Fork issue / question

[crome]

I noticed this awhile ago but it didn't seem to affect anything so I let it go & forgot about it till tonight when I was putting my forks back in....

After installing my forks, the lower triple has maybe 1/16th of space between the inside & the outside of the fork, so it moves a little back & forth....
Is this normal or should it fill the space & tighten down around the fork like the top triple tree does?
If needed I can post a pic or video when I go back in the house.

Thanks
-Chris

[Cosworth]

Sounds like the lower is not clamped down all the way.

[user_deleted]

chris: both triple clamps must securely clamp around each fork tube. this clamping force is what aligns and secures the forks to the front of the bike. i would not ride it until you properly diagnose what is going on there and properly repair same.

[heagachongoose]

Sounds like the lower is not clamped down all the way.

Hopefully this is the issue and nothing is bent. But no it is not normal. There should be no play in your forks once everything is correctly torqued.

You said it was like this previously? Did your front tire wear normally?

[crome]

its been like this since i bought the bike, the lower triple is tightened as far as it can go. I always get the same milage out of my tires and they wear perfectly normal. I have two sets of forks & tried both and both of them do the same thing.

Ive been riding with it this way for a little over 3 years and never had an issue with the bike handling or anything, Ive put it through about 10k miles, & even raced it at a few tracks, & have had it leaned over till the pegs scrape....now I'm really confused about because I was expecting it to be normal or something haha...great ... ill get a pic up tonight.

thanks so far guys

[Cosworth]

I bet someone cross-threaded one of the bolts in the lower, its pretty easy to do. I almost did it myself when I built my 1125 forks a couple weeks ago. Feels tight but actually isnt. If you look the threaded hole is all the way through so the bolt cant bottom out in a hole.

[Negative]

Woooo man ... no way I'd set cheeks on that thing if the forks were loose ... I know they have that little ring around the top of the fork under the top triple ... but still ... that's a scary thought in my mind ... lolol