1983 GS1100 GLD Problems

[Anonymous]

My son just crashed his bike this week on the open highway going 65 MPH.
He lost control of the front end and went down.

Question: I now have the bike and it realy does not look that bad, what would be the cause of loosing control of the front end and what should I be looking for on this bike?

[Dink]

Without knowing more about what happened it is hard to say.
I would check all the bearings in the chassis; steering stem, swingarm and wheel. it is just as possible he hit some diesel and that is why it went down.
Rear shocks in poor condition can "pack down" over distance and take away front end feel and control, low tyre pressures wont help.
Dink

[Planecrazy]

Re: 1983 GS1100 GLD Problems

My son just crashed his bike this week on the open highway going 65 MPH.
He lost control of the front end and went down.

Question: I now have the bike and it realy does not look that bad, what would be the cause of loosing control of the front end and what should I be looking for on this bike?

Larry,

Sooooo many unanswered questions before yours can be answered. For example, What were the weather and road conditions? Did he perhaps hit a crack in the road that grabbed the front wheel? Was there grease on the road? Was/is the tire low (could cause handling issues at speed)? Is the wheel out of balance?

There are so many variables that play into a "loss of control" condition that without more background we're just shooting in the dark as to guessing why... Hopefully you can provide more insight for us to work with, and then perhaps we can help you get to the bottom of this...

How is your son? Is he in a condition where he remembers any details to give us a clue? We wish him (and you ) the best, and will look forward to more updates/details.

Best Regards,
Steve 8)

[Anonymous]

"He lost control of the front end"..

That is an open statement.

Alot of things could have played a roll, as Dink started naming them.

Did the front end "Pull out of his hands & slam side to side?" a.k.a. "Tank Slapper"

That could be from him grabbing the front break too hard & / or catching a rutt in the pavement, a cupped front tire with low pressure can do this.

Take some pics of the front end, and a good shot of the front tire profile, it is hard to diagnose from the computer without pics, especially when the problem could be "most anything."

Sorry your son went down.

[Anonymous]

My son came thru with ONLY a broken collar bone, Thanks for asking.

I should have give you all more information on this, Sorry about that.

Frist of all he just pass a simi and was well in front of it.
It was morning time around 6:30 AM with clear condition and the sun was out.
This road is a main RT which goes thru the state from NY to Boston.
He just put on a new front tire and I have not checked the to see if it was low on air and I was think of checking out the balance.
Now Busafiel I heard of " Tank Slapper" before and that is how he indicated the front end was acting.

He just knew at that time the bike was going down, I'm going to put the bike together but I just need to know what happened and look at every thing in the front end of this bike.

Pictures would be a good help, when I get some I will let you all know.

Thank you both for the fast reply.

Larry

[gremlin]

glad your son is ok.

he could of hit gater. that is a chunk of tire on the road. it also could be a bad front brake, check the front brake for loose or broken parts.

[Planecrazy]

or, if the bike was in Florida, it could just have been ... gator!

Sorry ... couldn't help myself!

Steve 8)

[Anonymous]

Steve, a Gator, maybe it was a black bear!

Larry

[Anonymous]

Tire

Well as for me I think that it may have been the new tire. Depending on how new it was it may have still had the wax on it from the manufacturer. I almost put down my 1000G due to it. Alittle moisture or oil on the road and watch out.

I'm Glad that your son only ended up with a broken collarbone. It could have been alot worse. And hopefully he will be riding again soon.

[Anonymous]

GS1100 Bike Problems leading to a crash

First of all I want to thank every one that I got a reply from.

UPDATE

I had some time to get this bike in to my back yard work shop. And this is what I found with every ones help.

Front tire was down to 24 psi
Back tire was down to 30 psi
Front Forks DID NOT HAVE any type of air pressure, 0 psi
Front end is tight along with the back end being tight
Front tire balance has not been checked YET.

So what I think is that we have a few problems leading up to this crash.

Larry

[Anonymous]

I'm a father, and I empathize with you, Benelli.

Now that I've said that, allow me to say that most of those "loss of control" incidents are due to operator error, rather than equipment malfunction.

The front tire was a bit underinflated at 24, which may have contributed to handling problems.

This is my 19th season on GS bikes (four 850's and now my GK), a total of about 210,000 miles. Been down only twice, the worst when t-boned a deer 3 years ago, an "act of God" that I couldn't have avoided; the other was strictly my fault. Not once have I had a handling problem on any of the bikes.

Chances are your son just screwed up; this may have been the primary reason for the crash. All of us humans screw up once in a while.

Nick

[focus frenzy]

depending on the sag of the front end, you may have found the problem.
if the bike has to much sag with no air in the fork, the front end sitting low will put more weight on the front tire, combine this with a low front tire and high speed, (passing the truck) and the front tire contact patch will squirm around causing a very unstable condition and you end up with a tank slapper.
the tires are the most important item of the bike, neglect them and you are asking for trouble.

sag is the amount the suspension squats between its full extended unloaded hight and the upright with rider on the bike.