1st Gen front end "rebound"

[Trader]

My bike is handling very well since I put progressives and the Condor Brace on it.

 

BUT.....today I noticed something I have never noticed before and I'm wondering if I have a problem or if it is normal.

 

 

 

I was at a full stop. I gave the handle bars a "shake" back and forth...as if I was trying to shaking water off the front tire.

 

Just very quick jerk to left and back to center.

 

The front end felt like it "rebounded" As if I gave it a twist that went down the forks and then after I stopped, it came back up the forkss and gave a bit of an "echo" shake!

 

Like I said....it's handling really well!!!!!

 

Condor Brace is tight, neck bearing bounce test looks good....Not sure what else it could be?

 

Is this normal???

[skydoc_17]

The first thing that I would check would be the nut on the front wheel, I would also make sure that the spacer and speedo drive are all in the right position. I would check EVERY pinch bolt on the Triple Tree for tightness. (don't assume they are tight because you haven't loosened them lately!) I would also give the steering head bearing another check. If you just tightened the bearing nut, (even to spec) and they are the same 25 year old bearings, and you didn't even repack them then the torque spec is useless. The last thing is you have a 40+ pound tire and rim hanging on two tubes that are 1.25 inches +/- in diameter, almost three feet away from you, and you are snatching that wheel around with a set of handle bars that are two feet wide! I wonder what's going to give here?:crackup:Seriously, check the items I mentioned, and if they are good then, "as my doctor told me, when I told him my elbow hurts when I bend my arm like this, and he said, DON'T BEND IT LIKE THAT, THEN". It's NOT like you actually steer your bike like that anyway.

Earl

Edited May 1, 2012 by skydoc_17
CRAYON BROKE!

[KIC]

I felt my 89 had a little of what you described. I had recently had the forks off and greased the bearings. Although, I believe I had tightened the steering neck nut correctly. The bike felt good while riding, but on real slow turns like backing out of garage and down the driveway, I could feel a "looseness" wiggle.

 

A couple of weeks ago I took the triple tree apart and re-tightened the nut. It needed just a little extra umph ..and it now feels GREAT !. If you haven't greased your bearings, try that and tighten correctly.

[Squeeze]

Sounds a bit like your Forks are a little bit binding.

 

I'd put the front End in the Air, loosen every Bolt from the bottom (Axle) to the Top(upper Pinch Bolts) and check and or adjust the Head Bearings.

 

Then tighten everything down with their respective Torque, starting at the Axle and work towards the upper End.

[Marcarl]

Sounds a bit like your Forks are a little bit binding.

 

I'd put the front End in the Air, loosen every Bolt from the bottom (Axle) to the Top(upper Pinch Bolts) and check and or adjust the Head Bearings.

 

Then tighten everything down with their respective Torque, starting at the Axle and work towards the upper End.

My 85 will do something like that, but it doesn't take all that funny movement to do it. When I come to a stop, maybe a little hard at the end, my front end will 'dive' , go down, stay there and won't come back up until I happen to release the clutch a little and then up it pops. This doesn't happen all the time, just sometimes.. I have progressives and normally run about 4 pounds of pressure in the front, simply because it won't go any less. I also have a 'squiggle' at 120 kph. I wonder if it's all related. And yes, I have tore the whole front end down and put it back together very carefully,,,, but maybe I missed something.

[Squeeze]

Carl, the Fork Legs should never feel bound, stuck or restricted in their Movement.

 

The Fork could be restricted in their upwards travel, after the "Dive" by holding the front Brake tight or, probably by the Anti-Dive System, but if you let the Brakes go, it should come up right away, without any help of Movement.

 

What i noticed when i mounted my Condor Brace, i t jsut didn't wanted to go in it's Place. That's ok for the Part, it should have the tightest Tolerance, allowing no Play and Movement. To get it mounted right, i had to loosen the Front Axle. But if i had just put the Brace in and then tightened down both, the Bolts of the Brace and the Axle, the Fork would have bind. I opened up the Rest above the Brace, tightened everything down from bottom to the upper Fork Yoke and was a really Camper since then. Those Pinch Bolts allow some Admustment of the whole Assembly. Not a very funny Job on the 1Gen, but i like a decent Ride, so sorry, but no binding Forks for me.

[Marcarl]

Carl, the Fork Legs should never feel bound, stuck or restricted in their Movement.

 

The Fork could be restricted in their upwards travel, after the "Dive" by holding the front Brake tight or, probably by the Anti-Dive System, but if you let the Brakes go, it should come up right away, without any help of Movement.

 

What i noticed when i mounted my Condor Brace, i t jsut didn't wanted to go in it's Place. That's ok for the Part, it should have the tightest Tolerance, allowing no Play and Movement. To get it mounted right, i had to loosen the Front Axle. But if i had just put the Brace in and then tightened down both, the Bolts of the Brace and the Axle, the Fork would have bind. I opened up the Rest above the Brace, tightened everything down from bottom to the upper Fork Yoke and was a really Camper since then. Those Pinch Bolts allow some Admustment of the whole Assembly. Not a very funny Job on the 1Gen, but i like a decent Ride, so sorry, but no binding Forks for me.

My problem with the Condor Brace was that exactly, it wouldn't fit, so I loosened the axle bolt to get it in. Later, I actually reshaped the brace just a little to get it to fit nicely, but not sure if that is now an issue. I gave my OEM brace to somebody else but am going to try the OEM from Wizard765 soon. Maybe I'll find something out.

[Trader]

Thanks for your responses so far....but to be sure you folks understand my situation I'm talking about a SIDEWAYS wiggle, not vertical.

 

Like I said....if I give the front end a good shake, it seems as if the torque travels down the forks and then back up and gives the handlebars a bit of a shake like an echo.

 

I'm just replaced ( and of course greased) the neck bearings when I did the progressives over the winter. The Electric Anti Dive is disconnected.

 

I'm going to check the tightness of everything.

 

It seems odd cause it handles so well. You would think if something was loose it would have a shimmy in the corners.

[Marcarl]

Thanks for your responses so far....but to be sure you folks understand my situation I'm talking about a SIDEWAYS wiggle, not vertical.

 

Like I said....if I give the front end a good shake, it seems as if the torque travels down the forks and then back up and gives the handlebars a bit of a shake like an echo.

 

I'm just replaced ( and of course greased) the neck bearings when I did the progressives over the winter. The Electric Anti Dive is disconnected.

 

I'm going to check the tightness of everything.

 

It seems odd cause it handles so well. You would think if something was loose it would have a shimmy in the corners.

In this case you may have your steering head bearings just a little loose, maybe a 1\16th of a turn. You can tighten them a bit and then carefully take it out for a ride and see how it pans out. If you have them too tight, you'll find the bike is steering on it's own and wants to go it's own way, not the way of the road.

[KIC]

Thanks for your responses so far....but to be sure you folks understand my situation I'm talking about a SIDEWAYS wiggle, not vertical.

 

Like I said....if I give the front end a good shake, it seems as if the torque travels down the forks and then back up and gives the handlebars a bit of a shake like an echo.

 

I'm just replaced ( and of course greased) the neck bearings when I did the progressives over the winter. The Electric Anti Dive is disconnected.

 

I'm going to check the tightness of everything.

 

It seems odd cause it handles so well. You would think if something was loose it would have a shimmy in the corners.

 

 

Thats exactly what happened to mine after I installed my progressives. After re-tightening the neck nut it felt alot better

[chabicheka]

Mine does the same thing, Trader...tried it today. its probably normal.

Similar effect you get if you swung a fishing rod left and right...

[Prairiehammer]

I think part of the sensation is due to the way the handle bars are mounted in rubber.

[reddevilmedic]

what are the torque specs on the steering nut, pinch bolts and handlebar nuts?? thanks.

[spitfire9]

From the shop manual.

Pinch bolts- 14ft-lbs

Steering stem Nut- 78 ft-lbs

Handle securing nuts- 90 ft-lbs

Edited May 3, 2012 by spitfire9