Bike feels a little squirrelly - diff. fork oil levels?

[supersonictoys]

when I purchased my 1100 about a month ago, I noticed the front end would start shaking if I let go of the bars. installed a new front tire and now I can tie the strap on my helmet with both hands while going down the road and the bike just stays smooth as glass. could the front tire have suffered some trauma during the accident?

[gsgeezer]

I would do more than "eyeballing" the alignment.
You can take a piece glass and use it as a square, across the tubes to check/align.
(Even without a fork brace, my 1000 doesn't feel bad).

I am probably going with RaceTech springs and emulators, next time I do a fork service, though.
(Of course, a brace is a good idea, too, I found it made a difference on my '85 zl900.)

[Mysuzyq]

I can't believe it could be the frame. It was at such a low speed, and the bike didn't even tip all the way over. But I know it's possible. Ugh.

Don't know the nature or severity of the incident, but I doubt it is the frame. Apart from a vague 'crablike' (since we like fauna adjectives ) sensation even whilst riding straight down the road, you would def. feel a difference in cornering, with either right handed or left handed corners feeling weird (or both!), with things now not working in the same plane.
Tony.

[jimfj]

Tighten the head bearings.

With a jack put the front wheel in the air enough that you can watch it go from side to side with your hands off the hadlebars. If it can hit either stop from the middle by just letting go they are too loose. My 850 did this and was behaving the way you described. Tightened the head bearings and it was night and day.

My.02

jim

[C.V.]

I had nearly identical problems. a combination of things finally corrected the problem. My bike runs (or rather, ran) air in the forks, and the left side lesaked badly, resulting in nearly no pressure on the left, but full pressure on the right. this caused some squirleyness when cornering, i suppose due to the different damping between the sides...upgrade to progressives and eliminating the air solved this prob. BUT, the constant issues, i think caused my tire to wear unevenly, badly cupped, so i replaced it, and there was another big improvement.

Now all I had was the same hands free wobble you describe..do you have a fairing? I have a windjammer, which i removed and carefully reinstalled, and my wobble dissapeared. Perhaps it was a lillte out of alignment, not sure, but she handles great now. Hope this helps some!

[bryan]

Thanks all.

I replaced the forks with used forks: suspect

Used triples. The tubes went in SLIGHTLY difficult, so I replaced: suspect

Everything else seems to check out. I'm considering taking it to this place:

http://www.gmdatl.com/

They'll map out everything, can supposedly straighten forks, triples, and (hopefully not) the frame.

Does anybody have experiences with similar services? I was very impressed with the guy on the phone. It would be expensive (worst case around $800, supposedly). But I think I've ruled everything else out, and my emotional attachment to the bike far exceeds the irrational expenditure.

[KEITH KRAUSE]

Only related experience I have is with a couple of friends bikes and one of my own. Of course, your minor(?)/low speed accident could have different results.
On my old '66 Yamaha 305 with external springed forks, I hit a truck as it pulled out sharply from between cars, Never saw it coming. I was going about 30/35 mph and hit pretty hard. The forks were noticably bent but could still be straightened. That was about 34 years ago and cost $60. I was only 19 and not as aware of things mechanically as I am now but I had no instability/frame issues despite damaged forks, bars and a minor amount of fork clamp damage that I tweaked out myself.
Two friends had low speed accidents (one was a GS). Both had bent the forks but could still be straightened. I helped re-assemble one of them and noticed the straightened forks (which were straightened very well) had a little difficulty slipping through but we got them to go in without too much trouble. A local salvage yard straightened both forks and I believe both were under $100. That was about 12-15 years ago. Neither bike showed any handling problems I remember.
I certainly can't say for sure if your frame is OK but the frames are pretty strong. I kind of doubt you bent it enough to cause a handling problem. Most low speed damage is generally soaked up by the forks and clamps.
Now if you took them to a shop that straightened them, I'd take then back and ask them to show me how they determined they are straight. If there's any doubt about any used forks, have them inspected as well. As for the clamps, most bending is generally the lower clamp. If a fork didn't slip in right, I'd suspect the lower clamp and carefully tweak it so it visually looks in line with the upper and tweak until the fork goes in right. Assemble everything and take lots of measurements to assure things are basically parallel, etc. Without the wheel, the axle should slide in easily, etc. Spin the wheel and check for runout.
Be very careful to torque the steering bearing correctly. Get your models factory manual and follow front end assembly exactly.
I'm just trying to say to be sure before you spend more $. And that comes from someone who also cares more about a quality repair than how much it costs. I spent $10,000 on my '79 GS1000E restoration and many would call me nuts.
I may be wrong but I lean towards something other than the frame is causing your problem. I've ridden bikes with wheels that I know were not balanced too and never felt a handling issue as you describe.
It should be easy to check the entire front end for straightness (forks/clamps/wheel/axle) and to follow exact re-assembly instructions. If after that it still has a handling issue, then I'd focus on the frame.

[bryan]

Thanks for the response, Keith.

I doubt it's the frame, too. I was maybe doing 10 mph, and barely even tipped the bike. Almost caught it but couldn't quite keep it up. So it was relatively low impact.

Before dropping a bunch of cash I'll definitely triple check. But the wheel is straight, head bearing and assembly seems to be correct, etc. And the forks and triples I bought on eBay LOOK straight, but my non-scientific ways of checking are imprecise at best.

I'll keep you posted.