speed wobbles

Energy One

francoblay1

The Spaniard
I see it's an old thread, however after reading through it all I have never heard of fall-away. What is that?
Five Five, post: 239004, member: 2754"]Googled it..came up with the procedure....
***HANDSHAKE***
Thanks for the replies

How To - Checking and Adjusting "Fall Away"

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For those new or who don't know, "fall away" is the distance your front end will pivot side to side before falling away by itself. It is tricky to understand until the front end of the bike is off the ground.

I decided that I can do this myself, so I did. I followed the service manual and I took photos of each step. What follows is a tutorial that anyone with some mechanical skill should be able to do themselves using ordinary tools and household objects.

First, remove the airbox cover. Jack up the bike until the front tire is suspended in the air and make sure the bike is level. *Make sure to strap the bike to the jack*

Remove all accessories (windshields, etc...) that may interfere with the way the front end swings. Make sure the front end swings easily and the cables/wiring are not binding or interfering.

Loosen the top triple tree pinch bolts, but do not remove them. (see pic 1)

Place a piece of tape on the front edge of the front fender to protect the paint. Then tape a ruler or long stick (that's what I had, so I used it) to the front edge of the front fender perpendicular to the plane of the wheel. Tape it well enough that it doesn't move when the front end is moved side-to-side.(see pics 2 & 3)

Center the front end from the driver's perspective. Place a stationary pointer in front of the front wheel so that it lines up with the center of the front wheel. (see pic 4) I used a chair and a screwdriver and some tape to do this. Make sure that when the front end is swung side-to-side that the stick on the fender doesn't hit or move the pointer (screwdriver)

To check the fallaway spec, while watching the pointer, tap on one side of the wheel gently until the front end flops to full lock. Make a mark on the stick with a Sharpie at the point where the front end fell away under its own power. You'll see what I'm talking about when you actually do it. Then do the other side. (see pics 5 & 6)

Measure the distance between the two marks (see pic 7). The fall away spec is between 5" and 7". (Note: in the pic, my fall away is 5 1/2", so it's within spec) For the metric follks, spec is 127-178 mm. If your bike is within spec, then you are finished. Easy enough. Just make sure to re-tighten the top triple tree pinch bolts to 30-35 ft lbs (41-47 Nm).

If the bike is out of spec, then you can easily tighten or loosen fall away to bring it in spec.

Unscrew and remove the fork stem cap in the top center of the triple tree. (see pic 8)

Bend down the fork stem lockwasher tab (see pic 9) and loosen fork stem nut. (see pic 9)

The adjusting nut is between the neck and the triple tree. (see pic 10) Using a small screwdriver or drift, tap the bolt clockwise to tighten the adjustment, counterclockwise to loosen it. Do it in small increments and keep re-checking the fall away until it is within spec. When re-checking the fall away, you must re-tighten the fork stem bolt to 45-55 ft lbs (61-74.5 Nm). Get it to spec, and you are done with the adjustment.

Tighten the fork stem bolt to above referenced torque.

Tighten top triple tree pinch bolts to above referenced torque.

Re-bend the fork stem lockwasher tab and reinstall the fork stem cap.

Reinstall all your accessories, airbox cover etc...

And that's it! Took me about an hour to do, but would only take me half that now I've done it.

Hope this helps save some people a few bucks at the dealer.
 
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