Stearing head expectations

[th3_mo3bius]

Well, it's been awhile but my Gen 1 is back into kick-ass running order. Ah man! It feels so much better having a 2-wheeler at my disposal. And now is summer, I f*^king love riding. It had been about 3-4 years, and being someone who rides more than drives, it was helluva long wait. Kids or no kids, power-cruiser or civilized sportbike I commute and play on two-wheels as much as possible. I hate waiting for grannies! Anyways, I'd like to thank Spec-Ops for personal help sorting out my Gen 1 restoration, and of course Mr. Morley - who somehow managed to offer outstanding service to me even though I'm in Japan.

To the point, I've done various repairs myself, but couldn't wait to finish them all (and heard that fork removal can be difficult by oneself with limited tools) so I had the final repairs done for me. Under hard braking, I would feel skipping/looseness in what I thought was the stearing head. I had read that the stearing head bearings/races can wear and go bad on mr max, so I had a local mech remove the triple trees etc and replace the stearing head bearing and tighten her down and also install progressive springs and 15w fork oil. He did the fork work but said that the stearing head was fine and so just greased it up (no parts replaced).

Although handling under braking has improved greatly, I still notice a glitch/bump/looseness while under braking and going over bumps. Is this the suspension bottoming out and transferring direct impacts to my wrists or does it come from the steering column (feels like it does) or other and/or is this just the best that it gets on mr max? my previous two bikes were honda sportbikes (diffirent rakes and lighter bodies etc) so I cannot say what is standard for a cruiser or a max. any ideas?

 

[ninjaneer]

...Although handling under braking has improved greatly, I still notice a glitch/bump/looseness while under braking and going over bumps...

I think you're gonna have to be a little more descriptive, if the folks here are gonna be of any use because "glitch/bump/looseness" are three words with entirely different meanings in different circumstances and/or conditions.

 

[th3_mo3bius]

fair enough...but I am really terrible with bike part names and/or standardized descriptions but here goes: while braking, should I encounter a depressed manhole cover or other pavement irregularity, although relatively small, I can feel a jarring sensation - a sensation I assume to be out of proportion to the size of the bump in the road. It feels like the bump in the road is not being properly absorbed. It feels as if the steering column jostles in front-to-back motion. This sensation was much more pronounced before changing springs and oil weight, but I thought it would be completely removed having changed springs, seals, and having had the steering column inspected. The front wheel turns smoothly from left to right, whether in motion or parked.

I've got a proper ride planned for tomorrow, and typhoon-influenced rainy weather not withstanding, I will pay attention and try to report back in detail. Pray for no rain!

 

[alorio1]

Have you tried the Morley bounce test ?

http://www.youtube.com/user/one2dmax?blend=1&ob=5#p/u/0/OW-CmACI5xQ

 

[SpecOps13]

If you can get the bike on the center stand, check to see if you can move the
forks by having someone sit on the back to raise the front tire. Grab the forks
low and try to move them forward / backward and side to side.

While riding, no wobble at speed and no wander?? All should be good.
It'll never ride like a Caddy....

Could be that it's absorbing the shock and not bottoming out like stock did...

 

[[email protected]]

Check that the shop has properly adjusted your steering stem bearings.
Other than that, maybe you need to optimize the suspension for your weight and riding style. These old damper style forks don't have a lot of adjusment but there are some things you can do.

1. length of the pre-load spacer on top of the spring. Generally speaking, the more you pre-load the spring the harder it will be to compress the fork. You can make custom length spacers out of PVC pipe. The longer the spacer the more pre-load you get

2. Fork oil weight. Lighter fork oil, like 10wt, allow the fork to compress easier and rebound quicker. Heavier oil, like 20wt, does the opposite.

3. Fork oil height. Adding or subtracting fork oil will make subtle changes also. Adding oil will make the fork harder to compress. Subtraction oil will make it easier to compress.

 

[th3_mo3bius]

Well, canyon carving went wonderful yesterday. First time out of the city...and I am truly impressed with mr max's handling (i had always thought of him as a freight train.) Anyways, i could keep pace with a superhawk moving at an enjoyable pace - had to drag foot rests to do so, and did pass some other "quicker bikes" on occasion, but Wow! (and this was with the power-robbing Cobra exhausts, too boot!) Obviously, I am pleasantly surprised. The country roads were smooth, so no hiccups suspension wise.

I will have to try the Morley bounce test - as I definitely have wobbles when I take my hands of the bars, scarily strong sometimes, and commuting today at mild speeds with a light touch still on the bars I could feel the wobble wanting to come. So I'm pretty sure the shop didn't properly adjust the stearing stem bearings as explained in the vid. No center stand so I will check to see if there's another way I can prop up the front end. I will test it out per link sent by Alorio_1 and give the forks a good back/forth tug while I'm at it.

Darn local mech is a good guy and fixed/tuned some other things, he explained to me how he set the prog. springs but we didn't write it down and so have forgotten. Went with 15w so it wouldn't be too stiff, and I'm pretty sure he cut the spacer to less than 9.37" (perhaps pre-load of 0.75") but he mentioned that syphoning fork would be easier than removing and re-cutting the spacers, so I may try to suck a little out if i have the chance (someday). For now, I'm gonna work on tightening the stem bearings and assume that the minor suspension issue I have is from a possible high-level of fork oil and just general stiff suspension. The headshake is a bigger problem and am much happier knowing the probable cause and solution.

FYI - I'm about 5'8" and approx 170 lbs.

 

[th3_mo3bius]

Yup. it was loose stearing head bearings. i tightened it up per video link but will have to go back and re-adjust (a little too tight) but the jarring sensation and headshake has been completely eliminated. a simple adjustment but ads loads of satisfaction to my riding. I'm off to the "recycle shop" to see if I can pick up a 27mm and possibly a 1" spanner (I borrowed the tools to tighten...) Thanks a million everyone!

 

[ninjaneer]

You can achieve similar results with a screwdriver and hammer, but if you're picky, then consider dingy's Steering Head Bearing Ring Nut Wrench instead of the spanner wrench. dingy machined his tool as a more affordable alternative to the OEM tool that the service manuals call out.

toemaytoes, toemahtoes, potaytoes, potahtoes.

{EDIT} oh, i just noticed you're in japan. maybe best to overlook the dingy tool then (too expensive to ship, perhaps).

regards from my tapatalking android...

 

[dannymax]

Yup. it was loose stearing head bearings. i tightened it up per video link but will have to go back and re-adjust (a little too tight) but the jarring sensation and headshake has been completely eliminated. a simple adjustment but ads loads of satisfaction to my riding. I'm off to the "recycle shop" to see if I can pick up a 27mm and possibly a 1" spanner (I borrowed the tools to tighten...) Thanks a million everyone!

A 1" spanner will work fine also....I drilled a 3/8" square hole in the handle of mine for a ratchet just to make the job a little easier.
The Dingy wrench is the best tho! unk:

 

[th3_mo3bius]

the hammer/screwdriver does work, but setting it just right can take a few tries so I broke down and got this adjustable hook wrench. Having the wrench gives better feel than whacking at it and so I was able to set it properly on the first try of the wrench. Besides, I figure I'll have more bikes' necks to wring in the future and this will come in handy!

 

[ninjaneer]

:clapping: