Originally Posted by
scavengeriel
..... what are specific steps can I take to check the fork?
Put the bike upside down and begin to loosen the front wheel. Watch how the inside face of the dropout lines up with the outside face of the hub/locknut. Should be nice and parallell, like ][.
If it's more like ]/ it's wrong. If the wheel is a press fit between the dropouts, it's wrong. If there's a considerable gap between drop outs and locknuts(say, more than 1/4" total) it's wrong.
Once the wheel is out, try putting a known flat surface - like a laptop - against the fork lowers. The fork lowers should be parallel, meaning that it should be possible for both legs to make contact with a flat surface simultaneously, and along the whole length.