So I took the front end of the R1100S apart and installed the replacement forks I got. I have to admit I'm very impressed with the seller:



The forks were professionally packaged up and are very clean.

I went through the mounting/aligning procedure carefully but I'm sad to report it looks like No Joy.

I've looked at it from every angle and I simply don't understand what's bent. I've looked at the trailing arm which we initially thought might be bent. I've look at the triple clamps. I've looked at the top frame.

Disgusted I've left it partially assembled. I'll look at it again with fresh eyes tomorrow. Worst case I'll bolt it back together and take it up to Bob's on Saturday. Maybe they can tell me what's bent.

Now that you've got the original forks off, do they appear as straight as the replacements?

In what way (or where) is it not right?

Bummer!

The handle bars are skewed to the right. i.e. when the wheel points straight the handle bars are turned to the right.

If I loosen everything up and "force" the bars straight using the old school grab the wheel with your legs and twist the bars, then the front wheel doesn't spin freely.

Both the upper and lower triple clamps are free floating. So the only thing that should dictate whether or not they are aligned is the tube that goes through them.

I thought the old forks were straight but figuring they were the only thing that could explain the skew, I got a pair of known straight ones. These are in a really good shape.

So I'm really not sure what's causing the skew.

The one sure way to find out what's going on with your bike: take it to a G.M.D. Computrack center. I took my white K100 to a place in the Boston Area and found the service to be very valuable. I learned a lot that day.

oh cool. Thanks for the pointer!

Have you checked the wheel bearings to see if they are squarely seated in the hub and/or otherwise damaged?

It's obviously crooked with the axle in but the wheel off. It's something between the lower and upper triple clamp, I"m guessing, but I'm not sure.

There's some rather nice riding, just north of Boston. Just saying........

I noticed that Peter's (Computrack) web site could use some help. The Forum and race results pages are DNF. Perhaps a barter would be mutually beneficial?

BTW: Peter is a great guy, with loads of riding and racing experience. He would be a valuable addition to any riders circle of acquaintances. (Think Jason Statham in a motorcycle movie. Now, you've got the picture

So he needs to juice up constantly to stay alive right? Hahaha

I bought a couple of flat rulers and placed them on the lower triple clamp in an attempt to see if it's straight.

I /think/ it shows the lower trip clamp is twisted but I'm going to look at it again. I really need two steel straight edges to be sure.

Does Bob's have a frame measuring jig?

I don't think so.

I've looked at the lower triple clamp again with Yun. At this point I'm pretty sure the clamp is slightly bent backwards on the right side (as sitting on the bike) which corresponds with the bars being angled to the right.

I've been feeling pretty poorly (super low energy) for quite some weeks now so progress has been very slow. I hope to take the triple clamp off tomorrow sometime and take a closer look at with on a flat surface before ordering a replacement.

At this point I think it's the only thing that could be bent that would explain what I'm seeing. As Josh pointed out on the phone, given the distance between the lower triple clamp and the upper one, a very small bend in the lower clamp would have an over sized effect on the upper end.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/BMW-R1100S-R-1100-S-1999-Lower-...

...and it's even from a '99.

Edit: This got me thinking, could one build an entire r1100s cost effectively from ebay parts? Well, here's a nice engine for $850. I think it could be done for a reasonable price as long as you don't count your time.

So I'm finally feeling just a little bit better and managed to muster up enough energy to pull the forks off. Just as I was getting around to pulling off the lower triple clamp Josh arrived for s surprise visit.

This was a good thing since removing the triple clamp is much easier with two people.

Even with the thing off the bike it was really hard to tell whether or not it was really bent. From some angles it looked bent but from others it seemed straight.

We went into the living room and put the thing on the coffee table, a flat glass surface which I assume is reasonably straight. Pressing one side down such that it's flush with the table around the circumference of the mount point you can see the other side is tilted upwards.

It's bent.

Replacement lower triple clamp purchased for $159. It should be here on the 21st.

So did the triple clamp get bent without bending the forks? Or do you think the original forks actually WERE bent? After getting the replacements you seemed to think that they were not bent.

It's really difficult for me to tell whether the forks are bent.

The upper tubes do have a bend in them of a few millimeters which I was able to confirm but determining how straight the lower parts are since they are irregularly shaped is proving difficult.

Also, I was concerned about the internals of the forks. Even if they were not bent beyond serviceable limits I think it was probably prudent to replace them. The new forks I got are MUCH cleaner.

Things "seemed" significantly less crooked after I bolted on the new forks so I do suspect the old fork were contributing to the skewed handle bar angle.

Congrats on identifying the dmg

I should have known better than to leave it on the jack like that.

The jack gave way, the center stand folded under and the bike, which had the front wheel, forks, triple clamp and rear wheel fell over hard.

I found it the next morning, gasoline all over the floor.

Very sad.

Once I can get it up on the center stand and start bolting things back on i'll have a better idea about damage.

It has just not been my day. Stupid error and completely my own fault.