Major? suspension problem with SV

[jbnwc]

My buddy was sitting on my wife's sv1000 yesterday and I noticed the front forks weren't moving. Sure enough, they don't want to compress or rebound. I can compress them a couple of inches, get off the bike and watch the forks rebound slowly for the next 10 seconds. -not good.

I'm sure it has something to do with me sliding the forks down a couple of weeks ago so that I could replace her front headlight brackets. I'm guessing I jacked up something in the process, but I wanted to get input from all of you so I have some sort of educated guess as to the problem before I take it apart.

What do you think might be the happening?

[rybo]

My guess is that when you put the forks back to their height you got them crooked in the triple clamps, causing the binding.

Try this. Put the bike on a front stand that takes all the weight off the front wheel. Remove the front wheel and test each fork leg independently. If they both work well, then carefully measure the height above the top triple clamp for each leg. Set them to the exact same height and torque the clamps to spec. Then re-install the front wheel, take the bike off the stand and test.

I'm guessing it will work just great!

Best to you!

Scott

[jbnwc]

I'll admit, I eyeballed it when I reset the fork height. How much can they be off before they start to bind? They can't be off from each other by more the 1mm right now.

[rybo]

Well, that doesn't seem like enough, but I'd still do the exercise. Seeing if each fork leg moves freely on it's own will be valuable information. Also it's possible to introduce some "twist" to the system with the triple clamp bolts loose, so you may be able to take that factor out of the equation.

[rybo]

another thought....the small screws on the top of the fork are the rebound damping adjuster. Is there any chance that these got turned all the way in during the process? I don't think you can dial in enough rebound damping to cause the condition you're describing, but it would be something to look at

s

[jbnwc]

I did adjust the top screws to make sure they were both the same, but there is no factory setting on earth with rebound(or compression) this slow. Would turning the top half of the (regular) forks affect anything? They were a bugger to get back into the upper triple clamp, so I had to use a lot of elbow grease to get them in there.

[dragos13]

Sounds like something is out of alignment. The forks should slide back into the triple with ease, not elbow grease lol.

At this point, I would suggest to pull the forks completely out. Make sure the forks have normal conpression and rebound while off the bike. Verify that the upper and lower triple line up. Make sure the inside of the triple clamps are smooth, no grease buildup, etc. Make sure all brake and clutch cables are out of the way, and routing correctly. Get both forks in and again check compression and rebound of each fork before putting the wheel on. Check alignment of forks in comparison to each other to make sure the aren't twisted in the triple. If you are good up to this point, then install the wheel and check again.

[dragos13]

I did adjust the top screws to make sure they were both the same, but there is no factory setting on earth with rebound(or compression) this slow. Would turning the top half of the (regular) forks affect anything? They were a bugger to get back into the upper triple clamp, so I had to use a lot of elbow grease to get them in there.

The top screw is going to be your rebound. The larger (14mm I believe) will be your pre-load. Spinning the chrome tube will have no affect on anything. You can try and remove all compression and see if that helps at all. If not, it is most likely something binding them up.

[BigE]

Jason,
Either give Mikey a ring or if you want I can probably come down this weekend and help with it. Call me later.

E

[rybo]

Casey,

Quick correction: The large screw (14mm) is preload. Compression is a straight blade screw near the bottom of the forks.

I think we're on the right track with an alignment issue, and agree with that the forks should slide easily in the clamps. Start with some disassembly, loosen everything and test the legs independently.

If they move slowly on their own, it's a whole different set of issues and solutions.

scott

[BigE]

Casey,

Quick correction: The large screw (14mm) is preload. Compression is a straight blade screw near the bottom of the forks.

I think we're on the right track with an alignment issue, and agree with that the forks should slide easily in the clamps. Start with some disassembly, loosen everything and test the legs independently.

If they move slowly on their own, it's a whole different set of issues and solutions.

scott

+1

[dragos13]

Casey,

Quick correction: The large screw (14mm) is preload. Compression is a straight blade screw near the bottom of the forks.

I think we're on the right track with an alignment issue, and agree with that the forks should slide easily in the clamps. Start with some disassembly, loosen everything and test the legs independently.

If they move slowly on their own, it's a whole different set of issues and solutions.

scott

Thanks Scott, I got typing faster then I was thinking.

For sure just start to tear stuff apart. The fact that this happened after you made some changes makes it lean towards something probably simple. You may just be over looking it.

[DevilDuc]

Provided that there is no crash damage to the upper or lower triple tree, or steering head bearing stem, try the following:

Loosen the pinch bolts for the axle @ the bottom of the forks, loosen the axle nut\bolt, and the re-tighten it to just "snug. Load\bounce the front forks with the front wheel on the ground, and then re-torque the lower axle nut and pinch bolts for the forks to the proper torque specs.

I have seen this in rare occasion ... the misalignment of the lower fork legs can cause the fork sliders to bind. Performing the above procedure will allow the lwoer fork legs to sort of "self-align" themselves and it should take care of your issue.

[jbnwc]

Fixed!! I loosened all of the triple clamp bolts and axle bolts, made sure the forks were exactly the same height, carefully tightened it all back up and it all works much better now! Something must have been tweaked. Thanks all!

[pilot]

Good learning lesson for all.