K75 handlebars hit tank, crush my thumb

[fsargent]

Hi,

Was wondering if there was a way to set a limit of how far the handlebars can turn on the bike. The left side is great, but when the bike is fully turning left, the right handlebar will come right against the tank, and start the 'turning right' indicator, as well as crushing my thumb.
I now have a little nerve damage in my thumb, and I'd really like it not to happen again. I've got a service manual, but I don't even know what to look for.

Thoughts?

[TimTyler]

Loosen the screws that clamp your handlebars to the forks and tilt the handlebars up a little.

Re-tighten the screws to the proper torque value.

[fsargent]

That seems a lot easier, thanks.
Any reason why one side of the handlebars would pull closer than the other?

[TimTyler]

The handlebars might be bent.

The grip / control assemblies can also be loosened and adjusted individually. There's a single screw for each.

[wmax351]

The handlebars might also be shifted in the triple clamp, towards one side. Best bet is that the bike was dropped, and bent or shifted the handlebars.

[fsargent]

Any way to fix that other than dropping the other side?

[octobot]

Haha, that would take some serious skill to drop the bike in just the right way to balance it out!  Seems to me that the best way would be to replace the handlebars.   

http://www.motobrick.com/index.php?topic=570.0

[Grim]

Might also check the stops on the head tube and tree if the bars look straight. One of the stops may have been damaged in a previous incident.