Loose front end?

[Outbackwack]

I have about 3000 miles on my new ST1300 since May and I've noticed that the front end feels a lot looser than when it was new. The tech at the dealer said everything looked/felt normal when I had the first service on it back in June. Is this normal break-in? Should I have the bearings checked/tightened already? It's more noticeable drafting SUV's/trucks and even in turns somewhat. Seems to me it should be tighter. Thoughts?

 

[aob]

Howard,

Maybe its you? Not being rude, just that with only 3,000 miles on the bike I think it kinda unlikely somethings gone wrong without a crash, even with our really bad roads (I commute rt.1 5x week).

Over the 8,500 miles I've done on my '04 the front of my bike has been pretty consistently....... floppy as I like to call it. Some of it maybe tires the 020fs were completely spent and things have definitely been better with the PR2s. Primarily, I think its just the stock setup on this bike being poorly valved, under sprung, and too much static sag (at least with most of us aboard). Mix in a rear that's also under-sprung and over dampened, on our patchwork roads, you can really get that sphincter factor 10 feeling.

In my experience the bike will actually handle far more then it feels like it will, so much so that I wonder if that wasn't designed into the stock suspension.

Personally I'm leaning toward doing a penske rear and race-tech front.

 

[Blrfl]

I meant to reply to this when you posted it; sorry for letting it slip through the cracks.

The 1300 squirms in the dirty air coming off trucks and SUVs. That's kind of the nature of the beast, and the best thing to do is twist your wrist and get out of there. If you can't avoid it, just relax. The bike will do fine.

Also: Dealers are notorious for not correctly following the setup instructions. At this point in your bike's life, I would advise going over the entire front end with a torque wrench and removing and re-installing the front wheel to make sure the axle is set properly.

--Mark

 

[Outbackwack]

Thanks guys; I'll give it a once over and go through the suspension again.

Enjoy...