[Predator]

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This is gonna take a little explaining;



Over the past winter I re-did my front wheel bearings, brakes and fork fluid.



All summer, when I get off the bike and put it on the side stand. The front end on the high side (but I know it's equal) rises up like the bike is falling over.



I changed the fluid....I even put Progressive springs in....and it still does it.



While lookingat the bike, the front fork, about three inches up has an oil ring. Try everything I could, I couldn't get that front end to dump lower than 1 1/2 inches. This is someone watching how far it drops from a visual in the driveway using the front brakes alone.



90% off my stopping is downshifting and light, even front and rear braking....Not emergency jamming on the brakes. (at least to get thering that far up on the tube)



This oil mark being this high on the right fork made me wonder. I checked and YES it was wet and easily wiped off. Two days later (rode both days) the ring was back.....but how????



Everything handles ok. I got a slow speed tank slap one time this year not holding the hanlebars. It never did it again, I wrote it off as road bumps at the light.



I can feel the extra stiffness with the Progressive spring, not impressed, but I don't do alot of riding the tail of dragon stuff.



This got me mystified because the only thing I got left are the anti-dives and although them not functioning could cause the 3" drop at a stop....maybe....



There has got to be some common thing on these front ends that is causing this. Altohugh it's not affecting the riding....it's a parking oddity.



Al

 

[Indianawantsme]

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Mine does that too. Very annoying.

Last winter I installed new fork seals and bushings and the LEGbushings are a little too tight and causinga little stiction. The newonesIN the lower fork leg seemed to be too tight compared to the old ones. When i put the new onesaround the fork tube and squeezedtogether there was a noticeable difference in lessclearance than the old ones. The teflonon theFORK TUBE bushings looked veryworn but not the ones in the leg.They seem to beloosening up a bit after riding all summer but not great yet.Not too crazy about putting the old Leg bushings back in. I aligned and realigned and not any better. The left leg on mine settles into the same spot on the axleand has the least drag then.

If you didn't put new bushings in then make sure everything is lined up and not causing the drag.

 

[Predator]

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Interesting answer, no I never messed with the bushings. All the work I did this past winter were in the wheel and brake area. So nothing done there should be affecting it.



Indianawantsme are you saying that before you did what you did, it never popped up like this before?



I had an old senile Winger tell me he knew what the problem is....he just couldn't remember the solution..(the old bird was a ruffy tuffy though)



So, if this is a re-occuring Wing thing, maybe somebody has the answer. It seems like me and Indiana have the same problem with different pre-situations.



And the old geezer did tell me it was like a POP after you got off and touched the bike in an inappropriate place

 

[TXRLGL1500]

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Well I wish some of the geezer's answer as this old geezer is going to rebuild the forks (or try to anyway) on my old 1500 this winter.

 

[cbr1000dude]

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A misaligned fork brace or the stock fender brace could be putting inward or outward pressure on the fork tubes. Not much else is holding them in the correct alignment. Or the axle spacing too narrow or wide. Either of these situations will cause the forks to bend enough to stick a little so it doesn't settle correctly. This will cause your fork seal to leak causing the ring of oil on your tube. It's collecting at the highest point of travel, like from a sharp bump. Try loosing up the brace and axle bolt and see if it settles down some. Maybe your wheel bearings aren't seated completely, or the wrong size.
Just my best guesses from afar.

 

[Indianawantsme]

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+1 CBR1000dude on the possible misalignment.

Predator: Mine never did that pop up until I replaced the seals and bushings and then i had a little too much stiction and seemed to be the leg bushings causing the problem from what i saw when i was comparing the old and new fitment. I aligned the forks the same way i always do when i have the front wheel off and put back on and the forks worked well before. Need a new front tire this winter and will have the front wheel off again.


Riding the dragon last weekend hit side tread that was never used very much before. lol

 

[Predator]

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The Geezer is my buddy on this site... he's not much of an internet man.



OK, everything is sounding good on the last few posts because the only thing I did before to after the prob started was work on that wheel. I did torque everything on the axle but it HAS to be somewhere in there. Funny that with it doing that extreme popping up that it doesn't sffect the steering. Well thats how it usually goes with me. Do some preventative maintenance and cause a problem.

Hey the explanations of why the issues you brought up could cause the rise, were good in backing your reasoning.

The oil ring isn't a leak, to tell you the truth I don't know how it appears there, the rubber on the lower leg is perfectly dry. I must not be able to create the dynamics of the front end diving in the driveway with someone watching. I'll tear the front wheel down and start from scratch again soon or this winter.

I was hoping for a "yeah I had that happen and it was........." oh well



Thanks though, Al

 

[cbr1000dude]

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I have messed up my stuff trying to make it better more than once. When I made a fork brace, it was a little too wide, and I just knocked it in place with a block of wood and hammer. Then my forks started sticking. I knocked it out, ground it down, and all was well.
The steering wasn't affected on mine either. The steering head bearings and the center tube of the triple clamps isn't as easy to bend as the lower leg to tube clearance, you can put enough pressure the lower section to make it stick pretty easily.
Unless gremlins are putting an oil ring on your fork leg in the middle of the night, it's coming from the fork oil. Don't worry, when all the oil is gone in the fork leg, it'll stop!:cheesygrin:

 

[Predator]

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cbr1000dude wrote:

Don't worry, when all the oil is gone in the fork leg, it'll stop!:cheesygrin:

That's how I know it's time for an engine oil change... when the engine starts rappin, I toss 4 quarts in and i'm ready to go.



CB, if you saw how high up that oil ring is you would have to say theres no way that tube went in there that far. It seems that if that tube went into the leg that far the back of the fender would be hitting the lower plastic