Slight free play in forks
 

Hi all,

Just had the front wheel out of the gasser looking at bearings and brakes and noticed a small amount of free play in the forks.

Not between the triple clamps and fork body, but between the body and chrome tube. When you hold the fork body with one hand and push/pull from the axle mount with the other hand, you can hear it knocking, but its only moving very slighly, more the knocking which makes it stand out.

Is this anything that should urgently be looked at? Any ideas what it might be? Was hoping to go out for a ride tomorrow having finally (or seemingly!) fixed the things up with it since buying it :rolleyes:

Thanks,
Ad

I have been told a few times that it is normal on the sachs. It shouldonly be when the forks r fully extended if it gets worse you can change the bush

enjoy your ride :-)

Cheers Matt, thats what i wanted to hear! Which bush do you mean? One inside the forks somewhere i guess? Never had a set fully to bits so not sure really.

Just seemed a bit odd thats all, with the front wheel back in holding the front brake, and rocking back/forwards, it sounds like headstock bearings but isnt.

Yep cant wait to get out and finally have a proper ride around the criss-crossing fenland droves back home :)

Normal operational clearance to avoid binding during flex.

Ya...the sachs measure 49.9 mm on the lower tubes....this is. 003" small plus the bushings are over sized approx. 005" or . 15mm id.
However if you install a 48mmand lower bushing from wp pr kyb the forks are really loose. Even Synergyseals lower bushings are loose and they are slightly better fit than kyb or wp.

The engineering and tolerancing is poor. Simple mods to there designs would enhance to better characteristics in manufacturing.

Rob

I installed Showas bearings. Got it much better. They were 450 crf -09 original bearings.

Thanks for all your replies, just dragging up this old thread as i am not sure i have the Sachs forks...

I cannot see any markings on them to suggest which make they are, but the lower chromed stantions measure 45mm diameter.

Having read up a bit on here, 45mm would suggest i have the Marzocchi forks? All references i can find to Sachs say they are 48mm. Did Sachs ever have a 45mm, or have i definitely got the zokes? I just cant find any markings on them! The shock is definitely Sachs though. The bike is a EC 300Euro spec.

Going back to my original question at the start of the thread, assuming i have the zokes forks, is that free play more of a problem on these as a opposed to the Sachs?

Once i know which forks i have, the plan will also be to get the correct springs (inc. the shock) and start looking at setting the suspension properly, as im probably a lot lighter than Mr. Average!


Thanks,
Adrian

sounds like zokes,
same same as sachs....
if the free play is worrying you, next time they blow a seal, pull em down and replace the bushes, its an easy job.

Thats normal for the Zokes even with new bushings. I completely rebuilt mine last year, new everything including anodizing and you could still feel a slight clearance. If its sound just ride it.

Theres no worries as such, i have been riding it as much as possible recently:D

Just didnt know whether it was the same on both types of forks now that it turns out i have the Zokes as opposed to the Sachs as originally thought.

Now i know what i have front and rear i shall have a read up on here about best mods/setup for the forks and shock...but i guess the first thing will be to get the correct springs for my weight.

Thanks again,
Ad