What to look for after hitting tree and bars no Longer 'center' when going straight

[Yooper]

Ok so this is a newbie question so please forgive me and yes I tried to do a search.

I am fanatic about having my handlebar starigh when going straight. It just messes with my head it thing are not uniform and staright. Comming from dirt bikes it usually meant the forks awere twisted and was an easy fix.

So last night near dark I clipped a root ball and then caught the left fron tire on a tree and came to sudden stop. All the forward force was stopped by the left front and nothing else hit anything else other then my thighs on the bars but I stayed on the machine. Not hard enough to bend bars either.

The arms all appear staright with a quick inspection but the bars a ever so slightly cocked to the right when I go straight.

This is a 2008 KFX450 100% stock.

What is the inspection process to fix this and I assume this to be a common occurance.

I did reading up on stem upgrades but want to be sure I don't jump the gun prematurely only to find out later if was a different root cause.

thanks in advance

[AZkfx450rider]

well thhere is a number of things it could be, check the tie rods? knuckles, the stem itself (stock stem if very weak and has bent from be barely rolling it) are you sure the bars arnt bent a little?

[ononewheel]

id say stock stem is bent or a tie rod!to avoid this replace the stock stem with an after market one which will never bend!your bars should be fine as well those renthal bars are strong as hell the stem will bend 1st!

[Slaytanic454]

Amazed you didn't snap the steering knuckle... That happens more often than it should. Check the tie rods, make sure neither is bent. I also seriously doubt it's the bars, the Renthal Fatbars these things come with are strong as shit; the stem will bend long before they do.

[Yooper]

Tie rod (at least on the side I hit on) seemed straight. I didn't look at the opposite side.

I really doubt the Renthals are bent. I have been thrown to the ground way worse on dirt bikes and never bent 1 1/8 bars.


How do you determine if the stem is bent? Seems like it would be pretty hard to determine on the ATV if the failure mode is not severe (like my case)

[REEKERS529]

check your toe-in you could of knocked it out of place this can cause the bars to be off when going straight, most likely the tie rod