Strange Handling

foxbass

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I'm broadly in agreement with most of the above. The forks being slightly tweeked may have a noticeable effect. This would very likely happen in a low speed drop, its happened to me. Resetting is quite easy.
My concern is slightly left field of all the above discusson tho.

My experience with 3 used Fazer FZ6's has been thus:

My first one (05) rode straight and true with hands off the bars at any speed. Until I dropped it moving off with the disc lock on. No damage to disc but I did wonder what it'd done to the forks as from then on it pulled gently left if I let go the bars. Otherwise no discernible handling issues while riding.

My second (08) came to me pristine but private sale. I really looked after it but it always drifted gently left, hands off. This despite some very meticulous checking of back wheel and fork twist. Oh and new tires.

My present model (08) came from dealership, low miles but still pulls gently left even after same checks and new tires (Michelin Pilot 3's).

I have checked things like, am I sitting dead central on the saddle? Is there fork twist? (Not sure here as I've not checked) Rear wheel alignment? (perfect)

I have also laid this one down at a junction when I put a foot down into a pothole with her on back, lost balance and we went down like a tree. Didn't make anything worse. All 3 had crash bungs too and suffered no visible damage.

I'm going to play devil's advocate here and suggest that maybe we both very slightly bent the frame. Just enough to affect the tracking. My guess is that most used bikes have had similar events before they come to us.

Can any members who've owned from new support this? Maybe they rode straight when new but drift since a drop - or not?

That is unless somebody can tell me that its down to the road camber? Of course for you US guys, the drift would be to the right being on the other side of the road to us Limeys.
 

jsalman93

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Super helpful, I'm gonna check the chain and get right back to you. That would also explain the chain noise too.
I'm going to check the front and rear sag for the bike, are there any instructions in the service manual on how to set the sag for the front end of the bike?
Since resetting the forks is free and seems to be pretty easy to do, can anyone explain how to do this?

Sorry for all of the questions. I really appreciate everyone's help and feel like I'm getting a much better understanding about something that I was completely in the dark about.
 

RJ2112

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Super helpful, I'm gonna check the chain and get right back to you. That would also explain the chain noise too.
I'm going to check the front and rear sag for the bike, are there any instructions in the service manual on how to set the sag for the front end of the bike?
Since resetting the forks is free and seems to be pretty easy to do, can anyone explain how to do this?

Sorry for all of the questions. I really appreciate everyone's help and feel like I'm getting a much better understanding about something that I was completely in the dark about.

To align the fork tubes, you need the correct allen wrench to loosen the upper triple tree clamps on the fork tubes, and the right sized sockets to loosen the fender, axle clamp bolt, and to loosen the front axle itself.

Once you have loosened all pinch points EXCEPT the lower triple clamp, sit on the bike, grab the front brakes, and repeatedly pump the front suspension as far through the stroke as you can. Half a dozen times is probably the minimum.

When you have done this, the tubes will have shifted into alignment. Tighten everything back up and take it for a spin.

If the tubes are in fact twisted, they will bind up and will not slide easily. The misalignment will cause tracking issues, the binding will make it ride funny. The front will feel 'greasy'. Very simple fix.

Look at the fork tubes carefully, and verify that there is not any sludge building up at the upper end of the fork's stroke -- that would indicate a leaking seal.
 

jsalman93

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So i finally had a day off of work and school and managed to pick up a front axle tool from motion pro and give the fork alignment a try, and holy crap, what a difference. It still tracks a bit to the left, but the change is night and day. I'm probably gonna try to do it again, since at harder lean angles it still feels a bit greasy, but then again I only did the top clamp but i've heard that it's better to undo the bottom clamp instead and align the forks from the top down, or do the both of them with the front end supported. Any opinions? Anyway, I was able to go riding through mullholland the bike felt so much better. It's like I got my old bike back. Thanks again everyone for the help

PS: Still getting a new chain, unless any of you know how to bring some life back into an old chain (like bathing the chain in something to help with tight spots or whatever causes chain noise). My sprockets aren't that bad, but I think the PO didn't know what chain lube was.
 

Randomchaos

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Tweaked forks in the triples is a common occurance after a drop. Always look at them first thing if the bike is drifting one direction after a drop. Unless the rear has impacted something, more than likely it wont become misaligned after a drop, and if it does, more than likely something is bent bad. As for the chain, its a wear item. If you feel it needs to be replaced, go for it! Better to have piece of mind rather than questioning it. While you are at it, check your sprockets for wear.
 

jsalman93

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The thing is, my sprockets look perfect. I typically think that they should wear together. Nonetheless ill just go ahead and change the chain. Is it normal to have to realign the front forks a few times to get it dead on? While it's immensely improved, there is still a very slight pull.

Keep in mind I didn't do it the way that a lot of people suggested (undoing everything except upper triple clamps and pumping the suspension, aligning it from the top down). I did it through undoing everything but the lower clamps (didn't have a big enough hex tool for the bottom. Any thought? I also wasn't extremely thorough with it as far as pumping the suspension goes.
 

RJ2112

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The thing is, my sprockets look perfect. I typically think that they should wear together. Nonetheless ill just go ahead and change the chain. Is it normal to have to realign the front forks a few times to get it dead on? While it's immensely improved, there is still a very slight pull.

Keep in mind I didn't do it the way that a lot of people suggested (undoing everything except upper triple clamps and pumping the suspension, aligning it from the top down). I did it through undoing everything but the lower clamps (didn't have a big enough hex tool for the bottom. Any thought? I also wasn't extremely thorough with it as far as pumping the suspension goes.

You need to loosen the axle, as well. If you have a spark plug socket with a hex head, it's probably the right size if you reverse it and stick an extension in from the side a spark plug would normally go in.
 

RJ2112

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I loosened the axle as well, but i also pulled it out a bit. Is that alright?

As long as there is some free play in the axle, so it cannot keep any twist (on the fork legs) you'll be fine. Grab a big fist full of front brakes and really romp on the front suspension. you're doing it right, if you can get the front wheel to skid a little when you bang the front all the way down. Make sure you have the fender attachments loose, as well.
 

jsalman93

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Hey, haven't been on in a while, but I just thought that I should get back on and thank all of you guys for the great info. I reset the forks successfully and noticed a big difference in the weird handling issues. After having some time to save up and order parts, I changed my front and rear sprocket as well as my chain. I knew that they were both bad and hadn't been taken care of by the previous owner, as they were making noise.

New chain and sprockets (and clutch cable, but that's a story for another day :) ) and the bike handles great and doesn't pull at all. The chain and sprockets were definitely due to be replaced though, when taking them off I saw that the front sprocket was completely shot. I'll post a picture later for your observations. Even though I lubed the chain and tried to keep it in alignment, the previous owner's lack of chain maintenance ended it's life pretty early.

Thanks again, everyone :)
 

tosh23

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this will help...
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSunBRB6-r8]Delboy's Garage, 'How-To' Re-align motorcycle forks the easy way. - YouTube[/ame]
 
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