Zooter

Aluminium welders we got. The damage to the stop isn't catastrophic of itself but it does indicate some twisting was applied. I think I know how I can check for straight ahead steering. My chock is a braced assemblage of plywood scraps. I own a builder's square, which was used to make the scraps but I will have to run it over the chock because I am not OCD enough to need a chock to be 100% square. I can snap a chalk line on the floor and place the 100% square chock across it. Push bike into chock. It will probably skate the chock some but doesn't matter because skating the front end will be the easiest way to make the back wheel straight up and down. Skate it and roll it around until chock is squared with chalk line and back wheel vertical. String line the back wheel to see where it is really pointing if it isn't obviously fubar. Hopefully fully parallel with the original chalk line on the floor. If anyone would mind doing similar it would be great to see what tolerance is out there rolling around. Thinking some more on laser aligning back with the front, as far as I can tell, tells you the back wheel is pointed forward on a line through an assumed centre of the front wheel. However, the front wheel direction at the same point in time is only assumed dead ahead and vertical. That's fine if you are comfortable with the straightness of the steering axis in the first place. If the steering were slightly cockeyed and you make the front wheel vertical by turning it slightly you wouldn't know it was canting the rear slightly unless you checked. So a ''laser swingarm alignment check'' done with two vertical wheels would show a twist in the frame as a shift by the amount the front has swiveled the rear of the brake disc across the centre line. But shuttling the rear end over wouldn't fix the twist. What am I missing?

Doesn'r really matter. They want fully half of what a higher milage nice one would sell for. Maybe all the bits parted out are worth that but it's a pretty small market for those bits in NZ. No way in hell I could pretty it up back to half as nice as it was without taking a bath. Which is why it's a write off. A functional rat isn't worth too much either, except it might work for me in these dark days. Parts to make it legal and functional: Brake hose. Sort out side stand mess with interrupt switch presently at weird angle Gear shifter goneburger. 2x mirrors aftermarket handlebar. 4x indicators Front guard. Not sure about sheered off steering stop on lower fork branch. Assumes I can straighten up headlight and probably have to tweak the rear rack if not the rear subframe to pass inspection. Back plastic is intact!

I think if the wheelbase checks and the wheels line up it can't be too bad provided of course that the case mounts aren't cracked. What's a beat to hell low milage with oddball bikini fairing even worth running down the road nice and straight?

The price at the moment is loony toons. I am risk averse so only if I can be sure of what is there can I try to negotiate. All once I get out from under the lurg.

I am gathering this would be to put the back wheel behind the front wheel but not do anything about compass point of the back wheel. Or I don't understand at all.

The front mudguard is messed up as is the fairing and mounting struts so it's all cockeyed everywhere. Makes eyeballing the forks for OKness not so confident. They seemed ok but unsure.

I found the laser alignment fight club thread. Looks like the intent is to shift the whole swingarm across rather than each end fore and aft?

Full circle. If both wheels are plumb up and down at the same time then both wheels should be pointed in the same direction. Anything else is frame twist. Can the rear swing arm adjustment screws accommodate a bit of that twist? Do they do that in the factory as a final assembly step? I never heard of it before.

The bit that is doing my head in is the vertical component of steering head axis. Horizontal just changes the rake angle. No biggie if the rake changes a smidge and easy measure track to confirm.

I have no idea where I would find 8ft fluorescent tubes let alone the regular kind. I invention mode, I could make a couple of crude bow strings. Nothing as straight as a line tight between two points, save the sag in the middle. I had no idea there is adjustment available in the swingarm! Is that on a particular axis? A chalk line is pretty straight? That would be a lot easier. The bike sits on a nice concrete floor presently but not a whole lot of room around it. There's no hole through the porkchop and frame on a Tenni to poke a pipe, ideal as that would be. It is doubtful how much I can get the wrecker crew to play helper. They will have a hoist but whether it has an engine hanging off it when I get there is unknown. I remember I used to ride a Vespa. The front wheel was parallel to the back but a good 1.5'' out of straight line! I think it might counteract the off centre weight of the engine. So the defining characteristic is parallel axes? Even harder to measure. Pausing for thought. Manipulating coffee cups... ...doing head in with the 3D nature of it all. Leaving it for a bit. Keep the ideas coming.

Correct me if I am wrong. On a straight bike if the front wheel is perpendicular to the ground the steering must be straight ahead when the back wheel is also perpendicular. By that logic, I should be able to make the front wheel perpendicular in my chock and in line with the back wheel. If the back wheel has to be on the piss to go behind the front then the bike is bent.

Thanks for all the well wishes. In all likelihood I don't have covid 19 but can't take the risk by going out in public for he meantime.

Taking best of care but not getting far trying to get tested at the moment. Plenty of food in the house. Any measures I take have to be as it sits at the wrecker's. Hard to visualize anything straight line, too much exhaust and tank in the way. Any cunning ideas? I could measure pork chops to steering centre point somewhere with string but no guarantee bike is actually fully symmetrical there by design. Dammit

Thanks. When they are obviously 'bent' insurance companies are obliged to de-register the wreck. The 'title' is gone. Then to re register it a full on inspection up the wazoo from ''here is the mess'' all along the way to ''ta-da!" is needed, Not sure what the new rego says. Probably ''rebuilt'' or something. Nobody seems to try to hide it in auctions. If not de registered only a legal requirements restoration is required to pass regular w.o.f inspection. Then is just a used bike with a paint job and new levers and garfs on the undercarriage which makes buyers even more leery than re registered.

Chest cases or frames???