Mtbjay
In love with two-wheeled machines
I've recently returned from a thousand mile tour of SO Oregon/NORCAL and discovered a new quirk in my bike. Anytime I'd coast down from 35-50mph -hands-off the bars- the bike's front end would wobble back & forth slightly while decelerating. Accelerating it goes away. Hold the bars, it's barely noticeable. I want my stability back! What's going on?
I suspected it might be a loose head bearing, wheel bearing, or a weight bias issue. However, I can't feel any looseness in the head bearing nor the front wheel bearing when I check it on the center-stand (by yanking it back & forth). I may not be checking this correctly or thoroughly enough, but I'm confident enough that if any play exists, it's very minimal.
My suspension settings: I adjusted the forks & rear shock roughly 30% softer than what I normally run (for off-road comfort/traction). The settings were close enough to what I typically run that it seems illogical that it's the issue though, admittedly, I didn't firm things up while loaded to see if that helped. ::010:: I suppose running with less preload, the weight bias could have been shifted rearward just enough to allow the front end to wander. Seems plausible, but unlikely, as I don't think I was far off from my usual settings.
I have no sag measurements to go by, just approximations. Instead, I've used the stock recommendations as a baseline and altered the settings from there - always stiffer, with more preload and compression damping, minimizing fork dive. I'm 180lbs, and my gear & boxes maybe 70-80lbs total, so stock suspension works for me.
Tires are my second set of Continental TK70's with approximately 2,500-3,000 miles on them.
What should I try next? Things to examine? My only thought is to increase the rear shock preload back to a firmer setting in an attempt to shift some weight forward, next time I'm loaded and touring...
I suspected it might be a loose head bearing, wheel bearing, or a weight bias issue. However, I can't feel any looseness in the head bearing nor the front wheel bearing when I check it on the center-stand (by yanking it back & forth). I may not be checking this correctly or thoroughly enough, but I'm confident enough that if any play exists, it's very minimal.
My suspension settings: I adjusted the forks & rear shock roughly 30% softer than what I normally run (for off-road comfort/traction). The settings were close enough to what I typically run that it seems illogical that it's the issue though, admittedly, I didn't firm things up while loaded to see if that helped. ::010:: I suppose running with less preload, the weight bias could have been shifted rearward just enough to allow the front end to wander. Seems plausible, but unlikely, as I don't think I was far off from my usual settings.
I have no sag measurements to go by, just approximations. Instead, I've used the stock recommendations as a baseline and altered the settings from there - always stiffer, with more preload and compression damping, minimizing fork dive. I'm 180lbs, and my gear & boxes maybe 70-80lbs total, so stock suspension works for me.
Tires are my second set of Continental TK70's with approximately 2,500-3,000 miles on them.
What should I try next? Things to examine? My only thought is to increase the rear shock preload back to a firmer setting in an attempt to shift some weight forward, next time I'm loaded and touring...
