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Puzzling Front Farks


tonk

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Bit of a headscratcher this one, for me at least. 

After about 45 minutes to an hour of enthusiastic riding, my front forks get harder and harder. To the point of discomfort and pain for my spacky paws. 

Is taken me a while to pinpoint the problem but it happens every time. Leave it for a a while (cake and coffee stop) and they're back to squishy normal. 

 

Wtf is going on?! 

Bike is a stock BMW R NINET scrambler, with rwu Showa forks - no adjustment. 

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Can't see the air temp rise so much it's creating a load of pressure. My guess would be adjuster that tightens with temp difference?

When it's stiff, can you slowly push the fork in as deep as you could when it's squishy? That could point towards it being a damping issue instead of spring/airgap.

Might also be worth looking at how much friction the fork has: measure travel when it's rests from being pulled out, and measure at rest from being pushed in. If those figures are far apart, something could be sticky.

Edited by TLRS
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I've not tried any measurements yet, didn't think of that. But I will, thanks for the suggestion. 

Does fork oil go like overworked brake fluid? Bubbles n stuff that render it useless. 

There's certainly no stickiness to them, no knocks or leaks, no play. 

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2 minutes ago, tonk said:

I've not tried any measurements yet, didn't think of that. But I will, thanks for the suggestion. 

Does fork oil go like overworked brake fluid? Bubbles n stuff that render it useless. 

There's certainly no stickiness to them, no knocks or leaks, no play. 

Theo oil will go thinner with temp and make the damping softer. Cheap oil can foam but again this would reduce the damping.

Sounds like a strip clean and fresh oil are your first point of call.

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2 hours ago, Superdunc said:

Theo oil will go thinner with temp and make the damping softer. Cheap oil can foam but again this would reduce the damping.

Sounds like a strip clean and fresh oil are your first point of call.

I agree, with some measurements beforehand to compare. I take it that I have to measure what comes out? Is there a way to tell if the oil is fucked (other than loose nuts and bolts)? 

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Check all your alignment.

The only time, I have found anything like this it was due to misalignment.

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Leprosy*.

Best cut your hands off right now before it spreads...I hope you haven’t touched your penis?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*Saved you from googling for an answer. 

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