Bandit Alley

MODEL SPECIFIC => SUZUKI BANDIT 600 thru 1200 - AIR/OIL COOLED TECHNICAL => Topic started by: Cruisecontrol on October 29, 2005, 02:05:19 AM

Title: Loose steering head
Post by: Cruisecontrol on October 29, 2005, 02:05:19 AM

I ride an '03 1200 and yesterday I developed a clunk in the front end when hitting bumps and at the start of heavy braking.
I pulled out the trusty manual and tightened it all up as per specifications, tested it out and the noise was gone. I went for a decent group ride today and within an hour the clunk came back and got progressively worse as the ride went on.
Has anyone had problems with this continually happening or should I just keep retightening it as often as I can?

Another question on steering. Has anyone ever fitted a steering damper to a Bandit and if so did it make the steering any more controllable when riding hard?

Title: Loose steering head
Post by: Red01 on October 29, 2005, 02:23:52 AM

I'd want to find out why it got loose again after only an hour... is the not not holding torque? Are the bearings shot? Are the races not fully seated?

Title: Loose steering head
Post by: elofdahl on October 29, 2005, 03:55:10 AM

Have the steering head bearings ever been removed/replaced?  If so, as Paul mentioned...perhaps they are not seated completely.

More likely, the upper triple clamp was not secured in the proper sequence after being loosened/removed.  After adjusting the bearings (large spanner nut under the upper triple clamp) it is imperative that the center triple clamp nut (30 mm head) be tighteneded BEFORE tightening the fork pinch bolts.  Not doing so will not lock the adjusting nut in place, and can/will distort the upper triple clamp.

Eddie

Title: Loose steering head
Post by: Cruisecontrol on October 29, 2005, 04:31:48 AM

Bingo!. That is exactly what I did. When I pulled it apart to see what was going on I realised my mistake.

Thank you both for the replies.