front end wander

[fmf]

I backed my bike out of the driveway Saturday and before I made it to the end of my street (200 feet) I turned around to check my front tire pressure. If felt like it was low.....checked out dead on but the slow speed maneuverability just felt off, exactly like it would with a low front tire. So I take off and notice a side to side wander. Like the bike leans slightly right, then slightly left, over and over and over. It wasn't doing this just the day before. I don't notice it during acceleration, but at steady speed its constantly there and it also feels a little funny in the corners.

I plan to dig a little deeper when I get home tonight.....any ideas/suggestions?

 

[FIZZER6]

I'd check all clamps on the triple tree and forks, check front and rear wheel axle for tightness, make sure there is no play on the swingarm with the rear wheel lifted off the ground.

 

[ped]

yep something sounds loose. check everything. triples might be twisted, loose headstem bearing, etc, etc

 

[Erci]

yep something sounds loose. check everything. triples might be twisted, loose headstem bearing, etc, etc

+1.. if head bearing is too tight, that'll also have an unpleasant effect (like the bike wants to fall over all the time).

 

[fmf]

Thanks guys, that gives me some things to check. I eyeballed my rear axle settings to see if I could tell if that had moved and just eyeballing in the parking lot it looks good but I need to really check it tonight.

went for a ride at lunch to get a better feel of it and if I let go of the bars the bike will stay upright for a couple seconds then wants to fall to the left. Did this in a an empty parking lot and 3 different roads to make sure it wasn't the road causing it, but I figured it wasn't as unless the road it really bad she's always just stayed upright and held her line.

 

[philz]

Mine feels a bit like this too. It's had new tyres, fork oil and head bearings fairly recently so I doubt it's any of those. I just assumed that the FZ was a bit of a "loose" bike but I think I'll get my mechanic to check it over when I get my new chain and sprocket fitted next week.

With mine it just feels like the slightest turn of the bars or the slightest bit of pressure on the pegs makes it lean. Is yours the same?

 

[agf]

wouldnt be as simple as the front wheel balance being off - thrown a balancing weight?
interestingly i check how true mybuke runs the same way let go and let it run
always the same- well balanced

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[fmf]

Mine feels a bit like this too. It's had new tyres, fork oil and head bearings fairly recently so I doubt it's any of those. I just assumed that the FZ was a bit of a "loose" bike but I think I'll get my mechanic to check it over when I get my new chain and sprocket fitted next week.

With mine it just feels like the slightest turn of the bars or the slightest bit of pressure on the pegs makes it lean. Is yours the same?

pressure on the pegs, not so much, but I have fz1 bars so those wide flat bars really react to the slightest pressure, and I like that.

Mine has never felt loose before and normally holds a line well and never feels like it teeters back and forth.

I found the culprit though, it was rear wheel alignment. I noticed that it had slipped since the last washing once I got down on the ground with it and could see where the washer used to be from the grease stain. Don't ask me how it slipped because I had trouble loosening it I had torqued it down so tight. measuring from the center point of the swingarm pivot to the center point of rear axle there was a 1/2" difference between sides.

I realigned the rear wheel by measuring, so maybe the string method would have been a tad bit more precise, but it made a night and day difference. I still need to make a little tweak because even though the straight line teeter totter is gone, I can still feel it slightly in a long hard right hander and when I let go of the bars now it takes a while to start drifting left and does it much more slowly.

Cliff notes: rear wheel alignment was off

 

[philz]

I had new tyres fitted not long ago and the wheels were balanced then. Interestingly enough my front wheel didn't need any weights as it was perfectly balanced without them, the rear needed a few though.

 

[FinalImpact]

I'm sure you noticed this, but do take note that the holes in the axle and the holes in the swing arm are different sizes from side to side so its not an apples to apples measurement without doing a little math. Q? Did it vibrate a bit more under acceleration as the load on the chain would not be so even and may give some a little warning that something is up.

If you have some veneer calipers some measure the amount of bolt out the back to the end cap as a reference point. The later model S2 makes this a bit easier...

Here the tail end of the veneer caliper is being used to measure the distance from the SW stop to to the axles position.

 

[fmf]

Yeah I noticed the different size but figured dead center was dead center so I measured with the 2" mark straight through dead center on back to the center line of the axle. The problem with that is not having a solid stop so you end up looking back and forth a ton to make sure its all lined up and it is still less precise than I'd like.

Good idea on the caliper! Of course I have an s1 but it should still be the be the same concept right?

No, I didn't notice any extra drive line vibe under acceleration.