Front fender issues? Newbie needs some wise words

[djsubjective]

Just got my first bike, a 2013 Lifan LF250. Ive had fun getting used to motorcycles, but one thing has baffled me, when I get it up over 75km/hr it starts feeling quite twitchy in the front end (like im wiggling the bars). By the time you get over 80km/hr (which takes a long long straight) it feels very very twitchy in the front end.

I was thinking maybe its due to the thin front wheel, and the front guard that's as large as a sail.

I know i know, i probably shouldnt expect a LAMS 250cc to get me to the speed of sound, but I live rural and this bike is my daily ride to work so cruising at 80km/hr would have been more ideal than the reality so far of cruising at 70km/hr.

Thanks in advance for any info or ideas :-), and still not regretting ditching 4 wheels for 2

[Lelitu]

Tbh a 250 should be able to get up to around 100kph without too much trouble, unless there's something rather wrong with it, or the rider is just very large.
It's usually much in excess of 110kph that they start to struggle badly.

That being the case, it would be well worth getting someone that knows a bit about bikes to go over it with you.

[nzspokes]

If the guy was from West Auckland there was one with a dodgy front end. It should have no trouble at that speed. Get it to a mechanic.

[djsubjective]

yep, i think ill do that, get someone who knows cruisers to take it for a spin.

Cheers for the advice :-)

[djsubjective]

it was from gisbourne. the previous owner rode it from there to Rotorua to drop it off, and he said he almost got it up to 100km/hr on the way.

That being said, he was 6ft and lanky, im 6ft 3, and 100kg.

[Lelitu]

it was from gisbourne. the previous owner rode it from there to Rotorua to drop it off, and he said he almost got it up to 100km/hr on the way.

That being said, he was 6ft and lanky, im 6ft 3, and 100kg.

yeah.. that should be getting up to 100kph no troubles. it needs a doctor.

[caseye]

LF as in cruiser style"
If so they easily do 100-120 K's given a bit of room.
Sounds to me like you have a steering head Bearing problem. Get it to a proper bike mechanic and get them to check it, do not go past go CHECK it out asap.
Generally these are pretty damn good machines for the money and they are as reliable as all hell.

[tigertim20]

I saw your other thread as well.

my $0.02 is that even a shitty lifan shouldnt have trouble hitting 100km/hr.

check your tyre pressures, and have someone inspect the steering head bearings, as this it two things that could cause or contribute to the issues you explain. Both are easy, and relatively cheap fixes.

[AllanB]

Tyre pressures front and rear.

Inspect the front tyre - could be F...ed causing the bar weave. When worn weird shit can happen in the front especially if worn uneven.

[djsubjective]

The tyres are sweet, so ill take it in and get it checked out, ill be doing 50km daily trips in a cupla weeks so need it hummin.

Thanks for all the advice guys :niceone:

[motorlou]

Just got my first bike, a 2013 Lifan LF250. Ive had fun getting used to motorcycles, but one thing has baffled me, when I get it up over 75km/hr it starts feeling quite twitchy in the front end (like im wiggling the bars). By the time you get over 80km/hr (which takes a long long straight) it feels very very twitchy in the front end.

I was thinking maybe its due to the thin front wheel, and the front guard that's as large as a sail.

I know i know, i probably shouldnt expect a LAMS 250cc to get me to the speed of sound, but I live rural and this bike is my daily ride to work so cruising at 80km/hr would have been more ideal than the reality so far of cruising at 70km/hr.

Thanks in advance for any info or ideas :-), and still not regretting ditching 4 wheels for 2

the main things i would look for is the steering head bearings, the shocks, maybe they are wore out or dont have enough oil in them, tire kinda bald or unbalanced and possibly even wore out wheel bearings. check to see everything is tight such as the axle, axle caps, tripletrees ect. if you need some help hit me up, im in auckland

[djsubjective]

Thanks for the help everyone. So far ive jacked it up and had a look around the front end
The steering head bearings seem tight and the bars move freely
The tyres look mint
I have however discovered much about motorcycles so far by taking things apart, such as the brake pedal system. The lasat guy must have dropped it a few times as the foot brake pedal was bent up over the peg. since looking at other bikes i decided to take the brake pedal shaft out and have straightened it. Will see how i did today when i take it for a ride.

I thought that because it is a bike, there would be less problems to deal with, and that it would be harder for people to hide dodgy fix-ups, but i was wrong. It has given me the opportunity get to know the bike, but ill get the steering head bearings looked at today

[djsubjective]

Problem solved, well kind of. . . . . . . .

I was riding to tech the other day and i lost all throttle response, and she glided to the side of the highway. started again after a little wait, then it happened again, and again, until i called up a shop to come pick it up and have a look.

I was pretty shocked as a new rider to be told that 'we dont deal with any of that crap', and 'no bike shop with any respect would pick you up and fix your bike'. Wow, . . . . just . . . wow.

I wasnt too happy being stuck on the side of the road, so I tried another shop, the honda shop on fairysprings road. They came out lickitty split, picked it up and took it back to fix it up. Turns out the emissions solenoids were playing up so out they went, and they fixed a cupla other dodgy things on it too.

They had a look at the steering, and said its just one of those things, big guy, carrying gear bag, small motor . . . . . and ive had a few charges around on it and come to realise that it would shake itself to bits if i went over 100kph, it just likes to cruise at 80km, so thats how ill be riding it.

[nzspokes]

I was pretty shocked as a new rider to be told that 'we dont deal with any of that crap', and 'no bike shop with any respect would pick you up and fix your bike'. Wow, . . . . just . . . wow.


Guess you just found out why. Any 250 holds 100kph with ease. In fact if your bike has a design fault that stops it doing so it is not legal to be on the road. Thats why its not legal to take 50cc scooters on the Motorway.

[Lelitu]

They had a look at the steering, and said its just one of those things, big guy, carrying gear bag, small motor . . . . . and ive had a few charges around on it and come to realise that it would shake itself to bits if i went over 100kph, it just likes to cruise at 80km, so thats how ill be riding it.

Time for a new bike shop.
They're wrong if they're saying not being able to make 100 isn't a problem.

I was pretty close to your size in my 250 days. Rode a Hyosung gt250. Not a cruiser, but a 250 is a 250. That didn't start running out of go until somewhat north of 100.
with a decent runup could make 120 for overtaking.

80Kph on the open road is dangerous unless the conditions are unsuitable for anything else. You're too slow and will piss off other drivers.
It's why the old 70kph limit for learners was removed some years back.

Basically, it's fucked and needs sorted.

[Old Steve]

Yeah, I did 24,000 km on a Hysoung GV250 - the cruiser 250, a 2005, the year before they started calling them 'Aquilla'. Top speed I got her to was 132 km/hr, downhill, with a following breeze. Cruised well at 100 km/hr. It did run out of puff if trying to pass on an uphill passing lane and the car being passed sped up to 100 km/hr as they do. But generally passing at 100 km/hr was accomplished by dropping back to get a bit of run up space, then coming on with as much of a rush as possible as the chance of passing arrived - timing was everything.

So your Lifan should be able to cruise at 100 km/hr and peak at something even slightly higher, find another bike shop to check out that speed wobble as you approach 80.