on these handling/steering problems? Anyone else have weird handling issues after being knocked down? What kind of symptoms do bent forks cause? They don't seem to be bent but just wondering. Any thoughts on what else could have been damaged/bent?

[Stev-o]

Have you checked air pressure front and rear?

[firstdotlast]

Yup. And the tires are pretty much new Avons...

[Don R]

String the tires to check for alignment. My bike had tapered bearings in it. They were still junk. bike must have taken a hit on the front and dinged them.

[firstdotlast]

String the tires to check for alignment. My bike had tapered bearings in it. They were still junk. bike must have taken a hit on the front and dinged them.

Would alignment being off cause it to wobble or just pull one way? I did clean/grease the bearings but maybe they just need to be replaced...

[DJ_AX]

I didn't see a mention of checking the rear...
How's that swing arm play?
Spokes?

[phil71]

sounds like the fork tubes tweaked a little. Loosen the clamps and straighten 'em out.

[firstdotlast]

I know it's been a while but I wanted to give some closure to this in case some one else comes along with the same symptoms and needs an answer.

I changed the steering bearings to tapered bearings and replaced the fork tubes (which was probably unnecessary, since the old ones are straight). Bike runs straight and stable now but my guess is that the tapered bearings fixed the steering problems.

Thanks for the help guys