Handling issues

[proximity]

Bike in question is a 98 VFR800 with 50k on the clock.
My dad has the same bike, but with 18k on it.

I had a ride of his bike and the difference is like night and day. The main difference seems to be that as i turn into a corner on his bike, the front end feels rock steady like its got a steering damper or something the bars hardly move at all during a corner, and as i cruise round the bend it just stays solid and on track as if the wheel is glued to the road.

Then we go to my bike, it falls into the corner much more but it feels like the front end is really loose and as i go round the corner i dont feel confident on it and any slight bumps cause the front end to wobble/weave, whereas the other bike just rides as if it was completely smooth.

I have BT020 tyres with plenty of tread. My dads bike has had pilot sports and now maxxis supermaxx and performed the same with both.

Our shocks and forks are adjusted to the same settings although his feels much stiffer, although when riding you feel less bumps which is odd.

Any help is MUCH appreciated as i am at a loss with this one..

Jason
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2004 Aprilia Tuono

[MarJay]

Buy a new rear shock, new suspension linkage bushes and new fork oil.

Simples.

(Oh yeah before you do that, check your wheel bearings and head bearings - either way fresh fork oil won't go amiss but at 50k I'd be surprised of the rear shock absorber still absorbs shocks.)
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British beauty: Triumph Street Triple R; Loony stroker: KR1S; Track fun: GSXR750 L1; Commuter Missile: GSX-S1000F; Cheap project: CBR900RR FireBlade
Remember kids, bikes aren't like lego. You can't easily take a part from one bike and then fit it to another.

[proximity]

Would the rear shock affect low speed aswell such as roundabouts?

Edit: The head bearings are fine i checked them
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2004 Aprilia Tuono

[MarJay]

[proximity]

[MarJay]

[proximity]

Ok cheers. I will try to get hold of a new shock.

What i meant was if there are no bumps on the roundabout is the suspension still affecting the handling?
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2004 Aprilia Tuono

[Howling TerrorOutOfOffice]

Hi, in answer to your question does your suspension affect handling even on a smooth road..yes is the short answer.
Suspension is working all the time even on smooth surfaces, forces are changing all the time so sloppy suspension will have various side effects. I've just changed my fork springs, rebound springs and correct amount oil. The difference is big and positive
As recommended by others change your fork oil at the very least and start saving for a nice rear shock. Front springs have a longer lifespan but they get shorter over time, cheap fix is spacers(coins) but they don't cost a bomb to replace. I fitted the progressive type and they suit fine. They feel lively* on very uneven roads at slow speeds, but feel planted and true at higher speeds on the same road
* Lively as in i could feel the road surface, no skipping etc

Pat
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[steo]

Does your bike happen to have a top box, heavy panniers or do you carry any weight on the back of it? The reason I ask is, a while ago I had to sort out a bandit 600 for the local army base which had terrible steering problems.
After I had checked everything, put new tyres on it etc etc, I decided to take the heavy sirens, radio & panniers off it. I brought it back out for a test drive it & it drove perfect. The panniers were too far back over the rear wheel which made it handle like a camel.

[proximity]

No mate, nothing on the back. Appreciate the suggestion though.
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2004 Aprilia Tuono

[Noxious89123]

Can standard factory fit shocks be rebuilt?

My bike is at 26k, and think my shock might be rather bouncy, although I'm not sure what it should feel like, nothing to compare it to
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'06 Honda CBR125RW-6 ~ '00 Honda CBR600F-Y ~ '07 Honda CBR600RR-7 ~ Bikeless
'53 Ford Ka 1.3 ~ '03 Vauxhall Astra SRi 1.8 ~ '52 Vauxhall Astra SRi 2.2 ~ '53 Vauxhall Astra GSi

[MarJay]

[Noxious89123]

I know I can get a rather sexy looking WP shock for about £530 Worth it or not?

Need to buy a car first though... And forks, just an oil change, or would they need anything else doing? (Like new bushes etc?)
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'06 Honda CBR125RW-6 ~ '00 Honda CBR600F-Y ~ '07 Honda CBR600RR-7 ~ Bikeless
'53 Ford Ka 1.3 ~ '03 Vauxhall Astra SRi 1.8 ~ '52 Vauxhall Astra SRi 2.2 ~ '53 Vauxhall Astra GSi

[the grim reaper]

Without riding the bike it's different to tell, a fecked rear shock will affect the handling but not in the way you describe and I would expect you to notice the rear end pogo-ing or showing some other traits before the front starts to feel iffy. If it was me, I would do the following:

1. Fork oil and bushes, maybe seals if any signs of leakage
2. Wheel bearing check (although these are usually noisy when failing)
3. Check all suspension settings, front and rear, set your sag levels etc from here https://www.sportrider.com/bikes/146_street_bike_suspension_settings/index.html
4. If no improvment, check the bounce on your rear shock and change the settings for compression and rebound for your riding style.
5. If still no change, then think about the shock and buying a new one.

All the other options are cheap as chips compared to the rear shock and how gutted would you be if you spend £500+ on a shock and it makes feck all difference?

Cheers

Grim
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Adverts don't always work: Remember that advert, where the army are running across the desert and they have a wounded man on a stretcher. They get to a ravine, the bridge is down and a caption pops up that says, 'What are you thinking?'. I don't know about you but I was thinking, 'Christ, I'm glad I'm not in the f***ing army'.

[MarJay]

[the grim reaper]

[proximity]

I have serviced the forks yesterday. The internals were all nice and shiny and the oil didnt look too bad. Bearings checked aswell.

I bagged a bargain rear shock off ebay which is not new but certainly a lot newer than mine so we will see what that does.

Im starting to think maybe it could be tyres, i know the front tyre is approaching its wear limit in the next thousand miles or so.
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2004 Aprilia Tuono

[the grim reaper]

[Phoenix]

[Noxious89123]

How slowly should the rear come back up?
____________________
'06 Honda CBR125RW-6 ~ '00 Honda CBR600F-Y ~ '07 Honda CBR600RR-7 ~ Bikeless
'53 Ford Ka 1.3 ~ '03 Vauxhall Astra SRi 1.8 ~ '52 Vauxhall Astra SRi 2.2 ~ '53 Vauxhall Astra GSi

[Phoenix]

Not particularly slowly but imagine if it was just a spring, that would be a bounce and mean knackered shock. The damping rod prevents the spring just bouncing straight back on it's own.

[swiftb]

This is a topic which for me is currently screwing my enjoyment of riding. A 2000 Zx6r which im guessing has been messed with supsension wise and hence feels a mess. No matter what settings I dial in it feels harsh, juddery, skips about and generally provides a horrible ride. The rear feels fairly stable and all problems are coming from the front or it certainly feels that way. Im tempted to go the same way as you proximity and replace the whole lot with lesser mileage examples (bikes on 30k). Although one of my compression adjusters is seized so I have no adjustment on that - but I reckon theres a lot more to it than just compression settings as the bike really does feel awful at the min

[Noxious89123]

Seized? Sure it's not just been screwed in too much, and jammed itself? Would explain why it's so hard.
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'06 Honda CBR125RW-6 ~ '00 Honda CBR600F-Y ~ '07 Honda CBR600RR-7 ~ Bikeless
'53 Ford Ka 1.3 ~ '03 Vauxhall Astra SRi 1.8 ~ '52 Vauxhall Astra SRi 2.2 ~ '53 Vauxhall Astra GSi

[proximity]

Well fortunately my bike has no adjustment other than preload so it cant have been messed with.

My front preload settings are set to stock (same as dads bike) but the rear is one notch stiffer, however to sit on it does feel a lot softer (or bouncier) so i think the shock replacement should at least help matters.

I was thinking if my rear end was jacked up that would cause a steeper head angle which i read can cause the bike to fall into corners more, but with my shock possibly being knackered and set at stock i would have thought the rear would be low if anything. The fork height in the yokes is stock.

One reason i hate this handling issue is it causes me to "50 pence" the corners as it falls in too quick and i end up trying to correct it constantly by pushing on the bars quite hard which is one reason bumps cause a bit of a wobble. On my dads bike i have to put hardly any force on the bars as it just coasts round.

Cheers for all the replies guys.
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2004 Aprilia Tuono

[swiftb]