Bars Skewed

[Slug]

So sometime last week we had some pretty nasty weather and my bike ended up getting pushed over by the wind. Luckily some good samaritans picked it up for me since I was away for work and there are only a few scuffs on the exhaust and bar ends. However, the bars seemed to be skewed since they took most of the fall, and aren't aligned right anymore. I had the bars locked to the left and the bike fell on the right side, so the bars are pointing slightly to the left when riding strait. I was wondering if you beautiful people had any tips or videos on how to correct this. I don't know if I just need to adjust the bar mounts, or if I need to mess with the triple tree too. Any help is appreciated. Thanks
 

[e30kawi]

Without seeing them, maybe your bars got bent

[avanti]

Sorry to hear this, especially since I had a woman back into mine at Starbucks and knock it over not too long after I got it. Must have been some wind to duplicate the effect of a Honda Accord!!!
 
Anyway, there is no way to tell you how to fix the bar issue until you determine what was actually affected by the fall. We must have a better idea what is wrong. Put it on a rear stand, if you have one or can barrow one... lacking that, have someone sit astride it and hold it vertical with the wheel absolutely straight. Now, you can inspect it properly to determine what is out of alignment. That may also answer what needs to be done to fix it. Let us know how your diagnosis/assessment goes, please.
 
And, hang-in there. It IS fixable.

[thomascrown]

This happened to me. You need a new bar, as well as the risers that mount to the triple tree. Probably about 100 bucks in parts, though somewhat time consuming.

[shrike1]

I had a similar issue when my bike went down.  Turned out the bar was bent, but when I went to remove it, I also noticed that the riser had twisted in the top triple clamp.  I had to remove the riser and straighten the lower portion.  I think the rubber mounts allowed enough movement to bend the lower riser.  Anyway, it wasn't hard to straighten.  (I also took the opportunity to put in a large metal washer on each side to "over ride" the rubber bushings in the riser to improve the road feel through the bars.

[DewMan]

+1 to bent bar. With the front tire perfectly aligned with the bike... eyeball the bar end positions... I'm betting they're not on the same plane anymore.
 
Good luck.

[robbo10]

It is posible that the bars have twisted around the head. This happened to my bike when I dropped it. The engineer stood astride the front wheel with me supporting the bike. He then pulled the bars around to the straight position. Job done. Apparently, bars are not tightly fixed so as to allow some movement in extremes (so I was told!). You might still have bent bars, of course.