Clunking in front end

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Chillin Dylan

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Williamsburg Ohio
Hey there dudes. So my new to me vmax seems to have something loose or worn out in the front end, but I can’t figure out what. When I’m going slow and hit hard bumps, it clunks hard like how a shot ball joint in a car would, but worse. Makes me think the forks are loose in the frame or they’re bottoming out. They can’t be bottoming out because they’re lots of travel left even with my fat ass on the bike. Any ideas? Common problems? Thanks guys

Heres a picture of where the forks go into the frame. Is this normal?
 

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Check your forks air pressure. Air 'em up, try 9psi, then 14psi if the clunk doesn't stop.

Yes, your triple tree stem nut pair is normal, for its position.

Another check:
jack-up the front forks so they're off the ground. Center the wheel L-to-R. Let the wheel fall to the R, re-center the wheel, let it fall to the L. It should easily do that, both ways. Any restriction in the full movement to either the L or the R, investigate the tightness of the steering stem, the routing of your wires and hydraulic hoses.

Another check:
Again with the front end off the ground, try to move the whole front wheel forward and backward, and see if you have any slop, which will be very evident, if you have it. The wheel does-not rotate during this check.

Another check for the wheel bearings' integrity, is to grab the top of the wheel/tire from the side and push/pull the wheel/tire at the top of it. Any slop means the bearings are shot.

Sean Morley has a 'bounce test' video if you want to see it on youtube.

And his great fork service video, so-simple, a kid can do it!
 
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I would start with the basics, as Mr Medic suggests, that the bearing adjustment is correct, then that you have the correct viscosity and volume of oil and last but by no means least (regular readers would know I would mention this) the static sag.
 
Thank you! I thought about the fork pressure thing earlier and checked. They were at 0psi! I pumped them up to about 13psi, I’m a big heavy guy so I figure I should start on the high side. Unfortunately I can’t ride today because it’s pouring down rain all day, but I’d say it’s pretty likely that the fork pressures were the culprit
 
if you still get it after putting air in, it might be worth checking the fork bushes (just having to do these on my MT03)
 
If you put your location below your screen name, someone local to you may be able to assist, and you may find local riding partners.

Inform us how the air pressure works.
 
If you put your location below your screen name, someone local to you may be able to assist, and you may find local riding partners.

Inform us how the air pressure works.

I took it out this morning and it rode much better and no more clunking. I’d love to find other VMAX guys near me. I updated the location on my profile
 
Congratulations, a no-cost, easy fix. Next time, fill it with helium, and lighten your front-end. 🤔

Since you did the front end, try varying the damping and preload at the rear. Just to see what the range is, go to the minimal settings and adjust one at a time incrementally. As good a reason as any to go for a ride.
 
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Congratulations, a no-cost, easy fix. Next time, fill it with helium, and lighten your front-end. 🤔

Since you did the front end, try varying the damping and preload at the rear. Just to see what the range is, go to the minimal settings and adjust one at a time incrementally. As good a reason as any to go for a ride.
Trust me I need no reason! I’ve only had the bike a week total, today, and I’ve put almost 300 miles on it from Wednesday till today. I need to get some tires on it though
 
Do a search for gas filter replacement, you can get a part # for an auto parts store name-brand replacement for much-less than OEM replacement which is probably $23 out the door. A lot of guys use Shell Rotella in the same viscosity as the factory recommended oil, and it seems to work well.
 
Do a search for gas filter replacement, you can get a part # for an auto parts store name-brand replacement for much-less than OEM replacement which is probably $23 out the door. A lot of guys use Shell Rotella in the same viscosity as the factory recommended oil, and it seems to work well.
Are we talking about the fuel filter and engine oil? I haven’t done anything fuel related. I did give her an oil change with a new K&N cartridge (wish I had the spin on!) and rotella T 15-40. I know it’s a little heavier than recommended but I’ve always had great luck with it, and it always seems to make shifts smoother, which it did on this bike too
 
Update, it’s doing it again. I adjusted the front end using that video, it was a little loose on the one side, feels like it wants to stay in a straight line more, and comes up from leaning faster. The air pressure is still good in my shocks, but it’s clunking again. I think it was coincidence that I wasn’t hearing it before after adding air. It only does it at low speeds on hard bumps. If I’m moving fast it doesn’t do it because I go over the bump too fast
 
You might try SAE 15 instead of SAE 10 fork oil. Be exact on the method of measuring the amount of oil. The year of your bike can make the disassembly different. Early models have drain screws in each leg, newer models do-not. That means you have to remove the downtubes from the triple trees to drain the fork oil. Leave the downtube fork cap on and use an air wrench allen socket to bust-loose the damper rod hex screw accessed from the bottom of the slider. You can do it with hand tools, but the sudden burst of torque from the air wrench will usually loosen the screw easier than trying to loosen the hex allen screw with hand tools. If you absolutely do not have access to air tools, then a hand impact wrench is your best bet.

Also, compare what you have in your downtube/sliders to a factory fiche, as it's not-uncommon that a prior owner replaced the OEM springs with Progressive Suspension springs, Race Tech Gold Valve cartridge emulators or RICOR's (a different company's product but it does essentially the same thing), and different spacers (if you have PVC in-there, they were replaced, and you most-likely have aftermarket springs). Different systems use different amounts of oil.
 
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I have a 94, so I have the updated forks I think. If I have to pull the forks apart I might as well do the seals and everything I guess. I swear to me the noise sounds like metal on metal as if the center fork to frame nut was loose, but I know it’s not, and wasn’t before I did the fork adjustment
 
Replacing the fork seals isn't required if they aren't leaking. I believe you have drain screws. No-need to use 'em if you're disassembling the forks. The disassembly is to check things out, and to easily drain the oil, and then to verify what's in-there. You said you're a 'big guy,' so I recommend you try the 15 wt fork oil instead of the 10 weight standard.

Verify what's in-there: seeing as I mentioned if anything was replaced, and if all is OK, and if-not, what to fix.

In my experience, a clunk is blowing-through your fork travel, and hitting your fork limit, usually due to a leaking oil seal, a loss of fork oil, and the fork bottoming-out. You won't be able to maintain air pressure, either. Having air pressure is a good sign, as are dry sliders, proof the oil and dust seals are OK. Going a bit-heavier on the oil viscosity will slow things down in the fork travel, so you don't blow-through the travel and bottom-out.
 
when you take the springs out check to see if there is any free play in the fork bushes
 
I've not bought any for the Vmax and I see those parts are listed as metal slides, I guess they are similar/same !, I could be wrong but what I'm trying to describe is the parts that keep the inner and outer parts of the forks from touching each other as they move,
I just replaced some in my MT03 as when the two fork parts were together with no internals (replacing seals) and the bottom fork part was held in a vice, you could put to and fro movement on the inner fork tube and there was movement which made a knocking sound, the new bushes/sliders (teflon coated) took away that movement,
the reason I mentioned this is because my MT03 660 made a front end clunk noise at low speed over bumps but I thought it was the discs which have a bit of play in them, however since eliminating that movement in the forks with new bushes there are no more clunk type noises on the bikes front end,
I also had this problem on my previous HONDA XBR500 and KAWASAKI Z1300 motorcycles, I accept that this may not be the original posters problem but thought I'd offer it up as a suggestion any way 🙂
 
Update, it’s doing it again. I adjusted the front end using that video, it was a little loose on the one side, feels like it wants to stay in a straight line more, and comes up from leaning faster. The air pressure is still good in my shocks, but it’s clunking again. I think it was coincidence that I wasn’t hearing it before after adding air. It only does it at low speeds on hard bumps. If I’m moving fast it doesn’t do it because I go over the bump too fast
Before you go tearing into the forks have you checked the static sag?
 

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