vl intruder front end issue
 

Hi
Trying to fix up my sons Suzuki vl Intruder *250cc (1999) learner bike and have come across a somewhat weird issue with the front fork
As fixing the front wheel bearing, disk rotor and breaks I started unbolting the front wheel
But in doing so I noticed that the front legs is under extreme pressure going outwards
When loosing the hex bolt to slow the grip on the wheel axle shaft the fork legs sprung outwards making it almost impossible to get a grip on the axle shaft nut
The only way I managed to get the shaft off was to tie a tension cord between the legs and tighten it heavily - seem these legs is under extreme stress for some reason
Cant see the legs being bent or anything and now wonder if this is "normal" for this bike?
Cant see this being normal though -

any qualified hints on this? - Don;t want to buy new fork legs - especially when they seem fine
If its normal for the legs to be under such stress, whats the best technique pushing these legs together so you can get a decent grip on the wheel axle nut/bolt head ?

cheers