How necessary do you think it is to have a bike measured and certified straight before selling or buying? Is it necessary in today's market or is there some sort of way to assure both parties that they are getting the bike as promised without carting the bike 400 or 500 miles to get it checked? I've seen CU's manual jug & string method, but would that really hold any water with a prospective buyer? And what is the biggest assurance that comes out of all this? Obviously, I think its essential to have straight forks, but how 'bout the rest of the chassis? What's the most common point of disorder, the head tube?
Well if you have steering head that is out .5 of a degree it equals quite a bit at the axle. Therefor now you are messing with rake/trail numbers, which now your messing with the handling of the bike. You could have a triple clamp or swingarm bent so that the bikes wheels are not inline which can make bike turn differently from one side to another. So yes it does make a difference. If someone is wanting it done on a bike they are buying from you tell them they need to put money down, or pay for it themselves...otherwise wait on another person. If it is you then your on the opposite side of the fench. GMD usually charges $150 or to do this.
Your right most are not. I've heard of GSXR's being off as much as 5mm. I had the Triumph Daytona 600 that I raced measured by GMD and they said the wouldn't touch a thing...it was real close to being as good as you could get it. So to say none are I wouldn't go that far but they can come out of whack straight out of the box.
My old SV was crooked outta the box. There are always going to be +s and -s in tolerances from one end of the bike to the other. Add em all up and sometimes you get a bike close enough to the ballpark, and sometimes you get a bike with the front and rear wheels leaning in opposite directions relative to one another, mine (or any of a number of other things). did that post make any sense?
I was wondering what certifying organization was handling the paperwork? And if it was ISO compliant. (NTTAWWT)
i think checking frame straightness is like checking water purity. i don't buy the whole: straighter must be better, right.....just like the cleaner the water-the better.....right?? water only has to be so clean to drink....there is a point at which it doesn't need to be any cleaner. you can never get down to perfectly pure water - just like you can't get a perfectly straight bike. same with frames. if you know the factory specs - check it and make sure it is within that. if the people checking don't know the factory specs but are just taking the 'straighter is better' line....then they are just exploiting you. clink, clink.
jig, I never realized how dumb you were before now. But then again, you're probably not fast enough to take advantage of a straightening . It all boils down to effeciency, when you're trying to get every few tenths of a second off you can it will matter.
What's the difference when you're only getting 75-85% out of the bike anyways? I agree with Jig. Especially when its a sub-top10 novice rider questioning the chassis.
Nick, i think you need a few more years experience before you even THINK about giving advice on something like this, dude. Not even a complete year riding Metrakits and doing alot of reading makes you anywhere close to being able to give this kind of post. For the record, IMO, lets say you spend $150 to get the frame measured, then lets say whoever measures it tells you it needs to be straightened. Now lets say the AVERAGE fee to straighten just the frame is $600. For me, i'd go buy another frame. Today's frames can be had for around $800 (at least for the R6). And i personally dont think that when you heat up aluminum to get it straight, that the aluminium will ever have the same flexibility/rigidity that its designed to have. Im sure theres at least one person on here thats pretty damn knowledgable on how aluminum reacts to heat, and from what im told, its just not good to do. If the bike isnt bent all to hell, then just ride the damn thing. Chances are, unless youre in the top 10% of the racers on the track, you'll never know its bent. Triple clamps, forks, swingarms are a different story tho.
its not so much frame straightening, alot of it is the wheels, forks, triple clamp, etc. todd- do you not agree that a bike thats crooked will not be as fast as a straight bike? the water comparison is also kinda off. unless your into competitive water drinking...... I was just stating factual information that a straighter bike will have less drag and semi-unnoticable improved handling. you may not notice the difference but the lap timer will. So, if you're really trying to get an edge on the competition then straightening is a way of doing it.
Personally, I wouldn't worry about it too much unless it is really noticeable. I had the GSXR straightened after a crash last year at Beaver because it was obviously bent at the front end. They ended up striaghtening the clamps but they also took a twist out of the swingarm and then moved the steering head (the head was twisted, moved to the left, and pulled out). Now I bought the bike as a salvage title and know at least the rake was messed up before me crashing it. I am also pretty sure the swingarm twist was there before my crash. I had raced the bike a couple other weekends and done several track days with it and the fact that it wasn't straight (unknown to me at the time) never caused me any issues. I ran faster on the GSXR than I had on my 929 so it was still an improvement. So, my opinion, unless you are really, really good or the bike is really, really bent then you probably won't notice it much. And BTW, my own experience and talking with several others who had their bikes straightened the cost will come out around $1000-1300. I was told pretty much everything on my bike was bent and was also informed, as others have indicated here, that most of the bikes come bent from the factory. The GSXR won't get straightened again unless I can tell while riding it that something is out of whack. Oh, and the part that really irks me... with GMD you can't get a printout of what is wrong with your bike. They can tell you what is wrong with it and you can look at the doc that details it, but you can't take a copy with you. Just seems shady to me....
That's some good info, everyone. It confirms how I feel and gives me some ammo to push back if it should come into play. Another satisfied customer. Thanks!! :up:
lol! little kids crack me up. go back to figuring out the deep secrets of why you get more suds wacking off in the shower with new soap than an old bar of soap.....i'm sure you'll figure it out soon.
Oh, and the part that really irks me... with GMD you can't get a printout of what is wrong with your bike. They can tell you what is wrong with it and you can look at the doc that details it, but you can't take a copy with you. Just seems shady to me.... [/B][/QUOTE] I've always been able to get a print out of my sheets. Now understanding it may be difficult for some people. I can take a glance at the sheet and tell and understand what is going on. If you can't do that then sure you may not think it's worth it or understand what the bike is going to do or behave. As for aluminum and heat...yes it will change the properties of the alloy. If you have to heat the hell out of it. The problem lies when you have to bend it a lot. If you make a small tweak like less then you can see with the naked eye it's not that big of a deal. Now if your triple clamps or frame spar is bent a huge amount then straightening it is not something I would do...I'd replace. I guess to notice a difference between a straight bike and one out of whack is by going out and riding the bike and taking note of what the bike is doing and trying to make suspension changes. Then having the bike not respond to the changes like it should, or having to go way out of what you would normally have to make a change where before you didn't have to. If your just going out around the track running laps during practice to see how fast you can go...then no your probably not going to notice a difference. BTW I've never paid more then $650 to have a bike straightened...if your bill is going to be more then that I'd for sure be looking into picking up a new frame.
So please explain what a "Rad" is. and then explain what "It is out .2 rads" means in real terms. Just how much is ".2 rads" anyway?
