Sticky front shocks?

[EroSamnin]

Hello, the other day on a longish ride I stopped for a rest. As I was taking off again I went round a few corners at pretty slow speed and noticed my Yellow Hyofun GT250 felt strange. At first I thought my front tyre or handle bars were loose (felt how I imagine that would feel). I stopped and checked them and they were all tight as they should be. So I set off again and threw my pack round a bit on my back to see if that was causing it (the weight swinging left to right making the bike unstable?). That wasn't the reason so I concluded it must be front tyre pressure. I checked the tyres and they are fine. So this leads me to believe its the front shocks doing something abnormal. I notice it when at slower speeds while doing slight to moderate cornering. Feels like the shock is sticking at some point so the steering feels all weird and unbalanced.

When I stop and push on the front (so it goes up and down), it doesn't seem to move upward freely, kind of shudders a bit then stops.

The mech at the shop went on about rain, wind, my pack, shocks wearing in properly between 4000-7000km, even having my screen on it etc which is all a load of bollocks as I have been through rain, wind and wearing a pack for 6000km on the yellow beast and haven't noticed anything like this (unless riding over painted lines on the road in the rain). As for the wearing in thing..... if shocks start to feel WORSE as they "wear in" I think something hes bullshitting lol. The "the screen will make the bike feel different" thing was also a lol moment. It's been on there for around 4000kms, and I didn't notice anything in that whole time.

I stuck a bit of lube on the shiny sliding bit where the oil seals are but that didn't help free things up.

Have any of you experienced anything like this in your travels? Would greatly appreciate any ACTUAL input that doesn't include "get a CBR" or "get a ZXR" etc. lol.

Churs

[Crisis management]

You've done a good job of analysing the problem, thats unusual here, congrats!!

The mechanic you mentioned, has he examined the bike and found nothing wrong or have you just discussed it with him. If you trust him and he's said its ok then it may be your imagination (I don't mean that in any disparaging way, it does happen). You could get a second opinion from another mechanic.

If you are correct and the forks are sticking or shuddering at low speeds then presumably either some dirt has got into the system and is blocking the rebound damper orifice or there is a malfunction with the rebound damper. Solution is usually strip the forks, check the valving, clean everything and reassemble with fresh oil.

Either way, it sounds like a job for the bike shop unless you are competent with tools. Good luck!

[EroSamnin]

Cheers Crisis! Thanks for the quick reply! (want to sort it before riding to auks on the weekend)

I don't really know the mechanic at all but hes at the shop where I bought my funmachine so I guess I have to have some sort of false trust.

The mech and the other bike shop guy both took it for a short ride up and down the street and thought it was fine. After they checked the tyres etc, I took it round the huge roundabout near work at about 40kms and it was still happening. Feels like loosing my balance or something. Like an unknown forse (possibly God) pushing my handlebars just a bit and catching me off guard when I'm set up at a sweet pace. Could well be me, but since it's reproducible I'm reasonably sure it's not me.

I think your ideas on servicing the forks might be the go. It's a new bike with 6000kms on it so it may have a bit of "new bike" crap in the forks still that is working its way around.

I'm reasonably competent at being a tool but it's still under warrantee so I cant go pulling it apart yet

[WRT]

Also, have you checked the front wheel bearings for play?

And dont rule out a problem on the rear end, problems on the rear can often appear to come from front as you recieve the feedback through the handlebars. Check the rear pressure, bearings, and suspension as well as the front.

[slimjim]

note,, that you are not saying who the shop mac is, mate, trust your feelings and go somewhere else , sooner than later, as it does sound like internal front shock problem, and you could end up in a heap of trouble,(accident wise) due to failer without you knowing,doesn't matter how many kms bike has done either,

[EroSamnin]

Thanks guys, have more light on the subject now! It's booked in for the "6000km" service for the warrentee thing on Tuesday. I will get them to service the forks at the same time as this seems to be the most likely problem (feels sticky when put weight on front etc and I imagine this would cause interesting effects).

I remember back to when I had my DT175 farm hack. Its shocks were seized up a bit (had to ride into pot holes to get them to work haha) and it sort of feels similar in the way the bike unpredictably moves when going over small bumps etc. even when going straight.

The guys at the shop did a few things to check the bearings (not taking them out and checking them though) and they seemed to be fine and the rear shock is smoooooth as.

I most likely will go to auks tomorrow on it as its only a slight problem when going slow. When riding hard the shocks work as normal as there is more force on them I suppose.

[WINJA]

It Might Just Be Preasuised Air In The Top Of The Fork , Before Anything Else Just Take The Top Caps Off, Dont Forget To Loosen The Top Triple Clamp Before Attempting To Take Caps Out, I Think The Correct Term For Your Problem Is "stiction"

[FROSTY:Me]

ot5 being disparaging to your bike but the front end does have a reputation for being wooden in feel and for low component quality
I would request that the front end be stripped down and rebuilt with fresh oil and check ALL the front end bearings . Basicly do the process of elimination thing.
The other thing I would strongly recomend trying is loosening off the BOTTOM triple clamp bolts. Give theme a very light coat of grease and then retorque them to the factory recomended pressure.

[EroSamnin]

Hello again guys! I made it to auks piece of piss. On Friday I talked again to the mech guy regarding it and they are going to service the shocks when it gets its 6000km service.

I agree with you Frosty on the wooden feelingness, but up until now it has been quite good. The brakes how ever are wooden to hell and back and I have to use the back break every time I brake or it doesn't stop at all. Needs the second front disc and better pads from new I reckon.

A new bike for 6K, I don't mind too much if I have a few small hicups along the way. It's a bit rough round the edges but it gets me on the road and learning some skills with no dark cloud of "omg this bike is 14 years old and has 40k on the clock for the same price!" hanging over my head lol.

Thanks for the great input guys! Those things would have never entered my mind otherwise.

[sunhuntin]

even though youve essentially got it sorted, i want to throw in my 2c here...for the first 2 services of my bike, i went back to where i got it from. [warrenty as well was my reason] but after repeated bad service, i took todays bike service elsewhere...for under half the cost the dealer charged, and a much more professional approach.

go with your gut...if you feel the place you bought from is shafting you, go elsewhere.

[EroSamnin]

Well got my bike servied on Tuesday and the mech guy took it for a burn. He feels the rear shock has given out as its quite bouncy. I thought the bouncyness was just my poor setting up for the corner so have to keep adjusting a tad during the corner. Apparently It's not supposed to bounce around. They are doing a warrentee claim thing on the rear shock and will replace it when it comes in. It's possible this may be causing the bike to feel all strange while going at slow speed too... Guess we will find out after they replace the shock.