Like riding on washboard all the time

caveman

caveman

Joined
Jun 29, 2013
Messages
7
Location
Oswego, NY
Bike
'04 ST1300
All,
When riding I feel like I am riding on washboard all the time. I feel every little bump and imperfection in the road even ones that you can not see. The bike will bounce and vibrate all the time and it is maddening! Here is what I have done so far:

2004 with 13300 miles, I am about 220lbs with equipment on, I have had the bike for about 1200 miles.

1. Front wheel rebalanced, replaced, no change.
2. Rear wheel rebalanced, replaced, no change.
3. Rear preload adjuster primed and refilled, big change on the adjuster but no effect on the vibrations. I have tried many combinations of "clicks" on the adjuster and turns on the dampener all to no avail.
4. Changed fork oil to 5wt with a 130mm height per guidance from local shop via their Race Tech connection/website, no change.

I have read a lot on this forum about the bike being undersprung but I can't see how this bike would act so different than our BMW. I have ridden the bikes back-to-back on the same roads and ST will bounce but the beemer won't. There is another ST owner at work that I am trying to get him to ride my bike for a sanity check.
Any advice or input on what to check or do next would be appreciated. It drives me crazy enough that I am about ready to put the bike away for the season.
Thanks.
 
Sounds like you need to have your suspension reworked. I have the Racetech front springs and valves that made a big difference in the smoothness of the front.
 
Check your Rebound adjustment on the back shock. There is a hole in the right side of the frame to access the adjustment screw. A good place to start is 1 1/2 turns out from fully seated. If it set to tight it can cause this type of feeling.

Sent from my RAZR M using Tapatalk 2
 
I have set the rebound adjustment at 1 1/2 turns and the preload to 4 turns in. From there I have made multiple adjustments to both to see what improvement if any occurred. So far nothing has worked.

The front forks don't seem to be seized as they do cycle under braking and going over larger bumps (as can be seem from the cockpit).
 
There is a tutorial on this site for replenishing the rear shock preload fluid, which you say you have done. That tutorial also give some pretty good baseline settings for the rear shock preload and rebound. I'm at 215 lb with gear on, so not that far off from you. I'm setting my preload at 9 clicks, with rebound at 1 1/2. It seems to work well for me.
 
Here is a video by ddueling about setting your rebound damping.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAhksxRCIik

At 1 1/2 it may be a little loose 1 1/4 turn might be better.

Check your pre-load on you shock check according to rider sag for your weight. 4 turns in is not very much unless you have an aftermarket shock or stiffer springs. 7 turns might be minimum for your weight. Generally rider sag should be between 36 and 38 mm. From full extension(on center stand) to rider on the bike.There are many post on how to measure this on the site.
 
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The suspension is all stock.

I watched the front fork very carefully tonight on my way home from work and over small bumps and road imperfections it does not move at all--giving me the sensation that I have been having like washboard or the fork is locked or experiencing stiction.

When I got home I pushed down on the handlebars and the forks compressed as expected but when I only pushed a bit they stuck and resisted my push thus acting like a locked fork.

I think this is the root of my problems. Any ideas why the fork would be sticking and how to fix it?
 
Yes, all were done (rod+lock nut+cap, springs out, fork compressed).

Any other ideas? Rebuild the forks?
 
The forks in the ST1300 are robust. They should not need rebuilding at 13,000 miles unless there is some sort of damage, bent tube, alignment problem, etc.

Square one........... Nine year old bike with unknown history. If I did not do the work on the forks I have would have no idea if a knowledgeable or unknowledgeable person worked on them and I wouldn't trust anything I was told especially from a shop where I wasn't peering over the tech's shoulder. There is no telling what is wrong if you or someone you trust cannot verify what type of springs, spacer stack and oil is in the forks.

If it was me I would take the forks out and measure the springs to see which ones are in there and refill with the factory settings of Honda SS-8 fork oil to a height of 62 mm and go from there.

https://www.st-owners.com/forums/sh...achine-to-go-the-distance-(shocks)&highlight=
 
Is there anyone close to Orange, MA this weekend who might be able to meet and give me a sanity check and ride (me ride to you of course)? It would be great to compare a bike that "works" to mine that I think doesn't. No big deal if not but I am planning on putting the bike away for the year after this weekend due to this condition and ride the Beemer instead.
Thanks.
 
Caveman,

When you hear that the ST is under sprung you are hearing/reading correctly. From the factory the bike is set for a 150 lb. driver and a 150 lb. passenger. At your weight that puts you about 70 lbs. over. Lighter fork fluid will only pass through the valving easier/quicker but do nothing for the added weight. I weighted about 185 lbs. when I set up the suspension on my bike and changing out the springs up front made a big difference. Adding the Gold Valves also helped and yes I did go with lighter fluid with the Gold Valves. Rear shock was replaced with after market piece and it corrected the back end issues.


If you're doing a lot of straight line riding then the stock suspension can and does work for the most part. Where it fails is when you start doing more turns and pushing the speed. The only thing that can be done to fix it then is upgrade both ends.
 
At this point I agree with dduelin You may have to go over the suspension to see what you have. This bike can ride as smooth as glass, even with the stock springs. Some get a harsh ride with the wrong fork oil, too heavy a spring or incorrect preload on the front forks. Rarely other that a fork seal leak do the front forks fail.
Have you measured your rider sag front and rear?
When you put the cap back on did it have preload on it, if so how much?
Stock oil level is about 62mm from the top, racetech recommends 130mm from the top for their spring, not the stock spring setup. Also racetech uses a straight rate spring vrs honda uses a progressive rate spring. Side by side the racetech spring is about 1" longer than the Honda stock spring.

Later if needed I can get you the length of the stock spring for you to compare. Also the length of the metal tube spacer. If it did not have a metal tube spacer chances are the spring has been changed.
 
Thanks for all the advice. I think my path right now is to remove the forks again and rebuild them (as I have no idea of history prior to my purchase this year) to stock specifications with Sonic Springs. I still think I have stiction effecting the motion/travel of the forks and a rebuild with new seals/bushings/oil/springs will do wonders (hopefully).

Depending on life requirements I hope to have this done in a couple weeks. I will update whether or not I get it done or not.
Thanks again to all.
 
With less than 14K miles on the bike I doubt that new bushings are in order. There are a lot of bikes running around out here with 100K and still running the original bushings. Now the rubber parts is another story as age and hardening could be causing you some issues.
 
I had a similar stiction problem. Loosen the left fork axle pinch bolts, pull the fork away from the wheel. If it pops out about an eighth inch, that's your problem. Bounce the front end and retighten.

Bill
 
billo said:
Loosen the left fork axle pinch bolts, pull the fork away from the wheel. If it pops out about an eighth inch, that's your problem. Bounce the front end and retighten.
Click to expand...

caveman, I'd start here. It's probably the easiest thing to do. There's a sequence to tightening all the bolts when changing the tire. It's posted on the site. I might even check the entire alignment of your forks just to be sure everything is lined up correctly.

If that doesn't fix everything, then I'd find out exactly what a stock Honda front spring assembly should look like and check to see it's assembled correctly.

Maybe somebody here knows-- does the ST have an anti-dive unit like the GoldWing? My buddy noticed a problem with his Wing riding rough and it was because the anti-dive unit was bad.

Try to troubleshoot as much as you can before replacing anything.
 
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