I just had my first ever motorbike crash. A low speed one, coming up to a roundabout and still had hold of the front brake as I went over a bit of frost. Picked the bike up and got it home, gear lever bent and rear indicator dangling. I rebent the gear lever back in place and screwed the indicator back on. Luckily it had just come off and not broke. But as I was riding it home, I noticed the handlebars were slightly off centre. When I got in I had a better look, and I can't tell if its the forks that are slightly twisted or if the bars bent. Its not noticeable from any angle other than when you look from above and the headlight is pointing slightly to the left of the wheel, only by around 5-10°. How do I check if the forks are twisted? Thanks, Dave in skelmersdale

sorry to hear that, I witnessed 2 car crashes this morning, both into traffic lights!

can you bounce the forks and they return ok?

try loosening the stantions one at a time and twisting them round, if it goes tight, they are bent.

you can get them straightened, but they would have to be taken off the bike, might be cheaper to buy front forks!

Sorry to hear that but at least you are ok.

Good advice from Drewps re the forks. You may have bent the bars. I would also change the lever. I would risk it snapping when I needed it most.

They do return up ok, I'll check again in a bit. I'll have a go tomorrow at loosening stantions, don't want to start anything too late. Cheers guys :-)

Oh yeah, hope the car drivers were ok in their crashes

Learning curve jester " good news you ain"t hurt,,, weve all been there, . as drewps says , & get front wheel against a post or the shed, and push them forks/ bars straight,

i did push them back straight against the kitchen wall it worked, and i rode to the bike shop for a new indicator bulb, now i just need to build the confidence up on the slippy-looking corners again...

Thanks

Glad to hear it all worked out ok jester, that's the reason i have retreated into the safety and comfort of a 4WD for the winter .