Topic: Possible bent frame, does this look normal to you?

[Missingparts]

While tearing the bike down I noticed the forks are slightly bent, there is also light damage to the right side of the steering stop.  There is no damage to the lower triple so I'm assuming it has been replaced at some point.  There is no apparent damage to any of the frame tubes, with the bottom frame tubes level the upper tubes in the seat area are also level.  The two tubes that run from the seat area to the neck are level their full length.  Everything looks good BUT the head tube appears to be twisted. With the steering stop damage on the right side one would think it would be twisted in the other direction... Check out the pick below, the rod is centered in the stem.   I would think damage would show up somewhere else with the head tube twisted like that.

[kslrr]

That definitely looks off.

[Rigid]

Make sure that pipe is exactly centered in the neck.  Even a tiny bit out of true will multiply the dimension in that length.  Broken steering stops are common.  Is the engine aligned in the frame? Most of them that have been down hard are difficult to remove/ install engine due to misalignment.  If you do determine it is bent, it can be heated and realigned carefully with long pipes and a gas torch carefully applied.  I have done it to aircraft and motorcycles alike.

[Missingparts]

Make sure that pipe is exactly centered in the neck.  Even a tiny bit out of true will multiply the dimension in that length.  Broken steering stops are common.  Is the engine aligned in the frame? Most of them that have been down hard are difficult to remove/ install engine due to misalignment.  If you do determine it is bent, it can be heated and realigned carefully with long pipes and a gas torch carefully applied.  I have done it to aircraft and motorcycles alike.

It is centered pretty well.  Every measurement I have taken indicates the head tube is canted.   That being said, every engine mounting bolt came out with very little to no resistance and the engine came right out with no problem.   Its just odd to me that the head tube is canted like that and there is no indication of twisting, bending or damage anywhere else.
I'll probably look into having it straightened, I don't know if I feel comfortable attempting it myself.

[Rigid]

Titled frames can be had for $125, don't get too carried away. 

[ekpent]

Sounds like you never got a chance to ride it ??  Might be another good reason sometimes for folks to try and get them running before a teardown to give it a shakedown run first..

[Missingparts]

Sounds like you never got a chance to ride it ??  Might be another good reason sometimes for folks to try and get them running before a teardown to give it a shakedown run first..

Unfortunately no, it had been parked under a carport where it just sat for the last 26 years.  Rusted tank, gummed carbs, locked brakes, rotted tires, no chain...... would have been nice to ride it a little before tearing it down.

[ekpent]

Sometimes they do get a little far gone,nice your bringing it back though. Maybe 754 or somebody will have a suggestion to check that better.

[Apexxn]

I just went out and looked at my bare frame and visually it looks canted slightly the same direction yours does. I don't see any damage to my stops or any other indication that it was in a serious tip over.

I see you have a level on the rear frame rails and I would guess you moved that around. Forward just behind the backbone. When you get the engine out below across the engine cradle etc.

Also looking at my triple clamps the inside of the tube has a weld line and the bottom isn't really round with the weld that attaches the tube to the triple clamp. I would remove it and get a pipe that fits nicely inside the steering head and try again.

To twist a steering head like that your forks would be "L" shaped in my opinion.

And after all that if you still think it's canted, what the hell you have nothing to lose heat that bad boy up and twist it back in the manner that Rigid suggested.

[HondaMan]

I have successfully straightened many frames like that one. You may find that the front downtube on the right side is bent inward slightly, pulling the lower side of the head that direction?

The ones I have fixed were all hit by a car or truck bumper in those tubes (parking lot accidents, or a garage hit), so pushing them back out with a bottle jack straightened things right up again. The bikes are still on the road, handle fine, wheels in line.

Frame-and-axle shops with Bear Alignment equipment that is used for straightening the older Ford pickup truck I-Beam front ends can also twist the head itself for about $50, if it is in the upper tubes somehow. After this fix, have the joints where the head meets the tubes rewelded a little bit, as the welds will likely crack in the twisting process.

[Hush]

Shame you've got no history on the bike, "my brother hit a tree and then was too scared to ride it for 26 years" would help eh.
I think we can get a bit paranoid about our front forks/wheels and imagination can run away with us because we all fear the dreaded out of alignment front.

[Xnavylfr]

It's a LITTLE bend.

I had a CB450 that I rearended a car with at about 15mph and bent the fork tubes back, so I went home ,lossened the tripple trees and rotated the tubes so the bends were forward and bent them back the same way they were bent in the first place except against a BRICK WALL.   BING-BANG-BOOM straight tubes and rode that bike 70 mile 1 way to work leaning on the back rest and NO HANDS on the bars at 65/70mph..   HEY fella watch this!!! That was when I was young and dumb some 40 years ago.

Xnavylfr(CHUCK)

[Missingparts]

Thanks for all the replys guys,  I'll take another look at it when I get home tonight.
Im in no big hurry to get this one on the road so I may just keep a eye out for a good frame or
I may possibly send it to Frame Straight Systems and have them fix it up.  They are not too far
from me and they have done really good work for me in the past.  I would hate to buy another
"good" frame only to find out its tweaked a little also.  At least if I send it to Frame Straight I'll
know its right.  I plan on using this bike for track days and around in the mountains so I want to
make sure its right.

[754]

Fork tubes apart are self checking.. Just hold them against each other, then turn one 90 degrees 4 times, then repeat with other tube.

[Apexxn]

Just to give you something to compare it to:





That bubble is 1.5mm off, which I'm not real worried about.

If I were you I'd bolt on your swingarm and fork tubes and run pipes through both of those axle locations and see how they compare to each other that's where the difference will matter. I'm not saying that's the same as taking it to a frame shop but it'll give you an idea.

Don't want to bore you but a short story from race days. I paid $750 to a place called Computrak(don't think they are in business anymore) and they gave me a huge print out on how bad my race bike was. They got everything in line and I could not tell the difference and my lap times didn't drop at all. Of course maybe I just sucked.

[Rigid]

Just to beat this to death, i have leveled about 15 frames in my welding jig to hardtail them and when they are level on the top seat area, they are not level on the bottom under the engine.  If a frame company gets ahold of it they may very well make it straighter than honda bothered to.  Carry on........

[anders288]

While tearing the bike down I noticed the forks are slightly bent, there is also light damage to the right side of the steering stop.  There is no damage to the lower triple so I'm assuming it has been replaced at some point.  There is no apparent damage to any of the frame tubes, with the bottom frame tubes level the upper tubes in the seat area are also level.  The two tubes that run from the seat area to the neck are level their full length.  Everything looks good BUT the head tube appears to be twisted. With the steering stop damage on the right side one would think it would be twisted in the other direction... Check out the pick below, the rod is centered in the stem.   I would think damage would show up somewhere else with the head tube twisted like that.

   

          Put the wheels back  on then string it. Wrap a string around the lower part of the rear tire bring string forward along both sides of the bike
   position the string so that it just touches the front of the rear tire tie it off to a weight in front of the bike. Then you can see with a ruler if the front
 wheel is centered on the back wheel. Another quick check is to lay something flat across the fork tubes and see if it la yes flat on both tubes.

[754]

 do yourself a favor. find Level off a straight swingarm shaft. Be very careful with what you put thru the neck, ideally it shhould have cones, but failing that pulling forward or pushing it back against the races should get you in the safe range.
 Re forks and trees, first check forks as I described abve, then assemble them lightly snugged in the trees and eyeball for parallel, if its not its,  the trees.. minor tweaks in trees are fairly easy to work out, again straight tubes are the checking standard.. its pretty straight forward, but can get muddied up  easily..

[anders288]

string $1.00

[lucky]

Before you can check a frame you need a table level in both directions.
Then get the frame on the table and get it LEVELED to account for the kickstand
 tab. Use small steel blocks until level.

ANYONE WITH A MOTORCYCLE FRAME BUILDING JIG CAN HELP YOU.

Welds do not crack unless they were the wrong material in the first place.
The HAZ ,heat affected zone next to the weld is weaker and can get torn or bent since the metal is softer.

In the first post photo the JACKSTANDS could be unequal heights!!!
Not the right way to do it.


If the fork stop tab is bent it means the frame alignment should be checked but it does not mean it is bent. But it could be.

And like anders288 said. Use string too.