Play in front forks

[Seaking]

I currently have the bike up on the maintenance stand for winter projects and it occurred to me to check the previous work done when I had a local shop do a neck bearing change. Though the 'bounce' check seems fine (not binding, not bouncing more than once when hitting the stops).. I do notice some 'play' in the forks when I pull forward on the front wheel..

 

Is there an acceptable amount of play allowed or should there be NONE at all?

 

I would hate to think the whole front end has to come off in order to tighten all of this up again or worse, an indication of something even worse going wrong..

 

or perhaps, just a little loosening after the initial installation that simply needs a tap on the nuts to make it work properly.. (I can't believe I just said that.. ouch)..

 

Thoughts, comments or advice?

[Yammer Dan]

Talk to who adjusted them when they were put in?? Kind of to see if he seems to know what he is doing. Sounds like they may not have been adjusted right.

[skydoc_17]

Hey Pete,

A swift tap to the one set, (YOURS) and you won't feel much like ridin' anymore!

Problem Solved!

Seriously, Because you have what I call a "high mileage bike", meaning you put a lot of miles on your bike regularly, it would not be unreasonable to expect the steering head bearing nuts to need adjustment. I would suggest purchasing one of "Dingy's" Spanner wrenches and adjusting the Steering Head Bearing Play. There should be NO Lateral movement in the front forks. This is not the fault of the mechanic that installed the new set of head bearings, this is a condition of many, many miles of riding the bike. As with all mechanical assemblies, play that would show up on the average RSV owner's bike in a few years, shows up in less than a year for you Pete, because you ride so much. There is a procedure in the Second Gen. Tech. Section and Dingy has the tool.

And Please, Leave that other set of fasteners, UNADJUSTED!

Earl

[Seaking]

Thanks for the info SkyDoc.. does this adjustment with Dingy's tool still require the removal of the whole front end of the bike to access the nuts and such? I'll have to check it out and find out more about this.. Thanks.

 

There's the poor man's adjustment where you tap it with the long screw driver thing?

 

Its a high mileage bike yes.. hoping to really get the miles up on it

[Squeeze]

.. I do notice some 'play' in the forks when I pull forward on the front wheel..

 

Where did you find the Play ?

 

There's possible Play in the Steering Head Bearings, which means the whole Fork Assembly moves versus the Frame and there also the Possobility of Play between the the upper and lower Fork Legs which would show up as a Movement between those two Parts.

[Seaking]

Where did you find the Play ?

 

There's possible Play in the Steering Head Bearings, which means the whole Fork Assembly moves versus the Frame and there also the Possobility of Play between the the upper and lower Fork Legs which would show up as a Movement between those two Parts.

 

Not sure how you mean Squeeze.. here's what I'm doing..

 

The bike is up on the carbonone stand.. I grab the front wheel of the bike and pull it towards me as I stand right in front of the bike.. the whole wheel, fork assembly moves enough to make a slight clunk clunk noise.. does that explain it well enough to show what I'm seeing or hearing?

 

I can try a quick video clip to show you what I mean if need be..

 

Thanks.

[MiCarl]

If it were the forks with that much play you'd probably be spewing oil everywhere.

 

It could also be wheel bearings. Do your same test, but hold the forks instead of the wheel. If your play goes away then it's wheel bearings. If not, it'll be the steering bearings.

[Seaking]

If it were the forks with that much play you'd probably be spewing oil everywhere.

 

It could also be wheel bearings. Do your same test, but hold the forks instead of the wheel. If your play goes away then it's wheel bearings. If not, it'll be the steering bearings.

 

geesus, if it were the wheel bearings THAT loose, the bike would be unrideable lol

 

As far as I can tell the bike rides fine.. I won't be able to tell until spring when the ice melts but I got to ride it for a month after the new bearings went in..

 

hmm

[Brake Pad]

I had the same issue, I had the bearings repacked, and the problem went away.

NOT UNDER WARRANTY:mo money::mo money:

[V7Goose]

Not sure how you mean Squeeze.. here's what I'm doing..

 

The bike is up on the carbonone stand.. I grab the front wheel of the bike and pull it towards me as I stand right in front of the bike.. the whole wheel, fork assembly moves enough to make a slight clunk clunk noise.. does that explain it well enough to show what I'm seeing or hearing?

 

I can try a quick video clip to show you what I mean if need be..

 

Thanks.

Enough play to actually "make a slight clunk clunk noise" is real bad. I often find the steering bearings on bikes I inspect too loose, but the movement is slight enough it is difficult for the owners to detect even when I show them how to do it. I'd certainly find out what is wrong and get it taken care of before another trip.

Goose

[Seaking]

Enough play to actually "make a slight clunk clunk noise" is real bad. I often find the steering bearings on bikes I inspect too loose, but the movement is slight enough it is difficult for the owners to detect even when I show them how to do it. I'd certainly find out what is wrong and get it taken care of before another trip.

Goose

 

Thanks Goose, the movement is less than when you had checked it last spring.. it doesn't make clunk clunk noise.. I'm curious to put my friend's bike up and test it on his to compare the two..

 

The shop who did the work in the fall is coming over to pick up my Vstar to do machine work on it, I'll show it to him and see that he'll redo the job as his ex-employee who did the job was fired for incompetence for another job on the bike.. (he's the type of guy who will make right any wrongs.)

 

Thanks for the input..

[Rick Butler]

Seaking,

 

Based upon what you describe, I would be suspect of loose head bearings (that you just had your shop replace). Another item to check is the torque of the steering stem nut which is around 90 ft/lbs. But if they stand behind their work, have them recheck everything they did? Another test is to run the bike up to 70mph, set the cruise control and take your hands off the bars and see if it wants to wobble. If the stem nut is loose, you will hear a clunck when you hit a sharp bump. Also check the torque on the top (and bottom if they took the forks out) triple tree bolts.

 

Good luck,

 

Rick

[Seaking]

Seaking,

 

Based upon what you describe, I would be suspect of loose head bearings (that you just had your shop replace). Another item to check is the torque of the steering stem nut which is around 90 ft/lbs. But if they stand behind their work, have them recheck everything they did? Another test is to run the bike up to 70mph, set the cruise control and take your hands off the bars and see if it wants to wobble. If the stem nut is loose, you will hear a clunck when you hit a sharp bump. Also check the torque on the top (and bottom if they took the forks out) triple tree bolts.

 

Good luck,

 

Rick

 

Thanks for the tip Rick.. The job was done a month before putting the bike away for the season (snow) and I rode a lot at that time.. I do know the tracked well and handled OK but the rear shock was shot which cause some minor handling issues, which I was used to.. the front end did clunk when hitting a sharp bump as you suggest.

 

I'm thinking that perhaps the bearings and everything else have seated after a few hundreds of miles of hard riding.. and may need another re-torque.

 

I'll be seeing the shop owner on monday when he comes to pick up the vstar and I'll bring it up to him.. This being the winter cold snow months up here, it'll be better time of year for him to take it back to his shop and do it up proper again. His mechanic who got fired did shoddy work and he said he would back his shop rep and make it right if I found anything dubious (forks were installed 90' out looking at the air valves at the top etc).

 

UPDATE: Shop owner came by to pick up VStar this morning and will take the RSV back to the shop after he returns the VStar in order to rectify the sloppy front end.. sweet.. New tightened front end, new rear shock.. spring is gonna be a lot of fun..

 

Thanks for the tips and suggestions M8

Edited January 10, 2011 by Seaking

[cabreco]

.. does this adjustment with Dingy's tool still require the removal of the whole front end of the bike to access the nuts and such?...

 

Actually I just tighted my neck bearing with this wrench. Took a few minutes. Took off the plastic cover, the 2 fastners that hold the handlebars in place, the center lockdown & the bearing ring nut. Very easy.

 

While on this topic...

You know Working with Dingy's" Spanner wrenches, or Dingy's Head Bearing Ring nut wrench is all well & fine,

but I find it really uncomfortable refering to it as "doing an adjustment with Dingy's tool"!

 

That just SOUNDS WRONG!

[RedRider]

Seaking,

 

Sorry to say, it is not quite so easy on a 2nd Gen. You need to remove the front fairing - outside and inside. A true PITA.

 

This certainly sounds like a steering head bearing. But since it has been a few weeks since you originally posted - what was the verdict?

 

RR

[darthandy]

Seaking,

 

Sorry to say, it is not quite so easy on a 2nd Gen. You need to remove the front fairing - outside and inside. A true PITA.

 

This certainly sounds like a steering head bearing. But since it has been a few weeks since you originally posted - what was the verdict?

 

RR

 

 

Ummm...you may want to recheck the date of his post. It has been just over a year!

 

Andy