Front fork noise!!!

[markmartin]

Another possible cause of the knock I was getting was a loose speedo assembly. Mine was loose. I had to add homemade rubber spacers to make it possible to tighten the assembly enough to get it secure.  As I remember, the rubber mounts that act as a crush washer we hard and maxed out.  Anyway, this is another possible cause as I did this at the same time I did my forks.  I'll try to find a picture of the spacers I put in....

Of course I had the front fairing off to get to the assembly---not sure if you were planning to pull the fairing.
However, it would be worth checking the assembly while your there.

Mark

[DB Cooper]

I will be pulling the front fairing, as I need to install an ignition relay for my heated grips and vest.  I will also check the speedo assembly as well. It's funny, I could have sworn when I first heard the noise I thought that it was somewhere in the instument cluster.  Mark, that would be great if you can find out what spacers and size you put in your forks. A friend of mine does some light maching on the side, and I was thinking of getting new spacers made up to the exact tolerence by him. But if I can use some PVC or something, that would be better. Also, I think I read in one of the posts that you put emulators in.  If so, did it make a difference in the handling?  My budget is a little tight, but if it's worth it, I might go ahead and put them in. As it is, I'm looking to install a steering damper as well.  I had one on my Daytona RD400 (http://www.fastfromthepast.com/servlet/the-1003/Steering-Damper-Stroke%3D115mm-/Detail) and it really smoothed things out in the twisties.
Thanks
Kevin

[rktmanfj]

Another possible cause of the knock I was getting was a loose speedo assembly. Mine was loose. I had to add homemade rubber spacers to make it possible to tighten the assembly enough to get it secure.  As I remember, the rubber mounts that act as a crush washer we hard and maxed out.  Anyway, this is another possible cause as I did this at the same time I did my forks.  I'll try to find a picture of the spacers I put in....

Of course I had the front fairing off to get to the assembly---not sure if you were planning to pull the fairing.
However, it would be worth checking the assembly while your there.

Mark

No doubt much of the rubber parts of out bikes have seen better days, but if you are talking about the entire instrument cluster, there is supposed to be some play there....  seems counter-intuitive, but true.

Randy T
Indy

[markmartin]

Another possible cause of the knock I was getting was a loose speedo assembly. Mine was loose. I had to add homemade rubber spacers to make it possible to tighten the assembly enough to get it secure.  As I remember, the rubber mounts that act as a crush washer we hard and maxed out. Anyway, this is another possible cause as I did this at the same time I did my forks. I'll try to find a picture of the spacers I put in....

Of course I had the front fairing off to get to the assembly---not sure if you were planning to pull the fairing.
However, it would be worth checking the assembly while your there.

Mark

No doubt much of the rubber parts of out bikes have seen better days, but if you are talking about the entire instrument cluster, there is supposed to be some play there....  seems counter-intuitive, but true.

Randy T
Indy

Glad you said that Randy-- I looked for the picture of the rubber spacer that I had installed and found it, but it was on the headlight.  My cluster had been loose, and I tighten it as much as I dared to.  As you said, it's supposed to have some play, hence the rubber washers.  

My headlight assembly was loose also, (yet another possible source of the 'clunk') and that's where I jambed a couple of chunks of rubber behind the top mounting/support bracket.  (pic below)  The left bracket has the rubber piece (black), and the right has not been installed yet (white).  It's the round rubber pieces in the brackets /pinned up on the top of the headlight that had dried up and apparently shrunk, not the speedo assembly. (they were just loose)  This did work well to stop the headlight from jiggling.

---This is all further proof that I"m getting to the age where I have to take pictures to remember where I've been!!  

[rktmanfj]

Another possible cause of the knock I was getting was a loose speedo assembly. Mine was loose. I had to add homemade rubber spacers to make it possible to tighten the assembly enough to get it secure.  As I remember, the rubber mounts that act as a crush washer we hard and maxed out. Anyway, this is another possible cause as I did this at the same time I did my forks. I'll try to find a picture of the spacers I put in....

Of course I had the front fairing off to get to the assembly---not sure if you were planning to pull the fairing.
However, it would be worth checking the assembly while your there.

Mark

No doubt much of the rubber parts of out bikes have seen better days, but if you are talking about the entire instrument cluster, there is supposed to be some play there....  seems counter-intuitive, but true.

Randy T
Indy

Glad you said that Randy-- I looked for the picture of the rubber spacer that I had installed and found it, but it was on the headlight.  My cluster had been loose, and I tighten it as much as I dared to.  As you said, it's supposed to have some play, hence the rubber washers.  

I just mentioned it because there have been a few who have shimmed the cluster up solid, and apparently the instruments don't like that very much.       

Randy T
Indy

[markmartin]

  Mark, that would be great if you can find out what spacers and size you put in your forks. A friend of mine does some light maching on the side, and I was thinking of getting new spacers made up to the exact tolerance by him. But if I can use some PVC or something, that would be better.

Kevin, I'm almost positive that I used a piece of 1" Schedule 40 EMT / PVC tubing.  The O.D of this tubing is 1.325" .  The O.D. of the forks are 1.625" , I don't know the I.D of the fork tubes, but my guess would be that there about .200 of play.  It may be worth finding out what the ID of the fork tubes are and finding the closest fit for available standard Sch. 40 PVC.   Someone here must have a fork tube laying around?  One other note; the spacer I took out had been cut with a hack saw--fairly square but not perfect and probably prone to 'kick' out and tunk the inside of the fork.  The one new one was cut with an electric mitre saw, i.e: perfect 90's.

Also, I think I read in one of the posts that you put emulators in.  If so, did it make a difference in the handling?  My budget is a little tight, but if it's worth it, I might go ahead and put them in.
As it is, I'm looking to install a steering damper as well.  I had one on my Daytona RD400 (http://www.fastfromthepast.com/servlet/the-1003/Steering-Damper-Stroke%3D115mm-/Detail) and it really smoothed things out in the twisties.
Thanks
Kevin

The emulators, for me, are fantastic. I bought the bike with stock springs (I'm assuming they were stock) that were too soft for my liking, so I installed a 1.0 kg springs.  These were much better, and if it was only slow speed damping (the fork compressing at a slow rate, not the speed of the bike) they would be adequate. I found that with these stiffer springs, all the little 'quick' bumps and the pot-hole type bumps jolted the forks.  This wasn't unbearable, but left room for improvement. Installing the emulators smoothed these right out.  The best way I can describe it is it feels like the first inch of travel is alot smoother, and the rest of the travel is very good too.   I would defiantly reccommend them--granted they are not free.  There are other (cheaper) ways to fiddle with the forks.  I just wanted to try these because I'd heard so much good.  To add to my 'investment', I replaced the stock shock with a Penske 8900 shock, so it's an all around smoother ride. It has more of a new bike ride now. 

Does it handle better??  The ride is smoother and the front wheel feels better planted--better feedback. With exception to washboard pavement in the turns, the 1.0kg springs, no emulators and the stock shock wound up pretty tight,  I thought handled well to begin with.  Now, with the new suspension, everthing is smoother with no downside, so I would have to say yes, it handles better. (Especially in that 90 degree washboard-ed turn on my way to and from work every day) I'm not a very aggressive rider, so you'll have to talk to someone else for peg-dragging handling info.   


I'm not familiar with the steering damper you mentioned, but I"m inclined to say spend your money on the emulators first.

[DB Cooper]

Man, this forum is great. The feedback and info is priceless.I'm sure the headlight is OK, but I will check it as well when the fairing is off.  I'm also considering an HID light from DDM tuning, so I'll go from there. It's weird how the cluster is loose, but I know it's suppose to be that way. I know someone who tightened thiers up a while back, and now the light bulbs blow out a lot, and now his needles vibrate like crazy.  But I'm sure it's the forks, as there is no way the cluster or headlight could make the clunk I'm hearing. I can only describe it as a 1lb ball peen hammer hitting the the top triple tree everytime you hit a bump at low speeds, loud enough to penetrate ear plugs and a full face! If I didn't already check the stem bearings and adjustment, I'd swear that's what the noise is. I'll find out more when I take the front end apart and check from there. I will definitely keep everyone posted and take pictures as to what I find. Thanks for the info and pictures Mark. Really useful info for future use!
Kevin

[WestOzFJ]

I had a clunk in the fornt end of my '85 that used to annoy me, but for some reason it is now gone.

Maybe need to check hearing aid batteries.... 

[SlowOldGuy]

I had a clunk in the fornt end of my '85 that used to annoy me, but for some reason it is now gone.

Maybe need to check hearing aid batteries.... 

Yeah, maybe my ears have notched out that frequency.  The test equipment at work is 400Hz.  I can't hear a watch alarm anymore (high pitched chirping) because it's in that frequency range that no longer registers.  The "wife and kids" notch seems to be growing bigger every day.  :-)

DavidR.