I'm soft... well my suspension is

[NOMIS]

Hey guys,

Just wondering if any one can help me here ... Ive noticed recently that since I got my bike back, under braking it nose dives alot . can this be something like fork seals , wear and tear?? any advice would be good.

Ive noticed it more at motorway speeds, I have new bars that make me sit foward a bit more so maybe because of more weight foward.? But even just pressing down it seems way to soft. And I can also see wear it compresses to marked on the fork and looks like its compressing alot more than usual. There is no oil leaking or anything that I can see. Another thing at 80km + when I brake there seems to be a graunching feeling coming through the handle bars Ive never noticed ,

Im good at diagnosing car troubles but i was never a motorbike mechanic, any help would be good.

Thanks

[NOMIS]

also it was in a lowside but nothing hit

[racefactory]

isnt it supposed to ''nose dive'' to put weight on the front wheel to give grip for braking? At least every single bike i can think of does this...

[Mom]

isnt it supposed to ''nose dive'' to put weight on the front wheel to give grip for braking? At least every single bike i can think of does this...

The effect of hard use of front brakes will make the nose of your bike go down. Going down, is far and away different from a nose dive! Going down is a usually pleasant thing to experience, nose diving however is not nice, nor is it good.

I would suspect that your bike has always had a bit of a hard dip under heavy front brakes, and the fact you have changed the bars to a more front end aware position will make you notice more front end dip

Get it checked is my advice.

[HDTboy]

If your bike has similar forks to the CBR250, they're terrible stock. Soft spring rate, no low velocity damping (wallowy), and excess high velocity damping (sharp shocks over bumps).
If you like, I can measure the sag for you, and check the fork oil height (which affects the front spring rate).
Robert Taylor can supply new fork springs to suit, and even change the damping characteristics for much more comfort and control.
PM me if you'd like me to look at it for you.

[NOMIS]

If your bike has similar forks to the CBR250, they're terrible stock. Soft spring rate, no low velocity damping (wallowy), and excess high velocity damping (sharp shocks over bumps).
If you like, I can measure the sag for you, and check the fork oil height (which affects the front spring rate).
Robert Taylor can supply new fork springs to suit, and even change the damping characteristics for much more comfort and control.
PM me if you'd like me to look at it for you.

PM sent, thanks mate.

I mean I may not have noticed how bad it is , but i can push them down a hell of a long way just sitting on it, and you can see the markings on the forks them selves where it usually springs to and it goes a bit past that. im talking by about a inch and a half ..

Thanks guys. I understand the bike loading up under braking but the way its happenign at the moment especially at higher speed cant be right, I am a parnoid perfectionist how ever

[no-coast-punk]

Typically the rebound circuits in a damper are the first to fail. This is due to a far greater loading being placed on the rebound valves than the compression valves.

The damper cartridge itself is probably in good order by the sounds of it. If there were issues in the rebound valving, the fork would be reluctant to return to its original position when you bounced the suspension.

On the smaller bikes especially, rider position has a HUGE impact on the dynamics of the thing. Think about how little body motion it takes to make the bike turn with no bar inputs.

HDTboy is correct. You need to have sag measured to verify that the springs are appropriate for the way your body is loading the bike. A small shift in rider position can significantly change fork loading.

Most OEM forks especially on lower end bikes are terrible. Getting good damping on high spring rates involves some pretty complicated (expensive) techniques. Instead the OEM's opt for a very soft set of springs that can be controlled with a shit damper cartridge.

At the end of the day there is probably nothing "wrong" with your bike. The new bars probably just exposed a glaring design flaw that has gone un-noticed up until this point. Having the forks re-sprung/valved should be the next item you budget. Should make a world of difference.

[no-coast-punk]

*double post*

Forum seemed to be having database issues last night and it made a double post.

Can one of the mod's delete this one.

[NOMIS]

Typically the rebound circuits in a damper are the first to fail. This is due to a far greater loading being placed on the rebound valves than the compression valves.

The damper cartridge itself is probably in good order by the sounds of it. If there were issues in the rebound valving, the fork would be reluctant to return to its original position when you bounced the suspension.

On the smaller bikes especially, rider position has a HUGE impact on the dynamics of the thing. Think about how little body motion it takes to make the bike turn with no bar inputs.

HDTboy is correct. You need to have sag measured to verify that the springs are appropriate for the way your body is loading the bike. A small shift in rider position can significantly change fork loading.

Most OEM forks especially on lower end bikes are terrible. Getting good damping on high spring rates involves some pretty complicated (expensive) techniques. Instead the OEM's opt for a very soft set of springs that can be controlled with a shit damper cartridge.

At the end of the day there is probably nothing "wrong" with your bike. The new bars probably just exposed a glaring design flaw that has gone un-noticed up until this point. Having the forks re-sprung/valved should be the next item you budget. Should make a world of difference.

Thanks alot mate makes a whole load of sens I hadnt noticed it previously with these bars but havnt ridden in a month so I am noticing alot now.. thanks for all the help