jrevans said:
I went out for a 60 mile ride last night and it was happening all of the time. I started looking at the speedometer when it was happening, most of the times is started at about 17mph, and a couple of times it started at 20mph and 21mph. Odd stuff. I suppose that I should look to see if any bolts are loose.
I know that I questioned this at one time, but I have to agree that it is some kind of consistent problem. I have been reading everyone’s comments, and decided to inspect my bike to see if I could find anything unusual (and I still have NOT had this problem).
First stop was the front brakes. Checked torque on fasteners as I went along, nothing loose. Correct brake fluid level. Removed all pads, measured thickness and inspected, no problems. Removed each caliper slide pin, no rust, adequate grease present. All of the guides and spacers were in place. No air in brake lines. Disc carriers bolts are all there and torqued correctly. No disc warpage. I feel confident that my brakes are safe and working properly.
I looked at the front suspension next. It does seem that that they compress too easily, so I did some measuring. With the bike on the center stand I placed 2 Ty-Rap’s around the fork tubes. Just sitting on the bike (210 lbs.) compressed the forks 1 ¾”. I then left them in place for 10 days and went about my normal riding routine. After this time, with no panic stops (and avoiding the triple jumps!) the forks had traveled a maximum of 4 ½”. The repair manual gives a maximum available travel of 5.12”. I feel that this is not as it should be, and that the fork springs might be losing their preload rate, causing erratic compression and/or rebound force. I wish that I had measured this when it was new, but maybe one of the new owners here can make a quick measurement of their forks using a similar method to mine.
Back in
this post , ozfz6nguy said that his bike handled great after replacing the front fork springs. If you ask me, I would say that that is most likely the cause and that fresh oil and new springs are in order. However, I am going to install an air pressure setup on my existing suspension, and see if a minor amount of compressed air stops the diving. I will take pictures and keep a running parts list to let everyone know how it turns out.
Keep up the discussion, everyone.
John
PS- Yes, I admit that I can learn something new, too…