Vmax wants to crash ya when turning

[mvvette97]

This is on my friends 85 or 86. I took it for a drive the other day since he said something was wrong with it. I must say it's not safe at all. I just went to turn on to a road and it's like once ya lean to turn ya have to fight the handlebars from turning by themselves all the way. I know somethng has to be wrong because my 89 max is nothing like that. We jacked up the front of the bike and everything feels normal. I mean just turning around in a parking lot the thing wants to turn all the way by itself. It's not bad driving a straight line but any kind of handlebar movement it just wants to go. haha,

 

[zippo6]

This is on my friends 85 or 86. I took it for a drive the other day since he said something was wrong with it. I must say it's not safe at all. I just went to turn on to a road and it's like once ya lean to turn ya have to fight the handlebars from turning by themselves all the way. I know somethng has to be wrong because my 89 max is nothing like that. We jacked up the front of the bike and everything feels normal. I mean just turning around in a parking lot the thing wants to turn all the way by itself. It's not bad driving a straight line but any kind of handlebar movement it just wants to go. haha,

Has he tried the Furbur (think that is what it is called?) fix yet?

http://www.vmaxchat.co.uk/furbur.htm

 

[mvvette97]

I don't think he has. I'll read up on that for sure. thanks

 

[one2dmax]

May be a bad tire.

Sean

 

[mvvette97]

He put a new tire on a while back thinking that may be it but it wasn't. It had a fork seal leaking so we fixed that and it still does it..

 

[gamorg02]

mine does that a bit when turning at slow speeds (under 15mph) mine are too tight right now (better than too loose in my mind so i don't have a wobble, but it needs to be fixed)

 

[red98vmax]

Is the bike stock or modified geometery for trail and rake?

check out these sites:
http://auto.howstuffworks.com/choppers2.htm
http://rawge.bravepages.com/minichoppers/trail/Rake_Trail.htm
http://www.performanceoiltechnology.com/rake_and_trail.htm

Red

 

[TURBOVMAX]

How long has he owned the bike? Sounds like somethings bent. If it's the forks or triple tree's you can usually tell by having someone sit on the bike holding it upright (vertically) Then another person standing in front of the bike sighting the front end. Most times it's pretty apparent. Another thing you can do up front is to remove the wheel and fork tubes and simply roll them on a flat surface. Like your mom's kitchen table. If their bent you'll see it pretty quick.

Not sure if there's a motorcycle frame shop in your area. Usually there's one if there's a road race track in the vicinity. They can straighten and laser align the bike without taking it apart for a very reasonable fee. Even bikes that come from the factory are sometimes misaligned. Vmax's are known for having that problem.

If the front looks Ok.... check this site out for a couple of other simple checks. The rear wheel on a vmax is actually shifted about 3/8 to the right from the factory... standing behind the bike looking forward. So take that into account when making the measurments on the link. You may want to give the guy a call... he's the best I know of, may be able to point you to someone in your area.

Frame Check

 

[ghostntheshell]

I am no expert but I don't think the fubar would fix that...
________
no2 vaporizer

 

[gamorg02]

you could also check the top fork tubes (thanks danny) but bracing the bike and then loosening one set of clamps at a time and spin the top tube.

 

[mvvette97]

He has had the bike for years. He said it has never been crashed or anything. I know I drove it about three years ago and it didn't do it then. He said it seemed to start doing this after the fork seals started leaking. That's when I went up and changed the seals for him but it still done it. To me everything looks ok but something must be wrong. I thought about driving my bike up and comparing measurements with it. I have never seen anything like this before. I mean if you lean either direction at all the handlebars just want to turn the way you lean, you really have to hold it tight so they don't turn all the way and dump ya

 

[gamorg02]

at what speeds?

 

[Roadracer]

I'm kinda anxious to here what that could be.

Once the tire has countersteered into the turn it should track true.

Has this bike ever been wrecked badly? Is it only when turning one direction?

I've had a friend go down badly on the track, picked it up & got back into the race until the first corner the bike wanted to "fall over" in sweeping left-handers. Pulled in to park it & we later found a twisted frame.

RR

 

[mvvette97]

mostly at slow speeds like when turning on to another road or turning around in a parking lot. It also the bars will shake when you let off the gas when slowing down from higher speeds.

 

[KJShover]

How is the back? Put it up on the centerstand and give the swingarm a good jiggle and inspect the bearings. If the back is wobbly, your front end will feel it as well.

 

[mvvette97]

never thought about that. I'll have to check it out.

 

[Shuriken]

How long has he owned the bike? Sounds like somethings bent.

+1

When I got my Max I never knew the front forks were badly bent. Also had way too low PSI in the front tire. This combination is devistating for stability. I fixed these things and it transformed the bike.

 

[TURBOVMAX]

Did you replace the upper bushings when you rebuilt forks? I believe without seeing... that the tubes were bent and probably what has happened now is that you've accentuated the problem that existed with the rebuild. If the tubes are bent they will wear the upper bushings and cause the seals to leak in the process. If just seals were replace you've freed everything up with new fork oil etc. Try the... roll the tubes on your mothers kitchen table test.

 

[mvvette97]

no we just changed the seals. How do the forks get bent? It didn't used to do this till last fall. He said it just started steering funny

 

[TURBOVMAX]

no we just changed the seals. How do the forks get bent? It didn't used to do this till last fall. He said it just started steering funny

Donno... they may not be bent, maybe just worn out. Make sure all of the wheel spacers and bearings are where they should be and are in good shape. After all... she is 23+ years old. Might be a good time for him to upgrade to a 93 or newer front end. There seems to be quite a few available now since people are going to USD forks.