Straighten Bent Handlebar on Motorcycle

I managed to fall with my motorcycle so that the handlebar ended up being quite much out of align with the front wheel. First step (if the location of the damage is not obvious) is to release and examine fork tubes. For that see for example http://faq.ninja250.org/wiki/I_need_to_realign_my_forks_and_front_wheel#Front_end_alignment_v2 . If there is lot of damage, get a professional to help or buy new fork tubes and other suspicious parts, your life depends on that. I also started the repair releasing the fork tubes from triple clamp and aligned things just eyeballing the centre part of the fork and wheel. And then it was obvious that the main problem is handlebar itself. Here's how I got things into bearable alignment again. This is no precision work, I can excuse myself with the fact that the handlebar was out of alignment already when I bought the thing, my fall just made it worse.

Things needed:

• sturdy tree or lamp-post or something like that
• strong beam that fits between fork tubes and gives leverage to keep fork from turning
• cargo lashing belt

See images for usage. The point is to pull the bent end of handlebar towards the post with the strength a cargo lashing belts lever gives and at the same time use the post and beam to prevent fork from turning along with the pulling force.

Keep bystanders on safe distance and consider wearing protective gear in case the beam breaks or something else goes flying under the tension.

Comments

[tking113]

I slid out on gravel and the handlebars were bent slightly. I thought of a couple ways to straighten them but came up with the following. There are 4 points on my handlebars that should be on the same plane. I lifted my car with a jack, slid the handlebars under the wheel and slowly lowered the car until it pressed the handlebars until all 4 points were touching. They turned out perfect. It was nice to have a large flat garage floor and a 6000 lb press readily available.

[crazypj]

Doing the right side like that could damage the throttle tube.

It's also a false economy, the steel bar will not be as strong as it was before the bend and will bend even easier next time possibly causing far more damage.

I think the ZX7 has aluminum bars, they will probably snap if you try and straighten them?

[sfraneta1]

Awesome thanks...have the same problem. I bought my zx7r with the handle bar bent and definitely looks like it will do yhe trick.