Front wheel instability

A common problem seems to be that every now and then the front wheel becomes more and more instable when the gas is released en in long turns. The cause is most of the time simple, too much cleareance on the steering head. Another symptom of this problem is that the front of the bike starts to bounce up and down when you brake firm or that you hear something clicking (the steering head bearing) when the front of the bike is coming up.

To solve this first the upper steering head nut must be loosened so you can retighten the under steering head nut. after that you can retighten the upper steering head nut again. The upper nut only holds the steering plate.
To do this job precise you have to remove the handlebar and the cockpit from the upper plate and remove the upper plate. Watch out, you have to remove the spring caps, which hold a little spring tension, and dirt can easily fall into the fork leggs.

Test the bearings by placing the bike on his centre stand with the front wheel clear from the ground, when the steer isn't turning easy but feels like there's sand in it the steering head needs to be taken apart to check (and replace) the steering head bearings.



(c) W.P.Barendsen 2000