front end bouncey ride on GL1800

[Wingnut6819]

I recently had the front fork seals replaced and now experiencing a bouncy ride at all speeds. Went back to the shop and they don't know why this is happening. Funny thing is the bike rode fine before have these seals replaced; looking for help with what could be causing this.

[trike lady]

Hello and welcome to the forum.
They may have used the wrong weight fork oil.

[Aussie81Interstate]

Are you running any air in the forks - if so reduce the pressure a few lbs - and check your tyre pressure as well.

You might just be noticing some differences because of having the correct amount of oil and new seals.

Mine have just been redone on the weekend - my seals were shot on both forks (1981 GL1100I), had them rebuilt with 15w oil - and I cannot even force them down when sitting with no air pressure in them.
Overall the feel of the bike is 100% on what it was. and the mechanic said I would never have got the forks back together if doing them myself as the top springs were about 5mm longer than specifications. Meaning someone had already played with these some time ago. I have not run any air in them at the moment.

[WingAdmin]

Did they drain the fork oil when they changed the seals? If so, did they put in the same weight oil (or any oil at all)?

[tfdeputydawg]

A common cause of "pogo sticking" is to much fork oil!!!!

[Ghostman]

Or you could have the scenario where they filled the forks with oil to the right height but didnt pump them to bleed off the air before assembling. Giving a pogo effect.

[Wingnut6819]

Much appreciate the feedback from everyone and will take that back to the repair shop to seek further resolution.

[Wingnut6819]

Well had 5 people from two different shops look at this and even after changing the oil again conforming to a #8 OEM fork oil, nobody seems to think I have an issue. Yet when I had a fellow Goldwing rider drive my bike, right away noticed the stiff bounce from the front end. This is most frustrating as I need to get this fixed, but seemingly without spending a bunch of time/money for a shop to try and trouble shoot this, I'm not sure what else I can do. Any further suggestions?????

[Aussie81Interstate]

Are you running any air in them ? if so reduce the amount of air or no pressure at all.

When you are riding is it a harsh feeling when you hit a bump or just constant movement of your arms/shoulders when riding down the road - what I mean is are you using your arms to be the front shock absorbers if that makes sense - if that is right - then your front suspension is too stiff - or too much fork oil.

Does the front of the bike dip heavily on hard front brake application - or can you compress the front suspension easily or not at all when holding the front brake and putting downward pressure on the handlebars.

I'll find you a link on measuring suspension setup for front suspension:

have a read of this - there are some basics you can measure yourself which may assist - if in doubt go to a specialist suspension setup business in your area

http://www.suspensionshop.org/tech_suspension_setup.php

[MikeB]

Are you running any air in them ? if so reduce the amount of air or no pressure at all.

Without making some kind of modification, I know of no way to put air in or take air out of a GL1800 front fork.

[Wingnut6819]

I can be on a totally smooth surface and I will still get a stiff bounce coming from the front forks!

[MikeB]

The only way to make sure they are right is to totally disassemble them and check things out. SOMETHING has been done wrong and the shop that did the work needs to make it right.

[Aussie81Interstate]

apologies for the air information.

Can you compress the forks at all ?

[xcube]

Wingnut, did you solve the issue I am very curious for I too have the same issue, two tires, 3 sets of fork seals, head bearing, rotors, pads. ready to ditch the bike first chance i get. one more thing left to try.

[GoldWingrGreg]

I recently had the front fork seals replaced and now experiencing a bouncy ride at all speeds. Went back to the shop and they don't know why this is happening. Funny thing is the bike rode fine before have these seals replaced; looking for help with what could be causing this.

Year ???
Mileage ???
2-whl, or 3 ???

[Wingsconsin]

I would check a few things ---

Condition of the front tire --
Cupping ? Old ? delamination of a ply? Bulging ? Pressure ?

Check the anti-dive system - if they un-did that and din;t put it back together right it could be binding causing a shock over every crack in the road surface

Suspension is always suspect on these - upgrade to monotubes

check the rear tire condition as well - sometimes what we feel or see is caused by the rear tire driving the motion (trust me on this one)