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Bike hits hard when going over potholes/bumps


thanetman
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Hi all;  Got a FJ1200 and whenever I go over a manhole cover that's dropped an inch or over a pothole (of which there are plenty round here) the front wheel bites right down and it feels like the rim on the front wheel is hitting the road and the whole front of the bike crashes down quite hard with a loud bang/clang, even with the tyre at right pressure. Someone else took my bike for a spin and he reckoned it was steering head bearings that needed doing. Does that sound right or is it something else? There's no wobble from the steering when going round corners etc.

Timbo

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>the whole front of the bike crashes down quite hard with a loud bang/clang
Jack front of bike up, check fork oil and springs.
Jack front of bike up, check fork integrity.
Also look into the preload settings.

>he reckoned it was steering head bearings that needed doing.
Jack front of bike up, check steering. Any notched points would indicate headstock bearings.

Most of this requires getting the front wheel up, in fact.
The goos news is that it's relatively easy to get the front fairing off and work on this stuff.

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5 hours ago, Ttaskmaster said:

>the whole front of the bike crashes down quite hard with a loud bang/clang
Jack front of bike up, check fork oil and springs.
Jack front of bike up, check fork integrity.
Also look into the preload settings.

>he reckoned it was steering head bearings that needed doing.
Jack front of bike up, check steering. Any notched points would indicate headstock bearings.

Most of this requires getting the front wheel up, in fact.
The goos news is that it's relatively easy to get the front fairing off and work on this stuff.

Cheers Ttaskmaster - something to keep me busy on Thursday :)

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  • 1 month later...

Problem solved - there's a guy breaking a FJ1200 and he bought hyperpro springs for it, heavier fork oil, new seals, headstock bearings and mudguard but never fitted them as he got another bike instead so he'll fit the lot to the forks and yoke off the bike he's breaking then I'll ride up and swap them over with mine, job done :).

Now here's a question which is probably a bit thick - if you want to make a fast acceleration from standing still i.e. turning onto a dual carriageway from a junction what's the highest revs you can use in 1st gear without the bike chucking you off or doing a wheelie when you let the clutch off as after 1500 miles I haven't quite worked it out yet and my 0-60 times are probably still about 7 seconds.

Timbo

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Take it up to about 40mph then change there's no need to rev it's nuts off and a gear change at that speed will get you where you want to go without the risk of being hit from behind, it will do 70 mph in first but ask yourself do you really want to? It's an old bike so treating it like it has an everlasting supply of revs WILL bite you in the arse.

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That'll do fine, just down here there's a junction onto a dual carriageway just past a blind bend so you need to pull away quick incase a truck comes round that bend at speed 

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On 29/10/2016 at 1:25 PM, thanetman said:

Now here's a question which is probably a bit thick - if you want to make a fast acceleration from standing still i.e. turning onto a dual carriageway from a junction what's the highest revs you can use in 1st gear without the bike chucking you off or doing a wheelie when you let the clutch off as after 1500 miles I haven't quite worked it out yet and my 0-60 times are probably still about 7 seconds.

It's actually quite hard to flip this bike, as it's so heavy. But as others have said, learn to pull away smoothly. You shouldn't ever need to rev up and dump the clutch.
You're a biker, not Tom Cruise and this is an FJ1200 road motorcycle, not an F-14 fighter jet Cat-Launching off an aircraft carrier!!

As you start letting the clutch out, roll on the revs - Don't jerk the throttle or dump the clutch. Rev up to maybe 3500rpm and shift up. Smooth controls will get you going far faster and far safer than pretending you'e Maverick & Goose!
I get up to 60 in about 4½, maybe 5 seconds on average, with a clutchless shift in between. You don't need to blast off to be fast and if you get it wrong that is one massively heavy bitch to try and wrestle with...


 

 

 

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