2 Wheels Posted March 1, 2011 Share Posted March 1, 2011 Right, me fazer has a front wheel shake, so i'd like your thaughts. Driving along at any speed ya want there is no vibration, shake, wobble or anything while lightly holding the bars. At the weekend i had it out for a its propper test ride. While riding along i let go the bars and put my hands on the tank (just a habit i have). After a second the bars went into a mad shake,,,,i quickly grabed them again. Something is not right with them. Went home and starting looking her over. My Findings: Forks are not bent--------thank god Forks are not twisted------thank god The forks have been slid down through the Yokes about 20mm--------at a guess, to try to lower the bike a bit as the previous owner was very small. I measured the distance they were slid down with a steel ruler and they are equel on both sides-------eventually i will be sliding them back up to the top of the forks. The right bar is ever-so-slightly bent up,,,hard to tell or measure if it is bent in a bit-----------it is unnoticible when i am sitting on the bike holding the bars. I havent checked the front wheel yet to see if it is ballenced correctly---------but there are ballence weights on the wheel so im guessing it is. Wheel bearings are fine and steering head bearings are fine So what do ye think eh ??? I am now wondering if the bike was dropped on its right hand side causing some sort of damage. Although there is no signs of a drop anywhere along the side. Would a slightly bent bar make the steering shake so bad ??? What would make the steering shake so bad ?? I have a bent up right bar so something happened to cause it. Is there anything else to check out on the steering ?? I hope its not gonna be a dear fix--------and what would fix it, new bars ?? The bike is totaly standard with no mods or anything. All your thaughts are welcome Please ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ttaskmaster Posted March 2, 2011 Share Posted March 2, 2011 Point 1: NEVER take both hands off the bars. All it takes is one slight defect in our shockingly crap roads and you're off. This is how people die. Been there, seen it, don't argue. Point 2: Was it just the one wobble, or has it developed into a continuous fault? If the former, I suspect a minor defect as in Point 1. If the latter, see below. Point 3: Check your tyres. Friend of mine had the same thing, which developed into a small wobble at various speeds. The bike was fine so long as he kept a decent grip on the bars, but when he removed either hand you could see the bar going 'wibbley-wibbley-wibbley'. The cause was an almost imperceptible defect in the tyre. It was only found on very close inspection by the tyre replacement bloke. Cost a new tyre to fix. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator Cynic Posted March 2, 2011 Moderator Share Posted March 2, 2011 Simple slide the forks back to where they should be, fit a steering damper or dont take your hands off the bars . Bike geometry is complex but basically the rake and trail are what makes a bike stable or racy and by dropping the forks through the yolks the steering angles have been tightend to sharpen the steering. Trouble is nothing is free, that sharper handling comes at a price, stability. It will make the front just a little skittish and quick to turn. Something i personally like in a bike, i had the forks dropped and an aggressive low profile front tyre as well on my old suzuki, you didn't let both hands off the bars on that unless the road was VERY smooth, turned on a dime though, many a time i had my knee, the pegs, and the lower fairing panel on the ground in corners ( and i don't mean falling off). Might be worth checking your tyres too, if the profile has gone from the rear that will make any shake worse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barkwindjammer Posted March 2, 2011 Share Posted March 2, 2011 Take the front wheel off Pat, take it to the nearest tyre place and get them to check it for balance-for a beer token (only 1 mind), before you embarass yourself check the profile of the tyre incase there's a bulge in it (unusual but it happens), like Jason says-move the forks back to their original position, and check if there's a lowering link on the rear shock too-remove it and put it back to stock. point 4 : eat your chinky at the side of the road, not on the road Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
up.yours Posted March 2, 2011 Share Posted March 2, 2011 . have you checked the disc for warpage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
realrayzor Posted March 2, 2011 Share Posted March 2, 2011 My virago had what I would call a shimmer in the front wheel. Brought it to a motorcycle shop and he found a slight inward buckle, sorted it for €40. Razor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator Airhead Posted March 2, 2011 Moderator Share Posted March 2, 2011 If you do take your wheel for a balance check, it wont be to your nearest tyre place (BWJ) most of them only do car wheels and can not do bikes, so its a tyre place that can do bike wheels or a bike shop that can...the beer tokens have just increased! I'm for setting the fork height correctly too. BUT if the previous owner was a little vertically challenged, he may have lowered the back too? so this would cancel out the front being lowered., you should put both front and back to standard if this is the case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2 Wheels Posted March 2, 2011 Author Share Posted March 2, 2011 Cheers for the options lads,,,,,,,, i shall get checking her out. ill let ye know what the story is when i re-lift the forks back to the top and check the rest of what ye said. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2 Wheels Posted March 16, 2011 Author Share Posted March 16, 2011 Well, i have it sorted. Was off work today so tore into the bike. The alignment was off before i done any work on the bike so its hard to say if rake or trail played a part in the front wheel shake i had. Got the forks back up to where they should be at the top, then took to the long slow process of aligning everything back up,,,,,,,,,,,took bloody ages,,,,,,,mabey i was being fussy but thats the way i do things to make sure there done right ! The previous owner had done everything they could to get the bike as low as possible, back shock on the softest setting, front forks on second softest setting. The bike must have been hell to ride with the setup it had. Anyway i have it all sorted and set-up to my liking. The right bar was very slightly bent up but a bit of my body weight pushing steady on it seemed to put it back to its rightfull place. The alignment is now spot on and there is no front wheel shake or wobble or anything,,,,,,,,,,,,even when i let go the bars (must stop this bad habit) So I'm a happy boy the day again ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barkwindjammer Posted March 16, 2011 Share Posted March 16, 2011 Glad you got it figured Pat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barkwindjammer Posted March 16, 2011 Share Posted March 16, 2011 Oh, always meant to ask-is this Fazer in better nick than the Fazer you had your eye on- for your brother ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator Airhead Posted March 16, 2011 Moderator Share Posted March 16, 2011 ............So I'm a happy boy the day again ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2 Wheels Posted March 16, 2011 Author Share Posted March 16, 2011 Oh, always meant to ask-is this Fazer in better nick than the Fazer you had your eye on- for your brother ? to answer your question = i dont know,,,,,,,,,,,,,,i never actually got to view the other one ! The Fazer i have now is in great shape. Till i start to pile on the miles that is ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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