• Required reading for all forum users!!!

    Welcome!
    Register to access the full functionality of the GSResources forum. Until you register and activate your account you will not have full forum access, nor will you be able to post or reply to messages.

    A note to new registrants...
    All new forum registrations must be activated via email before you have full access to the forum.

    A Special Note about Email accounts!
    DO NOT SIGN UP USING hotmail, outlook, gmx, sbcglobal, att, bellsouth or email.com. They delete our forum signup emails.

    A note to old forum members...
    I receive numerous requests from people who can no longer log in because their accounts were deleted. As mentioned in the forum FAQ, user accounts are deleted if you haven't logged in for the past 6 months. If you can't log in, then create a new forum account. If you don't get an error message, then check your email account for an activation message. If you get a message stating that the email address is already in use, then your account still exists so follow the instructions in the forum FAQ for resetting your password.

    Have you forgotten your password or have a new email address? Then read the forum FAQ for details on how to reset it.

    Any email requests for "can't log in anymore" problems or "lost my password" problems will be deleted. Read the forum FAQ and follow the instructions there - that's what we have one for...

  • Returning Visitors

    If you are a returning visitor who never received your confirmation email, then odds are your email provider is blockinig emails from our server. The only thing that can be done to get around this is you will have to try creating another forum account using an email address from another domain.

    If you are a returning visitor to the forum and can't log in using your old forum name and password but used to be able to then chances are your account is deleted. Purges of the databases are done regularly. You will have to create a new forum account and you should be all set.

front end wobble-more info

  • Thread starter Thread starter diante
  • Start date Start date
D

diante

Guest
want to clarify some things .. i have a 1983 gs850 gld it has 20,000 miles on it ,it has been out of storage for about 6 weeks after being stored for 5months. i had this same feeling on bike last year and it was being rode regularly. all else on bike works great.
 
Hi Mr. diante,

It could be several things. How old are the tires? Are they properly inflated? One of the fork tubes could be twisted. The forks could have uneven levels of fork oil in them. Do they have oil in them? Are the fork seals leaking? Is there play in the wheel bearings? Check front and back. How about the swing arm bearings? Is there play in the swing arm?


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff
 
hmmm

hmmm

i was supposed to get 1 easy answer ..lol..but you have guven alot to check on,i dont have all answers right now so i guess i will have to check and get back to you. tires,oil in tubes, air in tubes,ok rest i will look..thanks for your time
 
Raise the front of the bike off the ground, tighten the big steering stem nut about 1/16-1/8 turn. Check for free movement from lock to lock. see if that fixes the problem
+ all the things mentioned
 
My other bike had some wobble on the front end.

I went and got a new tire (it needed one anyways) and the guy at the bike shop said that there was no way the tire was balanced when I brought it in. He mounted and balanced the new tire, and I've never felt a wobble on the bike again.
 
diante said:
i was supposed to get 1 easy answer ..lol..but you have guven alot to check on,i dont have all answers right now so i guess i will have to check and get back to you. tires,oil in tubes, air in tubes,ok rest i will look..thanks for your time
Click to expand...

Much asw with any kind of "diagnosis", it's a process of elimination, and sometimes the problem is a result of many small problems combined.
 
In my case the front end wobble when turning (per your first thread) was caused by unequal air pressure in the forks (not sure if this is an issue in an '83, mine is a '79) This also caused some other issues before I figured it out, like severe cupping on the front tire. I was also getting a little twisting of the forks when cornering. A new front tire, some new progressive springs (no more air!), and a fork brace have cured all my issues. Hope this helps. :)
 
SqDancerLynn1 said:
Raise the front of the bike off the ground, tighten the big steering stem nut about 1/16-1/8 turn. Check for free movement from lock to lock. see if that fixes the problem
+ all the things mentioned
Click to expand...

Lynn, one thing to remember about adjusting the steering stem nut is that the forks have to be loose in the fork trees otherwise the adjustment wont do much. Can any of you front end, fork / steering gurus expound on this theory ?
 
True you would probably need to loosen the lower pinch bolts
 
I'm sure hoping for solid as a rock when I get this thing back on it's wheels. New upper and lower steering stem bearing, fork brace, frame bracing, new wheel bearings. It should be stiff as a board.
 
Hi Mr. diante,

Since this thread seems to be getting more replies, how about putting all of your information in this thread? No need to start another thread to add more info. Just reply to your own thread. I do it all the time, kind of like talking to myself. :D

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff
 
flop test

flop test

doctorgonzo said:
I'm sure hoping for solid as a rock when I get this thing back on it's wheels. New upper and lower steering stem bearing, fork brace, frame bracing, new wheel bearings. It should be stiff as a board.
Click to expand...

I'm going to add one more, because i just went through this with a GS1100GK. The steering had an irregular wobble or a shimmy in it. The bike would change it's line at random. The problem was the bearings were TOO TIGHT. At first I thought they needed to be tighter, so I gave it a solid turn to the right. It made it worse.

With the front wheel off the ground grab the forks and pull back and forth. You should not feel any movement. The try to turn the handlebars. The wheel should flop to one side or the other with nice little bounce. If it doesn't move to the stops on it's own, or if there is any grinding, you should start with cleaning and greasing the fork bearings. If you can shake the forks or hear a rattle, tighten the bearing lock nut. If you have to push the handlebars to get it to the stop, or if there's no bounce at the stop, loosen the bearing nut.

The idea behind this is that the forks should be free to move a bit as you ride to correct slight balance issues. If they can't move then you have to push it to make minor corrections and the affect is an irregular wobble or shimmy.

If you want to get technical, the mounting procedures call for a torque on that bolt, and then once everything is tightened up you loosen it to an lower torque setting.

All of this adjusting should be done with both top mounts of the fork tubes lose so everything can adjust to the new settings.

However...If the handlebar flop test checks out ok go back to the top and check all that other stuff others have mentioned.

Good luck.
 
BassCliff said:
No need to start another thread to add more info. Just reply to your own thread. I do it all the time, kind of like talking to myself.
Click to expand...
It's OK to talk to yourself. :-s

It's OK to ask yourself questions. :confused:

It's even OK to answer those questions. :p

But, ... when you get into an argument with yourself and lose, ... you need help. :eek:

.
 
A guy I know raced the first 80 GS1100 16 valve at Bonneville for Suzuki before they were even released here. He told me that they found out the steering heads were welded on the bikes crooked and they had to put the frames in a jig, cut the head off & reweld it straight. The wheels were not true either and had to be put in a lathe and trued up. After all that they finally got the speed wobble out of it. The early Z1s had the same problem which was that the rear wheel was not tracking in the same spot as the front. The roughness of the salt made it all even worse at speed to the point that they were afraid to ride it any more until it was fixed. This is no run of the mill racer but a mulit time record holder both on bikes and in cars. Im not saying this is your problem, just something to think about and a situation you may never see on the street. Pushing yourself forward on the bike will put more weight on the front and help control the wobble before it gets too far gone
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top