My bike is trying to kill me

[Paul_E_D]

So, after my 3rd heavy crash in 2 days of riding I was starting to wonder if I'm cut out for this.

Today at CH I was in 4th nearly tapped off the long jump in the back. I was clearing the landing all day today. This time the front started swapping and I could not rein it in. I could not get much braking or turning done for the left kink and rode right over the berm and fence and fell in a heap with the bike on top of me. Hurt my shoulder, but it's not too bad.

Anyway, Justin is loading my and the front end is just not moving back and forth smoothly. I'm thinking the steering head bearings, but it's REALLY binding. He looks into it further and noticed my braided clutch line is binding on an old steering damper mount that the previous owner installed.

Damn! No wonder I've been running off track all over the place. The front has been totally unpredictable. From the condition of the line, it's been binding quite a lot. Possibly even the last time out.

There's hope for me yet.

p.s. Thanks for the help guys. Clinton has now been initiated to the feat of strength is is to set up the ramp on my trailer...

[deeto]

glad your shoulder isn't that bad. Heal up man and get that clutch line re-routed.

It was fun chasing you today, even though I could only keep up for a little while.

[TBOX]

Same thing happened to me a few years ago on my KTM at Winchester. I must have looked like a fool crashing for no apparent reason to everyone else.

[typeone]

good to hear the shoulder doesn't feel too bad, Paul! bummer about that bind, that's definitely the cause of your unpredictable front end, clutch cable was binding BAD. we were discussing it afterward and wondered how you didnt keep running off track even more.

hats off to Cycle Design! they kept two bikes on the track for us... Justin's YZ needed a seal first thing in the AM and my Husky needed a new rear tube after the second session. super props for the quick work.

body felt OK today, leg is sore again now but had a blast as usual! track was in amazing condition, new changes were sweet.

oh, yeah... fuck that ramp on your trailer, that thing could hold up the Pru

[breakdirt916]

holy chit man...sounds crazy

glad to hear you're alright

woods next weekend?

[Paul_E_D]

Same thing happened to me a few years ago on my KTM at Winchester. I must have looked like a fool crashing for no apparent reason to everyone else.

Dude, The friggin track marshall thinking i'm totally out of control.

At least I have finally figured it out. btw, Tony, did you have headshake problems? I'm thinking of a steering damper at this point as I can't seem to dial it out with suspension.

[JustInMass]

Great ride yesterday - BIG lesson learned though - warmup before running hard. I was zonked for the rest of the day after session 1.

Yeah Paul, I think your "headshake" that you've been experiencing was the 3 inches of bind. It'd turn smoothly, BIND, then flip fast and smoothly past the bind, leaving you countersteering that fast post-bind steer, compensating for the overadjustment, to the BIND and over and over. Heal up - Session 1 was a blast.

And yeah - total props to CycleDesign. I used to travel the 30 minutes when I was living in Leominster to deal with these people (instead of the other shop Sky Cycle 10 minutes down the road). Super nice people, good variety of stocked microfiche parts and always a great experience. Glad they've signed on for trackside support at CH.

Good ride fellas!

[TBOX]

Yup had the headshake and at first I thought it was just me because I wasn't feeling to great to begin with but was determined to ride anyway. I figured the people around me must have thought I was trying to blame to bike for my poor riding. I'm sure I didn't help. Totally the same series of events but sounds like you hit way harder than I did. I did ride a the same bike with a dampner and was very happy with it. I would suggest one if you're on the fence about one. Sorry about the "fence" reference. Hope you heal up quick.

[.blackgt.]

that sucks. get it fixed.

[Paul_E_D]

Well, that decides it. I wonder where I can get the best price on a scott's OVER the bar damper for the KTM?

[lrrs313]

Wirelessly posted (BB Tour: BlackBerry9630/4.7.1.40 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/105)

Paul I don't know if it'll work or if its what you want but I have a GPR stabilizer (under the bar style) that I don't use any more. PM me if you want it, I'll sell it pretty cheap.

[seth399]

That doesn't sound like a fun crash. Glad u are ok

[BMFR6]

ouch. just caught this. heal up quick paul

[Paul_E_D]

Update: I picked up a lightly used GPR2 steering damper of a lister for a good price. Came off his SMR. Bolted right up. I can't wait to try it out. This bike has always had a headshake issue, even before I started running off track.

I will ziptie that clutch line out of the way as well. If I run off track now, I know I just suck!

[deeto]

off topic: I thought I read somewhere that MX dampers are sometimes reversed, damping only from lock to center instead of both ways. Supposedly it helped riders snap the bars to turn quickly but mitigated headshake if it occurred. Anyone heard that before?

Anyway glad to hear you're sorting the bike out Paul. How's the shoulder?

[Paul_E_D]

I'd heard that scotts dampers were oriented that way, but for a savings of 400 bucks I'm willing to try the GPR. I will run light oil in it and keep the settings light as well. I just want to take the edge off, not slow the front to mud.

Shoulder is getting better, but certain movements still hurt. I think it was a minor separation. I've been surfing anyway and I overworked my good shoulder last weekend, so now they are both tweaked... I'll be riding next week regardless...

[seth399]

ya sucks, i separated my shoulder as bad as you can without breaking the whole thing apart and it still gets sore real easy.

[Paul_E_D]

OK I took some shakedown laps at my home track today with the new steering damper. It was kinda alot to get used to as it raised my bars a good inch and it effects front end feel a lot. It's vague at low speeds, but it really calms everything down at track speeds. I could take my hands off the bars in 5th gear on the farm roads on the way to the track. I used to have to pay attention or the washboard bumps could set off the shake.

On the sand track, it was great in the heavy whoops, but tough if i slowed too much for a corner. When I get railing I think I'll love it. I had to cut thing short because the steering head bearings must not have fully seated when I installed the damper, and they loosened up in the whoops.

I had the damper set at 2.5 I may change the oil for some 2.5 wt racetech, but for now it's a big improvement. I think I can raise the forks back up to stock height and get some steering quickness back. We'll see.

[lrrs313]

Glad to hear it's doing what you wanted. Headshake sucks.

[a13x]

So see you at Crow Hill tomorrow?

[Paul_E_D]

Dude, I really wish I could, but the job is demanding my presence lately. Have fun.

[seth399]

nice, at worst raise the forks again and get some low bars. I got some really low Tag bars for my crf and they are pretty sweet for loudon

[typeone]

not sure what size clamp you have but i've got a set of 7/8" Azonic CR Low bars doin nothing in the basement if you want them. real low rise and not much pull-back.

[Paul_E_D]

Bring em next time we ride, I'll take a look. The stock KTM bars are low, so I'm not sure I can get much lower. It's actually really comfy for standing/trail riding type stuff. It might even force me to keep my elbows up riding MX. The jury is still out. I need to put more laps in, and hit a track with some jumps before I decide good or bad. Right now it's just different.

btw, they did a lot of maintenance on my track finally. Both sections are clear, and the whoops flow better. I hope it doesn't rain much this week as its still drying out.

[typeone]

sounds good on the bars.

wow, BOTH sections are clear, that's a lot of work. should sneak in a fall ride out there some time.