why are my bars crooked?
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Mar 2010
Posts: 21,116
Likes: 7,640
From: Poolville
Long story short, because of shoulder problems I went to raise my bars for a less painful position. I have stock risers with 8" Buck Horns but wanted a little higher. I have a couple of sets of 4.25" risers on the shelf but they were too tall for all my wiring and cables. So I decided that maybe I can cut an 1" off the bottom and tap. So I mocked up a caveman lathe and shortened the risers to 3.25"..
By doing this I believe I trued up the bottom of the riser because now my bars are finally (after 21 years) straight and level.
Edited: to add pic.
Last edited by 98hotrodfatboy; Apr 3, 2025 at 08:13 AM.
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 21,086
Likes: 19,246
From: The Wasteland
Try all of what's been said and see if it fixes the problem. But if not, it might just be that the bars are actually bent.
I had an 05 Dyna that I flipped a few years ago. While working on it I noticed the bars seemed off center so I did everything that has been mentioned here to straighten them, but they were still off center after it was all said and done. I ended up taking the bars off and laid them on my bench where it was a known flat and level surface.
Turns out they were slightly bent. I knew the bike had dropped by the PO in her driveway, she told me when I bought it and she included a box full of extra parts and take offs with the bike. In the box was a broken right mirror, a scuffed up front brake lever, a broken right turn signal, and a scuffed up throttle grip.
Turns out she busted all of that stuff when it fell over and she replaced it, but evidently the bars got a little tweaked and she didnt catch it, so she just put the new hardware on the old bars and called it good.
I had an 05 Dyna that I flipped a few years ago. While working on it I noticed the bars seemed off center so I did everything that has been mentioned here to straighten them, but they were still off center after it was all said and done. I ended up taking the bars off and laid them on my bench where it was a known flat and level surface.
Turns out they were slightly bent. I knew the bike had dropped by the PO in her driveway, she told me when I bought it and she included a box full of extra parts and take offs with the bike. In the box was a broken right mirror, a scuffed up front brake lever, a broken right turn signal, and a scuffed up throttle grip.
Turns out she busted all of that stuff when it fell over and she replaced it, but evidently the bars got a little tweaked and she didnt catch it, so she just put the new hardware on the old bars and called it good.
Advanced
Joined: Jul 2024
Posts: 99
Likes: 35
From: Ca.
Bike ever crashed? If so pull the forks and watch the run out being super flat when spun. Fork tubes have a bow/rise by spinning it, it throws off the square, meaning, lower triple tree to axle. Since the forks are off, spin the front axle and note if it's straight or has a bend. All shows good, could be handlebar mount studs. Again, spin the studs (#18) for bow/rise.
Forks off still? Then remove the upper crown, drop the bottom triple tree. Does the crown have a clamping or pinch design to lock the fork down, or does the fork cap lock to the upper crown? Clean and grease steering bearings every 7,500 miles.
Assemble axle to triple back to square. Say if out of square, bike turns OK one way, feels sketchy the other way. Lock the one fork down, float the other fork to make the axle fly out of both forks. If half caps are used, spin the axle so it has very little drag by just cinching the half caps so as to act a hole but not lock the axle down so as not to spin.
Forks off still? Then remove the upper crown, drop the bottom triple tree. Does the crown have a clamping or pinch design to lock the fork down, or does the fork cap lock to the upper crown? Clean and grease steering bearings every 7,500 miles.
Assemble axle to triple back to square. Say if out of square, bike turns OK one way, feels sketchy the other way. Lock the one fork down, float the other fork to make the axle fly out of both forks. If half caps are used, spin the axle so it has very little drag by just cinching the half caps so as to act a hole but not lock the axle down so as not to spin.
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