Joined Jan 2011
25 Posts | 0+
Couldnt wait any longer and had to get the old R out for a quick blast, been a long winter and busy with work etc. Bike hasnt been run since I did the full service in January but before I set off I did notice the usual Ohlins fork seal slight weep....nothing too bad though. Great run up to Ribblehead to scrub the new Metzeler M5s in and everything was feeling pretty good, well almost everything.....the handling still wasnt as I knew it should be, they didnt seem to be any consistency in the way the bike turned and sometimes it didnt feel too stable?
The bike didnt want to track straight of its own accord, basically you wouldnt want to take both hands off the bars at any speed and quite often it felt like the front just wanted to go if you will? When I got the bike it had new head bearings fitted but whoever had done it had made a mess of it, within a few miles the first time out the front was knocking on the brakes etc and sure enough they were way too loose. It gets worse.....I got the tools out and first thing I noticed was the top yoke nut was finger tight!? Then after removing the yoke the adjuster and lock nut were spinning as one (you could undo them using your fingers :confused No idea who did the work but it seems like they did the nuts up and then replace the top yoke but then did the fork pinch bolts up without ever even tightening the top nut....scary! Anyway I had sorted that but still it didnt handle as it should with the same nervousness as before. As you do I put up with it for the remainder of last year.
Today although the bike felt better than it had (new tyres) I was aware I was going to have to sort it sooner rather than later. Anyone who knows the road up to Ribblehead will know theres more than a few places to get a little airborne and the thought of my slightly weepy left fork seal was in my mind and sure enough by the time I stopped the leg and fairing had a covering of fork oil....it wasnt the end of the world as I had planned on having them resprung to suit my weight (easier than a diet) but typically its happened just as I am as skint as I ever have been. Rode home and rang Kais (they are local ish) and decided to take the forks out and drop them there in the morning. Took the front fairing off and decided to take the steering damper of just to check it.....sure enough even though I had it on the lightest setting it just didnt feel right as you pushed the rod through, or rather sometimes it did and then after a few pushes it would tighten up in what would be the straight ahead setting? Hmmmm? So I put my gear back on and headed back out (minus fairing and damper) What a transformation! :thumbup the bike felt every bit as good as I knew it should be, steered so well and just felt perfect (even with half the oil from one fork leg missing) the big test was rolling downhill into town where I could take both hands of the bars and sit back in the seat as the bike slowed from 50 to 15 mph, there was no way I could have done that before.
So mixed feeling really....its going to cost me for the fork seal (and prob a respring) and I am also going to have to get the damper rebuilt but at least its all going to be as it should be :biggrin and I am over the moon that I found the cause of my handling woes. Roll on the warmer weather!
Anyway I will stop the wittering...I only really came on to post a pic not give you my life story!
Heres the old gal at Ribblehead.
The bike didnt want to track straight of its own accord, basically you wouldnt want to take both hands off the bars at any speed and quite often it felt like the front just wanted to go if you will? When I got the bike it had new head bearings fitted but whoever had done it had made a mess of it, within a few miles the first time out the front was knocking on the brakes etc and sure enough they were way too loose. It gets worse.....I got the tools out and first thing I noticed was the top yoke nut was finger tight!? Then after removing the yoke the adjuster and lock nut were spinning as one (you could undo them using your fingers :confused No idea who did the work but it seems like they did the nuts up and then replace the top yoke but then did the fork pinch bolts up without ever even tightening the top nut....scary! Anyway I had sorted that but still it didnt handle as it should with the same nervousness as before. As you do I put up with it for the remainder of last year.
Today although the bike felt better than it had (new tyres) I was aware I was going to have to sort it sooner rather than later. Anyone who knows the road up to Ribblehead will know theres more than a few places to get a little airborne and the thought of my slightly weepy left fork seal was in my mind and sure enough by the time I stopped the leg and fairing had a covering of fork oil....it wasnt the end of the world as I had planned on having them resprung to suit my weight (easier than a diet) but typically its happened just as I am as skint as I ever have been. Rode home and rang Kais (they are local ish) and decided to take the forks out and drop them there in the morning. Took the front fairing off and decided to take the steering damper of just to check it.....sure enough even though I had it on the lightest setting it just didnt feel right as you pushed the rod through, or rather sometimes it did and then after a few pushes it would tighten up in what would be the straight ahead setting? Hmmmm? So I put my gear back on and headed back out (minus fairing and damper) What a transformation! :thumbup the bike felt every bit as good as I knew it should be, steered so well and just felt perfect (even with half the oil from one fork leg missing) the big test was rolling downhill into town where I could take both hands of the bars and sit back in the seat as the bike slowed from 50 to 15 mph, there was no way I could have done that before.
So mixed feeling really....its going to cost me for the fork seal (and prob a respring) and I am also going to have to get the damper rebuilt but at least its all going to be as it should be :biggrin and I am over the moon that I found the cause of my handling woes. Roll on the warmer weather!
Anyway I will stop the wittering...I only really came on to post a pic not give you my life story!
Heres the old gal at Ribblehead.
