RESOLVED - CG125 Bent Front Wheel?

[veeeffarr]

Hi, Shortly after I posted here about crashing my bike... I notice the front wheel is misaligned...

As far as I know, I need to slacken off the nuts on the headstock and then straighten the wheel out by pushing the forks down?

The front wheel is angled to the left (You can tell because its to the left slightly of the mudguard)

Had to ride it to Warrington after I crashed, nearly lost the front wheel on the way so it's obviously not too rideable.

Problem is I've got to ride it again to St Helens to get it repaired... Should I try and align the wheel myself?

[stinkwheel]

I would. The technique you describe should do it or substitute dunting the front wheel square into a wall a few times once you have losened the clamps a bit.

If you are stuck without tools, I would suspect you should be able to get some semblance of straigntness on a CG125 by standing in front of the bike, gripping the front wheel between your knees and shoving on the handlebars until it is more or less squared up.

Remember to look at the alignment of the wheel relative to the rest of the bike and not at the mudguard.
____________________
“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[veeeffarr]

[stinkwheel]

If you have twisted the forks in the yokes (which is how I read your description) you need to loosen off the clamps on the steering yoke. Look at the fork stanchions (the shiny chrome bits). Where they pass up through the bottom yoke, there is a clamp pinched together with a bolt. You need to loosen these.

Most bikes have a similar clamp on the top yoke but I think a CG just has a big bolt that screws down through the top. You might need to loosen these a touch too. Don't loosen anything too much or the forks will fall through the yokes.

Now stand astride the bike and push it straight into a wall a few times. Just hard enough to achieve what I scientifically measure as a 'dunt'. You should find everything squares itself up again. Don't forget to re-tighten the bolts. Ideally you would torque them up but I never have. They don't need to be mega, two hands on the spanner tight, just tight enough so you are happy they aren't going to unscrew themselves.

Of course if the wheel or forks are actually bent, this will be of no help at all.
____________________
“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[veeeffarr]

Hi,

Thanks,

I'll take a look at it later.

I'm taking it to the garage anyway, just want to sort it out so I don't lose the front wheel again.

Any ideas how much this would cost at a garage?

-Straighten Front Wheel
-Replace Battery
-Loosen Chain

[mchaggis]

If they were any good, all three of those things put together should take them less than 15 minutes. Those jobs are very simple mechanicking, I'd have a go at them myself in preference to paying a 'highly skilled' mechanic a premium for it.
____________________
I must not be a troll...
Mmmm, Guinness
Discovering the delights of Hammerite and a 3/4" brush.

[veeeffarr]

I want to get it right though.

There's also a weird 'grating' noise coming from the engine when I accelerate harshly in first and the whole thing vibrates like crazy... Got any idea what that could be?

[veeeffarr]

For future reference this is due to a snapped engine bolt, probably causing the engine to misalign with the gears, and vibrating inside the engine.

[veeeffarr]

The front wheel was aligned by milennium in St Helens,

As a bonus, he replaced my engine bolt (Which I hadn't asked him to do), greased all contact points and slacked and greased the chain and bolts. All I paid for was labour.

Good service.