Steering problem

Back wheel out of line. ?, fat lass riding side saddle?.

Other cause is worn rear tyre.

Road camber? Try and test on the opposite side of the road.

Are the handlebars at right angles when travelling in a straight line?

Wheel alignment?

Hi,is the tyre directional and reversed? Commandos are fussy on tyre makes. Check the isolastics are not very old rubber. The back wheel needs respoking, the left hand spokes are very tight, and if the right hand spokes relax, the rim drifts left. Sounds like both problems because of age. have you had the wheelout recently and the spacers are wrong, or a collapsed bearing? Just areas to look at. A lot of BMW's are off set 15mm and work OK.

I had a roadholder front end that was slightly twisted (handlebars not at right angles) with brand new stanchions fitted and it turned out to be the bottom yoke that had taken a bash.

I took the stanchions and fork yokes to Motoliner near Maidstone and seeing as I had pre-booked it, they straightened things whilst I waited (1 hr) and charged me about £80. The result was a bike that now steered straight with the handlebars at a perfect right angle.

I'm not saying this is the same problem that yours has, but it's certainly worth checking.

I don't quite understand what you mean when you say the wheels are parallel. You need to adjust the rear wheel till it is in line with the front. This may not be entirely "parallel" with the frame.....

You will never get it to stter properly if the wheels aren't in line.

My understanding is that all Commandos are out of line . However I would not stand for that .I have found all my bikes to be out of line and have corrected them after setting the front wheels central in the forks. Anyone who rides my bikes always comment on how quickly they turn in and how light the steering is. Must be a lot of wayward bikes out there.

chain alignment .

wheel alignment ,alls i do is use a piece of string nothing new but i find it ok.

bit like in the link but i level my bike up with straps off the stand.

http://www.pegmonkey.com/node/1057

Previously john_hadow wrote:

Bob, when you took them to Motoliner did you take just the yokes and forks or did you dismantle the forks? Presumably they bent the stem on the bottom yoke back into shape.

Also does anyone know of a company closer to Devon?

Hi John,

The stanchions were removed from the yokes with the sliders still attached to the bottom of the fork leg and taken to them as separate units - not sure if that helped or not and how they straightened them, I have no idea.

What alerted this problem to me was that if I put the stanchions into the bottom yoke only and nipped up the pinch bolts, the two fork stanchions were slightly out of parallel with each other and it was then very difficult to get the top yoke fitted without a bit of force.

Can't help you with a company local to you, but maybe some of the other guys may chip in or failing that, you could perhaps send them by courier to Motoliner

There used to be a place in Exeter many moons ago. Not suer if it is still there. Worth a look.