Got in a wreck, need some advice...

I laid my bike(a 2001 Suzuki Katana 600) over this past wednesday night, and went off into the median at about 45 mph... Once I was checked out by the EMS and calmed down a bit, I rode home. All the way home at high speeds and low speeds, I never noticed any wobbles or tremors as I rode. But yesterday when I started to ride to go get new plates(seeing as mine fell off somewhere between the wreck and my house, a good 16 miles), I noticed that the bike constantly bobbed up and down. At first I thought it was just the road, but it seemed no matter what road I turned down, or what speed I was going, I could feel it. And I noticed it did it in the same way every time. I'm not sure if it's the wheel, or the forks, or what... I'm going to take it to a shop to see if they can give me an idea, but I wanted to see what any veteran riders have to say about it. SO any ideas or advice you can give me, or any good shops to go to (between splendora, up by highway 59 and 242 intersection, and houston) that can help me, or help me for cheap...would be much appreciated. Thanks...

Is the bobbing speed related? Could be a bent rim. Any leaking fluids around the fork seals? If a seal was blown, you may be losing oil and thus your damping. This would let the front end bounce up and down more than normal. I can't think of anything else off the top of my head that might cause it.

Glad you were not hurt!

Adios,

Might check the rear shock - see if you can bounce on the seat. My new 'Strom had a leaking rear shock that eventually degraded to just the spring & you could bounce it like a trampoline. (fixed under warranty!)

A 16 mile ride + overnight would be enough time for a lot of shock fluid to leak out.

Glad you were not hurt. If the bike is ridable, maybe you won't be out many $$$.

Good luck.

Not sure about cheap, but decent prices and good work can be found at Motorcycles Unlimited on 1960 near Kuykendahl.

GOOD - CHEAP - FAST (pick 2)

Thanks guys... We looked the rim and tire over really well, and didn't really see anything wrong with it. (not to mention, finding out a new rim was gonna cost me somwhere around $500 helped this a little) I think it may have just been me expecting somthing to be wrong, so my mind played a trick on me.. But I'm definitely going to check the fork seals just to see. It's been riding just fine since I got back on it... I still notice the bobbing, but of course even if it's always been there and I never noticed, I'll notice it from now on.. Anyways, even if somthing was wrong with it at least I wasn't hurt, thanks for the ideas..

How did you check the rim? Just a visual inspection? If you have a way to get the front end off the ground, support it so that the front wheel turns freely. Then place a screwdriver against your fender with blade end down right next to the edge of the rim. almost touching but not quite. Gently spin the tire and make sure you hold the screwdriver in a fixed position. You are using it as a reference point. Watch to see if the distance to the rim from the screwdriver changes. If it does, the rim may be slightly warped. It should not be too hard to locate a used rim from a salvage yard for a Katana. Just be sure to check that rim as well.

The other thing it could be is that the front tire is out of balance. Perhaps a weight got knocked off in your accident. Does the bobbing vary with your speed? Worse at higher speeds. If so, you may want to have the balance on the wheel checked. If you are on smooth pavement with no ripples or bumps, then there should be no bobbing unless something is out of whack.

Let us know how it goes.

Adios,

Remember, there's a LOT of ways to bend a rim...not just bent "in" towards the hub. You can do the same screwdriver trick to check the runout of the rim as well. That is, while sitting in front of the wheel, use the screwdriver as a reference point to see if you twisted the rim.

Blue Skies,
JJ

My bad, that is what I thought I was describing hehe. You can do both at once depending on how you are holding the screwdriver. Basically, it is just a stationary visual reference point. If the rim moves closer to, or away from, the screwdriver, you've got a bend somewhere.

If you've not had a bad experience with them, you might try Cycle Shack North in Conroe... on old 75 south of 105...
Here's a couple of "shade tree" trix to check the run out on the rims... You need to check BOTH of them to be sure one is not egg shaped in some way.
If you have a center stand use it. If not support the bike upright, jack the rear wheel just barely... off the surface so it can be turned with less than 1/32" inch clearance under the tire... slowly turn the wheel watching the air space under the tire. If it's out of round, this is a good way to see it. Do the same for the front wheel.
To check for a lateral deflection of the rim, put a brick or something heavy along side the wheel about 1/64th an inch space and turn the wheel slowly watching the open space. If the wheel is deformed, you will see it.
Consider this: you may have damaged a tire which has now "blown a bubble" or a ply separation which forms a distortion in the tire. Close visual inspections here are in order.

Doc JR
Been there done that