Need advice after taking bike to the shop....

[Biggie_B]

I took my bike (5k miles on odometer) to the shop the other day. There were two areas of concern:

FIRST, the rear end would sporadically become 'light' on right hand turns. It was an unnerving feeling like the rear tire was gliding. I was not flying through turns or using the back brake, and the bike was leaned over at less 45 degrees. Again nothing extreme, and never felt when making left hand turns. Odd, I know. My guess is that right hand turns generally tend to be sharper, resulting in more lean, and invariably the issue described above.

SECOND: I was driving about 55 mph down a relatively fresh paved highway and began to apply medium press sure to the front brakes to prepare for a 90 degree right hand turn off the highway. The handle bars started to wobble, which immediately made me think what would happen in an emergency stop situation.

Long story short, I took the bike to a local shop where I purchased my tires (Michelin Pilot Power 3) last summer thinking that maybe it was related. I recall having the turning issue last summer, but not the wobble. Can't recall if I had the turning issue on my old tires but in general these feel more glued to the road.

I got a call today and they tell me that they did not take the bike for a test ride yet, but when putting it up on the lift noticed that the front end was soft. "No effort to compress the front suspension and it bounces up when released." Apparently, it's supposed to slowly decompress. He said that the issue is 90% likely to be fixed with new fork fluids (oil?) and seals, which will run me $300.

A few questions:

1) Is it likely that the problems I described are linked to the front suspension?
2) If so, is it likely that changing fluids will solve my problems?
3) $300 sounds like quite a premium to change fluids. Is that a reasonable asking price based on how much work needs to be done?

Thanks!

 

[thisisbenji]

I'd go ahead and get that done. I'v never had it happen to me, but I'd imagine that's how it would feel.

$300 seems fair to me, it's not like no labor is involved. If you think you can get the job done in under 2.5 hours maybe it would be better to do it yourself? I'd personally just pay up.

 

[VEGASRIDER]

You can do a test on your suspesnsion to test the sag, you would probably need another person help you do it. And they must know what they are doing.

If you are planning to mess around with the forks, I suggest you purchase some Racetech springs, a front end suspension based on your weight.

I would be very concerned about the wobble. Also check to see that the tires were installed in the right direction. There are many FZ6 owners, where exactly are you along the east coast. Maybe a 2nd opinion from another FZ6 rider will help if they rode it.

 

[FIZZER6]

What Vegas said. Where on the east coast are you? I'm in central Virginia.

I just replaced the fork oil and seals on my bike 2 months ago. Huge improvement but I never had any wobble problems and I had 20,000 miles on the original fork oil.

The fork oil could and swap could be done in about 2 hours if I had to do it again. Are you sure the rear axel nut is good and tight? If it's moving slightly on right hand turns that's all I can think of for the rear sliding feeling.

 

[Biggie_B]

You can do a test on your suspesnsion to test the sag, you would probably need another person help you do it. And they must know what they are doing.

If you are planning to mess around with the forks, I suggest you purchase some Racetech springs, a front end suspension based on your weight.

I would be very concerned about the wobble. Also check to see that the tires were installed in the right direction. There are many FZ6 owners, where exactly are you along the east coast. Maybe a 2nd opinion from another FZ6 rider will help if they rode it.

I'm located in Middlesex County, New Jersey. If any local member is willing and able test ride, I would be more than happy to rendezvous.:thumbup:

All that having been said, does it sound like changing the fluids will do the trick or is the problem likely routed elsewhere? Don't want to pony up 300 dollars unless I'm confident there is some correlation.

FIZZER6, can you elaborate on the "huge improvement" you noticed?

 

[TownsendsFJR1300]

I don't know the year bike, the mileage is low but its at least 6 years old.

Re the wobble, if the tires are only a year old, you likely aren't getting wobble from the forks. I'd be checking the steering stem crown nut as well as the adjustment of the triple tree. Due to the age, I seriously doubt its worn but very well could be on the loose side. The top nut, if loose can also cause the wobble.

If the seals are NOT leaking, I wouldn't bother replacing them unless the shop discovered slop in them.

The stock oil is basically 5wt and over time smells and like any oil, breaks down, goos up.

I just replaced my fork oil with Maxima 7 wt. Most guys go with 10wt or 15 wt for more dampening.

The stock springs are soft and quite mushy, newer stiffer springs would help, They also make adjustable spring (fork) caps that you can tighten down and put more pre-load on the forks to raise the front end and stiffen it up some(as noted above) ...

After changing my oil, and flushing(some nastiness come out), I found the forks slid much easier. The old yamaha oil seemed thicker than the 7 wt too.

Re the sag, I wasn't happy with what was out there and added standard tire schrader valves to the fork caps (air assist forks), some interesting reading;
http://www.600riders.com/forum/fz6-mods/54803-air-assist-fork-caps.html

Its been two months so far and the difference is amazing. BTW, no air leakage, no oil leakage, progressive action as the air compresses.



The fork oil change isn't hard to do if you have some time, basic tools and some mechanical ability. Fork tear down for new seals is a bit more involved..

Good luck and please what you find..

 

[FinalImpact]

Lets be very specific - bars went side to side while corner braking OR did the NOSE hammer like jack hammer in rapid succession until you let off the brakes?

Q? Have you tried to duplicate any of these anomalies?
How much riding experience do you have and not to get personal, but roughly how much do you weigh?

If you and gear stack up over 205lbs, I'd highly recommend you hold off the service and replace the springs as suggested. This will add $100 to the expense and help the bikes ride quality.

 

[Biggie_B]

Lets be very specific - bars went side to side while corner braking OR did the NOSE hammer like jack hammer in rapid succession until you let off the brakes?

Q? Have you tried to duplicate any of these anomalies?
How much riding experience do you have and not to get personal, but roughly how much do you weigh?

If you and gear stack up over 205lbs, I'd highly recommend you hold off the service and replace the springs as suggested. This will add $100 to the expense and help the bikes ride quality.

The bike was wobbling while straight line braking. The bike did not swerve and maintained a straight line during deceleration. The nose did not jackhammer. I tried replicating it on a different road that day but could not.

I should note that the bike was dropped on its left side last year while essentially stationary. Don't know if it's all related to that drop...

P.S. My weight is not an issue

 

[fazil]

I would check the stem lower bearings first. They always get wet and corroded.
If they are still original, changing them with conical bearings would be nice.

 

[VEGASRIDER]

That's a great point regarding the steering head bearing. Many have failed early including mine. I think most have upgraded to the tapered bearing. You can check to see if you have any free play by having someone pull on your forks back and forth while you have the front tire locked. It shouldn't move or have any clicking. Should be solid.

I would have this replaced rather than having your fork seals replaced. If it's not leaking. fYI, my fork seals did not start to leak until 70k miles. My steering head bearings failed in less than 10k miles.

 

[Biggie_B]

That's a great point regarding the steering head bearing. Many have failed early including mine. I think most have upgraded to the tapered bearing. You can check to see if you have any free play by having someone pull on your forks back and forth while you have the front tire locked. It shouldn't move or have any clicking. Should be solid.

I would have this replaced rather than having your fork seals replaced. If it's not leaking. fYI, my fork seals did not start to leak until 70k miles. My steering head bearings failed in less than 10k miles.

I stopped by the shop to check out the bike to confirm the front end was bouncing. The mechanic was able to compress the suspension a good amount while standing next to the bike and it would pop up quickly, whereas other bikes he showed me had a much slower uptake after the suspension was compressed. I told him to go ahead and change the oil/seals. If it's the bearings I will feel like a silly goose for spending 300 dollars on peace of mind.

On a related note, what are the signs and symptoms of bad steering head bearings?

Thanks

 

[TownsendsFJR1300]

I stopped by the shop to check out the bike to confirm the front end was bouncing. The mechanic was able to compress the suspension a good amount while standing next to the bike and it would pop up quickly, whereas other bikes he showed me had a much slower uptake after the suspension was compressed. I told him to go ahead and change the oil/seals. If it's the bearings I will feel like a silly goose for spending 300 dollars on peace of mind.

On a related note, what are the signs and symptoms of bad steering head bearings?

Thanks

Changing the fork oil was due so you really didn't throw anything away there, it did need it just due to the age...

Did he mention what weight oil oil is going back in?

As noted earlier, checking the steering isn't difficult. Get the bike on the center stand and jack up under the header (with a sizzor jack) just enough to get the front tire off the ground. Gently pull / push the forks and FEEL for ANY play/knocking.

I mentioned checking the adjustment of the steering head and the top nut. If thier loose, they'll cause issues. With ONLY 5,000 miles, unless their rusted up (bike left outside, etc), they should be like new.. Doesn't mean thier adjusted correctly.

They'll have the forks off and front end in the air for the fork service. They can easily feel for any play, put a torque wrench on the top nut, etc and it wouldn't take maybe a minute...