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I have searched a lot of different message forms for "front end alignment" or "fairing alignment" on touring model bikes. I have been having a problem with my 14 SGS and the fairing alignment for the past few months. I have found answers from:
A.) Just ride it
B.) Loosen up all the pinch bolts and fender bolts then bounce the front end a few times to align.
C.) It's just going to be that way
Recently I had my local Harley dealer try to align everything to spec and I still am having the alignment issue. So before I choose option A & C, I would like to try option B. So if I loosen all the pinch bolts and cycle the front suspension a few times, the fork tubes would end up hitting the bottom of the handle bars and possibly creating an uneven gap between the bars and the top of the fork tubes. However as per the Harley service manual, there should be a specific set height for the fork tubes. So my question is, does it really matter where the pinch bolts grab as long as everything straightens out?
I've got mine apart right now. Just powder coated the lowers gloss black and did the Legend suspension upgrade while I had everything broken apart. Just got the tubes back together last night and called it quits since I had to be to work at 3 a.m. The hardest part of that job was getting the new fork seals seated.
What issues are you having with alignment? Can you feel something askew when you're riding, or does it just look off when the bike is parked and you're looking at it?
I'm going to attempt to find time to work on it tonight. I had planned on sliding the tubes back in the tree and snugging the pinch bolts, then using the axle to make sure everything it oriented correctly. I'm then going to make sure the fender lines up. Once I verify that's all good I'll torque everything to spec and take her for a spin.
When you say just " (front end or fairing) alignment issue", it's really hard to know exactly what you think the problem is, and what you want the resolved issue to look like.
From what I can surmise from your description, this is mostly about fork height in the top clamps, and how they relate to the bars, and/or axle...yes?
Well, the nice thing about forks is that they are held in three places (four or more if you count fender bolts) by very solid things: 1. The top clamp 2. The lower clamp 3. The axle.
Depending on the internal pressures exerted by springs and such, (and what kind of suspension you run), one fork leg may indeed be slightly longer or shorter than the other when the axle is not installed, and the tops of the forks are exactly equal heights at the top clamp. Once the axle is installed, that particular issue is irrelevant.
If the top clamp and lower clamp are not aligned with each other (twisted) however, that's a different problem, and should be corrected.
I remember as a kid, crashing my bike, picking it up, and noticing that the forks were twisted, such that my handlebars were goofy. Back then, I could just whack the front tire sideways into the nearest tree to straighten it out. That's the kind of alignment problem I'm describing here.
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Fork/Front End Alignment
