Fork knock?

[thielb]

finally getting around to asking. When I brake hard up front the forks depress as they should but then right at the end there's a loud knock. After it happens on the way down, I can either give er the beans or just rock back on the bike and then it happens again when they fully extend. Cant tell where exactly the knock is coming from. Almost sounds like its happening high and up close to me but its hard to tell. Thoughts? Assistance?

 

[crashcourse]

If I had to make a guess (I've only rebuilt forks for my 650 once, so I'm no expert), I would say you don't have enough oil in your forks. If I remember right, you can just take the cap off the end and us a wire or something as a dipstick to check the oil level in both fork legs.

 

[Specdog]

The knock you are hearing could be excessive steering stem play. Put your bike on the center stand and put something under the front of your engine so the front wheel is off the ground. Now kneel in front of your front wheel and grab both fork legs near the axle. Pull towards yourself then away. Do you here the clacking sound, there should be no free play. If there is movement, you need to tighten your steering stem bearings.

 

[thielb]

i'll look into checking the oil level. specdog, that sounds like a pretty good explanation to me, definitely going to check that out soon

 

[willem]

don't just check the oil level, just replace it. It's much easier, and much better. Using a makeshift dipstick to measure something, without really knowing when it's at the right level, is not really worth the trouble I think. In the manual it says exactly how many cc's of oil should be in there, so just drain the forks and put some fresh stuff in