Ixion
22nd April 2006, 22:48
Took Poebe for a wee pootle today, just to blow the oil out of the zorsts. Comng back down Old North Rd, round a moderately sharpish corner and the ruddy corner moles threw up some honking great combination of bump and pothole right on my line (definately not there when I entered the corner - the moles burrow under the road and throw up bumps specifically designed to catch out motorcyclists) .
Anyway, Phoebe didn't like it at all. The front went crash-bang , the back went crash , and she leapt 3 feet in the air somersaulted twice and spun right round three times. Well, that's what it felt like anyway.
I didn't have time to take to much notice of the general effects, because of ONE effect in particular , namely the fact that once all the jumping around was complete, she came down about a foot from the centre line, and making a beeline across the road directly toward the SUV that had whizzed round the corner while all this was happening, going the opposite way. So I thought it prudent to devote my full attention to this rather interesting situation.
Having negotiated a mutally satisfactory modus vivendi (literally!) with the SUV (i.e., I twitching myself round (don't ask!) so I was heading vaguely away from him instead of straight at him, ,he whizzing on un-noticing) I tootled off down the hill . Murmuring a heartfelt thanks to Herne the Horny Humper .
But a mile or so later it occured to me that the road seemed to have become quite extraordinarily bumpy since the last time I rode over it.
Bumpy to the point that my teeth were getting sore!
Strange indeed. Oh well, I blame the heavy trucks , they rough up the road surface. Bastards.
But another mile or so, and I had to admit that the road could not be THAT bumpy. Something was wrong! And not only was it bumpy, but the bike was pogoing up and down on each bump.
Now earlier in the day , I had lost a footrest bolt, and then the footrest (disconcerting - went to bear down on the right peg and my foot went straight down). I went back and found the footpeg but not the bolt (yes, the Titan does vibrate a tad. Just a tad) . So, in the glorious tradition of Briddish twins, I scavenged a suitable bolt to replace it. The rear wheel adjuster bolt to be specific.
Ah, that would be the reason for the bumpiness . The rear wheel had gotten out of adjustment, because the wheel adjuster wasn't there. Which was causing the bumpiness. (Logic? Logic? Don't bother me with logic. Stands to reason - I swiped the chain adjuster, now the suspension is playing up. Obviously, one caused the other. Post hoc, ergo propter hoc. After all, every mechanic knows that if you replace the radiator cap in a car, and a week later the gearbox packs up, it was your repair to the radiator cap that caused the gearbox failure. Cos one happened after the other. )
So, I stopped and checked rear wheel alignment, and chain tension, to no avail. Then even removed the footrest and restored the wheel adjuster to its rightful place. Which made no difference at all. Then after a stop to replace the footrest again, nipping up onto a footpath to do it, and riding back over the kerb, I noticed that the front end came down with a decided bang.
So, I looked closely at the front forks for the first time in this saga (No, of COURSE I didn't look at then earlier, what have they to do with the wheel adjuster that is causing the problem?). Strange, I don't appear to have any fork staunchions. Where've the shiney slidey bits gone ?
The forks were jammed, totally jammed , on absolutely full compression. Rigid. Rigid as a very rigid thing. (No, not Helen Clark. I said Rigid not Frigid).
Uh, um, well that might, maybe explain the bumpiness. Of course the wheel adjuster probably had something to do with it too, y'know. But, in the meantime, unjamming the forks seemed like a Good Idea.
Except that nothing that I could do at the roadside would move them. I banged, and thumped, and wiggled , and waggled. To no avail. Rigid they were and rigid they intended to remain.
Nothing for it, but to continue on home with no front suspension. So I did.
Now, the strange thing is, the bike was actually quite rideable. On the straight it was bumpy, teeth chattering bumpy. But that was a matter of comfort only.
Smoothly sealed corners were fine (even better than usual I thought). Bumpy corners, were of course, uh, bumpy. The bike danced around a bit, but was still completely controllable. Interesting guessing game where it would be pointing after each bump, but nothing worse than many a gravel road. I guess ultimate road holding would have been a bit down , but I didn't feel it necessary to reduce speed from the normal Old North Rd pace .
Left me wondering just how necessary all the trick suspension stuff on modern bikes really is.
Front suspension, pah, an effete luxury. And I already know that a rigid rear end works fine. Interesting , but perfectly rideable. Suspension, who needs it.
(Once home, half an hour with that indispensable toolkit item the BLOODY BIG HAMMER, judiciously applied, some WD40 and a liberal application of ObsceneImprecation, and the forks finally went "boing" and reported for duty)
Never had that happen before. Interesting, but.
(Perhaps it was Phoebe getting her revenge for my clumsiness earlier in the day. When I missed the gear change from 3rd to 4th pushing hard uphill. Which made the tacho shoot completely off the scale, maybe 11-12 000 rpm, on an engine redlined at 7000. Tough old girl she is, though, it caused no detriment. Robust things, two strokes)
Anyway, Phoebe didn't like it at all. The front went crash-bang , the back went crash , and she leapt 3 feet in the air somersaulted twice and spun right round three times. Well, that's what it felt like anyway.
I didn't have time to take to much notice of the general effects, because of ONE effect in particular , namely the fact that once all the jumping around was complete, she came down about a foot from the centre line, and making a beeline across the road directly toward the SUV that had whizzed round the corner while all this was happening, going the opposite way. So I thought it prudent to devote my full attention to this rather interesting situation.
Having negotiated a mutally satisfactory modus vivendi (literally!) with the SUV (i.e., I twitching myself round (don't ask!) so I was heading vaguely away from him instead of straight at him, ,he whizzing on un-noticing) I tootled off down the hill . Murmuring a heartfelt thanks to Herne the Horny Humper .
But a mile or so later it occured to me that the road seemed to have become quite extraordinarily bumpy since the last time I rode over it.
Bumpy to the point that my teeth were getting sore!
Strange indeed. Oh well, I blame the heavy trucks , they rough up the road surface. Bastards.
But another mile or so, and I had to admit that the road could not be THAT bumpy. Something was wrong! And not only was it bumpy, but the bike was pogoing up and down on each bump.
Now earlier in the day , I had lost a footrest bolt, and then the footrest (disconcerting - went to bear down on the right peg and my foot went straight down). I went back and found the footpeg but not the bolt (yes, the Titan does vibrate a tad. Just a tad) . So, in the glorious tradition of Briddish twins, I scavenged a suitable bolt to replace it. The rear wheel adjuster bolt to be specific.
Ah, that would be the reason for the bumpiness . The rear wheel had gotten out of adjustment, because the wheel adjuster wasn't there. Which was causing the bumpiness. (Logic? Logic? Don't bother me with logic. Stands to reason - I swiped the chain adjuster, now the suspension is playing up. Obviously, one caused the other. Post hoc, ergo propter hoc. After all, every mechanic knows that if you replace the radiator cap in a car, and a week later the gearbox packs up, it was your repair to the radiator cap that caused the gearbox failure. Cos one happened after the other. )
So, I stopped and checked rear wheel alignment, and chain tension, to no avail. Then even removed the footrest and restored the wheel adjuster to its rightful place. Which made no difference at all. Then after a stop to replace the footrest again, nipping up onto a footpath to do it, and riding back over the kerb, I noticed that the front end came down with a decided bang.
So, I looked closely at the front forks for the first time in this saga (No, of COURSE I didn't look at then earlier, what have they to do with the wheel adjuster that is causing the problem?). Strange, I don't appear to have any fork staunchions. Where've the shiney slidey bits gone ?
The forks were jammed, totally jammed , on absolutely full compression. Rigid. Rigid as a very rigid thing. (No, not Helen Clark. I said Rigid not Frigid).
Uh, um, well that might, maybe explain the bumpiness. Of course the wheel adjuster probably had something to do with it too, y'know. But, in the meantime, unjamming the forks seemed like a Good Idea.
Except that nothing that I could do at the roadside would move them. I banged, and thumped, and wiggled , and waggled. To no avail. Rigid they were and rigid they intended to remain.
Nothing for it, but to continue on home with no front suspension. So I did.
Now, the strange thing is, the bike was actually quite rideable. On the straight it was bumpy, teeth chattering bumpy. But that was a matter of comfort only.
Smoothly sealed corners were fine (even better than usual I thought). Bumpy corners, were of course, uh, bumpy. The bike danced around a bit, but was still completely controllable. Interesting guessing game where it would be pointing after each bump, but nothing worse than many a gravel road. I guess ultimate road holding would have been a bit down , but I didn't feel it necessary to reduce speed from the normal Old North Rd pace .
Left me wondering just how necessary all the trick suspension stuff on modern bikes really is.
Front suspension, pah, an effete luxury. And I already know that a rigid rear end works fine. Interesting , but perfectly rideable. Suspension, who needs it.
(Once home, half an hour with that indispensable toolkit item the BLOODY BIG HAMMER, judiciously applied, some WD40 and a liberal application of ObsceneImprecation, and the forks finally went "boing" and reported for duty)
Never had that happen before. Interesting, but.
(Perhaps it was Phoebe getting her revenge for my clumsiness earlier in the day. When I missed the gear change from 3rd to 4th pushing hard uphill. Which made the tacho shoot completely off the scale, maybe 11-12 000 rpm, on an engine redlined at 7000. Tough old girl she is, though, it caused no detriment. Robust things, two strokes)