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[ihartc4]

Was headed home a few days ago and in the middle of the roundabout the person in front of me slammed on their brakes FOR NO REASON!!!   .  Followed suit with a panic stop and went flying head over heels.  It's ok, the other driver took off in a hurry. 

Anyway, am perfectly fine (I always wear all my gear, though my hip has a nice bruise) but the steering is out of alignment. 

I don't own a motorcycle stand and am not quite sure what it means to" loosen the triple fork bolts".  Wondering if anyone knew someone around Olympia/Tacoma area who wouldn't mind doing a driveway repair for about $40.   

Thanks for the help in advance! 
Stay classy

[firepower]

Think that means loosen the bolts holding the forks in place.
see photo

[Richard230]

Try standing in front of the bike with the front wheel between your legs and attempt to twist the handlebars so as to straighten them out.  Sometimes that will work.  Otherwise (assuming that the bars are not actually bent), you will have to loosen the bolts fastening the upper and lower triple clamps to the forks slightly and then try the same thing with the bars to straighten them out.  If that works tighten the clamp bolts to secure the forks.  Just don't loosen them too much or the front of the bike will slip down the fork tubes and then you will need help to get everything back together again.

Attached are photos of the clamp bolts.

[Richard230]

It looks like Firepower's Zero has a better clamping system than does my 2014 Zero S.  But whichever model Zero you have the same concept and terminology applies.  Good luck!   

[firepower]

I dont have a zero, just posted pic from zero 2013 S promo pics, But i hopefully will have a 2015 SR  soon

[Richard230]

I dont have a zero, just posted pic from zero 2013 S promo pics, But i hopefully will have a 2015 SR  soon

If that is a 2013 model, it looks like Zero cheaped-out a bit on the upper triple clamp fastening system for the 2014 models.   

[Cortezdtv]

The 14 triple clamp is stronger than the 13'
14's also use a bigger neck bearing which made it legal to carry 2 riders


The 14s have one less bolt, hence why they look "weaker" on the underside they have more bracing than a 13, and are also thicker overall by about an 1/8 of an inch


Only know all this because I switched my 13 fx to a 14s triple clamp and suspension in the front that way when the Showa actually can be bought I can  just slide them in the front forks because the 14 triple clamp has small top diameter and larger bottom unlike the uniform sized 13 fx

[Richard230]

The 14 triple clamp is stronger than the 13'
14's also use a bigger neck bearing which made it legal to carry 2 riders


The 14s have one less bolt, hence why they look "weaker" on the underside they have more bracing than a 13, and are also thicker overall by about an 1/8 of an inch


Only know all this because I switched my 13 fx to a 14s triple clamp and suspension in the front that way when the Showa actually can be bought I can  just slide them in the front forks because the 14 triple clamp has small top diameter and larger bottom unlike the uniform sized 13 fx

That is interesting.  Thanks Cortezdtv.  I still recall my 1985 BMW R80.  It had an upper triple clamp without any retaining bolts.  The top of the fork tubes just slid into the holes in the "clamp's" 1/8" steel plate.     Needless to say, that bike had handling issues, including a tendency to speed wobble when hitting a large bump.  Now I keep an eye out for lots of bolts securing parts.   

[ihartc4]

Thanks for all of the fast responses.  Will try tonight when I get home.  Do I unscrew both bolts on the top clamp first and give the handlebar a twist or will it need all three for sure?   Bike slipping down fork would suck. 
Thanks Cody

[Richard230]

Thanks for all of the fast responses.  Will try tonight when I get home.  Do I unscrew both bolts on the top clamp first and give the handlebar a twist or will it need all three for sure?   Bike slipping down fork would suck. 
Thanks Cody

You need to loosen all of the clamp bolts at each side of the bike.  Just to be safe, you can place a box, some wood, or something else under the front of the bike to support the chassis just in case anything slips.  At least then the front end won't fall all the way down on to the wheel.  But, you do need to loosen the bolts quite a bit before the fork tubes will slide along the clamps. I would turn all of the bolts about 1/4 turn at a time until you feel some movement when twisting the handlebars.

Another idea that I just had was to wrap some duct tape around the fork tubes just under the lower triple clamp.  That will keep the clamps from sliding down better than a support under the chassis.  A couple of turns of tape around each fork will insure that nothing will slip down. There is no way the clamps will get past that tape.

If you can secure the front wheel from turning in some other way than using your legs, such as placing it against a wall or door jam, that will work better when twisting the bars and allow you to get a better idea of how the straightening process is going.  It is just easier to tell what the alignment is like when you are straddling the bike as if you were sitting on it.

[m0t0-ryder]

Yes... proper fork/wheel alignment should be done by loosening the triple clamps.
I would recommend using a floor jack (or similar) under the bike to unweight the front wheel. Don't need to lift it off the ground, just lighten it so the forks don't slide up into the triple tree when loosened.

Be sure to call your dealer to get the proper triple clamp torque specs. (They will probably have to call Zero so you may save time by calling Zero Service directly).
If I recall the torque specs for the triple clamps are fairly low... like 15ft/lb top and 12 ft/lb bottom.
PLEASE verify with Dealer/Zero.

This is very critical as too much tightening torque CAN cause improper operation of the forks.
Especially with the FastAce forks.

[BenS]

It's a bit late, but in case anyone else has this problem, you should be able to straighten it up by only loosening the bolts on the bottom triple clamp, to align the top and bottom clamps, and axle. As has been said, don't re-tighten them too much, because apparently it can squeeze the outer tubes and affect fork operation.