Anybody have their front wheel/handlebars not aligned?

[Tocsik]

This happened after a fall and the scooter has been fine but I'm wondering if anyone knows how to fix this. My shop seems to think I need to order bars and maybe some other parts but it seems to me that it's much like a bicycle where the steering gets tweaked out of line with the frame.

The handlebars and front wheel are off just a bit from the frame and the fender. When I take off the front cowel, there is a big nut in there that looks a lot like the nut on a bicycle frame where you can adjust the steering alignment. I would have already tried this but I can't reach it from the front. I think I need to remove several body panels to reach it from the other side so I tried one day and then ran into a wall as to how to get some of the panels off so I stopped.

Any ideas?

[DennisD]

When I crashed my Vino the bars were really crooked, but not the wheel. It was just a matter of straightening the bars, replacing a few panels and a mirror and everything was fine. The dealer straightened the bars as part of checking out everything to be sure it was ok after the wreck. I did the panels myself.
Your bars and wheel being crooked is kinda scary. Hope it is just the bars, but...

[enzomatic]

yes a dealer should be able to straighten it, much like on a bicycle. make sure they check that the forks aren't bent at all though.

[michelle_7728]

Did you get this fixed without having to get new handlebars?

I ask because you're right, that bolt can be loosened, then retightened after repositioning them. I found this out the other day when removing my bent handlebars from my Buddy (was in an accident and am replacing them since the left side is bent WAY down...).

Although we got my handlebars off without taking the panel off there the cigarette lighter is, I'm thinking I need to take that panel off to put everything back together...my husband had a heck of a time getting that bolt loosened from above and I think it's pretty darn important to get the bolt holding that on as tight as you can.

I must confess, in my scenario, we had all the top stuff off already since much of it was damaged: upper and lower handlebar covers, headlight, brake levers and turn indicators, and the front cover of course.

I'm just wondering how to go about taking off the panel where the cigarette lighter is...might have to start a thread if I can't find it in a search...

[Leeroy Jenkins]

I used to just bend back my forks on old dirt bikes. I would probably do the same to the buddy if it needed it.

I would drive up to a telephone pole with front brakes locked and me pushing the front down I would place the front wheel to one side of the pole and twist the bars to get it close enuf.

[Lostmycage]

A friend stopped by my house once after dumping his Buddy. His wheel was tweaked and he was concerned about riding it home. I stepped in front of it and gripped the wheel with my shins and twisted the bars back straight. I told him to run it by the local shop to get it looked at, but I don't think he ever did. He's put about 2-3k miles on it since then, so it seems alright.

The Buddy's handle bars are just clamped onto the steering column. If you hold the wheel (either on a telephone pole or with your legs) and twist the bars hard enough, you can turn them independent of the wheel. This is good for a "gotta get home" situation, but I'd still heavily suggest having a pro look at them. It's been a while since I've looked at how the front fender looks, so that might be a bit of a concern. If it's independent of the forks, it should be fine.

If the forks are tweaked (unusable), replace them with the NCY forks and call it a day.