Effed Up Frame?

[HotShott]

Posted this on the other Reb forum, but I wanted to get advice from the guys here too.
I noticed my frame was looking wonky the other night when I was sanding it:
http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m211/hot-shott-rebel/frame1.jpg
I put a level on the bottom rails:
http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m211/hot-shott-rebel/frame3.jpg
Is it leaning to the right or is it me? Optical? Or Bent?
On Bike Bandit, that front support isn't there. But Jack said it should be.
http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m211/hot-shott-rebel/frame_diagram.jpg
Thoughts? The general consensus on the other board is that it's been tweaked.

[GearJammer]

It does "look" tweaked, but it might be an optical illusion. The cross brace definitely looks like it was welded on crooked.

As long as your bottom rails are straight & the frame backbone isn't cocked......you may luck out in that it may only be an off kilter cross brace.

Please check everything out very carefully with your level to insure that all symmetrical lines of the frame are as they should be......

People build frames using a jig table, but that may not be required to check things out in this case.

[HotShott]

Yeah, Imma go over it with a fine tooth comb tonight. ANybody got advice on how to go about checking it?

[GearJammer]

If the bottom frame rails sit squarely, that's a good first sign.

You can run some cord from either side of the frame head/neck, similar to a carpenter's plumb.......Cord from top of one side to floor, then the same from the opposite side, then compare measurements.

Same/same with the tail section pieces..........from top to floor.

Another measurement from frame head to furthest point on tail section, then comparing with measurement from opposite side....

[b4v4]

And I hate to say it, but Honda doesn't always build frames real square. Sometimes, they make sure the main frame sets square, and rides true, but they just make crossmembers line up with whatever they have to.

[HotShott]

What freaks me out a little is that it's been sitting in my garage forever, and I never noticed it. If I hadn't taken it all apart, I NEVER would have noticed.

Maybe that's a good thing. Might be freakin' out over nothin'. Jack emailed me, and he has titled 450 frames. If I have to got that route, it'll be a while before I can swing it. And just as I was getting back in the groove. Grrrrrrrr.

[HotShott]

Heard back from my father-in-law: "Yeah, it looks strange. It looks like it's a hand made one off. I'm amazed because you would think that the frame would have been welded in a jig. I can assure though, that the bike is absolutely stable and practically drives itself. I nearly fell asleep riding it, you can take your hands off the handlebars when you decelerate for a stoplight."

Dunno what to do about it.

[b4v4]

I may get flamed all to pieces over this, but my line of thinking is this: If it looks good to you, rides good, and doesn't have any cracks, What's the big deal? I rode a Honda CX650 custom with a bent frame I bought at an abandoned car auction for 5 years all over 3 states, and sold it for double what I paid for it, and it's still around. I can see if it really messed up your caster angle, or you have a tire rubbing on something, or it dog-tracks down the road, you might wanna do something about it. My 2 cents

[GearJammer]

In agreement with b4v4 & your father-in-law. It sounds like this Reb was originally his & he had no problems with it, yes ? If that's the case, I'd do as b4v4 suggested...just eye-ball every inch of the frame to insure that there's no obvious places where it may have taken a hit. If everything looks cool......keep on truckin'! ;)