Table of contents:
How to Fix A Bent Handlebar On An ATV
3 October 2022
It could happen one of two ways: you’re riding along, and something feels weird in your handlebars, or you know your ATV took a hit or tumble. It’s a fairly common issue, and thankfully, it’s an easy and inexpensive fix. Read this post to learn how to fix a bent handlebar on ATV and UTVs.
ATV Handlebars Not Straight
Your handlebars can feel or even look strange for multiple reasons.
Misaligned
The first thing to check is the ATV handlebar alignment in the top yoke. This is both easy to diagnose and easy to fix.
Sit on your ATV and then stand up so you're looking down on the handlebar clamp. Imagine a line between the handlebar clamp and the top yoke. If you can’t see the line, then your handlebars are misaligned.
These clamps almost always bolt through the top yoke, so just loosen the bolts under there a tad. This should allow you to twist the bar into position. If not, you may have to loosen the clamp too. Once you can look at it and imagine that line, you’re good to go and you can tighten the bolts back.
Back Wheel Alignment
Your back wheels could be misaligned. Every time you hit a bump or hole, you could be slightly knocking your wheels out of whack. Measure their alignment. Don’t rely on your eyes. If they’re off, realign them.
Steering Stem
The steering stem could have been damaged if something banged hard into your ATV or you had an accident. It may be possible to bend it back, if it’s not bad, but a replacement may be in order.
Bent Handlebars
Your handlebars may be bent out of shape. To find out, remove the handlebars from the machine and strip them of grips and accessories. You want them to just be the handlebars so nothing gets in the way.
Place the bottom part of your handlebars that goes into the top yoke on a flat surface, then lay the bar down and see if both ends touch the flat surface. If they’re bent, you’ll see one end not touching the surface, and you could tap it and make a tiny seesaw out of your handlebars.
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How to Straighten Handlebars on ATV
The only straightening it is advisable to do to handlebars is to realign them as mentioned above. Yes, you can technically bend your handlebars back into shape. The problem with this is that your handlebars were already damaged once, then you bent them again. They’re going to be brittle and really easy to break, and you don’t want to be adventuring on your quad with shoddy handlebars like that. For the sake of your ride and your safety.
If you somehow discovered your handlebars were very slightly bent, but it’s not bad enough for you to feel it, they should be okay to leave alone. Close the how to fix bent 4 wheeler handlebar search, reinstall them, and go.
If you can feel the bend in the handlebars when you’re riding, this is both distracting and an indication that they’ve been significantly damaged.
You should never repair or bend back damaged handlebars, and don't just put them back and keep riding with them.
Sure, some handlebars are expensive, but many quality and great looking handlebars are inexpensive. The answer to how to fix bent ATV handlebars is to replace them. There’s every reason to do it and no reason not to.
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