I need an alignment shop in the New England area

[The Mountain]

Until last month, there was a dedicated alignment shop up here that did chassis and front end alignment only. They typically did track/race bikes and other high-performance machines but could do others. I had been waiting for the end of winter to get my bike over to the guy, because I've needed an alignment since last year. I had taken it to a Yamaha Dealer up in Manchester NH in 2019 where I bought the bike, to have an alignment done, and the "alignment" turned out to be a shop "mechanic" making sure I wasn't looking, and then almost certainly just jamming the front wheel against something solid and yanking on the bars until they were more or less straight (it took him somewhat less than 10 minutes to "align" the bike).

Needless to say, that didn't really do much. The front felt mostly straight for a little while, but after doing part of the Hamster, it was back to being out of whack.

Unfortunately for me, the guy I mentioned at the beginning shut down after 30 years in the business, and all his alignment gear is being shipped to a guy down in NYC somewhere to do exclusively race bikes. So I need a shop here in Central/Eastern Massachusetts that can be relied on to do a *proper* front end alignment with the right tools to ensure that not only do they do the alignment correctly but are equipped to identify if anything got jacked up by the idiot up in Manchester.

With gas prices set to climb even further than they already are (betting we'll see $5+ within a month), I figure I should get the bike on the road sooner rather than later.

 

[OldRider]

Seriously, I've been banging the wheel up against a telephone pole for 50 years and it still works. If the front end is just tweaked a little the pole method works fine. If something is bent, that's a different story. It ain't rocket science.

 

[hulkss]

Generally speaking, a motorcycle is aligned when the rear wheel is aimed so the thrust vector from it intersects the center of the front tire contact patch.

Are there adjustments to align the rear wheel on an Super Ténéré? If not, all you can do is align the handlebars to be straight when you ride by tweaking the front end.

 

[Bigguy136]

I've road raced for 17 years. Shops can use all the fancy terms you want but at the end of the day on a shaft drive motorcycle, the only adjustment is your forks. Go to local hardware store and get a piece of 1/4" thick glass cut to 5"x12". Remove your front wheel and fender and put glass onto slider portion of your forks. If glass sits flat, all is straight. If glass rocks, tweak your forks as needed. Tweaking forks can be done by putting steering against fork stop and then lean on your handlebars and re-check. Depending on the spoke layout, you might be able to slide glass between spokes. If so, leave everything put together. You can again put forks against stop and tweak front wheel. All you are doing is rotating the top fork clamp to be parallel with lower fork clamp. Takes little force to move.

 

[Sierra1]

. . . . The front felt mostly straight for a little while, but after doing part of the Hamster, it was back to being out of whack . . . .

If was right, and then it wasn't . . . . something's loose.

 

[The Mountain]

It's the forks that need fixing. Not the rear swingarm. My left hand is almost 2" further forward than my right when the front wheel is pointed straight ahead.

And I'd rather have the forks adjusted with proper tools than try just banging on it until it feels "right".

 

[Sierra1]

And you're sure the bars aren't the problem, and bent?

 

[Jdubco]

loosen bottom triples and pinch bolts on the front axle grab front brake bounce down on the front end it will compress the suspension do this several times and it should self align. then torque everything back to spec
If your bars are not in line with the front wheel past that you have bent bars or at the very worse a bent fork. been riding for near 30 years and never had i had to take my bike to a shop to get the front aligned, on everything from sport bikes to MX bikes, if you want to burn money taking it to some special alignment person/shop thats up to you tho.

 

[The Mountain]

And you're sure the bars aren't the problem, and bent?

No, the top triple is aligned with the bars, but not the front wheel.

loosen bottom triples and pinch bolts on the front axle grab front brake bounce down on the front end it will compress the suspension do this several times and it should self align. then torque everything back to spec
If your bars are not in line with the front wheel past that you have bent bars or at the very worse a bent fork. been riding for near 30 years and never had i had to take my bike to a shop to get the front aligned, on everything from sport bikes to MX bikes, if you want to burn money taking it to some special alignment person/shop thats up to you tho.

If someone has the torque specs, I can give this a shot. I haven't had the chance to pick up the service manual yet.

 

[OldRider]

It's the forks that need fixing. Not the rear swingarm. My left hand is almost 2" further forward than my right when the front wheel is pointed straight ahead.

And I'd rather have the forks adjusted with proper tools than try just banging on it until it feels "right".

What are these proper tools you speak of?

 

[Jdubco]

If someone has the torque specs, I can give this a shot. I haven't had the chance to pick up the service manual yet.

Lower triple 14 ft lbs
Two Pinch bolts =15 ft-lbs (The inside pinch bolt is tightened first)

 

[Don in Lodi]

Sheesh.

 

[The Mountain]

loosen bottom triples and pinch bolts on the front axle grab front brake bounce down on the front end it will compress the suspension do this several times and it should self align. then torque everything back to spec
If your bars are not in line with the front wheel past that you have bent bars or at the very worse a bent fork. been riding for near 30 years and never had i had to take my bike to a shop to get the front aligned, on everything from sport bikes to MX bikes, if you want to burn money taking it to some special alignment person/shop thats up to you tho.

Do you need to loosen the axle itself?

What are these proper tools you speak of?

In all seriousness, a proper torque wrench mainly.

 

[OldRider]

In all seriousness, a proper torque wrench mainly.

So you loosen the pinch bolts a little, bang the wheel up against a solid object until it's straight again and tighten the bolts back to spec. That's how it's been done for years. No special alignment tools.

 

[The Mountain]

Sheesh.

If that's aimed at me, I just think that while yanking on the bars to realign the front wheel might be ok for a beater dirt bike, I want to be a little more professional with the maintenance on my $15,000 adventure machine.

 

[patrickg450]

If that's aimed at me, I just think that while yanking on the bars to realign the front wheel might be ok for a beater dirt bike, I want to be a little more professional with the maintenance on my $15,000 adventure machine.

I get what you are saying, but I think you might be over thinking this a bit. Hence the post.


It really is as simple as stated above. it a worse case you make and adjustment and ride it and the bars are further out of alignment. you wont die or crash. simply ride easy back to your shop and take another "crack" at it.

Good luck, it is fairly easy.

 

[03A3KRH]

Here’s how I do it. ... Loosen the front axle and the axle pinch bolts. Bounce the front end i.e. compress and release the front suspension several times. Re-tighten the axle first then the pinch bolts. Inside pinch bolt then outside pinch bolt then back to inside.

Torque specs: axle bolt =52 ft-lbs pinch bolt = 15 ft-lbs.

Anyone else have a different technique?

 

[Jdubco]

Do you need to loosen the axle itself?

shouldnt have to the loose pinch bolts should alow it to twist/align back. make sure you have them quite loose so they dont catch

 

[OldRider]

I've never seen any kind of a motorcycle wheel alignment setup. Maybe Honda Racing or Yamaha Racing has one, but in the real world, you loosen the clamps and do it by the seat of your pants. If something is bent, you'll know it because no matter what you do, it won't stay straight.

 

[magic]

The OP may want to do more than simply straighten out his handlebars. There are several ways to check the front to rear wheel alignment. I have seen and used straight edges, lasers and even a string. Mostly on chain drive bikes where you can move the rear wheel. Assuming the forks and frame are not bent or damaged, I don't know what you could do on the S10 to get the wheels in alignment. After an accident or a hard crash this should be checked to see if the bike is worth fixing. I recall doing this on one of my BMW air heads. The swingarm pivots could be adjusted side to side to perfectly align the wheels.

Ask Kevin: What’s the Best Way to Check Wheel Alignment?

www.cycleworld.com

How To Check Front and Rear Motorcycle Wheel Alignment

WHEEL ALIGNMENT HOW-TO: A simple do-it-yourself method for accurately lining up your bike’s wheels.

www.motorcyclistonline.com