Wilsons Sandbox

Pressing the tubes back into place is an amazingly workable solution. It works best when both tubes have been bent. You never quite get all the bend pressed out so when you start with two bent tubes its easier to come out with a matching set. Worst case, you will go through fork seals and bushing at some regular interval and have a very slight misalignment that wont be that noticeable unless you go through a puddle, leaving a set of misaligned tracks for proof. But all things considered, while pressing the fork leg straight is a workable solution, most folks, including me, that have done it, eventually found a set of unbent legs. Pat G'ville In a message dated 2003-03-06 5:07:27 AM Pacific Standard Time, achesley@... writes:

> > Has anyone ever tried to straighten a bent fork > tube with a press? We used to do that quite often > in the 60's 70's and 80's as long as they were not > kinked. Have not bent once since back then but > they worked out okay back then. > >

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On Thu, 2003-03-06 at 08:05, Andrus Chesley wrote:

> Has anyone ever tried to straighten a bent fork > tube with a press? We used to do that quite often > in the 60's 70's and 80's as long as they were not > kinked. Have not bent once since back then but > they worked out okay back then. >

No. It will not work with the KLR fork tubes. I have spoken at length with the fine people at ??? Company (they are a third party manufacturer of fork tubes, and I can't remember their names at all, very friendly and helpful though). They said that they have problems making the KLR fork tubes because they are so long and have extremely thin walls. They said they were some of the weakest tubes they make, in terms of adhereing to the design spec. I had a bent tube straighten at a shop and the tube collapsed. Anyhow, the KLR forks are bad enough as they are, I wouldn't want to ride around on one with a straightened tube... One good pothole and your front end is totally shot. If they were thicker it might work fine, but I doubt it's worth the money (they're $100 new?) Z DC A5X A11X