Handling problem - help needed!

[mattylees46]

Hi

I'm having a bit of a handling issue with my 1993 bandit 400 V and was wondering if anyone might be able to help?

Basically, its hard to describe, but the front end feels very 'floppy'. Riding around at low speed the front end feels very loose and kind of falls into a corner almost by itself. If I take both hands off the bars whilst riding along the bike does not go straight, it tends to flop to one side. so I dont do that anymore! This also makes me run wide on most corners, even at relatively low speed as I have to go very carefully round corners. It is becoming quite annoying now and I would like to fix the problem but am unsure what to do.

I dont know if this is related to the problem but to me the bike seems to sit very low, however this could just be because my previous bikes have been 600 sportsbikes which sit very high maybe. I certainly think my bike could do with a bit more ride height, but I dont believe this is the cause of the handling problem.

Any help or words of advice would be greatly appreciated, thanks  

p.s. I was having a bit of a gentle roundabout surf yesterday and something on the right side of the bike touched down quite early, before the peg did, any idea what part would touch down before the peg???

[gsxr400 racer]

Scarry! my thought is loose triple tree bearings and they may have notches in the races! suggestion take apart emediatly and clean check for pit from balls(notches) re grease if ok and torque to spec.

as far as the thing touching the ground maybe the exhaust. But i think if the bike sites low maybe you need a fork service new seals fresh fluid if you are in the uk which most vv's are. maybe i can hook you up with a buddy over there that can do your forks.
cheers
Jay

[mattylees46]

Thanks for the advice, I took the bike out for a thrash down some country lanes today to see how it felt and actually it isnt as bad as I first thought at all.

I think you may be right about the forks needing a bit of TLC, both the front and rear of the bike do seem to be very soft. It gives a nice smooth ride over little bumps and ripples but as soon as you start hammering through bends it gets a bit bouncy and wallows a bit. I'm assuming all 400 bandits do this though?

I had a quick look on the internet and saw that Hagon do replacement mono shocks for 400 bandits for £250 which has compression and rebound adjustment, are they any good? And would they lift the rear end a bit cos I feel like I'm riding a chopper at the moment  

Also, might be a stupid question but how do you get the seats off? I have looked all over for a key hole but cannot find one anywhere, am I being a  retard!?

Anyway, thanks again for all the help

 

[Zhi]

It is connected to the lock on the Helmet lock.