SuzukiSavage.com - Now it's hopping like a Rabbit???

Thumpin

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Now it's hopping like a Rabbit???
11/20/07 at 07:24:42

i went on a ride to go eat lunch w/ my SO one day last week. Stopped to get gas, got back on the road and immediatly noticed a change in the way the front of the bike felt. The front wheel felt sort of like it was suddenly out of balance. I checked the existing balancing weights (it ran smooth as butter before this moment remember) and all where exacly in the expected places they had been in. I checked all of the spokes just out of curiosity - all tight. I already had the materials to do a brake job so in the process of elemination I did the brake job that I had been holding off on. Still this Sunday after doing the brake job, the front end has a hopping feel to it. One of my Harley wrench-heads suggested wheel bearings in the front wheel. Anyone have any similar problems and if so what was the solution??

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Savage_Greg Serious Thumper Alliance Member Offline Don't go around your ass to reach your elbow... Posts: 7844 SW Washington State Gender:	Re: Now it hopping like a Rabbit??? Reply #1 - 11/20/07 at 08:37:10 Time to jack it up and give it a spin, I think.
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Thumpin Junior Member Offline If you ain't thumpin you may as well be dumpin Posts: 54 Huntsville AL Gender:	Re: Now it hopping like a Rabbit??? Reply #2 - 11/20/07 at 09:08:20 Yea, that means its tiime to build a bike lift. Man, I was putting that project off til spring but ....
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justin_o_guy2 Serious Thumper Offline What happened? Posts: 55279 East Texas, 1/2 dallas/la.	Re: Now it hopping like a Rabbit??? Reply #3 - 11/20/07 at 11:58:42 A decent rope & a come along is all I use.
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Thumpin

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Re: Now it hopping like a Rabbit???
Reply #4 - 11/20/07 at 13:11:45

I have to go to my home town for a little family water boarding so I won't get to it this weekend but I plan to try jacking/winching it up the following weekend. When I do what do I look for? I did try to wiggle the wheel w/ my wife holding the bars and felt no jiggle at all. This of course could be do to the weight of the bike still being on the wheel.

Long and short - once I get the wheel off of the ground what am I going to be looking for to diagnose this.

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verslagen1

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Re: Now it hopping like a Rabbit???
Reply #5 - 11/20/07 at 13:43:49

Quick and ~~easy~~ cheap bike lift.
you'll need one 4x4 stud about 3 feet long.
two 4x4 bricks.

Place 4x4 stud under the bike just under the driver footpegs.
lift the right side and side a brick under it until the stud touches the frame. the brick should be almost directly under the frame.
Now lean the bike over to the right. It should slide up the stud and over the brick abit.
This will raise the left side so you can kick the left brick under to hold it in place.

Sometimes I can do this single handed, sometimes I can't.

Front wheel should be in the air when you're done Grin

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T Mack 1 - FSO Serious Thumper Alliance Member Offline sold 2001 LS650 for a 1986 XLH1100 Posts: 2919 Emmaus,Pa Gender:	Re: Now it hopping like a Rabbit??? Reply #6 - 11/20/07 at 17:11:56 Could also be brake issue. Crud on rotor, loose rotor, warpped rotor...... Or torn belt in tire issue (would show as a bump)...... Or ....... Or.......
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justin_o_guy2 Serious Thumper Offline What happened? Posts: 55279 East Texas, 1/2 dallas/la.	Re: Now it hopping like a Rabbit??? Reply #7 - 11/20/07 at 21:38:05 Can you feel anything just engine off & roll it in neutral? The cement near gas pumps is usually pretty flat, if you dont have a flat, smooth driveway. If not, what about riding & seeing how slow you have to go before the hop disappears.
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Savage_Greg

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Re: Now it hopping like a Rabbit???
Reply #8 - 11/21/07 at 07:05:08

Thumpin wrote on 12/31/69 at 16:00:11:

I have to go to my home town for a little family water boarding so I won't get to it this weekend but I plan to try jacking/winching it up the following weekend. When I do what do I look for? I did try to wiggle the wheel w/ my wife holding the bars and felt no jiggle at all. This of course could be do to the weight of the bike still being on the wheel.

Long and short - once I get the wheel off of the ground what am I going to be looking for to diagnose this.

This is my "Standard Lift" kit...

1. Get boards or blocks
2. Get spouse
3. Pickup front wheel
4. Spouse installs boards or blocks
5. Put down front wheel
6. Get macho beer

Then...

1. Sit on floor
2. Drink beer
3. Spin wheel
4. Stare at wheel
5. Repeat until problem is located

Happy Water Boarding!

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jimbonerz28 YaBB Newbies Offline Wooo Hoooo!!! Posts: 26 Texas	Re: Now it hopping like a Rabbit??? Reply #9 - 11/23/07 at 09:30:39 my opinion, if it just started all of the sudden its probably a tire issue.
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Savage_Greg Serious Thumper Alliance Member Offline Don't go around your ass to reach your elbow... Posts: 7844 SW Washington State Gender:	Re: Now it hopping like a Rabbit??? Reply #10 - 11/24/07 at 05:58:09 Of course, I don't think that I've ever seen a Rabbit that was hopping in a straight line, either.
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Thumpin

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Re: Now it hopping like a Rabbit???
Reply #11 - 11/30/07 at 09:45:02

OK I'm back from being waterboarded for thanksgiving. I rode the bike again cpl of days ago just wondering and noticed that there is a variance to (when looking straight down on the tire/wheel) how much of the wheel rim I can see. I'm not sure if I have a bent rim (I don't remember any sharp knocks or such) or the tire side wall is faililng in some way. As a local shop installed the tire I think I will make this as much their problem as possible. As the tire even seems a little "swollen" at one place I am thinking that the tire itself has failed so Im going to try and mke them replace it.

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T Mack 1 - FSO

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Re: Now it hopping like a Rabbit???
Reply #12 - 11/30/07 at 09:58:34

Thumpin,
Check how well the bead is seated onto (into??) the rim. There should be a rib/bump/line (pick one) at where the tire meets the rim (see the baely visible red circle on the pict below). The spacing should be the same distance all the way around the rim (parallel??)

A innertube based tires can shift on the rim IF the air pressure gets low and you do some twisty road driving.

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Engineers design things, Technicians make them work.
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30% of being mechanical is confidence/30% is knowing to go slow when needed/30% is looking repeatedly at what you have/10% is dumb luck Wink

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Salad_Shaker

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Re: Now it hopping like a Rabbit???
Reply #13 - 12/01/07 at 07:18:57

I'm with Jimbonerz28 on this. A dodgy tire gauge was all it took to get my front end hopping all over the place. Putting too much air in is easy to do, especially if the garage forecourt gauge is telling lies. Easily corrected to and once a more reliable gauge got things back to where they should be the front stopped skating and all was well. KISS is a good motto. Start with the simple stuff and work up as each possibility is eliminated.

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Thumpin

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Re: Now it hopping like a Rabbit???
Reply #14 - 12/03/07 at 06:09:07

Problem fixed!!!!!!

I got the tire off and started looking at the rim (actually I had already noticed the rim) It was not evenly bedded around the tire. I threw it in the truck and caged my way to the shop. Verdict? The tube had a good sized hole in it. The mech. was surprised that the tire had not come all the way off of the rim. The funny part? The tire felt as if it had decent pressure in it to the touch (bad method of measurment I know). The lower tube pressure had allowed the bead to stray on the rim causing a noticeable "S" curve in the tire, thus causing the entire front end of the bike to "wiggle" slightly.

Now its riding smooth as glass. Proof that you should check your tire pressure regularly.

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It feels so good when the ground shakes.

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