play in the front wheel. what to replace?

[matt_gs450]

Hello All,

I've noticed a progressive issue with my 450L. The first symptom was that when I apply the front brake to come to a stop, the bike pulls to the right. The second symptom is that when I get the front wheel off the ground and wiggle it side-to-side, there is some play. I.e. some jiggling like there isn't a tight connection between the wheel and the forks.

I have a spare parts bike where I should be able to salvage whichever part I need. What do I need to replace?

Thanks,
Matt

[sharpy]

slop

When the wheel is off the ground if its side to side play INBETWEEN the forks most likely wheel bearings. Buy new as there cheap, just go to a bearing suppler not a bike shop. If the forks move back and forth its loose/worn steering head bearings. Have someone do the back and forth motion while u have ure hand one the steering head just in front of the tank to feel movement. That might be a trip to the bike shop to fix unless ure able to tackle it yourself. Most shops should check out ure problem for free as its a 30 sec job just to check.

[bonanzadave]

Dude !! If its nice enough in your part of the world to go riding..... DONT !! Thats a serious safety situation you have there. Post up some pic if you can and let the GSR straighten it out.

[DanTheMan]

Dude !! If its nice enough in your part of the world to go riding..... DONT !! Thats a serious safety situation you have there. Post up some pic if you can and let the GSR straighten it out.

Ditto!!!! scares me just thinking about it........8-[

[matt_gs450]

Yeah it scares me too. Especially the pull to the right when I hit the brake. Luckily I have another running 450 that is in great shape. I would like to straighten this issue out before the riding season though as I'd like to sell this particular 450.

I'm not sure a picture would do it justice. I can just feel that it is not solid, there's not enough play to actually see it.

[BassCliff]

No stoppies!

Mr. matt_gs450,

I concur with Mr. sharpy. While you are replacing those wheel bearings, check to see if the axle or spacers are worn too. I also agree that it's safer to stay off of that particular motorcycle until it's fixed.

Keep us informed.

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

[gremlin]

if you have a good auto parts store or bearing shop near. your in good shape. you should get the bearings for just a bit over a $20 bill. i think when i replaced mine it was 11 bucks for each of them. its been a few years. i did the front and rear bearings at the same time.

my thinking on replacing the bearings is, if the fronts were bad then the rear has gone just as long and there ready to.

[Commodus]

What do I need to replace?

Thanks,
Matt

Heh, I don't know, and neither does anyone else here. Take it apart and see! But someone said to buy bearings, and that's good advice. They're cheap and you probably need 'em and it's a good time to replace 'em while you're down there.

[tone]

Yep sounds like wheel bearings to me too :-D

Dont know if the bike has been ridden much in that state but its also worth checking if the disc is still true & the caliper is free

while you are there i'd be tempted to have a look at the headstock bearings too only because its likely that they are the same age as the wheel bearings :-D

[matt_gs450]

So, I work on bikes like I do most other things... Very slowly. But, I finally made some progress with this issue. I verified that the play was all in the wheel bearing and not in the steering stem. So I swapped the front wheel from my parts bike where the bearing was fine.

However, the bike still pulls to the left as the bike comes to a stop. I noticed a couple of issues that might be to blame:

1. the forks run out of travel very easily. as the bike comes to a stop, the travel is down to nothing. I suspect there is no oil left in the forks

2. the forks were robbed of about an inch of travel by the fact that the fork tubes had slipped up to the point where they were being stopped by the handlebars (I'll post a picture of this if that comment doesn't make sense)

I think that somehow these two issues are causing the pull to the left. The reason this issue all of a sudden presented itself (I think) is because I recently added an engine guard and fairing to the bike, thus adding enough weight to the front to make this problem apparent.

So, I again went to my spare parts bike and cleaned/removed the front forks/fender assembly. Those look to be in much better shape than what's currently on the running bike. I'm going to swap out the forks tonight and see if I have enough time for a test ride. Probably won't do that until at least tomorrow though.

[matt_gs450]

I replaced the forks, and adjusted the top of the forks to be flush with the top pinch clamp (see pictures). The bike is riding awesome now. When I come to a quick stop, the bike stays straight and the forks don't run out of travel. Also, I could tell by a quick look at the old forks that the oil seals were compromised long ago and the forks were empty.

Before (forks installed incorrectly):


After (new forks, installed flush):

[don_gibb6512]

When you buy new wheel bearings, be sure they're sealed on both sides. OEM bearings are open faced on the inner side. Stupid in my opinion but the service guy at one of the local dealers here when asked about "why" said: "it's a sealed system". Uhhh, not hardly. He had nothing to say when I showed him the original bearings that no longer had any grease and were worn out. DOH !!!